Is a Bruins retool coming at the ideal time with a spiking NHL salary cap?
The NHL salary cap ceiling is expected to grow by over $25 million in the next three years.
The Bruins are not just one quick fix away from righting the ship in 2025-26. Not with this roster floundered by several holes across the depth chart.
A Boston lineup starved for production on the power play (30th overall, 14.5 percent) and at 5-on-5 action (only nine teams have fewer 5v5 tallies than the Bruins’ 103) is short at least three scoring forwards — including a first-line pivot.
Boston’s beefed-up D corps has been prone to critical lapses in the team’s own end of the ice, eroding what has long been a foundational strength of a stingy Bruins system.
As the Bruins’ top brass mull their options ahead of the March 7 trade deadline, the writing is on the wall that wholesale changes sit on the horizon this summer for a grouping short on high-end talent.
Orchestrating a successful roster retool can be a risky undertaking, especially for a Bruins organization already propped up by a strong core of David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman — and hampered by a lack of fiscal flexibility ($677,147 in projected cap space this season, per PuckPedia).
But as the Bruins stare at a busy offseason, a summer of change might be coming at the ideal time for an Original Six franchise looking to remain competitive with star talents like Pastrnak and McAvoy amid their prime.
The Bruins should have more cap-related breathing room for the foreseeable future, with the NHL’s salary cap set to soar in the next few years.
Last week, the NHL and NHLPA announced sizable spikes to the upper limit of the league’s salary cap through 2027-28 — with the ceiling set to rise from $88 million this season to $95.5 million this summer.
The cap ceiling is then expected to hit $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million in 2027-28 — with that final tabulation representing a $25.5 million increase from the current $88 million threshold.
In some respects, a surge in spending power can stand as a double-edged sword for teams, especially those looking to upgrade their personnel via an early-July shopping spree.
While Bruins fans might have recoiled at a hot-and-cold, middle-six winger like Jake DeBrusk commanding a $5.5 million annual payout on his new deal with the Canucks, a 30-goal forward like Brock Boeser could easily make $8 million or more per year this summer with that cap ceiling rising.
Elias Lindholm’s $7.75 million annual payout through the 2030-31 season does not line up with his current production (a projected 42 points over 82 games). But defensive-minded, third-line pivots could be hovering around $6-7 million per year by 2026 or later.
Still, a soaring cap ceiling should present contingency plans that were previously untenable for a team like Boston.
The Bruins now have the means to upgrade their roster this summer just by opening their checkbook, with PuckPedia tabbing Boston with over $25 million in cap room as a result of that new $95.5 million ceiling.
Beyond crafting bridge deals for restricted free agents like Mason Lohrei and Johnny Beecher, the Bruins are also not staring at an extensive list of pricey free agents who have to be retained.
If the Bruins sell before March 7, pending UFAs like Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, and even captain Brad Marchand could be moved to recoup valuable draft capital — freeing up future contractual obligations in the process.
Even if the Bruins do re-sign a useful depth piece like Parker Wotherspoon, keep Marchand for what could be an incentive-laden, cheaper veteran contract, or even work out a deal with an RFA like Morgan Geekie, Boston should still be a position this summer where they can either take a swing at a top free agent or have the ability to bring in a hefty contract via trade.
That flexibility should continue to aid the Bruins as the cap continues to spike, due in large part to the current landscape of Boston’s financial commitments.
Upcoming free agents should benefit from this swell in spending. But a booming market is also set to benefit teams like the Bruins who have already doled out long-term contracts to star players.
As players like Mikko Rantanen in 2025 and Connor McDavid in 2026 command $15 million or more per year moving forward, Pastrnak’s $11.25 million annual cap hit through 2030-31 should continue to age like fine wine.
While Cale Makar gets ready to reset the market for defensemen in 2027, having blueliners like Charlie McAvoy ($9.5 million AAV through 2030) and Hampus Lindholm ($6.5 million AAV through 2030) already locked up should benefit Boston, relative to their value.
The Bruins would be wise not to blow a majority of that $25 million this summer alone.
But if the Bruins are looking to augment their roster and reshuffle personnel around that Pastrnak-McAvoy-Swayman core moving forward, the NHL’s bull market should give them the leeway to continually add to an already steady group of star talent.
Whether that means forking over $8 million this summer for a Boeser or Nikolaj Ehlers, trying to reel in a big fish like North Chelmsford product Jack Eichel in 2026 or bringing in established talent (and salary) via trades, the Bruins have many options available to them in the years ahead — all without putting themselves in the cap jail that roadblocked the franchise in 2014 and 2023.
At least, such is the opportunity now afforded to the Bruins given this fortuitous spike in spending.
Just how the Bruins manage to apply that spending power — or rather, who will be tasked with leading said retool — remains to be seen.
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