Could Boston land Hossa and Redden?
Posted 9:53 AM ET | Comments 1
In 2006, the Boston Bruins made a huge splash in the Free Agency market when they signed Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard to long term deals. Despite having meteoker records in the 06-07 and 07-08 seasons, Savard and Chara have been putting up fantastic numbers, but in order for the Bruins to become more competitive, like they were during the Thornton days, it is clear that Chara and Savard are in need of more support, while the younger players on Boston's roster like Bergeron and Kessel continue to develop.
Boston's cap hit this year was around $48 million. With the cap likely going up to around $56 million this summer, and Boston sheding about $5 million off in salary come July 1st, they will have about $13 million to play around with. Hossa, who is already rumoured to be headed to Boston, is friends with Chara from Ottawa, and Savard from Atlanta. At only 29 years of age, Hossa is probably looking for a 5-7 year contract that rewards him with an average of $7.5-8 million a season. Wade Redden is 31 years old and is coming off of a decent season, but defenitely not the kind of season he is capable of having. After almost being traded to San Jose, and knowing the Senators will not take him back, Redden is set to seek employment elsewhere this year. Including his price cut, Redden may be looking to sign a deal for about 3-6 years that will give him an average of $5-7 million a season.
Assuming Boston acquires these two players for about $15 million in total, that would put the Bruins $2 million over the cap. Whether it would be realized beforehand or afterwards, the Bruins would have to clear some cap space so they could sign these two stellar players, and still have room to make smaller signings, and sign their RFAs to extensions. This could cause Boston to try and trade away top six forward Glenn Murray, along with his $4.1 million salary and 1-2 years he has left on his contract. Boston could also try to deal goaltender Manny Fernandez and his $4.7 million salary(being that they feel they have established a solid goaltending foundation in Tim Thomas), or they could just put him on waivers and send him in the minors.
Clearing away the contracts of Fernandez and Murray gives the Bruins an additional $8.8 million in free cap space. Redden and Hossa's combined salaries would eat $2 million away (assuming Hossa and Redden sign for the max numbers I mentioned), which still gives them almost $7 million to make any smaller signings and to sign their RFAs.
Signing Hossa and Redden would give the Bruins that boost they have been looking for ever since they traded Thornton. It would add a lot of stellar offensive and defensive skill to the team, who would have a mixed roster of seasoned veterand and young players. While I doubt this would happen, I can surely consider it a very realistic possibility and it could be one of those unexpected occurances that just shocks the hockey world, like when the Flyers signed Briere or when the Rangers signed Gomez and Drury last summer.
Boston's cap hit this year was around $48 million. With the cap likely going up to around $56 million this summer, and Boston sheding about $5 million off in salary come July 1st, they will have about $13 million to play around with. Hossa, who is already rumoured to be headed to Boston, is friends with Chara from Ottawa, and Savard from Atlanta. At only 29 years of age, Hossa is probably looking for a 5-7 year contract that rewards him with an average of $7.5-8 million a season. Wade Redden is 31 years old and is coming off of a decent season, but defenitely not the kind of season he is capable of having. After almost being traded to San Jose, and knowing the Senators will not take him back, Redden is set to seek employment elsewhere this year. Including his price cut, Redden may be looking to sign a deal for about 3-6 years that will give him an average of $5-7 million a season.
Assuming Boston acquires these two players for about $15 million in total, that would put the Bruins $2 million over the cap. Whether it would be realized beforehand or afterwards, the Bruins would have to clear some cap space so they could sign these two stellar players, and still have room to make smaller signings, and sign their RFAs to extensions. This could cause Boston to try and trade away top six forward Glenn Murray, along with his $4.1 million salary and 1-2 years he has left on his contract. Boston could also try to deal goaltender Manny Fernandez and his $4.7 million salary(being that they feel they have established a solid goaltending foundation in Tim Thomas), or they could just put him on waivers and send him in the minors.
Clearing away the contracts of Fernandez and Murray gives the Bruins an additional $8.8 million in free cap space. Redden and Hossa's combined salaries would eat $2 million away (assuming Hossa and Redden sign for the max numbers I mentioned), which still gives them almost $7 million to make any smaller signings and to sign their RFAs.
Signing Hossa and Redden would give the Bruins that boost they have been looking for ever since they traded Thornton. It would add a lot of stellar offensive and defensive skill to the team, who would have a mixed roster of seasoned veterand and young players. While I doubt this would happen, I can surely consider it a very realistic possibility and it could be one of those unexpected occurances that just shocks the hockey world, like when the Flyers signed Briere or when the Rangers signed Gomez and Drury last summer.
Pens offered Hossa 7 years 51 million. 7.28 mill per season. He said he would take less to be on a cup contending team and local sources expect him to accept the offer when he gets home from his vacation this weekend. Boston would have to offer somewhere in the range of 7 years 63 million to land him.