The Boston Bruins may not be finished adjusting their defense. The club is reportedly in conversations with several free agent defensemen, but ultimately it will all come down to finances.
Via Mass Live, the Bruins may have missed out on Johnny Oduya, but they’re still speaking with other options. Those options haven’t been specifically named, but the report speculates the players may include Cody Franson and Christian Ehrhoff.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney commented on the situation:
“You’re always going to want to have the best group you possibly can. There’s probably an element of unknown because we have some guys that are going to push and we have waiver decisions, different things that can impact the decision overall. There are a couple free agents that we’re still having conversations with that we feel might improve our club. If the financial component works, we’re not going to stop having those conversations because it might be the right thing to do.”
From a financial perspective, the Bruins have some space to get a deal done. After signing defenseman Matt Irwin, the Bruins have a little over $4 million in cap space to find additional help.
Shortly after the Irwin signing, NESN took a stab at projecting what defensive pairs the Bruins will roll with in 2015-16.
Zdeno Chara-Zach Trotman
Dennis Seidenberg-Adam McQuaid
Torey Krug-Colin Miller
Other Candidates: Kevan Miller, Matt Irwin, Joe Morrow
These pairings would obviously change should the club sign another free agent defenseman, but the group above is probably a decent educated guess.
