Showcasing their skills
Beecher impresses for USA in Sweden
Some Bruins prospects are making noise overseas in the offseason.
Notably, 2019 first round pick John Beecher has impressed with Team USA in the World Junior Summer Showcase in Sweden. He tallied another goal Wednesday night after being bumped up to the secondline center spot.
Overall, Beecher has posted four goals and an assist in three games and the 18-yearold was noted by NHL.com as the “most impressive player at camp hands down.”
Fellow Bruins prospect Curtis Hall — who plays for Yale — also is on the USA roster.
Bruins 2018 second-round selection Axel Andersson has represented Sweden in three games. The 19-year-old defenseman has an assist and six shots on goal.
Staal-ed talks
After Wild general manager Paul Fenton was let go following one season at the helm, there were some reports about Bruins interest in center Eric Staal during the 2018-19 season.
The B’s did add Charlie Coyle from Minnesota right before the deadline, shipping Ryan Donato out in return, but around the deadline there was some buzz regarding Staal.
According to The Athletic, a deal that would have sent the 34-year-old to Boston apparently was close.
“Fenton also nearly traded Jason Zucker at the trade deadline to the Calgary Flames on the same day he signed Eric Staal to a twoyear extension rather than trading him to what sources said was the Boston Bruins. It also got out in June that Zucker would have been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins had Phil Kessel waived his no-trade,” The Athletic wrote.
Staal had a no-trade clause with a 10-team list, and there’s the chance he declined a deal to Boston. He re-signed with the Wild for two years. His current deal does not have a notrade clause.
The Bruins instead went after Marcus Johansson at the trade deadline once Staal was off the table.
Free wheeling
While the Bruins still have to deal with their top two restricted free agents — Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo — the rest of the league has been active in that regard.
The Avalanche signed 21year-old defenseman Sam Girard to a seven-year deal that will carry a $5 million cap hit per season. The Devils also signed restricted free agent defenseman Will Butcher to a three-year deal with a $3.73 million cap hit.
McAvoy is projected to make more than those two, while Carlo should fall somewhere in the middle. The Bruins still need to make some cap room to accomplish that.
Cap creativity
While the Bruins are stuck trying to make the cap work, other teams around the league have found ways to create space.
The Lightning moved Ryan Callahan to Ottawa in exchange for Holliston native Mike Condon earlier in the week, adding to their expansive collection of goalies.
More importantly, though, Callahan won’t be playing after a career-ending injury, so he and his $5.8 million cap hit will join Marian Gaborik and Clarke MacArthur with a total of $15.3 million on the Senators’ long-term injured reserve.
It’s a bit different than the Bruins trying to get rid of David Backes‘ cap hit, since he’s still playing hockey. But, there still are ways to get things done, as other deals — such as Patrick Marleau from Toronto to Carolina at the draft — have shown.