BOSTON (AP) — It took Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli 10 days into training camp, but he finally has all his players signed and ready to go for the 2014-15 season.
Chiarelli completed his roster Monday, when he re-signed defenseman Torey Krug and forward Reilly Smith to one-year contracts, both worth an annual salary-cap charge of $1.4 million.
Both players were restricted free agents, but because of their service time at the NHL level lacked the rights to negotiate with other teams or take the Bruins to arbitration. They are both scheduled to be restricted free agents next summer, when they will have arbitration rights.
“I think both sides assumed some risk and both sides benefit,” Chiarelli said. “They walk right into arbitration and that’s the certainty of the deal. And if they both put up good numbers, so they have good cases. And from our perspective it helps us from a planning perspective this year, but we risk a higher number next year. So I’m OK with that.”
The tight situation between the Bruins’ salary commitments and the cap ceiling placed Chiarelli in a situation where he couldn’t offer much beyond what the players wound up taking without altering the core of his team and moving out a large amount of salary. Chiarelli did not want to do that, and with nine days before the start of the regular season both Smith and Krug realized they were running out of options.
“We had such a close-knit team last year. It’s a great organization here, so you don’t want to push someone out. I’m glad that didn’t have to happen,” Smith said.
Both Smith and Krug are 23 years old. In his first full NHL season, Smith scored 20 goals for the Bruins. Krug enjoyed a fine rookie regular season with 14 goals and 40 points.
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