Seattle Kraken vow to spend close or at the salary cap
Ryan Clark of The Athletic: Tod Leiweke expects Seattle to spend towards the upper limit of the salary cap. While logistics await for the Kraken, there is the business at hand as to how they fill their roster. Ron Francis has been given authority to spend as he sees fit. If he has to come near the cap limit then so be it.
Francis carries the option of using conventional and unconventional methods when it comes to building the Seattle roster. It will be an intriguing scenario to see what side deals and sweeteners the general manager may be enticed with. At least right now, the draft is just a couple of weeks away and Seattle cannot wait.
Boston Bruins and their pending free agents…
Conor Ryan of Boston Sports Journal: Although Trent Frederic was brought back, Boston faces more internal decisions as far as pending free agents. Locking in Brandon Carlo should be among the top priorities. If Boston can come close to a $3.5 million AAV for a reasonable term then that is a win. Carlo made $2.85 million last year.
Ondrej Kase remains more interesting than one would suspect. He will not get qualified at $2.6 million. If he is healthy, do the Boston Bruins consider taking a short-term shot at far less money? That becomes an increasing possibility.
Then, there are Nick Ritchie and Jake DeBrusk. It seems like Boston has to decide as to one or the other. If DeBrusk is somehow moved, the thought process is that Ritchie could very well be kept. Ritchie would be easier to keep at a reasonable salary compared to DeBrusk.
This is because of the potential the young forward still has. Does Don Sweeney actually consider trading another forward before his prime err potential may hit? That looms as a huge question mark. Boston has not had much success with this. See Tyler Seguin as Exhibit 1A. Sweeney and Boston have quite a dilemma. Stay tuned.