With approximately $54 million committed to 22 salaries (including the buyouts of Glen Murray and Peter Schaefer), the Bruins would have to move a player or two to re-sign Phil Kessel. Candidates include Aaron Ward ($2.5 million annual cap hit) and Chuck Kobasew ($2.33 million).
?Certainly Phil is a type of player that if it comes to a point where I have to make a move to get him in the mix, I will certainly do that,?? Chiarelli said.
However, as teams fill out their rosters and allocate their dollars, salary dumps will become more challenging.
?Eventually, activity will grind to a complete halt,?? Chiarelli said. ?We see tendencies and trends that show that already. A lot of deals people are talking about are conditional on other deals taking place. That?s the way it happens now. As teams continue to spend and fill their lineups, there?s only a fixed amount of money.
?I?m not so sure how much activity you?ll see, especially now. You might see a pickup before the season starts.??
?Certainly Phil is a type of player that if it comes to a point where I have to make a move to get him in the mix, I will certainly do that,?? Chiarelli said.
However, as teams fill out their rosters and allocate their dollars, salary dumps will become more challenging.
?Eventually, activity will grind to a complete halt,?? Chiarelli said. ?We see tendencies and trends that show that already. A lot of deals people are talking about are conditional on other deals taking place. That?s the way it happens now. As teams continue to spend and fill their lineups, there?s only a fixed amount of money.
?I?m not so sure how much activity you?ll see, especially now. You might see a pickup before the season starts.??
