The Bruins settled one outstanding arbitration before it went to a hearing. They have two more to go.
The B’s inked the recently acquired defenseman Ian Mitchell, obtained in the Taylor Hall trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, to a one-year deal worth $775,000. The 24-year-old Mitchell had an NHL salary of $1.05 million last season, but played only 35 games in Chicago. As it appears now, the right-shot Mitchell will be in direct competition for playing time with veteran Kevin Shattenkirk, who was signed as a free agent on July 1 by the B’s.
With that signing, the B’s have just under $5.5 million in salary cap space according to puckpedia.com, with two more outstanding arbitration cases that promise to chew up significantly more cap space than Mitchell’s deal. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman last deal carried an average annual value of $1.05 million and Trent Frederic just finished a deal with $1.137.5 million AAV.
Both players should get decent raises. Frederic is coming off a 17-goal season while Swayman, after s slow start that saw him miss a month with injury, came on very strong, posting a 24-6-4 record with a 2.27 GAA and a .920 save percentage. He shared the Jennings Trophy with Linus Ullmark.
Swayman’s hearing date is set for July 30 and Frederic’s is scheduled for August 1.
The two sides can still hash out a deal before it gets to a hearing, and GM Don Sweeney expressed hope that that would be the case when he spoke to reporters at the end of last week’s Development Camp.
“We’re all working hard on that front,” said Sweeney on Friday. “Having pretty much constant dialogue with all three players and representatives – (avoiding arbitration) is always the hope. But, we know there’s a path and there will be a right solution on the other side and one way or another they will be part of our organization so, it’s just a tool in the toolbox, that either player elects or the club elects and you go through. But hopefully we can (strike a deal before a hearing). It’s not the ultimate goal for anybody on either side but it is a path that determines if the player will be back.” …
The Bruins announced as part of their Centennial celebration, the club has formed a selection committee to identify the 100 most legendary players in team history. From the initial 100 players, the committee will select a 20-member All-Centennial team.
The Herald has a vote on the 30-member selection committee.