On the eve of free agency, the Bruins decided to give themselves a little more breathing room under the salary.

On the last day possible, the B’s placed Mike Reilly on waivers for the purpose of buying out the veteran defenseman. The buyout would give the B’s a savings of $2.66 million in 2023-24, though it would cost the B’s a $1.33 million hit in 2024-25. The salary cap, however, is expected to go up more significantly than it did this year. The cap bumped up $1 million to $83.5 million this year.

The B’s currently have approximately $13.6 million in cap space. They have only six forwards and one goalie currently under contract on the NHL roster, with Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic being arbitration eligible restricted free agents.

Though Reilly is a serviceable NHL puck-moving defenseman, he was a cap casualty in 2022-23 when the B’s were loaded, spending most of his time in Providence where about a third of his $3 million cap hit was hidden.