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  • Don Sweeney not closing door on free agency

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    Don Sweeney not closing door on free agency

    Anthony Travalgia July 22, 2015
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    (Photo credit: Steve Babineau, Boston Bruins)

    It’s been an eventful offseason for Don Sweeney, his first as General Manager of the Boston Bruins. From draft day trades to free agent signings, there have been a lot of up and downs.

    As we near the end of July and training camp sits a few short weeks away, it seems as if the Bruins roster is just about set, but Sweeney says not so fast.

    “There are still players out there that may fit, you have conversations with agents about possibilities,” Sweeney said Friday afternoon after the Bruins wrapped up Development Camp at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington. “I think we’re comfortable with where we are in creating internal competition, but I’m not going to stop short of asking in areas that we can continue to look at.”

    One of those areas that the Bruins should continue to look at is their blue line. Despite having Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller, Matt Irwin and Zach Trotman all under contract and ready for NHL minutes, adding another veteran to the blue line wouldn’t be a bad thing for Sweeney and the Bruins.

    “Well, you’re always going to want to have the best group you possibly can. There’s probably an element of the unknown because we have some guys that are going to push. But we have waiver decisions and there are certain things that impact the decision overall,” Sweeney added.

    “There are a couple of free agents that we still have conversations with that we felt might improve our club if the financial component works, and we’re not going to stop having those conversations, because they might be the right thing to do. Matt Irwin coming on I think helps provide a lot of depth for our overall grouping.”

    Cody Franson and the Bruins have been linked together for weeks now, and after an interview with TSN 1040 in Vancouver, things have gotten much more interesting.

    “There’s probably five or six teams right now that we’re talking to, there’s some very interested ones, but some teams are in cap situations and all the rest that comes with it,” Franson told TSN’s  Sekeres and Paterson. “So everything’s kind of just slowly rolling, but definitely have some action.”

    One of those teams in a “cap situation” is surely the Bruins. According to General Fanger, the Bruins have approximately $4.76 million in cap space remaining. With Franson expecting to bring in between $4 to $5 million, it seems as if the Bruins would need to clear some cap space to bring in Franson.

    Could Seidenberg be on the move? The veteran defenseman has been linked to the Buffalo Sabres of late and a move would benefit both teams. Seidenberg does have a no-trade clause and would have to approve the trade to Buffalo, but back in February, reports surfaced that Seidenberg would indeed waive his no-trade clause if a deal was on the table to send him out of Boston.

    Boston is certainly a location that would fit for Franson.

    “Boston would be an interesting spot. It’s obviously an awesome city and they’ve got a great organization and all those things that come with it,” Franson said. “Like I said, there’s a handful of other teams, too, and everything’s kind of slow rolling at the moment, and we’re taking it day by day.”

    Franson went on to talk a bit more about the Black and Gold and even spoke to a former Bruin who now calls California home.

    “I asked him a few questions about it,” Franson said in regards to talking with Milan Lucic. “With the trade they made with [Dougie] Hamilton and some of the other stuff they’ve done, they’re one of the teams that we’re in talks with.”

    Franson has played in 400 National Hockey league games, scoring 25 times, adding 134 assists and is a career plus-169 in six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators.

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    1 Comments

    1. pj77 July 25, 2015

      I’m confused. The only legit top 4 defenders in the entire system are 33 and 44. All those other guys, including Krug and Mcquaid are all 5-6 guys at best. This D as a whole is not good enough to make the playoffs. That said, how can it even be considered to trade 44 to free up cap space for Franson? That makes zero sense. I would rather trade Krug. Too one dimensional and can’t separate forwards from the puck. I’ve seen enough of his game to know you don’t win with undersized D like that masquerading as top 4 guys. Krug=over rated.

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