Will Bergeron sign another team-friendly contract if he does return?
The Bruins have made another move to free up some money, as they placed defenseman Mike Reilly on waivers Friday for the purposes of a buyout.
Reilly had one year left on his contract with a $3 million cap hit. Buying him out will save the Bruins $2.67 million against the cap this season, but will leave them with a $1.33 million hit against the cap in 2024-25.
The Bruins acquired Reilly for a third-round pick in April 2021, and he made a positive enough first impression to get rewarded with a three-year extension that offseason. He had fallen out of favor the last two years, though, and spent most of last season buried in the AHL in Providence after getting put on waivers and going unclaimed by the NHL's 31 other teams.
After buying out Reilly, the Bruins will now have $13.6 million in cap space going into free agency, which begins Saturday at noon. The move leaves the Bruins with six forwards, six defensemen and one goalie signed to NHL contracts.
In addition to buying out Reilly, the Bruins also announced that they have extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic, Jakub Lauko, Marc McLaughlin, Ian Mitchell, Alec Regula, Reilly Walsh, Kyle Keyser and Michael DiPietro. Mitchell, Regula and Walsh were all acquired in trades this week.
The Bruins did not issue qualifying offers to Samuel Asselin and Kai Wissman, making them unrestricted free agents. Wissman has already signed a contract to play back home in Germany and will not be playing in North America next season.
The Bruins did not buy out any other players, including Mitchell Miller, whose signing last fall sparked controversy as details of his past racist abuse of a classmate resurfaced. The Bruins publicly cut ties with Miller and he never played a game for the organization, but he remains under contract through the 2024-25 season. The Bruins will continue to pay him $82,500 plus a $95,000 signing bonus to not play, but the contract does not count against the NHL salary cap. Buying Miller out would have resulted in an NHL cap penalty for the next four years -- $215,000 for the next two years, then $129,00 for 2025-26 and 2026-27.
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