Swap Geekie and Frederic. Geek is far better suited for center/playmaker and Freddy for more suited for power forward wing/net front guy.

Oh, and Wotherspoon is an AHL body/org depth guy. He does not make the roster.

Verbeek says no problem. But he needs the 2025 1st for Forbort.

Well he's not getting it. A late rd pick or FC are more than enough for Forbort.

Haha. They’d just bury him and I’m looking at Anaheim’s current defenseman / disagree

Lol

I like your thinking, but in terms of the contracts handed out, I highly doubt that the Bruins give Michael DiPietro more than Brandon Bussi, and McLaughlin more than Lauko.

No it isn't. Forbort is a liability. You can buy him out if you prefer. No one is taking him as an asset.

Anaheim can afford another dman in a trade or signings. No reason to bail Sweeney out.

Even if it cost an asset to move him, a 1st rd pick is egregious. He has one year left. This isn't a Cal Petersen scenario. Get real.

Of course it is. Have you not noticed there is zero cap flexibility around the league? Teams with cap space will exploit teams without.

A $5M unplayable goalie with two years left is a different situation than a $3M PK specialist D-man on an expiring contract. The Bruins don't need the cap space teams like PIT and TOR do.

Bruins look like they need every cent they can get. Toronto and Pittsburgh can't move any of their onerous contracts. Not sure why you think a team with cap space wouldn't weaponized their cap space.

Primarily because players don’t want to play in Anaheim by choice. Treating Forbort like someone like Murray is interesting. They can easily bury Forbort and maintain money. They may have to go with a 22 man roster position, but I’ve been assuming that would be the case regardless

Which is what will be happening because Verbeek isn't likely to take Forbort without assets being attached. He'd rather waste money on UFAs.

Assuming that players will sign for their qualifying offer. I could see them do what Mitchell did which is agree to a lower number in exchange for a 1 way contract

It certainly can work that way. 1 year contract is a free asset that prevents stupidity. From my perspective, the question is whether you can secure a prospect or even some cash to lower the amount. I’ve thought for a while making Forbort a $2m player opens up the market significantly.

Never once said a team shouldn't "weaponize cap space." I've been arguing this entire time that moving Forbort won't cost a 1st rd pick. Also, the Bruins don't need "every cent they can get." They only need to re-sign Frederic and Swayman and they have around $6M to do so, which puts them in a substantially better situation than the majority of the league.