The Boston Bruins met with fans and media on Thursday, which meant that some of their gnawing, lingering questions came up.
For one thing, what’s going on with still-unsigned restricted free agents Torey Krug and Reilly Smith? GM Peter Chiarelli admitted that he isn’t thrilled about their in-limbo statuses, yet he showed some optimism overall, as CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty reports:
Chiarelli at State of Bs on Krug/Smith: "My intention is to have the players playing for the Bruins. Theyre not going anywhere" #BruinsTalk
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 18, 2014
There are pretty rampant (and fairly reasonable) rumors that the Bruins might trade Johnny Boychuk to make space for the likes of Krug and Smith. Chiarelli didn’t exactly make any promises, merely saying “don’t believe everything you read.”
Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs had nothing but high praise for the way Chiarelli has managed the team, cap challenges or not. The Boston Herald’s Matt Kalman passes along a few key quotes:
Money quote from J. Jacobs on if #Bruins cap was mismanaged: “Oh, I think we’ve done a fabulous job. This is a great team.”
— Matt Kalman (@MattKalman) September 18, 2014
http://t.co/Ogozsm6U52 -- Jacobs on Bruins' salary cap management: 'we’ve done a fabulous job': http://t.co/ctCVAZl7gJ
— Matt Kalman (@MattKalman) September 18, 2014
However people feel about the situation, something has to give. It just might take some time to see how things might work out. Here’s one glance at how the roster might shake out, for instance:
Couple of things from Peter Chiarelli: he sees 4 forward spots open for competition in training camp, and he's willing to start yr w/8 D-men
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 18, 2014
Interesting, if not fabulous.