One of the key pieces on Boston’s 2011 championship squad, defenseman Dennis Seidenberg is today on waivers for the purposes of being bought out, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.
It’s a significant move, since Seidenberg has two years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $4 million. Per General Fanager, a buyout will mean a cap hit of $1.17 million next season, $2.17 million in 2017-18 and $1.17 million in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
So the Bruins will gain almost $3 million in cap space for next season. They went into the summer looking to improve their defense, and while they haven’t done it yet, they’re expected to do so in free agency or via trade, or quite possibly both.
Seidenberg, 34, has been with the Bruins since 2010. As mentioned, he was a big part of their 2011 Stanley Cup run, when he skated with Zdeno Chara on the top pairing.
“They’ve been a great shutdown pair,” coach Claude Julien said at the time. “They’ve logged a lot of minutes. They’re obviously capable of logging those kinds of minutes. They’re both in great shape. They both have a lot of endurance. They’ve been a key reason why we’ve had success.”
But time marches on. Seidenberg appeared in 61 games last season (1G, 11A) and logged just 19:24 of ice time per contest, down significantly from the 22:06 he averaged in 2014-15.