The Bruins have a luxury right now in Charlie Coyle, but for how long? He will be an UFA at seasons end. When the Bruins made the trade last season for Charlie, they got a tremendous two-way player. There was a lot of push back in the region for giving up Ryan Donato, but it has worked out masterfully for the Bruins. What he has brought to the team is the luxury of having a consistent player who Bruce can move where he sees fit.
This is evident early on, as he has moved up to replace Krejci on the second line between Jake and Kuhlman most nights. What I am trying to calculate in my head though is how will the Bruins get him into the fold at seasons end? The Bruins will be embarking on a very interesting off-season and there is a slew of players either with contracts up or RFA’s needing to get done.
The list is fairly long. Krug, Halak, Wagner, Nordstrom, Chara, and of course Charlie. The restricted side is interesting as well with the two big names being DeBrusk and Grzelcyk. Both will be looking for new contracts. With players coming off the books, so to speak, the Bruins will have some flexibility. But there is only so much that can go around.
With the way Charlie fits into the teams system one would think he would be high on the priority list. Cap friendly has him making $3.2 million this season. What is the figure you want him back at? We need to also keep in mind he has only cracked 20 goals in a season, back in 2015. There are always intangibles that I look at aside from stats, however. What boxes does he check off exactly? That is fairly simple in my eyes: Sound defense? Check. Puck control? Check. The ability to perform on special teams?Also a check.
Those of you who hear me on the two podcast I am on will hear me talking about players performing on the ice not the stat sheet. That really seems to be my battle cry nowadays. There is so much he does out there besides scoring and that shouldn’t go unnoticed. The line he has with Heinen is one of the most sound on the team. They wont light up the score sheet, but they will make the right play 9/10 times on the ice.
The Bruins certainly will have their hands full in deciding what to do with all these players coming up. I know that I want Charlie here in the Black n’ Gold for the foreseeable future. There is always the chance they try and get something done prior to the off-season, but I haven’t read anywhere that is the case. There is the chance that it is happening – just covering my tracks on the situation. The Bruins are in good shape with him in the lineup. Lets hope that is a trend we see for a longtime.
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