from Joe Haggerty of CSNNE,

The Bruins have roughly $60.5 million in contracts committed to 15 players for next season, and there’s still a good chance the cap will fall somewhere under $71 based on the NHLPA’s vote on higher escrow and the cap escalator. Last season the players voted against the escalator that chopped $1 million off the salary cap’s upper ceiling, and that same thing could very well happen again this season.

So Sweeney will make phone calls, trade text messages furiously with other GMs and start working toward moving some players around the NHL Draft and opening of free agency on July 1.

A decision on Milan Lucic is at the top of the list for a number of reasons: he can bring the most dynamic assets in return, he carries a $6 million cap hit for this upcoming season before UFA status and much of their offseason strategy would be tailored on whether or not they’ll have No. 17’s intermittently dominant physical presence on the roster.

But other players like Loui Eriksson, Chris Kelly, Dennis Seidenberg and Reilly Smith could, and should, very well be in play for trade talks, and the Bruins would be wise to at least see what’s out there for a 38-year-old Chara. He’s one year removed from being a Norris Trophy finalist and is still a top-pairing defensive stopper, and those players hold value around the NHL as potential game-changing forces . . . even if it’s only for a couple more seasons.

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