The Bruins and forward Blake Wheeler have agreed to terms on a one-year contract, valued at $2.2 million, according to league sources and confirmed by WEEI's DJ Bean.

The Bruins' main priority before training camp starts in September now becomes signing second-overall draft pick Tyler Seguin.

Per a report from Jimmy Murphy of ESPNBoston.com, talks between the Bruins and Seguin's agent Ian Pulver have been progressing and Pulver expects a deal to be done before the Bruins take the ice at Ristuccia Arena for training camp.

The cap hit from Wheeler's contract is an even $2.2 million and it is a possibility that the Bruins may pursue a buy-out of one of the members of their current roster in order to accommodate Seguin's salary, expected to be around $850,000, plus bonuses.

Until Marco Sturm returns from recovering from surgery in his right knee, his $3.5 million cap hit will not be a concern for the Bruins, but the stingy winger is expected back in mid-November and a deal will have to be completed by then in order to keep the Bruins under the cap.

Assuming everyone stays put, the Bruins' offensive lines at training camp in Wilmington this year will probably pan out something like this:

Seguin-Savard-Horton

Lucic-Bergeron-Recchi

Ryder-Krejci-Wheeler

Thornton-Campbell-Paille

Jordan Caron and Brad Marchand are the most likely options as thirteenth forwards.

After signing Seguin, the Bruins front office will not be able to rest on its laurels. Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Michael Ryder, among others, are all in contract years. Bergeron and Chara should be big priorities for a team built on grit and energy.

Wheeler brings a lot of promise to a Bruins bench that is going to see an infusion of young talent this year; his 39 goals over two full seasons with the Bruins are not unimpressive, but his lack of physical presence have led many to question his real worth to the franchise.

Wheeler has struggled to find his game in the playoffs each of the past two years, registering only 6 points (1-5) in 21 playoffs games with the Bruins. On a team expected to make another deep run into the playoffs for the third year in a fow, he'll need to improve on those stats if he wants a contract offer for the 2011-12 season.

Comments (4)

Seguin's salary
written by Matt Reitz, July 30, 2010

Good write-up!

Just a quick note... even though Seguin's base salary will be around $850,000, those bonus will play into his cap hit (which means everything to the Bruins this summer). Expect his hit to be closer to $3.25 million... just another thing to make the cap even tighter...

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written by Ryan Durling, July 30, 2010

Thanks, Matt. My knowledge of the salary cap structures is, admittedly, lacking. There's a reason I write about college hockey, after all, haha.

Read on and help keep us in check! (bad hockey pun not intended)

-Ryan

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Where's Lucic?
written by MarkM, August 01, 2010

You plugged Wheeler in twice and zero Lucic:

Lucic-Savvy-Horton
Recchi-Bergeron-Seguin
Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder
Paille-Campbell-Thornton

Seguin's salary will be $900,000 -- the max entry-level contract. His bonuses -- upwards of over $2 million -- won't go against the cap until the 2011-12 NHL season, not this season. Just like how Tuukka Rask's bonuses from last year kicked-in against this year's cap.

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written by rdurling, August 01, 2010

Thanks, Mark. As anyone who's been following the team knows, I meant Luc-Bergeron-Recchi and Wheels and Ryder paired with Krejci.

Ryan

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