The long wait is finally over for two of the Boston Bruins bright young stars from last season. Restricted free agents Reilly Smith and Torey Krug have signed matching one-year, $1.4 million deals with the club as first reported by TSN’s Aaron Ward and later confirmed in an official announcement by the club.
BREAKING NEWS: #NHLBruins sign defenseman Torey Krug and Reilly Smith to one-year contracts. Read official release: http://t.co/yM4ARNMW9L
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 29, 2014
The 23-year-old Krug scored 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points in 79 games last season in his rookie year. He led all NHL rookie defencemen in goals, assists and points, and was named to the NHL’s all-rookie team. Krug was originally signed by Boston as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State late in the 2011-12 season.
The 23-year-old Smith scored 20 goals and 31 assists for 51 points in 82 games last season. He was acquired from the Dallas Stars as part of the deal that sent Tyler Seguin to the Lone-Star State.
The two players had missed the start of Bruins training camp and four pre-season games negotiating these contracts. They were back on the ice with the Bruins for practice this morning at TD Garden.
The current deals mean that they will be scheduled to be restricted free agents again next summer.
The club also announced that they have released forward Ville Leino from his Tryout Contract.
The moves mean that the Bruins are $3,609,143 over the Salary Cap with 23 players on their current roster according to capgeek.com. Look for Chiarelli to make a trade to shed salary before the start of the NHL regular season.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @lastwordBkerr. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Sports Events Guide Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo by Francois Laplante/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images
