Building a perennial Stanley Cup contender requires NHL teams to roll the dice and gamble on long-term contracts.
For much of Jeremy Jacobs' tenure as owner of the Boston Bruins (1975-present), the team has been unwilling to take these risks.
But after many years of not putting enough resources into building a winner, the Bruins have shelled out $108 million to re-sign center Patrice Bergeron and starting goalie Tuukka Rask to eight-year contracts in the team's latest attempt to lock up its core long-term.
The challenge for Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli wasn't persuading Rask and Bergeron to commit their future to the franchise, it was weighing the risks and rewards of signing two players for eight years in an incredibly violent sport.
In Bergeron's case, Boston is making a huge commitment (eight years, $52 million) to a player who's suffered four concussions in his nine-year NHL career; including one that forced him to miss 72 games in 2007-08.
"When you're looking at giving a long-term contract to a player you look at everything and you accept a lot of the risks," said Chiarelli on Friday ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Nicholas Goss
Playing Risk vs. Reward for Boston Bruins’ Bergeron and Rask Deals
July 12th, 2013 by Nicholas Goss Leave a reply »
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