Don Sweeney entered the first day of free agency with a little over $13 million in cap space.
The additional space from the Mike Reilly buyout and the trade with the Blackhawks involving Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno wasn’t enough to lure back Dmitry Orlov or Tyler Bertuzzi, two of Boston’s prized acquisitions at last year’s trade deadline. Even a trade involving Linus Ullmark or Matt Grzelcyk — or both — would’ve presented significant challenges in keeping at least one of Orlov or Bertuzzi.
Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic, two of Boston’s top RFA’s, are due for raises.