Bruins sign Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, are right back in Stanley Cup contention

The Boston Bruins have signed both Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo to very affordable bridge deals. The Stanley Cup window is still wide open.

First Charlie McAvoy, now Brandon Carlo. The summer that was supposed to be impossible for the Boston Bruins has come to fruition, rewarding the Bruins faithful who trusted general manager Don Sweeney to continue being very good at his job.

The Boston Bruins announced Brandon Carlo’s 2-year, $2.85 AAV deal on Tuesday morning, completing the offseason checklist and putting the team right back into Stanley Cup contention for the upcoming season.

The Carlo signing comes two days after Charlie McAvoy signed his three-year, $14.7 million deal with the club ($4.9 million AAV). Yes, the two signed bridge deals, which will give them more bargaining power a few years down the road. That said, it’s very clear that these two want to be Boston Bruins and given the current cap situation, it was incredible work by Sweeney to land both of these guys without giving anything up.

Given the current NHL market for defensemen and the skill and promise that both of these players possess, it’s obvious they are thinking team-first. At 22 and 21 years-old respectively, Carlo and McAvoy are well above their age in maturity and have completely bought into winning a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins. It’s most likely leadership from the top that drove them to these decisions. The Bruins have some of the most cap-friendly deals in the NHL with their top line of Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak all in the $6 million range.

The obvious downside to these deals is that the Bruins are going to have to pay both Carlo and McAvoy a whole lot more money in a couple of years. That said, these deals were made with one goal in mind, though, winning a Stanley Cup. The B’s will have more cap space to resign Carlo and McAvoy without certain contracts on the books. *cough* DavidBackes *cough*

The window for the current Bruins team is closing. They’ll compete for the next two or three years before having to retool and likely replace some key parts of this core. No one wants to talk about it, but Patrice Bergeron is 34, Brad Marchand is 31, David Krejci is 33 and Tuukka Rask, arguably the reason they made it to the Cup final last year in the first place, is 32. These guys all have a lot of good hockey left to play, but they’ll all be inching closer to the end of their primes. The team is looking to avenge their game 7 Stanley Cup Final loss from a year ago and it looks as though nothing is going to stop them.

Now, this shouldn’t be used as an opportunity to make fun of Toronto Maple Leafs fans, but it is worth pointing out that they wanted Mitch Marner burned at the stake just days before he signed his six-year, $65 million deal. Much like they wanted William Nylander burned at the stake just a year before this. Bruins fans calmly waited, trusted their general manager and didn’t yell at Brandon Carlo or Charlie McAvoy from across a park.

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This hockey season can’t get started soon enough. The Bruins are going to be back in contention for a Stanley Cup and everyone else is just going to have to deal with it. Congratulations to Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo on their new deals and congratulations to Don Sweeney for making it all happen.