James Neal, Reilly Smith

Pittsburgh Penguins left wing James Neal (18) loses his edge while chasing the puck against Boston Bruins right wing Reilly Smith (18) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Monday, Nov. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

(Elise Amendola)

With training camp about a month away, the Boston Bruins have yet to sign restricted free agents Torey Krug and Reilly Smith. While the Bruins still have time to clear salary cap space with trades to facilitate those negotiations, it’s possible that Marc Savard’s situation could make a difference in the contracts Krug and Smith end up receiving.

Savard, who hasn't played a game since 2011, recently took a scouting position with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League, further reinforcing the idea that he almost certainly will never play in the NHL again due to post-concussion issues.

Yet because Savard hasn’t technically retired, the Bruins can still place him on the long-term injured reserve list to gain some salary cap relief. With Savard on LTIR, his contract won’t count against the cap because it would put the Bruins over the limit, but it also will provide the Bruins with some extra maneuvering space, as it did last year when they were close to the ceiling.

The Bruins need to be under the $69 million cap when they submit their Opening Day roster, after which they can place Savard on injured reserve. They then would get added cap space in the amount of Savard’s cap hit ($4,027,143), minus whatever space they had under the cap when they placed him on LTIR. Instead of the $69 million ceiling, they would have closer to $73 million to spend.

Right now the Bruins are over the cap without having signed Smith or Krug, both of whom will likely command between $2 and $2.5 million per year.

With negotiations having gone on this long, it seems plausible that Boston could be waiting to receive that extra maneuvering space from putting Savard on injured reserve before signing Krug and Smith.

Obviously, waiting until the end of training camp to settle matters with two promising young players is far from ideal, but that approach could allow the Bruins to give Smith and Krug more substantial raises this year, rather than asking them to settle for smaller bridge deals.

Last season, Krug's cap hit was $916,667 and Smith's was $900,000. Krug ranked 15th among all defensemen in points, with 14 goals and 26 assists, and Smith broke out with 20 goals and 31 assists while playing on Patrice Bergeron's line. (Reports surfaced recently that Krug had received an offer from an unidentified KHL team, but considering the unlikeliness that Krug would defect to the KHL, if such an offer had been made, that likely won't increase his leverage much with the Bruins.)

There are other ways the Bruins could still ease their cap-related pain, primarily by trading current roster players for draft picks or prospects. Chris Kelly, who’s a serviceable bottom-six forward but overpriced at $3 million a year, would seem an obvious candidate for such a trade, but after back problems kept Kelly out from April 8 onward last year, it’s possible the Bruins wouldn’t get as much as they’d like in return for him.

Johnny Boychuk’s name has also been mentioned in trade rumors. Considering the fact that the youth of their defense corps hurt the Bruins in the playoffs against the Canadiens, though, trading a proven top-four defenseman in a year when they still plan to contend seems unlikely.

Matt Bartkowski could also be on the move, though his $1.25 million cap hit isn’t a major problem. Assuming Krug is signed, the Bruins would have eight NHL defensemen under contract and could try to move either Bartkowski or Adam McQuaid, though McQuaid’s stock may be relatively low after he played just 30 games last year due to injury.

Those trades provide options for the Bruins to make room for Smith and Krug before training camp starts, but if they’re hoping to hang onto the players currently on their roster, the cap relief from Savard’s contract seems to provide them the best chance to do so.