The Boston Bruins have been facing serious cap issues ever since ex-GM Peter Chiarelli went all in to secure the services of future Hall of Fame forward Jarome Iginla. The Bruins desire to sign long-term, no-trade clause contracts with its players has only exacerbated that problem. With the draft just a few days away, the Boston Bruins have a lot of important choices in front of them.

The Bruins have still yet to sign Dougie Hamilton, and the organization recognizes this as its first major issue. To secure Hamilton, the organization has had to let go of players it might not want to have. While Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell‘s departures were pretty cut and dry, the loss of Carl Soderberg hurts the team a little bit more.

So the Bruins acknowledged their own cap problems and let Soderberg drift off into free agency. With Soderberg’s departure, they have to address a second ugly problem. The Bruins have yet to sign Ryan Spooner to a contract, and free agency is just nine days away.

Ryan Spooner was the second greatest surprise to hit the Bruins organization last year. (Spooner’s rise to the Bruins organization was only eclipsed by David Pastrnak.) Spooner helped Milan Lucic find his upper gears at the end of the season, and that line’s production almost saved the Bruins chances at another trip to the post-season.

Spooner’s time in Boston wasn’t easy. Claude Julien on several occasions berated the young forward for not playing to the Julien system. (Which was a little baffling since he was one of the bright spots for the B’s during that part of the year.) While Julien’s opinion improved over the season, it was clear that he preferred playing veterans like Campbell and Paille over more offensive minded players like Spooner.

If another team came along and offered Spooner a contract and a more solid shot to play on a NHL team, Spooner would jump at the chance. Odds are his one or two year contract would be relatively cheap, and possibly enticing to a team that has cap space to burn. The Bruins lost several young players to waivers last season. The Bruins can’t afford to hemorrhage quality players anymore.

It is important for the Bruins organization to acknowledge the skill and potential of the twenty-three year old forward and sign him to a contract before the Bruins lose him to free agency. Hopefully, they’re just waiting on locking him up once they secure the services of Hamilton next season.