The thought of David Krejci going on long term injured reserve could have been a blessing in disguise for the Boston Bruins. After all, GM Peter Chiarelli only has $1.7 million of salary cap space to work with, thus they could have saved some more money and acquire a key piece or two at the trade deadline.

There’s one problem: what if Krejci (and Kevan Miller) return in time if the Bruins make their eighth straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Well, Chiarelli and company would once again be over the salary cap come the postseason.

It’s a tricky situation to maneuver as team’s try to fill roster spots in hopes of a run towards Lord’s Stanley. Bruins President Cam Neely was asked about this exact situation during his weekly appearance on “Felger and Mazz.”

“That is an option and it is our option. But, having said that, you have to be cap compliant if someone comes back from injury,” Neely said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s afternoon drive time show. “So, you can’t be over the cap because you put someone on long term injury, you added a bunch of cap dollars.”

Neely’s response might not have made Bruins fans happy, but its the reality of the situation and they don’t want to get caught circumventing the salary cap by any means.

Oddly enough, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, without any awareness of Neely’s comments, was asked about getting around the salary cap. Let’s just say, he did not endorse the B’s, or any team, trying to gain an advantage.

“I don’t know the specifics, but not only do we not encourage getting around the cap, we strictly enforce the cap. The rules are important because if nothing else they’re competitive, add everybody needs to be playing under the same set of rules,” Bettman said during his second intermission media availability.”

“We believe if you look back over the last decade, the competitive balance we have achieved with this system has been nothing short of phenomenal. That’s why you see races to the playoffs where every game matters. When you get to the playoffs anything can happen and that’s something that we think has been important to the growth and health of our game.”

Next year’s salary cap should not go below $71 million according to Bettman’s estimates, even if the Canadian currency was to drop to 75 cents per one US dollar. It’s could be as high as $73 million.

The higher it goes, the better the Bruins are in terms of signing potential free agents to new contracts, including Torey Krug, Dougie Hamilton, Reilly Smith (all RFAs) and Carl Soderberg (UFA). Still, it’s likely that they won’t sign all four players to new deals and they’ll have to make a decision on who stays and who goes.

The Black and Gold may need to part ways with some of their core players, like Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg or Loui Eriksson at some point as well. Some may be out the door sooner rather than later with Monday’s trade deadline looming.

Either way, Chiarelli and company are in a tough spot, and their salary cap situation isn’t getting any better.