Ok. Good for him though.

I hate the Bruins, but this is an outstanding deal, might bite them next year if he hits all those bonuses- and theyre likely structured so he makes them- its just manipulation to delay the full cost of the contract.
He has always been underpaid compared to other top players, so he deserves every penny he gets- even if its delayed a year.

Thanks - good explanation. Is this done a lot? I'd much rather lose part of my cap next year for a player who performed this year - than buy-out a player and pay him for years when he doesn't play at all.

Not really that often, mostly done with vets (35+ years old). And ELCs.

Yes, but the Wings were in salary cap hell by the end of their run. BOS is gonna be in much, much better position for a reload, once Bergeron retires and Marchand slows.

From the FAQ, the only contracts that can have performance bonuses are:
a) ELCs
b) 1-year 35+ contracts
c) 1-year standard contract for player returning from long-term injury (see FAQ for conditions)

Going by the active player search:
a) 326 active players on ELC contracts with performance bonuses.
b) 10 active players on 35+ contracts with performance bonuses (there's only 27 active 35+ contracts and 11 of those are multi-year [thus ineligible])
c) 1 active player on such a contract: Markus Nutivaara.

As for why more teams don't use performance bonuses instead of buyouts: because they can't. Most buyouts are for standard contracts (not 35+ contracts), thus those players were ineligible for performance bonus contracts. For the 35+ contracts, it may benefit the team but it doesn't benefit the player. E.g. if the Penguins had only offered Letang a 1-year contract with performance bonus, he'd of left for a team that offered him multi-year contract with guaranteed pay (and someone would have offered). Contracts are results of negotiations and players favor signing multi-year contracts.

I remember the 4 to 1 score, changed the game off, was looking ahead for Toronto Vs. Rangers, than turned on Sportcenter for the post game, instead I found the game was in OT intermission> WTF???

I had enough time to replay the last 10 minutes and than go back to live air to watch that OT goal.

Talk about an out of body experience, from another dimension. Weirdest and biggest disappointing moment for me as a Leaf fan.

The up 3 games to 1 vs. the Habs was totally expected and a non shocker thanks to this game.

It's not that big of a bargain, because of the performance bonuses. Those will get tacked onto next years cap, so next year Boston will have less cap space when the rest of the league will see their cap rise by $1 million. These two signings show Boston is all in on this year and they are sacrificing next year to do so. Given their age and the injuries they are dealing with, this is not a good bet.

5m for a ppg player, selke winner and future HOF player is a bargain

maybe you dont like the decision of the last push, but the deal is as cheap as you can get