One of the most repeated questions recently: Why is an eighth-place team like the Bruins so tight against the cap?

Considering that Detroit is the NHL's model franchise -- who else could entice Marian Hossa to sign a one-year deal? -- here is a snapshot of the Bruins compared to the Red Wings. Both are in similar cap situations for 2008-09.

Goaltending

One of the biggest gifts the Wings had going into this offseason was the expiring contract of Dominik Hasek, who carried a cap hit of $4.05 million in 2007-08. Holland replaced Hasek with Ty Conklin ($750,000), one of the steals of free agency. The Wings also have Jimmy Howard (RFA) in contention for the backup job behind Chris Osgood.

Total 2008-09 cost: $2.166 million.

While Hasek comes off the books, the Bruins will have no such luck with Manny Fernandez's anchor of a $4.333 million contract.

Total 2008-09 cost: $5.433 million.

Bottom line: The difference between the goaltending salary commitment of the two clubs is a smidge over $3.2 million, the going cost for a young, puck-moving defenseman, which is never a bad commodity to have.

Defense

The heart of GM Ken Holland's team-building philosophy is an emphasis on intelligent, mobile defensemen who can retrieve pucks and send them up ice to their in-motion forwards to trigger the attack.

Holland has shown no hesitation to spend on the blue line, a decision that helped the Wings win the Cup in 2007-08. Here is how the top four break down: the best defenseman in the NHL in Nicklas Lidstrom as the centerpiece ($7.45 million in 2008-09), complemented by a premier puck-mover in Brian Rafalski ($6 million, one of the few premiums Holland had to pay on the open market), a rising star in Niklas Kronwall ($3 million), and a stay-at-homer in Brad Stuart ($3.75 million -- a touch pricey).

Total 2008-09 top-four cost: $20.2 million.

The Bruins have their own Norris Trophy finalist in Zdeno Chara ($7.5 million), but his supporting cast is nowhere near as stout as Lidstrom's. Boston's top four is rounded out by 35-year-old Aaron Ward ($2.5 million), Dennis Wideman (unsigned but expected to earn at least $3 million), and Andrew Ference ($1.4 million). Not even the most ardent Bruins fan can argue that Boston's D-corps can compete with Detroit's blue line.

Total 2008-09 top-four cost: $14.4 million, assuming a $3 million payday for Wideman.

Bottom line: The Wings have an additional $5.8 million committed to their top-four corps, but their decision to invest in the defense made them a dominant club in 2007-08.

Forwards

Perhaps the biggest tip of the hat you can give to Detroit is its ability to find gems in the lower tiers of the draft. You need look no further than their top line of Pavel Datsyuk (sixth round), Henrik Zetterberg (seventh round), and Tomas Holmstrom (10th round). This allows teams to develop their own players and keep them under their control for reasonable money.

During the Cup final, the following was Detroit's top-six lineup: Datsyuk ($6.7 million), Zetterberg ($2.65 million), Holmstrom ($2.25 million), Valtteri Filppula ($733,000), Johan Franzen ($942,000), and Mikael Samuelsson ($1.2 million). The Wings drafted five of the six forwards, with Samuelsson being the lone free agent signing. During the regular season, the six players combined for 343 points.

Now look to 2008-09 and assume Hossa ($7.4 million) slotting into Samuelsson's position as the No. 2 right wing, with the lines looking like this:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Filppula-Franzen-Hossa

Frightening, no? Those are two fearsome offensive lines, and don't forget that the Zetterberg threesome can be deployed as a shutdown unit.

Total 2008-09 top-six cost: $21.7 million, assuming a raise to $1.5 million for Filppula.

For the Bruins, let's flash back to Opening Night against Dallas, where the top two lines looked like this:

Schaefer-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew

Ugly. Schaefer was a 26-point bust who was a healthy scratch/fourth-liner for part of the season, Murray broke down yet again, and Bergeron suffered a career-threatening injury. Last season, these forwards combined for only 236 points, a number skewed by Bergeron's injury.

For 2008-09, the lines might be reconfigured to something like this:

Lucic-Savard-Ryder
Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew

Total 2008-09 top-six cost: $20.433 million.

Bottom line: The Wings got the best bang for their buck up front. Although Zetterberg is in line for a significant raise in 2009-10, the center is currently under one of the friendliest contracts in the NHL. Holmstrom is one of the league's most effective net-front men, especially compared to the recent signing of Ryan Malone at an annual $4.5 million (double No. 96's annual cost). In comparison, the Bruins need to squeeze more offensive production from their top six based on the money they're spending on their top two lines. Looking lower in the lineup, Murray's $4.15 million hit and Schaefer's $2.1 million hit are numbers are far too costly for their projected production.

For Thursday's extra-point question on Globe 10.0, Bob Ryan and Kevin Paul Dupont talk about the signing of Michael Ryder, the future of Glen Murray, and potential remaining offseason moves for the Black & Gold.

Was hoping to get the following thoughts into today's profile on Michael Ryder, but the comments arrived too late for publication.

Here's a short take from one Eastern Conference scout on the Bruins' latest pickup, highlighting the X-factor of Claude Julien:

"A one-dimensional player that if he's not scoring, he doesn't do anything else. He started the year in a slump, and on a team that plays up-tempo, he became not a [Guy] Carbonneau guy because suspect work ethic and skating issues were magnified with lack of scoring. They will put him with [Marc] Savard, and with his release and the prior relationship with Julien, it has a chance."

Michael Ryder and Claude Julien concluded a conference call to discuss the winger's signing of a three-year, $12 million contract yesterday.

"I'm excited to be part of something new for me this year and go into a team that showed a lot of interest," Ryder said. "I'm excited to start there and I can't wait for the season to begin."

Ryder acknowledged that he's coming off a rough year (14 goals in 70 games after posting back-to-back 30-goal seasons), but attributed his dropoff to a lack of opportunity. Ryder once rode on the top line with Christopher Higgins and Saku Koivu, but was reduced to a spare-part role by the end of the year.

"It was definitely a tough year for me," said Ryder, who potted only one power-play goal. "The team had actually done well so I was happy to be a part of it. But the numbers weren't there. I'm just happy now to get a chance to play. And play with a team that shows confidence in me and take a chance to trust me to be on the ice when I need to be."

* Ryder said he liked what he saw from the Bruins during the playoffs. He said he didn't need to make any calls to current Bruins to sell him on the organization.

* Julien noted that Ryder, while a shoot-first winger, can also play tough in the dirty areas and win puck battles. Ryder was credited with 122 hits last year. "He's very good at winning battles along the boards," Julien said. "Then stepping out into the slot area, protecting the puck, and shooting the puck. He's got a great release. He's gotten stronger in that area. He's a guy that's very physical as well. He's capable of throwing his weight around. So he's a good fit for us. One thing we did is we worked really hard in the offensive zone. We did create some chances, but I thought many nights, the difference in the game was lack of finish. That's where Michael comes in. He's pretty good at finishing his opportunities and will hopefully increase our goal output."

* Julien said Ryder's area of strength on the power play is coming off the left-side half-boards. Ryder scored 17 power-play goals in 2006-07, fourth in the league behind Anaheim's Teemu Selanne, Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk, and Montreal's Sheldon Souray. "From the half-wall, he's pretty good at stepping up away from there and stepping toward the net," Julien said. "He's got a quick release from his off-wing as well."

* Reading between the lines, Ryder was most likely offered a shorter-term deal elsewhere. Ryder said he liked the security of a three-year deal.

If the Bruins stand pat through training camp, here's one iteration of their opening night lineup, assuming a $3.5 million annual salary for Dennis Wideman:

Sturm-Savard-Ryder
Lucic-Bergeron-Kobasew
Axelsson-Krejci-Kessel
Schaefer-Sobotka-Thornton
Nokelainen

Waivers: Glen Murray, Jeremy Reich

Chara-Ward
Stuart-Wideman
Alberts-Ference
Hnidy

Thomas
Fernandez

Total cap hit: $53,224,166

Here is the positional breakdown of all the players under the Bruins' control and where they are expected to play in 2008-09.

Forwards (36)

Marc Savard, Boston
Patrice Bergeron, Boston
Glen Murray, Boston
Michael Ryder, Boston
Marco Sturm, Boston
Phil Kessel, Boston
Chuck Kobasew, Boston
Peter Schaefer, Boston
P.J. Axelsson, Boston
David Krejci, Boston
Milan Lucic, Boston
Vladimir Sobotka, Boston
Shawn Thornton, Boston
Jeremy Reich, Boston
Petteri Nokelainen, Boston
Nate Thompson, Boston/Providence
Zach Hamill, Providence
Blake Wheeler, Providence
Martins Karsums, Providence
Brad Marchand, Providence
Byron Bitz, Providence
Wacey Rabbit, Providence
Pascal Pelletier, Providence
Jeff LoVecchio, Providence
Matt Marquardt, Providence
Levi Nelson, Providence
Carl Soderberg, Providence/Malmo
Mikko Lehtonen, Providence/Espoo
Joe Colborne, University of Denver
Maxime Sauve, Val-d'Or
Jamie Arniel, Sarnia
Nicholas Tremblay, Clarkson
Mark Goggin, Choate/Chicago Steel
Jordan Knackstedt, Moose Jaw
Brock Bradford, Boston College
Sergei Zinovjev, Ak-Bars Kazan

* Joe Colborne, Maxime Sauve, Jamie Arniel, Nicholas Tremblay, Mark Goggin, Jordan Knackstedt, Brock Bradford, and Sergei Zinovjev are not under contract.

Defensemen (18)

Zdeno Chara, Boston
Aaron Ward, Boston
Andrew Ference, Boston
Andrew Alberts, Boston
Shane Hnidy, Boston
Dennis Wideman, Boston
Mark Stuart, Boston
Matt Lashoff, Boston/Providence
Matt Hunwick, Boston/Providence
Johnny Boychuk, Providence
Adam McQuaid, Providence
Andrew Bodnarchuk, Providence
Jeff Penner, Providence
Tommy Cross, Boston College
Denis Reul, Lewiston
Alain Goulet, Nebraska-Omaha
Radim Ostrcil, Ottawa
Yuri Alexandrov, Cherepovets Severstal

* Dennis Wideman has yet to re-sign.

* Tommy Cross, Denis Reul, Alain Goulet, Radim Ostrcil, and Yuri Alexandrov are not under contract.

Goalies (6)

Manny Fernandez, Boston
Tim Thomas, Boston
Tuukka Rask, Providence
Kevin Regan, Providence
Adam Courchaine, Ottawa
Michael Hutchinson, Barrie

* Michael Hutchinson is not under contract.

With Michael Ryder in the fold (three years, $12 million), here is the current salary grid detailing each player's annual cap hit:

Forwards

Marc Savard, $5 million
Patrice Bergeron, $4.75 million
Glen Murray, $4.15 million
Michael Ryder, $4 million
Marco Sturm, $3.5 million
Chuck Kobasew, $2.33 million
Phil Kessel, $2.2 million
Peter Schaefer, $2.1 million
P.J. Axelsson, $1.85 million
David Krejci, $883,000
Petteri Nokelainen, $850,000
Milan Lucic, $850,000
Vladimir Sobotka, $750,000
Shawn Thornton, $517,000
Jeremy Reich, $487,500

Defensemen

Zdeno Chara, $7.5 million
Aaron Ward, $2.5 million
Andrew Ference, $1.4 million
Mark Stuart, $1.3 million
Andrew Alberts, $1.25 million
Shane Hnidy, $757,000

* Yet to sign: Dennis Wideman (RFA).

* Matt Lashoff and Matt Hunwick will contend for NHL jobs next year. But for this model, their salaries are not included.

Goalies

Manny Fernandez, $4.33 million
Tim Thomas, $1.1 million

* Tuukka Rask will most likely spend another season in Providence.

Current cap hit: $54,311,666

Notes: With Dennis Wideman expected to receive at least $3 million annually, the Bruins will be over the $56.7 million cap unless they shed salary before then. Either way, they will have to move some money around to be under the ceiling.

By adding Michael Ryder's $4 million annual cap hit to the mix, the Bruins are at $54,361,666. They must still add Dennis Wideman's number (at least $3 million annually) to their total, which would put them over the $56.7 million cap ceiling. The Bruins must dip below the number by the start of the regular season.

"We'll look to improve our team, but it's unlikely that I'll continue in the free agent market unless we made a trade or move some money," GM Peter Chiarelli said.

While Chiarelli may back away from any signings, he said he'll remain involved in trade talks.

"If there are deals out there that will improve your team, you have to make sure you can participate in them," Chiarelli said. "You don't want to miss out on those."

* Chiarelli said that if he doesn't make any more moves, he'd be happy with his roster going into training camp.

* The Bruins had a two-year offer on the table for Glen Metropolit, but the center signed a two-year, $2 million deal with Philadelphia instead. It is the first multi-year deal of Metropolit's NHL career. "Glen was a real good soldier for us last year," Chiarelli said. "We made him an offer, but at his age and his point of his career, I don't begrudge him going out and testing the market. He's a good man. I'm happy to see he got what he wanted. I wish him the best. We've got some young guys that can fill in. That's part of our plan here. I don't feel badly about it because Glen's a good person and he got a deal he liked."

* The deals that went to defensemen ($7.1 million annually for Brian Campbell, $6.5 million for Wade Redden, $4.1 million for Mark Streit) showed the lack of quality puck-movers and the price that teams are willing to pay for them. "There were some deals on defense that were a lot higher than I would have thought," Chiarelli said.

GM Peter Chiarelli said Michael Ryder was his second choice among free agent forwards, with Marian Hossa presumed to be his top target. The Bruins made their final offer sometime around 7 p.m., with two other teams also in the running for the right wing.

"He's a player we coveted," Chiarelli said. "We feel he'll make our team better. We're happy to have him. He's up on my board now."

Montreal had given an undisclosed team exclusive negotiating rights to Ryder prior to today's opening of free agency. But that team was unable to come to terms with Ryder, who agreed to a three-year, $12 million contract.

* Ryder has a history with Claude Julien. The Boston coach was with Ryder in Hull (QMJHL), Hamilton (AHL), and Montreal. "Claude left here a happy man," said Chiarelli. Julien, Chiarelli, and vice president Cam Neely were active in recruiting Ryder on the phone today.

* Ryder scored 30 goals in 2005-06 and 2006-07. But the shoot-first right wing -- think a younger and faster Glen Murray -- scored only 14 goals in 70 games in 2007-08. In the first round of the playoffs against the Bruins, Ryder was a healthy scratch for three of the seven games. Ryder saw less than 10 minutes of ice time in two of the four games in which he played. "I'd characterize him as being in the doghouse," Chiarelli said. "I don't know the facts behind it. I know a little bit about it, talking to Michael and his agent and seeing from afar what was going on. I don't know what to attribute that to. They had some very skilled players. Every time we played him, he played hard. He was dangerous. He's a player I feel has very strong potential to continue scoring at the level he has in the past. He's had two 30-goal years. He's a guy who's had a history with Claude. You have to knock that year out of the box when projecting on him."

* Having played against the Bruins eight times during the regular season and seven more times in the playoffs, Ryder was familiar with how the team operated. "He really liked the way we played throughout the year, despite the fact that they waxed us a little at the beginning," Chiarelli said. "He liked the way that we played hard. He recognized our deficiency in goal scoring. That's one of his stronger points."

While we're waiting for the details on the Ryder signing, here's some video of the former Canadiens sniper.

All goals from this clip were scored in the 2006-07 season, when Ryder notched his second straight 30-goal season (58 points). He was 14-17--31 in 70 games last year.

Michael Ryder has signed a multi-year deal with the Bruins.

GM Peter Chiarelli is scheduled to speak at 9:45 p.m. No word on whether there will be a signing to announce.

We're approaching a three-hour delay and still no word on when GM Peter Chiarelli will be available.

We're running low on fuel (not to mention drinks and pretzels) here on Flight 0701 and might have to make an emergency landing if things aren't resolved soon. Paging air traffic control...

GM Peter Chiarelli's conference call has been delayed for over an hour because the Bruins are awaiting a decision from a player on whether to sign with Boston.

Feels like just another day at Logan during flight delays...

Transaction: F Glen Metropolit signs with Philadelphia, agreeing to a two-year deal.

Analysis: The underdog who gets invited to camp last year turns a productive 2007-08 into a two-year contract, the first of his career. The Bruins have enough depth at center to withstand Metropolit's departure, but they'll miss his veteran savvy and his positive attitude in the dressing room. Should be a depth forward and a penalty-killer for the Flyers.

GM Peter Chiarelli was scheduled to host a conference call at 6 p.m. But according to director of communications Matt Chmura, the call will be delayed indefinitely for an unspecified reason.

Transaction: D Brian Campbell signs with Chicago, agreeing to an eight-year contract worth an annual $7.1 million.

Analysis: One of the biggest names is now off the market. Campbell, the premier puck-rushing defenseman available, is considered a one-man breakout who can energize a power play. If they had the required room under the cap, the Bruins would have made a push for Campbell, given their need for defensemen who can move the puck.

Transaction: G Patrick Lalime signs with Buffalo, agreeing to a two-year deal worth an annual $1 million.

Analysis: No. 1 goalie Ryan Miller saw too much action last year. Lalime will get more starts than Jocelyn Thibault did last year, meaning the Bruins might see someone besides Miller in one of the showdowns in 2008-09.

Transaction: G Olie Kolzig signs with Tampa Bay, agreeing to a one-year deal worth an annual $1.5 million

Analysis: G Mike Smith, acquired from Dallas in a package for Brad Richards, is expected to be the Lightning's No. 1 goalie. But Kolzig, jettisoned by the Capitals, could be motivated to prove he still has something left. No doubting the fact that Tampa Bay has improved its team.

Transaction: Former Boston G Alex Auld signs with Ottawa, agreeing to a two-year deal worth an annual $1 million.

Analysis: Wise move by GM Bryan Murray to nab the 6-foot-5 Auld, who turned his career around in Boston (was in San Antonio when he was traded by Phoenix) when Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez were sidelined with injuries. Martin Gerber is Ottawa's No. 1 goalie, but don't be surprised to see Auld make a run for the starting job. Auld is at his best when he sees lots of action, and considering Gerber's history of hiccups, the ex-Bruin could come back to trouble his old club in division matches.