BOSTON – Wary of the cost of top-tier talent and not really needing major changes after winning the Stanley Cup, Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli said he doesn’t expect to be active in free agency when it begins today.

“I’m wary of the market, where I think it might be going,” Chiarelli said Thursday. “There are some good players out there. But I look at it and there’s not a lot of names that jump off the board. I feel the need to resist to give them the extra term or the extra dollar, and that’s what ends up happening.”

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Brad Marchand is a restricted free agent for the Boston Bruins in a summer that should be fairly quiet for the team. AP file photo

The Bruins are off to their shortest summer in history, with free agency starting only two weeks after they beat the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to clinch Boston’s first title since 1972. Chiarelli told his team not to spend too much time celebrating because training camp starts in less than three months.

“In my exit interviews with our players, I told them, ‘Keep your eye on the calendar. This isn’t a typical summer,’ ” Chiarelli said. “We’re prepared to face a challenge from the hangover perspective to start the year. And we certainly want to deal with it in our preparation of the players and our themes going into training camp.”

The players aren’t the only ones with an abbreviated offseason. Chiarelli has little time to prepare for the market to open.

Fortunately he has a pretty good roster to fall back on. Of the players who made significant contributions during the Stanley Cup run, only Michael Ryder and Tomas Kaberle are unrestricted free agents.

Chiarelli said he hasn’t given up on Kaberle, who was the team’s big acquisition at the trade deadline.

Billed as a puck-moving defenseman, Kaberle had 38 points with Toronto before the trade but just nine as a Bruin, and only 11 in 25 playoff games.

Chiarelli said he told Kaberle and Ryder to test the free-agent market, then come back to the Bruins to see if the price was right.

“The risk that we run is that they will get a deal. Then they can’t come back to us. And I understand that risk. So that’s where those two guys stand,” Chiarelli said.

“Those are two guys that gave us good service. So for the right number, I would like to have them back. But I don’t know what that number is.”

Chiarelli said he expects the salary cap to come down because of the problems in the North American economy, and the lack of top-tier players on the market also could inflate the prices of those that are available.

There’s also the fact that the Bruins need to re-sign some of their own, including rookie forward Brad Marchand, who is due for a big raise after their championship season.

“So I’m really not in a position to go out,” Chiarelli said, “and give a guy a big-term contract.”

SABRES: Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff agreed to a 10-year contract worth $40 million.

SHARKS: San Jose re-signed potential restricted free agents Jamie McGinn and Frazer McLaren to one-year contracts.

HURRICANES: Carolina re-signed forward Jussi Jokinen to a three-year contract worth $9 million.

AVALANCHE: Colorado will retire Peter Forsberg’s No. 21 before the Oct. 8 opener against Detroit.

BLUES: St. Louis and center T.J. Oshie agreed to a one-year contract extension worth $2.35 million.

RANGERS: New York will play an exhibition in Switzerland in October. The Rangers, who also will play in the Czech Republic and Sweden, will take on EV Zug in Zug, Switzerland on Oct. 3.

LIGHTNING: Tampa Bay re-signed goalie Dwayne Roloson to a one-year, $3 million deal.

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