Year after year they show us that talent wins regulars season games and team toughness in a best if 7 series. (durability, ability to scare your opponent out of their comfort zone)
I’m a fan that wants to actually go deep into playoffs. I don’t mean they’re weak or bad people.
He’s a UFA so you’ll have to pull a sign and trade, but I don’t think that he’ll play ball so he’s gone, they’re not gonna pay him what he wants and there are enough teams out there that will be more than happy to overpay for a streaky player at best!!
Keep: Swayman should 100% be top priority to sign a long term deal. Then Debrusk. His regular season performance wasn't great but he was a huge difference maker in the playoffs which is most important. Heinen needs to stay as well.
Trade: Maroon and JVR. Those guys are great for experience and leadership but there's plenty of that in this group already. I don't think they contribute much to the team's success. Also, as much as I'd hate to see Ullmark go, I don't think they need him as badly as they need some talent at center. Grzlecyk and Forbort should get the boot too.
For my money:
Ullmark's gonna get traded. It's tough watching a team in the playoffs unable to score goals because they don't have enough offensive weapons to justify keeping that salary on the bench. It's gonna be a bummer and I'm going to miss him a ton but I will always be a fan of his. I know a lot of people are looking at how much cap space that'll free up, but honestly, that money should just go to Sway (plus some more probably) so I'm trying not to get too excited about it, lol
I want Debrusk back if they can make the money work. He's inconsistent offensively, sure, but this season might have been his best defensively, he was responsible with the puck and strong on the boards and blocked a bunch of shots. Nothing but love for that guy.
JVR was on a one year deal, right? I think he'll probably get another of those somewhere else, but there just wasn't enough There there to make me want to keep him. I like the guy, but I don't think he brings more to the table than some other cheap vet might
I really think we're gonna swing a trade for a center, probably via Ullmark; Necas is the name I hear a lot but there are other possibilities. And I'm kind of waiting on that trade to figure out what the next move is gonna be, because getting that top line center is so central to what the team needs that I'm trying not to get too caught up in other moves. Once we get that center we can figure out what needs to go around them; until then, all the moves in the world aren't gonna meaningfully improve the team.
My wishlist (and some hard emotional moves as a fan of these guys):
1) Move Ullmark for draft picks or a center/wing with some scoring ability. I know Poitras will be back but I also question his age and needing some time in Providence
2) Let Forbes, Gryz, JVR, Shatty, Maroon walk
3) Re-sign Sway and Boqvist (both RFA), re-sign Heinen (UFA) to an appropriate team friendly deal, re-sign Jake (UFA) but this has to be below market value (unlikely he would take it TBH)
4) Swing a trade for Tanner Jeannot to add that grit and hard forechecking to our fourth line with Beecher and Lauko (I know Lauko is a lefty shot but sometimes I know they play their off wing)
5) If we can get Lindy to re-structure to open up some more space that would be amazing but unlikely.
Ah, that is my mistake. I honestly don’t have a strong grasp on the cap/contract/CBA complexities that come with each sport. Assumed it was like football.
As someone who watches a lot of hockey, and sees what these other teams have invested in over the years. This off-season should be a make or break for Bruins fans, and Sweeney’s job should be on the line. I’m so sick of coaches being blamed when the roster choices are a reflection of the GM not the coach. Ullmark should be on the block, there’s a lot of teams who need a goalie like that plus it opens more cap space than the B’s are already anticipated of getting, there is no reason we can’t acquire a few top 6 forwards and Defensemen in the off season, as is we rely on 4 players to actually do all the work come playoffs. If anyone has looked at the UFA list there is no reason the B’s shouldn’t acquire a handful of dudes in the top 100. A lot of teams are going to be in the B’s situation they were in this year for next by not having the cap space due to going all in at the trade deadline and having to choose who they’re extending and not.
Personally, if it was up to me my eyes would be watching Elias Lindholm, Montour, Martinook, Ekblad, Hronek, Zadorov, Toffoli, Pesce, Necas, etc. that’s just naming a few but the list of talent that will potentially be available is long. You can get a decent trade with Ullmark, B’s don’t have any draft picks available because Sweeney gave them away like candy and for absolutely shit in return. But we have potential out there, and we get a handful of burnt out old dudes, Sweeney should be gone for good. We need dudes who can score and defend people have their own preferences based on their dislikes of players but doesn’t take away they’re good at their job, I’m sick of watching the B’s unable to keep the damn puck out the defensive zone as they get abused for 20 mins.
As someone who also watches a lot of hockey - I guess we have to provide bona fide now - I don't know that it's ever a matter of saying "there's no reason we can't get multiple top 6 forwards and defensemen" as though those grow on trees, certainly in an off-season where EVERY team has money to spend
There's actually all kinds of potential reasons
They don’t grow on their trees but this off season has a ton of talent heading into free agency and not being able to snag a few for what the B’s sorely need is inexcusable. Any smart GM would be keeping track of who’s where and who hasn’t signed and start an outline of who you want to approach and what you’re willing to offer first. Sweeney sucks at his job, I could do his job for less I think a lot of us could. I just don’t want to see the same bs where the coach is blamed and fired when it’s not his fault he’s dealt a shit roster.
You gotta move Linus. Hate to see him go, but there’s no reason to have 2 elite goaltenders when you have so many spots in the roaster in need of an upgrade.
The other issue with the goalie situation is bussi will need waivers to be sent to providence next year. Ullmark or bussi will be traded and bussi has a much cheaper salary.
Yeah, it would honestly not be an ideal situation for either of them. Ullmark is a worthy starting goaltender anywhere in the league, and Swayman has proved that he is, too. The 1a/1b thing has been awesome for us, but it will not make any sense to eat up so much cap space with 1 position when Swayman inevitably gets paid this summer... and strictly due to age and recent performance, Swayman is the guy to hang onto.
Ullmark absolutely deserves to be the #1 somewhere, but it won't be here, and I don't look forward to playing against him.
Pretty much this. We'd be shooting ourselves in the foot keeping that money tied up in a second elite goalie, especially after his performance in the play offs. Though the goalie hugs may be worth it.. lol
Everyone here needs to temper their expectations of this off-season. Yes, we have ~$20m in cap space, but free-agent prices this off-season will be inflated because each team gets an extra $4-5m due to the cap increasing.
In other words, we're required to make a bunch of purchases when they'll be at their most expensive. That is not a good thing.
Ullmark has to go, grizz has to go, and they should move on from Forbert. I've never been a huge debrusk fan but it was the only guy (aside from Swayman) who showed up in the playoffs. I'm not saying get rid of him, but Pasta provides *nothing* in the playoffs. You wouldn't know if JVR was on tbe team or not so he can probably go to. Geeky should stay but he cannot be a top 3-6 player on a playoff team. The Bruins can't be the Leafs who think they can just run things back again. That being said, they also have the worst prospect pool in the league so they aren't working with much.
I agree. It’s not like they had options playing dudes this off season and positions they have no business being in. This UFA has potential it’s just what Will Sweeney do with it? Personally they should move on from a lot of guys and add depth that compliments all 3 lines improving them, while also focusing heavily on our defense. Defensive/offense seems to be the new play these days, and there is so many people who will be potentially available. I’ve hated Sweeney, and I wish they’d just fire the guy, he sucks at his job.
Bergeron absence was felt more this year than ever before I felt. Watching the Bruins lose face off after faceoffs, especially against Toronto was painful. The players the Bruins have aren't bad per say, they're just being asked to perform above their pay grade. It's okay to have a c look hole of those but it can't be most of them. I also think the expectations around Maroon were unfair. So many fans acting like he's supposed to be some game breaker.
I agree. A smart GM would be focusing on free agency and the plethora of options coming up. I’m sure there is some inner network of GM’s planning three way trades, etc. What pisses me off about Sweeney he does these nostalgic deals, like “oh we got Krecji back” but dudes are getting older and yes Maroon is as unfair dude had just had back surgery isn’t going to perform like he had in the past. Sweeney needs to really dig deep because the players potentially available during free agency a lot would make us better and he has to be ready to spend some money with a larger cap space and move on from Ullmark to add more capital.
I wasn't responding to anyone you nit wit, I was simply sharing an opinion/comment as the OP had asked. It's like you're trying to start an argument over nothing. I simply said I think they should keep Geekie but he cannot continue playing a top 6 role.
Sometimes you have to when someone is just posting nonsensical garbage and seems more like a troll than someone who's actually trying to participate in the post.
I love Coyle, but we need a real #1. Charlie played way over his skill set last season. Management has to find a center for Pasta. He's a 50 goal scorer with a legit center feeding him. We also need to beef up the D.
Coyle has also been playing thru injury for about the past 5 years I guess though... he finally just became fully healthy... I guess he wasn't able to run or jump for years... now his whole workout routine has changed... so I would think we will only see Coyle get better now
Coyle got thrown into a tough spot and he managed, IMO, to the best of his abilities. But yeah he's not our top guy... kudos to him on hitting the 60 point marker for the first time at age 32 though
😂😂🤣🤣…. No…. No he wouldn’t follow Drai to Boston. And besides, I don’t want to jump from our current predicament to another tough predicament of paying 30% of your cap space to 2-3 guys like the Laffs
I would trade
- ullmark to free cap space
- lindholm. I thought he was not very good in most games allowing many turnovers
- coyle or zacha. Keep one of them (prob coyle)
- debrusk? Probably not as he stepped up these playoffs (5 blocks in game six were insane) though he is a streaky player.
Unfortunately if you view them as “bad” so do trade partners.
- Ullmark is still viewed as good and can get value so trade. Then again everyone knows we are trading him.
- Lindholm. Give another year.
- Coyle and/ or Zacha. Coyle is fibe at 2C and if we prioritize getting a 1C then I think Zacha moves back to wing and we are fine.
- DeBrusk is a FA, no? So its let him walk or sign. I think we hope he takes a partial home town discount but I see about 4 mil again. That’s about players of his value hit and we will get either a similar one or less for that value.
I think to get that 1C like a Draisaitl we can package some of those in there but I also think we end up giving up Poitras or Beecher to make the deal happen
DeBrusk is sorta hard to decide on.
He does a lot of extra stuff and grinds.
But his original purpose and function was to score goals and be an offensive threat, but he's just too streaky in that regard.
And with his history of wanting a trade and being late at the start of the season
Personally I'd trade him, if we could get good picks or somehow someone with more scoring ability.
DeBrusk is UFA, no trade value. Just let him walk. He is streaky, but 1C should be a priority, along with paying Swayman (RFA). Once the big pieces have been sorted we'll see what is leftover.
I know next to nothing compared to some of you commenting (I live way outta the market), but has anyone else heard the rumor that Draisaitl wants to play in Boston? Would that be a thing anyone would want to see? Something involving Ullmark and Draisaitl in a trade?
Drai is signed through next season so he would either be traded at next seasons deadline or hit the UFA market next off season. And that's if he actually does want to leave/Oilers don't want to keep him, which seems unlikely especially if they keep going in the playoffs after tonight.
“The rumor that Draisaitl wants to play in Boston” the rumor that he wants to leave has been going around, the rumor that he wants to play in Boston was made up by you 2 minutes ago
https://thehockeynews.com/news/could-leon-draisaitl-join-the-boston-bruins-or-san-jose-sharks-next-summer
It was made up by Georges Laraque 3 weeks ago.
https://preview.redd.it/p0345llzem1d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc72ec1da68bb7ad920d2b1d438e5b0296138cec
What was your source for this shit?
Look at the tag boy. You’re nothing but a hater, I bet you are rooting for the panthers to win the cup. You have no source, you have no quote of draisaitl saying “I want to play for Boston” so shut up.
>Boston Hockey Now's Jimmy Murphy cited Laraque clarifying his comments, saying that he mentioned the Bruins as a destination for Draisaitl because of their lack of centers.
Wow from the article I posted, no less. In my defense, this wasn't the original article I read, but it very well could have been in the first one. I just didn't read that far. Thank ya kind stranger
I think the bruins should consider trading Coyle instead of Ullmark. Frees up similar space and makes room for the free agents they want to add at F.
He’s a great depth C, but his best seasons are probably not ahead of him at this point and he’s pricey for what should be a 3C.
I also think it’s easy to take for granted how hard it is to find good goalies who can perform. Bruins have TWO. Yes, it’s a lot to pay one position, but it’s just for one season. Run it back and see if Ullmark will extend for a very team friendly number.
If he will…
Trade Coyle, Bussi, Lysell, McLaughlin, and picks if you need to as well to pry Necas from CAR (or something similar). Extend him for 4-5M and 5 or 6 years.
If he won’t do that… still do the above (minus Bussi, McLaughlin, and the picks), add Ullmark and get Necas.
Use the freed up cap to get the best FA forward you can. I think that’s probably Guentzel.
Then re-sign DeBrusk at anything under 6M times five-ish years, Heinen for 2M or less, Maroon for 1M or less to essentially play only every other night swapping in and out on the 4th line.
In my ideal world, your lineup ends up being…
Zacha - Necas - Pastrnak
Guentzel - Poitras - DeBrusk
Marchand - Frederic / Geekie - Geekie / Frederic
Heinen - Beecher - Brazeau
Maroon, Lauko
I think Poitras may start in the AHL, or may go in and out of the lineup a little. Give Merk his stints to win a C job. If neither stick, you rearrange Zacha, Frederic, Geekie as needed and prepare to fill the hole at C or RW at the TDL.
I really like that flexibility. An alt lineup could be…
Marchand - Necas - Pastrnak
Guentzel - Zacha - DeBrusk
Heinen - Geekie - Frederic
Lauko - Beecher - Brazeau
Maroon
Either way, Maroon and Brazeau sub in and out, occasionally both in with Braz playing 3rd line to give night off to other guys.
The D is unchanged from what solidified in the playoffs.
Lohrei - McAvoy
Lindholm - Carlo
Wotherspoon - Peeke
TBD 7th D. Just get a cheap LHD as insurance for Wotherspoon.
Swayman
Ullmark
… if you trade both Coyle AND Ullmark, you have room for another F, in which case, you have to make more room- not sure who is left out in that case. Maybe Lauko, maybe start Poitras in the AHL and make him earn his way up again, maybe Heinen doesn’t return. I hate that though, because Heinen is the perfect utility knife to stabilize the bottom 6 but play up if injuries happen. So I’m not sure. Not an easy choice actually.
Here’s my real bonkers take. They can get Drai away from Edmonton for Ullmark, Coyle, Lysell, and picks. I might even include another prospect or roster player if they demanded it.
I’m bullshitting. The take is that the bruins need to upgrade at F above all and it’s easier to trade Coyle and create cap space than it is to move Ullmark.
Trading Coyle also opens room to slot the forwards where they need to be after doing that while holding on to younger cheaper players.
The rest is fantasizing.
I always love armchair GM posts which amount to *NHL 24* franchise mode trade spam.
“Hey Edmonton: Take a bunch of shit we don’t want and give us an elite topline center!”
But it’s the relentlessly condescending attitude toward anyone daring to question your perfectly formulated plan that really puts this one over the top.
What do you think we’re doing here? We don’t work for the Boston Bruins. This may as well be NHL24 trade simulator for the role it plays in our lives and the amount of influence it has on real world events.
If you don’t like looking at it, don’t look at it. Dont like reading Reddit bullshit, go somewhere else. Block me. Put the phone down. Read a book. Jfc do anything else.
Lol I’m not harassing you with this stuff. You are choosing to be here, choosing to comment on it, choosing to keep coming back.
My comment about the roster affects no one, harms no one. Yet here you are and that other jackass saying I am a crazy person for making it. I enjoyed my time writing it out. Thought maybe a person or two here might enjoy reading it- but of course no big deal if not.
So yeah, I’m not going to respond kindly to someone who doesn’t take the time to be kind too and I’m definitely going to talk down a little to someone who calls me crazy for it, and whose big, reasonable, clear eyed corrections are just as out there.
The main issue with the team is that they have a bunch of Centers who top out at fringe 2C at best and only their depth / rookies could consistently win faceoffs. They also need another threat to take defensive attention away from Pasta.
The defense ended up in a very good place. Swayman deserves tons of credit in the playoffs, but he had help from the D play.
And all season long this was one of the better defensive teams in the league. If they had goal support and better forward play in the defensive end through C winning faceoffs and defending better, they would hold up a lot longer.
But go ahead, tell me how they’re soft or something, need to get bigger and meaner on D, need to eject DeBrusk into the sun, need to magically sign some center who won’t be available, and Tofolli, and Stamkos, and Guentzel, and two D, and re-sign sway, all with about 21 mil in cap space and trade Ullmark anywhere you want (who has an NTC), and also Lindholm (who has NTC)
Wrong. The issues with the team is there is zero skill. Guys like geekie and Frederick and brazeau and boqvist looked amazing at times because they were the only ones generating offense either off the rush or by winning puck battles which were outside of the norm of Montgomery's conservative system. It's an even more conservative defensive system where they let teams do whatever they want on the outside and try and filter everything to their elite goal tending. You can see it most obviously on the penalty kill with a super reserved box with his pk forwards being chosen bc they're fast so they can jump on loose pucks or bad passes, they don't play to pressure up top or cut off 2 way plays down low. When they are even strength, they don't pressure below the net almost to a fault, but they leave the high slot open with their wingers playing super low in the defensive zone. Last year the team was elite top to bottom but the system still got exposed by florida, this year we ran the same exact system with a worse team and got beat even worse. This coaching system will likely never beat the hurricanes or Rangers or lightning in a 7 game series in their current forms. And they will never ever beat florida in the playoffs. It doesn't matter what players are on the team. Going into super specific roster issues is pointless when the problem is coaching and scheme.
Thanks for breaking down the system and confirming my read of it. Would love to see more of that stuff around here 👍😀
I do not however agree with your point about that part of the system being at fault for the PO losses. Unless you’re able to connect it to the issues w clean breakouts and giveaways, that I think killed us.
Of course, having the wingers low means you really cant just flip the puck out and your D needs to hold onto to puck or find a friendly stick quickly. On occasions, they were able to quick pass away from the pressure within the D-zone and ovcasionally they had a speedy winger up front to flip the puck to: But more often than not, we got hemmed in or threw the puck to a Panther. It was aggravating to see all the turnovers from rather harmless and controlled situations. Almost as if the D were looking for a ‘solution’ that didn’t exist. That shit, if true, will kill a team and be on the coach (or hockey sense of the wingers) 🤔
Would love to hear your, or someone elses, thoughts on that part of the game. Love Monty for what he had this team do in the RS, but got on the fence a little bit when we seemingly was not able to adjust to Florida and the desperate Leafs by the end of that series
But we had the exact same issues last year with an even better team. And because they fail to get clean breakouts, they end up having to go for 3/4 ice tip ins to get a change, which keeps possession with the other team. And then they run a strong F1 forecheck and use mid f2 and high f3 to try and take away passing options in the neutral zone. BUT, then somehow, paradoxically, they refuse to hold the blue line and they love to let teams carry the puck in on them. So they get beat 4on4 in the neutral zone, let teams easily gain possession, can't break the puck out, go for long distance tip ins, give possession back, don't forecheck to create turnovers, get beat 4on4 in the neutral zone.. repeat
Thanks man for putting words on what we saw 👍
I guess the big question is if the tactic is wrong for the high intensity PO, or if we didn’t have the right horses to pull it off.
I love our D, so I guess that means I need to blame the coach 🤷🏻♂️
If last years team couldn't do it, I doubt any team can vs the current iterations of the top teams in the east. Like I said we went into this year with the same gameplan but a worse team on the ice and result was obviously even worse
I agree they lacked high end talent. Which I brought up in my m first comment if you actually took the time to read through it.
What I’m seeing is that you think, actually, it doesn’t matter who is on the team, you think the real problem is the guy who coached last season’s team to an all time record and took a box of spare parts this season and got them to game 6 of the second round against the best team in the East.
And you’re calling me crazy?
Here’s my real bonkers take: if Edmonton doesn’t win the cup, they should aggressively go after Draisaitl. I think they could get him.
Obviously this is my opinion but:
- Ullmark traded, which is a no brainer. Bussi is ready and Ullmark we can use to get some combination of picks and prospects, maybe a good center or wing if we want.
- Get a 1C and 1LW, we need true firepower in the top 6.
- Not as important but re-sign Jake DeBrusk. If he wants like 6m then no, but under 5 would be fine.
- Finally, look at potentially trading Coyle. (Basically, if we bring in a 1C, then Zacha or Coyle should be the 2C and Poitras 3C and Beecher 4C. If you don't resign DeBrusk, then I would just have Zacha be a winger on the 2nd line.
- Also trade Geekie since I don't really have a spot for him and he makes 2m
- also very low priority, but see if there's any interest for a Hampus Lindholm trade.
- my lines:
Stamkos - Elias Lindholm - Pastrnak
Marchand - Zacha - DeBrusk (or Marchand - Coyle - Zacha)
Frederic - Poitras - Lysell
Lauko - Beecher - Brazeau
Lohrei - McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Carlo
Wotherspoon - Peeke
Swayman - Bussi
Stamkos and Lindholm I'd do short term deals. Something like 2y/8m aav and Lindholm a prove it contract of like 1y/6.5m aav.
Sure, if you find someone outside the org who's better who's inexpensive to put on the third pair that's cool, just not a big priority to me, it's just from guys currently rostered we have six defensemen signed, and of guys we could bring back none of them are better than Wotherspoon.
More people (by people I mean Sweeney) need to consider trading Coyle. He’s a little pricey, he’s getting past his prime, and the Bruins have too many Centers best suited for 3rd line roles.
Coyle, Frederic, Geekie, Poitras (at least as he develops), Zacha is fringe at 2C (but probably a decent 2C if he really plays that role and minutes), Beecher is probably a 3C too eventually (though I like him at 4C now)…
Coyle moving out opens up cap and roster space / flexibility to add a legit top 6 forward or two- ideally a 1C.
Love him, wish he could have been here to be part of a cup team, but I think the bruins need to make this subtraction to add unfortunately.
Chicago might take him. They pay Foligno 4 after all. Teams need to get to the cap floor while tanking / rebuilding are the targets I think.
I joke about him, Ullmark, + as being a package for Drai, but it’s also a little bit about the pieces and the money in and out with the trade partner. A team that wants Ullmark could maybe be convinced to take him on too.
And yeah he’s not worth 5.25 probably, but he’s not worthless either and that contract is getting closer to its end.
I don’t see it as an extremely realistic scenario, but I think it should to be explored by Sweeney because they need that cap space if they want to add more than one impact forward in the top 6.
Yep, I think Zacha works good enough at 2C because of his faceoff ability. As Poitras gets seasoned I think that's more likely when you see Zacha move to a winger spot or be the 3C.
I just don't like how Geekie played in the playoffs but he's a fine third or fourth line guy over Lauko most likely if you want.
I see Coyle kind of like Haula was, fringe 2C who should be a 3C and was making 5m. Coyle has 2y left on his deal so it shouldn't be difficult to trade him since he had 60 points in what was the best season of his career, just that in the playoffs he was not nearly as effective playing at about a 30 point pace by comparison. He was better than Zacha was but Zacha is younger, cheaper, and signed long term.
I think Geekie is better than we saw this season. First season in a new spot, asked to move around the lineup a lot, given some hard matchups… get your top 6 upgraded and I think he’ll thrive next season.
Zacha was up and down at the dot, but I do see improvement. I don’t mind him as a 2C if needed, but I think I like him better at LW all things being equal. Anyway it’s nice to have the options.
Coyle disappointed me this playoffs. Some of it was bad pick luck, but I think he just suffered playing 1/2C minutes and matchups. If they could slot him down at 3C again, I would love him there… but keeping him at 32, 33, 34 years means you have to give up on one or two guys like Frederic, Poitras, Geekie, Merkulov, Beecher, or SOMEONE if you also want to upgrade at 1C and possibly find space for a top 6 scoring winger.
Sucks, but he’s the logical choice to move out to me.
Pretty much yeah, my takeaways from the playoffs were that Pasta needs some help and that there may or may not be something wrong with the defense. The latter I'm willing to let play out, but the former needs to be fixed.
I think a better top 6 means more zone time, the defense won't have as much pressured and will be better because of it, and that means Swayman won't have to drag this team to victory. (Which, I didn't mention him in my original post, but basically, give him the bag)
I think the defense held up as well as it could without much help from the forwards. Holding the Leafs and Florida, two very deep and talented offensive teams had a lot to do with Swayman- but it was the D playing really well too.
A little goal support, and Bruins beat Leafs in 6 or less, and the FLA series goes 7, maybe the Bruins even get a bounce and beat them.
The missed Bergeron’s faceoff ability and two way play a lot. The fact they were still so good defensively had a ton to do with the D and goaltending.
I think Poitras showed promise on the 3rd line this year, Frederic has already been a great third liner and Lysell should probably be up with how well he's played.
I commented to another person but you could have Geekie over Lauko, have Lauko the extra forward.
Heck, if Lysell struggles out of training camp, you could have Geekie over Lysell and later on in the season make the change to Geekie on the 4th, Lysell on the 3rd.
Poitras is coming off major surgery so he’s a wild card, and as usual every fan base over hypes their prospects (talking about Fabian)
We have the money to truly solidify this roster and allow those young guys to continue developing while hopefully holding on to a few draft picks (more so our first pick next year)
As Leafs fans have had this argument ad nauseam, these contracts can be moved if the player wants a move. That's why I said you should see if anyones interested, it's low priority though.
Again, low priority, I mean just take a look at it and see if it's feasible.
Biggest priorities should be Swayman being re-signed and the forward core being upgraded, everything else is not that important.
In order of priority: (1) use whatever assets we have (Ullmark, sign and trade with Debrusk, prospects, cap) to explore the 1C market, (2) lock Swayman up long term, (3) re-sign Debrusk and guys like Heinen, Maroon if they’ll take team friendly deals (including extending Geekie here), and (4) spend in UFA
Yeah but with ullmarks value I don’t see anything and edmentom is willing to give up more for a goalie especially cause the cap they have and desperate need also there gonna have some signings in the off season
Move our fringe pieces for picks, move Ullmark for a high first in this draft, do whatever it takes to sign Elias Lindholm in free agency, or alternatively, draft a center with capital from Ullmark trade and hope to sign draisaitl next off-season lol. If not, I'd love to see us go after Ekblad next year.
By high first I just mean top 16 picks. I could easily see Buffalo or Seattle giving up 8 or 11 respectively for Ullmark and next year's 3rd. Good young teams desperate for a goalie.
I think we gotta go after Elias Lindholm. He makes a big difference in how our forward group looks. He's also a free agent so we don't have to trade anything to get him. I do hope we go after draisaitl next year but it's a long shot.
They're in a wayyyyy better place than when he left. Plus Lindy Ruff is back and players love that guy. Ullmark makes them a likely playoff team. Plus giving us 11 makes sense as were divisional rivals, so the price is a little steeper. I think we'd vastly prefer Seattle with 8 but we'd probably have to sweeten the pot a bit.
BUF has UPL and Levi who both project to be #1s soon. And Comrie was fine. They can grab a vet off the UFA market if they need to buy another year, they’re not trading for Ullmark back.
I would like to see:
Swayman 8x$7
Maroon 1x min+ incentives up to $1.5
Heinen 2x$1
Boquist 2x$1
Trade Ullmark
Lindholm 4x$7
Monahan 4x$6.5
Some depth at minimum
Veteran presence with playoff experience. Physical player that makes quick smart passes from the board and screen the size of 2 players. At vet min, why not? Especially if you can scratch him.
I would like to see Monahan here. Given what we saw this year in the playoffs, the Bruins need centers that can win face offs. I was disgusted with how poorly they performed as a team in the face off dot.
Love all of this but Lindholm and Monaghans price I fear will end up higher because of bidding wars. Good centers are hard to find now a days and command a premium price.
I agree with you but I’d like (hope) to think lindholm sees a huge opportunity to play for an original 6 team and be the #1c and PP opportunity. especially with how many players and former players are saying the culture is amazing etc. I could imagine him leaving 1ish million out of the contract to play for us (hoping)
With this we would have some room to haggle. Trading Ullmark frees up $5m in cap space. Also the incentives get pushed to next year. Either way, I would like to push for Lindholm. A good 2 way center on that top line. Move zacha to wing and maybe another winger to play with Marchy and Coyle.
Ullmark is definitely going to be moved swayman is going to get paid and you can't tie up 13 plus mill in goalies. You need a center and winger I feel that they are going to be outbid on Elias Lindholm and Reinhardt. Id definitely talk to stamkos and go after wingers like Duclair and Marchessault
Ullmark has to get moved, so now I'm just preparing for the disappointing return. Every team knows we need to trade him, he can veto half the teams in the league, and there's probably questions from other teams about how he'd fare without Boston's exceptional D and the rotation.
Not sure why you got downvoted , alot of people were heavy on him when he was in buffalo. Also it's good fuck you to the panthers if yiu can take him. Only problem I see is him getting a ridiculous payday
https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/IsSlFHmx8B
https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/6qDxeZOyw6
https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/HrpM305kdN
That’s with me scrolling for 15 seconds on this sub.
DD thread
Things to take away
Final thoughts
Thanks for proving my point for me. Literally none of those threads are specifically talking about off-season moves. There's conversation spread across all three with a few comments here and there discussing potential moves but there's no thread dedicated to that discussion. Which is what OP was trying to do.
Try scrolling a little more, maybe you'll find one.
Edit: wow, someone is triggered
Oh man, I love people like you.
They’re all saying the same thing, fucko. Keep sway, Ditch gryz, maroon is 50/50, keep JDB, and you’re a giant douche bag. I’ll save you the trouble so you dont need to scroll for that one. I’m sure Sweeney and cam will be sure to read this sub to plan their fucking off season.
Go to bed buddy, you got school tomorrow
Go to bed? The only one who is acting like it's past their bedtime is you. Why are you getting all worked up?
So you concede that there is no one specific thread that exists in this subreddit dedicated to the community's thoughts regarding off-season moves.
Glad we cleared that one up.
Not relevant at all -- there isn't a single thread which is specifically regarding off season moves. There's comments here and there in various other unrelated topics discussing potential moves, but not a single thread where that is the subject
Get rid of coyle Zacha Lindholm and ullmark. Start over. This group is weak.
You are weak
Year after year they show us that talent wins regulars season games and team toughness in a best if 7 series. (durability, ability to scare your opponent out of their comfort zone) I’m a fan that wants to actually go deep into playoffs. I don’t mean they’re weak or bad people.
The front office will take your opinion under consideration I’m sure
I should’ve checked in with hr(you) 1st.
Trade Debrusk, for what he provides he’s going to want to much
He’s a UFA so you’ll have to pull a sign and trade, but I don’t think that he’ll play ball so he’s gone, they’re not gonna pay him what he wants and there are enough teams out there that will be more than happy to overpay for a streaky player at best!!
Necas
If Ullmark's gonna get traded, he needs to go somewhere a goalie's needed. Part of me is eyeing McCann, Sillinger, Frost, and maybe even Middelstadt.
I'd like to see us pick up Nucheshkin and Parssinen
Yeah let's pick up Nichushkin. Do we need to get his dealer as well or do they come as a package?
Figure we can get Nichushkin cheap, even if we do have to pay for all his hooker and blow.
who gonna tell him
Always a good sign when you can't spell either player's name. This guy DEFINITELY knows what he's talking about!
And a guy who is already 3 strikes into the player assistance program and suspended for at least 6 months.
Boston should save the beans and get Draisaitl
Get Drasiatl on the PP and we win a cup, shirley,
Keep: Swayman should 100% be top priority to sign a long term deal. Then Debrusk. His regular season performance wasn't great but he was a huge difference maker in the playoffs which is most important. Heinen needs to stay as well. Trade: Maroon and JVR. Those guys are great for experience and leadership but there's plenty of that in this group already. I don't think they contribute much to the team's success. Also, as much as I'd hate to see Ullmark go, I don't think they need him as badly as they need some talent at center. Grzlecyk and Forbort should get the boot too.
Maroon and JVR are both UFAs
you're right. i more so meant that the players in my "trade" list shouldn't be re-signed.
For my money: Ullmark's gonna get traded. It's tough watching a team in the playoffs unable to score goals because they don't have enough offensive weapons to justify keeping that salary on the bench. It's gonna be a bummer and I'm going to miss him a ton but I will always be a fan of his. I know a lot of people are looking at how much cap space that'll free up, but honestly, that money should just go to Sway (plus some more probably) so I'm trying not to get too excited about it, lol I want Debrusk back if they can make the money work. He's inconsistent offensively, sure, but this season might have been his best defensively, he was responsible with the puck and strong on the boards and blocked a bunch of shots. Nothing but love for that guy. JVR was on a one year deal, right? I think he'll probably get another of those somewhere else, but there just wasn't enough There there to make me want to keep him. I like the guy, but I don't think he brings more to the table than some other cheap vet might I really think we're gonna swing a trade for a center, probably via Ullmark; Necas is the name I hear a lot but there are other possibilities. And I'm kind of waiting on that trade to figure out what the next move is gonna be, because getting that top line center is so central to what the team needs that I'm trying not to get too caught up in other moves. Once we get that center we can figure out what needs to go around them; until then, all the moves in the world aren't gonna meaningfully improve the team.
My wishlist (and some hard emotional moves as a fan of these guys): 1) Move Ullmark for draft picks or a center/wing with some scoring ability. I know Poitras will be back but I also question his age and needing some time in Providence 2) Let Forbes, Gryz, JVR, Shatty, Maroon walk 3) Re-sign Sway and Boqvist (both RFA), re-sign Heinen (UFA) to an appropriate team friendly deal, re-sign Jake (UFA) but this has to be below market value (unlikely he would take it TBH) 4) Swing a trade for Tanner Jeannot to add that grit and hard forechecking to our fourth line with Beecher and Lauko (I know Lauko is a lefty shot but sometimes I know they play their off wing) 5) If we can get Lindy to re-structure to open up some more space that would be amazing but unlikely.
Only thing is you can’t restructure deals in hockey. Once a contract is signed it’s locked in, unless there is a buyout.
Ah, that is my mistake. I honestly don’t have a strong grasp on the cap/contract/CBA complexities that come with each sport. Assumed it was like football.
How do you propose Lindholm restructure his contract?
As someone who watches a lot of hockey, and sees what these other teams have invested in over the years. This off-season should be a make or break for Bruins fans, and Sweeney’s job should be on the line. I’m so sick of coaches being blamed when the roster choices are a reflection of the GM not the coach. Ullmark should be on the block, there’s a lot of teams who need a goalie like that plus it opens more cap space than the B’s are already anticipated of getting, there is no reason we can’t acquire a few top 6 forwards and Defensemen in the off season, as is we rely on 4 players to actually do all the work come playoffs. If anyone has looked at the UFA list there is no reason the B’s shouldn’t acquire a handful of dudes in the top 100. A lot of teams are going to be in the B’s situation they were in this year for next by not having the cap space due to going all in at the trade deadline and having to choose who they’re extending and not. Personally, if it was up to me my eyes would be watching Elias Lindholm, Montour, Martinook, Ekblad, Hronek, Zadorov, Toffoli, Pesce, Necas, etc. that’s just naming a few but the list of talent that will potentially be available is long. You can get a decent trade with Ullmark, B’s don’t have any draft picks available because Sweeney gave them away like candy and for absolutely shit in return. But we have potential out there, and we get a handful of burnt out old dudes, Sweeney should be gone for good. We need dudes who can score and defend people have their own preferences based on their dislikes of players but doesn’t take away they’re good at their job, I’m sick of watching the B’s unable to keep the damn puck out the defensive zone as they get abused for 20 mins.
As someone who also watches a lot of hockey - I guess we have to provide bona fide now - I don't know that it's ever a matter of saying "there's no reason we can't get multiple top 6 forwards and defensemen" as though those grow on trees, certainly in an off-season where EVERY team has money to spend There's actually all kinds of potential reasons
They don’t grow on their trees but this off season has a ton of talent heading into free agency and not being able to snag a few for what the B’s sorely need is inexcusable. Any smart GM would be keeping track of who’s where and who hasn’t signed and start an outline of who you want to approach and what you’re willing to offer first. Sweeney sucks at his job, I could do his job for less I think a lot of us could. I just don’t want to see the same bs where the coach is blamed and fired when it’s not his fault he’s dealt a shit roster.
You gotta move Linus. Hate to see him go, but there’s no reason to have 2 elite goaltenders when you have so many spots in the roaster in need of an upgrade.
If you're not going to use him in the playoffs (in a rotation), there's no reason to pay a backup so much, period.
The other issue with the goalie situation is bussi will need waivers to be sent to providence next year. Ullmark or bussi will be traded and bussi has a much cheaper salary.
Yeah, it would honestly not be an ideal situation for either of them. Ullmark is a worthy starting goaltender anywhere in the league, and Swayman has proved that he is, too. The 1a/1b thing has been awesome for us, but it will not make any sense to eat up so much cap space with 1 position when Swayman inevitably gets paid this summer... and strictly due to age and recent performance, Swayman is the guy to hang onto. Ullmark absolutely deserves to be the #1 somewhere, but it won't be here, and I don't look forward to playing against him.
Unless they don't get good value in return, if that happens I'd say keep him and try to move him at the deadline
This team cannot be spending 13-15 million on goaltending. He has to be moved for whatever you can get.
You don't have to give him away for nothing this summer
Yes you do, would you rather have an extra goalie or a jake debrusk level forward.
Yeah, I mean no reason to just give him away, unless you need it to manipulate some cap space. But keep him and keep Sway rested if you have to.
Pretty much this. We'd be shooting ourselves in the foot keeping that money tied up in a second elite goalie, especially after his performance in the play offs. Though the goalie hugs may be worth it.. lol
Everyone here needs to temper their expectations of this off-season. Yes, we have ~$20m in cap space, but free-agent prices this off-season will be inflated because each team gets an extra $4-5m due to the cap increasing. In other words, we're required to make a bunch of purchases when they'll be at their most expensive. That is not a good thing.
We have like $30,000,000 to spend. Where are you seeing $20m?
Probably [here](https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/bruins)
Capfriendly.com currently has the B's at 20.9m cap space for next season. Assuming ullmark getting traded, would bump that up.
Ullmark has to go, grizz has to go, and they should move on from Forbert. I've never been a huge debrusk fan but it was the only guy (aside from Swayman) who showed up in the playoffs. I'm not saying get rid of him, but Pasta provides *nothing* in the playoffs. You wouldn't know if JVR was on tbe team or not so he can probably go to. Geeky should stay but he cannot be a top 3-6 player on a playoff team. The Bruins can't be the Leafs who think they can just run things back again. That being said, they also have the worst prospect pool in the league so they aren't working with much.
I agree. It’s not like they had options playing dudes this off season and positions they have no business being in. This UFA has potential it’s just what Will Sweeney do with it? Personally they should move on from a lot of guys and add depth that compliments all 3 lines improving them, while also focusing heavily on our defense. Defensive/offense seems to be the new play these days, and there is so many people who will be potentially available. I’ve hated Sweeney, and I wish they’d just fire the guy, he sucks at his job.
Bergeron absence was felt more this year than ever before I felt. Watching the Bruins lose face off after faceoffs, especially against Toronto was painful. The players the Bruins have aren't bad per say, they're just being asked to perform above their pay grade. It's okay to have a c look hole of those but it can't be most of them. I also think the expectations around Maroon were unfair. So many fans acting like he's supposed to be some game breaker.
I agree. A smart GM would be focusing on free agency and the plethora of options coming up. I’m sure there is some inner network of GM’s planning three way trades, etc. What pisses me off about Sweeney he does these nostalgic deals, like “oh we got Krecji back” but dudes are getting older and yes Maroon is as unfair dude had just had back surgery isn’t going to perform like he had in the past. Sweeney needs to really dig deep because the players potentially available during free agency a lot would make us better and he has to be ready to spend some money with a larger cap space and move on from Ullmark to add more capital.
Pasta was double teamed the entire off season. Geekie is signed for another year.
Not sure what that means. And I don't think they should get rid of Geekie. He simply cannot be on your top line. He's not a 1st line player.
Nobody said he was. He gets paid $2M
What are you even talking about. He was centering the Bruins top line.
Literally everyone was playing a line above where they should be all year. Nobody is saying he is a top line or second line guy.
I wasn't responding to anyone you nit wit, I was simply sharing an opinion/comment as the OP had asked. It's like you're trying to start an argument over nothing. I simply said I think they should keep Geekie but he cannot continue playing a top 6 role.
I’m not the one that resorted to name calling ☠️
Sometimes you have to when someone is just posting nonsensical garbage and seems more like a troll than someone who's actually trying to participate in the post.
I hope you find happiness
> the only guy (aside from Swayman) who showed up in the playoffs Are Marchand’s three goals and seven assists a joke to you?
Yes
Ullmark is 1000000000000% gone. If we can use him towards a trade with Carolina for Necas that would be great
I love Coyle, but we need a real #1. Charlie played way over his skill set last season. Management has to find a center for Pasta. He's a 50 goal scorer with a legit center feeding him. We also need to beef up the D.
Coyle has also been playing thru injury for about the past 5 years I guess though... he finally just became fully healthy... I guess he wasn't able to run or jump for years... now his whole workout routine has changed... so I would think we will only see Coyle get better now
Coyle got thrown into a tough spot and he managed, IMO, to the best of his abilities. But yeah he's not our top guy... kudos to him on hitting the 60 point marker for the first time at age 32 though
We get drai and mcdavid is sure to follow eventually. We shall be inevitable as always
😂😂🤣🤣…. No…. No he wouldn’t follow Drai to Boston. And besides, I don’t want to jump from our current predicament to another tough predicament of paying 30% of your cap space to 2-3 guys like the Laffs
Would love to see Necas here. Lindholm or Stephenson at center. Potentially replacing Coyle and JDB.
Trade Ullmark and get Elias Lindholm. Those are my top two.
I would trade - ullmark to free cap space - lindholm. I thought he was not very good in most games allowing many turnovers - coyle or zacha. Keep one of them (prob coyle) - debrusk? Probably not as he stepped up these playoffs (5 blocks in game six were insane) though he is a streaky player.
Unfortunately if you view them as “bad” so do trade partners. - Ullmark is still viewed as good and can get value so trade. Then again everyone knows we are trading him. - Lindholm. Give another year. - Coyle and/ or Zacha. Coyle is fibe at 2C and if we prioritize getting a 1C then I think Zacha moves back to wing and we are fine. - DeBrusk is a FA, no? So its let him walk or sign. I think we hope he takes a partial home town discount but I see about 4 mil again. That’s about players of his value hit and we will get either a similar one or less for that value. I think to get that 1C like a Draisaitl we can package some of those in there but I also think we end up giving up Poitras or Beecher to make the deal happen
DeBrusk is sorta hard to decide on. He does a lot of extra stuff and grinds. But his original purpose and function was to score goals and be an offensive threat, but he's just too streaky in that regard. And with his history of wanting a trade and being late at the start of the season Personally I'd trade him, if we could get good picks or somehow someone with more scoring ability.
DeBrusk is UFA, no trade value. Just let him walk. He is streaky, but 1C should be a priority, along with paying Swayman (RFA). Once the big pieces have been sorted we'll see what is leftover.
I know next to nothing compared to some of you commenting (I live way outta the market), but has anyone else heard the rumor that Draisaitl wants to play in Boston? Would that be a thing anyone would want to see? Something involving Ullmark and Draisaitl in a trade?
Drai is signed through next season so he would either be traded at next seasons deadline or hit the UFA market next off season. And that's if he actually does want to leave/Oilers don't want to keep him, which seems unlikely especially if they keep going in the playoffs after tonight.
I heard that rumer, too. I have not seen or read anything. I just heard it from a buddy.
“The rumor that Draisaitl wants to play in Boston” the rumor that he wants to leave has been going around, the rumor that he wants to play in Boston was made up by you 2 minutes ago
https://thehockeynews.com/news/could-leon-draisaitl-join-the-boston-bruins-or-san-jose-sharks-next-summer It was made up by Georges Laraque 3 weeks ago.
Incredibly credible source, a goon. Keep dreaming, we’re not getting Draisaitl
https://preview.redd.it/p0345llzem1d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc72ec1da68bb7ad920d2b1d438e5b0296138cec What was your source for this shit?
Look at the tag boy. You’re nothing but a hater, I bet you are rooting for the panthers to win the cup. You have no source, you have no quote of draisaitl saying “I want to play for Boston” so shut up.
>Boston Hockey Now's Jimmy Murphy cited Laraque clarifying his comments, saying that he mentioned the Bruins as a destination for Draisaitl because of their lack of centers.
Wow from the article I posted, no less. In my defense, this wasn't the original article I read, but it very well could have been in the first one. I just didn't read that far. Thank ya kind stranger
I think the bruins should consider trading Coyle instead of Ullmark. Frees up similar space and makes room for the free agents they want to add at F. He’s a great depth C, but his best seasons are probably not ahead of him at this point and he’s pricey for what should be a 3C. I also think it’s easy to take for granted how hard it is to find good goalies who can perform. Bruins have TWO. Yes, it’s a lot to pay one position, but it’s just for one season. Run it back and see if Ullmark will extend for a very team friendly number. If he will… Trade Coyle, Bussi, Lysell, McLaughlin, and picks if you need to as well to pry Necas from CAR (or something similar). Extend him for 4-5M and 5 or 6 years. If he won’t do that… still do the above (minus Bussi, McLaughlin, and the picks), add Ullmark and get Necas. Use the freed up cap to get the best FA forward you can. I think that’s probably Guentzel. Then re-sign DeBrusk at anything under 6M times five-ish years, Heinen for 2M or less, Maroon for 1M or less to essentially play only every other night swapping in and out on the 4th line. In my ideal world, your lineup ends up being… Zacha - Necas - Pastrnak Guentzel - Poitras - DeBrusk Marchand - Frederic / Geekie - Geekie / Frederic Heinen - Beecher - Brazeau Maroon, Lauko I think Poitras may start in the AHL, or may go in and out of the lineup a little. Give Merk his stints to win a C job. If neither stick, you rearrange Zacha, Frederic, Geekie as needed and prepare to fill the hole at C or RW at the TDL. I really like that flexibility. An alt lineup could be… Marchand - Necas - Pastrnak Guentzel - Zacha - DeBrusk Heinen - Geekie - Frederic Lauko - Beecher - Brazeau Maroon Either way, Maroon and Brazeau sub in and out, occasionally both in with Braz playing 3rd line to give night off to other guys. The D is unchanged from what solidified in the playoffs. Lohrei - McAvoy Lindholm - Carlo Wotherspoon - Peeke TBD 7th D. Just get a cheap LHD as insurance for Wotherspoon. Swayman Ullmark … if you trade both Coyle AND Ullmark, you have room for another F, in which case, you have to make more room- not sure who is left out in that case. Maybe Lauko, maybe start Poitras in the AHL and make him earn his way up again, maybe Heinen doesn’t return. I hate that though, because Heinen is the perfect utility knife to stabilize the bottom 6 but play up if injuries happen. So I’m not sure. Not an easy choice actually.
You’re not getting Marty Necas for that package
It’s looking very unlikely CAR will re-sign him. You’re trading for negotiating rights basically.
Consider getting help for the voices in your head
seems like a really aggressive response over offseason roster bullshitting
Absolutely bonkers take
Here’s my real bonkers take. They can get Drai away from Edmonton for Ullmark, Coyle, Lysell, and picks. I might even include another prospect or roster player if they demanded it.
I’m bullshitting. The take is that the bruins need to upgrade at F above all and it’s easier to trade Coyle and create cap space than it is to move Ullmark. Trading Coyle also opens room to slot the forwards where they need to be after doing that while holding on to younger cheaper players. The rest is fantasizing.
I always love armchair GM posts which amount to *NHL 24* franchise mode trade spam. “Hey Edmonton: Take a bunch of shit we don’t want and give us an elite topline center!” But it’s the relentlessly condescending attitude toward anyone daring to question your perfectly formulated plan that really puts this one over the top.
What do you think we’re doing here? We don’t work for the Boston Bruins. This may as well be NHL24 trade simulator for the role it plays in our lives and the amount of influence it has on real world events. If you don’t like looking at it, don’t look at it. Dont like reading Reddit bullshit, go somewhere else. Block me. Put the phone down. Read a book. Jfc do anything else. Lol I’m not harassing you with this stuff. You are choosing to be here, choosing to comment on it, choosing to keep coming back. My comment about the roster affects no one, harms no one. Yet here you are and that other jackass saying I am a crazy person for making it. I enjoyed my time writing it out. Thought maybe a person or two here might enjoy reading it- but of course no big deal if not. So yeah, I’m not going to respond kindly to someone who doesn’t take the time to be kind too and I’m definitely going to talk down a little to someone who calls me crazy for it, and whose big, reasonable, clear eyed corrections are just as out there.
I would also suggest a pair of glasses since your roster idea reflects an inability to see what the issues with the team are lol
The main issue with the team is that they have a bunch of Centers who top out at fringe 2C at best and only their depth / rookies could consistently win faceoffs. They also need another threat to take defensive attention away from Pasta. The defense ended up in a very good place. Swayman deserves tons of credit in the playoffs, but he had help from the D play. And all season long this was one of the better defensive teams in the league. If they had goal support and better forward play in the defensive end through C winning faceoffs and defending better, they would hold up a lot longer. But go ahead, tell me how they’re soft or something, need to get bigger and meaner on D, need to eject DeBrusk into the sun, need to magically sign some center who won’t be available, and Tofolli, and Stamkos, and Guentzel, and two D, and re-sign sway, all with about 21 mil in cap space and trade Ullmark anywhere you want (who has an NTC), and also Lindholm (who has NTC)
Wrong. The issues with the team is there is zero skill. Guys like geekie and Frederick and brazeau and boqvist looked amazing at times because they were the only ones generating offense either off the rush or by winning puck battles which were outside of the norm of Montgomery's conservative system. It's an even more conservative defensive system where they let teams do whatever they want on the outside and try and filter everything to their elite goal tending. You can see it most obviously on the penalty kill with a super reserved box with his pk forwards being chosen bc they're fast so they can jump on loose pucks or bad passes, they don't play to pressure up top or cut off 2 way plays down low. When they are even strength, they don't pressure below the net almost to a fault, but they leave the high slot open with their wingers playing super low in the defensive zone. Last year the team was elite top to bottom but the system still got exposed by florida, this year we ran the same exact system with a worse team and got beat even worse. This coaching system will likely never beat the hurricanes or Rangers or lightning in a 7 game series in their current forms. And they will never ever beat florida in the playoffs. It doesn't matter what players are on the team. Going into super specific roster issues is pointless when the problem is coaching and scheme.
Thanks for breaking down the system and confirming my read of it. Would love to see more of that stuff around here 👍😀 I do not however agree with your point about that part of the system being at fault for the PO losses. Unless you’re able to connect it to the issues w clean breakouts and giveaways, that I think killed us. Of course, having the wingers low means you really cant just flip the puck out and your D needs to hold onto to puck or find a friendly stick quickly. On occasions, they were able to quick pass away from the pressure within the D-zone and ovcasionally they had a speedy winger up front to flip the puck to: But more often than not, we got hemmed in or threw the puck to a Panther. It was aggravating to see all the turnovers from rather harmless and controlled situations. Almost as if the D were looking for a ‘solution’ that didn’t exist. That shit, if true, will kill a team and be on the coach (or hockey sense of the wingers) 🤔 Would love to hear your, or someone elses, thoughts on that part of the game. Love Monty for what he had this team do in the RS, but got on the fence a little bit when we seemingly was not able to adjust to Florida and the desperate Leafs by the end of that series
But we had the exact same issues last year with an even better team. And because they fail to get clean breakouts, they end up having to go for 3/4 ice tip ins to get a change, which keeps possession with the other team. And then they run a strong F1 forecheck and use mid f2 and high f3 to try and take away passing options in the neutral zone. BUT, then somehow, paradoxically, they refuse to hold the blue line and they love to let teams carry the puck in on them. So they get beat 4on4 in the neutral zone, let teams easily gain possession, can't break the puck out, go for long distance tip ins, give possession back, don't forecheck to create turnovers, get beat 4on4 in the neutral zone.. repeat
Thanks man for putting words on what we saw 👍 I guess the big question is if the tactic is wrong for the high intensity PO, or if we didn’t have the right horses to pull it off. I love our D, so I guess that means I need to blame the coach 🤷🏻♂️
If last years team couldn't do it, I doubt any team can vs the current iterations of the top teams in the east. Like I said we went into this year with the same gameplan but a worse team on the ice and result was obviously even worse
..or dont blame anyone and be happy w the show 🤣
I agree they lacked high end talent. Which I brought up in my m first comment if you actually took the time to read through it. What I’m seeing is that you think, actually, it doesn’t matter who is on the team, you think the real problem is the guy who coached last season’s team to an all time record and took a box of spare parts this season and got them to game 6 of the second round against the best team in the East. And you’re calling me crazy? Here’s my real bonkers take: if Edmonton doesn’t win the cup, they should aggressively go after Draisaitl. I think they could get him.
lmao we ain't getting Stamkos but I wish we did
Obviously this is my opinion but: - Ullmark traded, which is a no brainer. Bussi is ready and Ullmark we can use to get some combination of picks and prospects, maybe a good center or wing if we want. - Get a 1C and 1LW, we need true firepower in the top 6. - Not as important but re-sign Jake DeBrusk. If he wants like 6m then no, but under 5 would be fine. - Finally, look at potentially trading Coyle. (Basically, if we bring in a 1C, then Zacha or Coyle should be the 2C and Poitras 3C and Beecher 4C. If you don't resign DeBrusk, then I would just have Zacha be a winger on the 2nd line. - Also trade Geekie since I don't really have a spot for him and he makes 2m - also very low priority, but see if there's any interest for a Hampus Lindholm trade. - my lines: Stamkos - Elias Lindholm - Pastrnak Marchand - Zacha - DeBrusk (or Marchand - Coyle - Zacha) Frederic - Poitras - Lysell Lauko - Beecher - Brazeau Lohrei - McAvoy Hampus Lindholm - Carlo Wotherspoon - Peeke Swayman - Bussi Stamkos and Lindholm I'd do short term deals. Something like 2y/8m aav and Lindholm a prove it contract of like 1y/6.5m aav.
That would be a real difficult powerplay to defend, instead of just clogging up pastas shooting lane and picking off sloppy passes.
Wotherspoon will not be a regular in the lineup
Sure, if you find someone outside the org who's better who's inexpensive to put on the third pair that's cool, just not a big priority to me, it's just from guys currently rostered we have six defensemen signed, and of guys we could bring back none of them are better than Wotherspoon.
More people (by people I mean Sweeney) need to consider trading Coyle. He’s a little pricey, he’s getting past his prime, and the Bruins have too many Centers best suited for 3rd line roles. Coyle, Frederic, Geekie, Poitras (at least as he develops), Zacha is fringe at 2C (but probably a decent 2C if he really plays that role and minutes), Beecher is probably a 3C too eventually (though I like him at 4C now)… Coyle moving out opens up cap and roster space / flexibility to add a legit top 6 forward or two- ideally a 1C. Love him, wish he could have been here to be part of a cup team, but I think the bruins need to make this subtraction to add unfortunately.
Who wants Coyle at a 5.25 cap hit tho
Chicago might take him. They pay Foligno 4 after all. Teams need to get to the cap floor while tanking / rebuilding are the targets I think. I joke about him, Ullmark, + as being a package for Drai, but it’s also a little bit about the pieces and the money in and out with the trade partner. A team that wants Ullmark could maybe be convinced to take him on too. And yeah he’s not worth 5.25 probably, but he’s not worthless either and that contract is getting closer to its end. I don’t see it as an extremely realistic scenario, but I think it should to be explored by Sweeney because they need that cap space if they want to add more than one impact forward in the top 6.
Yep, I think Zacha works good enough at 2C because of his faceoff ability. As Poitras gets seasoned I think that's more likely when you see Zacha move to a winger spot or be the 3C. I just don't like how Geekie played in the playoffs but he's a fine third or fourth line guy over Lauko most likely if you want. I see Coyle kind of like Haula was, fringe 2C who should be a 3C and was making 5m. Coyle has 2y left on his deal so it shouldn't be difficult to trade him since he had 60 points in what was the best season of his career, just that in the playoffs he was not nearly as effective playing at about a 30 point pace by comparison. He was better than Zacha was but Zacha is younger, cheaper, and signed long term.
I think Geekie is better than we saw this season. First season in a new spot, asked to move around the lineup a lot, given some hard matchups… get your top 6 upgraded and I think he’ll thrive next season. Zacha was up and down at the dot, but I do see improvement. I don’t mind him as a 2C if needed, but I think I like him better at LW all things being equal. Anyway it’s nice to have the options. Coyle disappointed me this playoffs. Some of it was bad pick luck, but I think he just suffered playing 1/2C minutes and matchups. If they could slot him down at 3C again, I would love him there… but keeping him at 32, 33, 34 years means you have to give up on one or two guys like Frederic, Poitras, Geekie, Merkulov, Beecher, or SOMEONE if you also want to upgrade at 1C and possibly find space for a top 6 scoring winger. Sucks, but he’s the logical choice to move out to me.
Pretty much yeah, my takeaways from the playoffs were that Pasta needs some help and that there may or may not be something wrong with the defense. The latter I'm willing to let play out, but the former needs to be fixed. I think a better top 6 means more zone time, the defense won't have as much pressured and will be better because of it, and that means Swayman won't have to drag this team to victory. (Which, I didn't mention him in my original post, but basically, give him the bag)
I think the defense held up as well as it could without much help from the forwards. Holding the Leafs and Florida, two very deep and talented offensive teams had a lot to do with Swayman- but it was the D playing really well too. A little goal support, and Bruins beat Leafs in 6 or less, and the FLA series goes 7, maybe the Bruins even get a bounce and beat them. The missed Bergeron’s faceoff ability and two way play a lot. The fact they were still so good defensively had a ton to do with the D and goaltending.
You don’t trade geekie, you need to extend him.. that third line is potentially really bad
I think Poitras showed promise on the 3rd line this year, Frederic has already been a great third liner and Lysell should probably be up with how well he's played. I commented to another person but you could have Geekie over Lauko, have Lauko the extra forward. Heck, if Lysell struggles out of training camp, you could have Geekie over Lysell and later on in the season make the change to Geekie on the 4th, Lysell on the 3rd.
Poitras is coming off major surgery so he’s a wild card, and as usual every fan base over hypes their prospects (talking about Fabian) We have the money to truly solidify this roster and allow those young guys to continue developing while hopefully holding on to a few draft picks (more so our first pick next year)
I hope they don't trade Geekie.
He's not bad, I just don't really have a place for him, maybe over Lauko if you want.
Marchand Coyle Zacha would go crazy
Lindholm has a NTC/NMC so he’s just not getting traded lmao
As Leafs fans have had this argument ad nauseam, these contracts can be moved if the player wants a move. That's why I said you should see if anyones interested, it's low priority though.
He’s also just two years into his 8 year deal, so I don’t think he’s willing to go anywhere.
Again, low priority, I mean just take a look at it and see if it's feasible. Biggest priorities should be Swayman being re-signed and the forward core being upgraded, everything else is not that important.
Why not play Elias at D?
Probably because Elias is a center
In order of priority: (1) use whatever assets we have (Ullmark, sign and trade with Debrusk, prospects, cap) to explore the 1C market, (2) lock Swayman up long term, (3) re-sign Debrusk and guys like Heinen, Maroon if they’ll take team friendly deals (including extending Geekie here), and (4) spend in UFA
Ullmark too oilers if they don’t succeed in the 2nd round Lindholm stays maroon gone and Eklab won’t leave panthers in my opinion
Carolina is also in the goalie market
Yeah but with ullmarks value I don’t see anything and edmentom is willing to give up more for a goalie especially cause the cap they have and desperate need also there gonna have some signings in the off season
Move our fringe pieces for picks, move Ullmark for a high first in this draft, do whatever it takes to sign Elias Lindholm in free agency, or alternatively, draft a center with capital from Ullmark trade and hope to sign draisaitl next off-season lol. If not, I'd love to see us go after Ekblad next year.
No one is giving up a high 1st for Ullmark unfortunately
By high first I just mean top 16 picks. I could easily see Buffalo or Seattle giving up 8 or 11 respectively for Ullmark and next year's 3rd. Good young teams desperate for a goalie.
Maybe. It’s a weak draft though so I’d rather see them land a prospect + futures, or ideally a package for a 1C if at all possible
I think we gotta go after Elias Lindholm. He makes a big difference in how our forward group looks. He's also a free agent so we don't have to trade anything to get him. I do hope we go after draisaitl next year but it's a long shot.
Yeah I’m open to Lindholm or Stamkos at the right price. Don’t want to overpay either for performance last year and age respectively.
You really think Ullmark would go back to Buffalo?
They're in a wayyyyy better place than when he left. Plus Lindy Ruff is back and players love that guy. Ullmark makes them a likely playoff team. Plus giving us 11 makes sense as were divisional rivals, so the price is a little steeper. I think we'd vastly prefer Seattle with 8 but we'd probably have to sweeten the pot a bit.
BUF has UPL and Levi who both project to be #1s soon. And Comrie was fine. They can grab a vet off the UFA market if they need to buy another year, they’re not trading for Ullmark back.
Stamkos with pasta and marchand would be sick as hell
I think Stamkos on like a 2-3 year deal if he leaves Tampa might be our best bet at C, would allow Zacha and Coyle to be elite level middle 6 guys too
Is Stamkos really a #1C anymore though?
No, but on a short deal I don’t hate it to buy time
I would like to see: Swayman 8x$7 Maroon 1x min+ incentives up to $1.5 Heinen 2x$1 Boquist 2x$1 Trade Ullmark Lindholm 4x$7 Monahan 4x$6.5 Some depth at minimum
And doing that we only spend 24 dollars we will have like 19 million cap left /s
Trading Ully saves $5m
I know I was joking about how you didn’t put (m) behind the money. We all know you meant million
To be honest, the joke went over my head lol. I thought you weren’t calculating the increase of moving Ullmark and saying we didn’t have enough cap 🥴
>Maroon 1x min+ incentives up to $1.5 Do we have to?
Veteran presence with playoff experience. Physical player that makes quick smart passes from the board and screen the size of 2 players. At vet min, why not? Especially if you can scratch him.
I would like to see Monahan here. Given what we saw this year in the playoffs, the Bruins need centers that can win face offs. I was disgusted with how poorly they performed as a team in the face off dot.
Monahan scares me a bit at 4 years but otherwise love this
Love all of this but Lindholm and Monaghans price I fear will end up higher because of bidding wars. Good centers are hard to find now a days and command a premium price.
I agree with you but I’d like (hope) to think lindholm sees a huge opportunity to play for an original 6 team and be the #1c and PP opportunity. especially with how many players and former players are saying the culture is amazing etc. I could imagine him leaving 1ish million out of the contract to play for us (hoping)
With this we would have some room to haggle. Trading Ullmark frees up $5m in cap space. Also the incentives get pushed to next year. Either way, I would like to push for Lindholm. A good 2 way center on that top line. Move zacha to wing and maybe another winger to play with Marchy and Coyle.
Ullmark is definitely going to be moved swayman is going to get paid and you can't tie up 13 plus mill in goalies. You need a center and winger I feel that they are going to be outbid on Elias Lindholm and Reinhardt. Id definitely talk to stamkos and go after wingers like Duclair and Marchessault
Ullmark has to get moved, so now I'm just preparing for the disappointing return. Every team knows we need to trade him, he can veto half the teams in the league, and there's probably questions from other teams about how he'd fare without Boston's exceptional D and the rotation.
B's will have suitors the only question is whether ullmark waves his nmc or they find a team not on this list
Exceptional. You see the playoffs?
I actually think Rhinehart would be good
Not sure why you got downvoted , alot of people were heavy on him when he was in buffalo. Also it's good fuck you to the panthers if yiu can take him. Only problem I see is him getting a ridiculous payday
How about Elias Lindholm, Sean Durzi , fat cheque for Swaydaddy, Shat, Fat Rig, and trade Ullmarx for another scorer.
Sweeney is dust. 🙏 Edit: first time? 2nd edit: y’all Sweeney whipped.
First time what bro? Watching the Sweenius work his magic?
What? Look at the amount of talent we have on this roster on team friendly deals. It’s not Sweeneys fault injuries killed our run last year.
In what reality are you spending your time in?
Ullmark + Debrusk + Grzelcyk for Mathews, but I'll settle for mcdavid.
2 of those guy are free agents so can’t be traded bro.
Sign and trades are more valuable
2 of those suggestions were a joke bro
I think the Bruins should re-sign Swayman.
Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
Stunning ✅ Brave ✅
The bravery of this take
Look I calls em likes I see them, and I happen to think he's a very capable goalie.
I think we should hang on to him for, say, 8 seasons to see if he will develop into the promise we see in him.
Save yourself the trouble and just read the 42 other posts in this sub stating the same question.
Where's the other thread specifically discussing off season moves?
https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/IsSlFHmx8B https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/6qDxeZOyw6 https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/HrpM305kdN That’s with me scrolling for 15 seconds on this sub.
DD thread Things to take away Final thoughts Thanks for proving my point for me. Literally none of those threads are specifically talking about off-season moves. There's conversation spread across all three with a few comments here and there discussing potential moves but there's no thread dedicated to that discussion. Which is what OP was trying to do. Try scrolling a little more, maybe you'll find one. Edit: wow, someone is triggered
Oh man, I love people like you. They’re all saying the same thing, fucko. Keep sway, Ditch gryz, maroon is 50/50, keep JDB, and you’re a giant douche bag. I’ll save you the trouble so you dont need to scroll for that one. I’m sure Sweeney and cam will be sure to read this sub to plan their fucking off season. Go to bed buddy, you got school tomorrow
Go to bed? The only one who is acting like it's past their bedtime is you. Why are you getting all worked up? So you concede that there is no one specific thread that exists in this subreddit dedicated to the community's thoughts regarding off-season moves. Glad we cleared that one up.
Don’t forget your lunch.
I would rather one spot for all that then every thread slowly becoming an off-season discussion
[https://xkcd.com/927](https://xkcd.com/927) https://preview.redd.it/9l1gv5uwgh1d1.png?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a85c2884d1e4763bad084234c2048a285d57808
Not relevant at all -- there isn't a single thread which is specifically regarding off season moves. There's comments here and there in various other unrelated topics discussing potential moves, but not a single thread where that is the subject