BRUINS camp roster- AHL Contract F Samuel Asselin F Robert Lantosi F Brendan Woods D Chris Breen D Josiah Didier D Cooper Zech NHL Players Forwards: David Backes, Patrice Bergeron, Anders Bjork, Anton Blidh, Paul Carey, Peter Cehlarik, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Ryan Fitzgerald, Trent Frederic, Brendan Gaunce, Danton Heinen, Cameron Hughes, Joona Koppanen, David Krejci, Karson Kuhlman, Sean Kuraly, Jakub Lauko, Par Lindholm, Brad Marchand, Joakim Nordstrom, David Pastrnak, Brett Ritchie, Zach Senyshyn, Pavel Shen, Oskar Steen, Jack Studnicka, Chris Wagner Defensemen: Axel Andersson, Zdeno Chara, Connor Clifton, Matt Grzelcyk, Steven Kampfer, Torey Krug, Jeremy Lauzon, Kevan Miller, John Moore, Wiley Sherman, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril Goalies: Jaroslav Halak, Kyle Keyser, Maxime Lagace, Tuukka Rask, Dan Vladar I put the players in bold that I think will be fighting for essentially the last of the top 9 F spot. Im a big Bjork fan and think he's just had some terrible luck, this is the year either put up or shut up. Senyshyn gives me 0 hope. Brett Richie could fit in well with Krejci. the big body guys flanking him seems to help. Studnicka is a kid but he's pretty well regarded, same with Frederic. Both could use some Pro time Im sure. Kuhlman came on strong in the playoffs, he'll be a tough one to send down. Cehlarik plays a good responsible 2way game but not sold he isn't a quadruple A player, as they say. On D I cant wait to see what a healthy Vaakanainen can bring......if he can stay healthy of course. Probably get a real good look while McAvoy and Carlo are unsigned. G prospects are weak.
How does D. Vladar look at G? R. Fitzgerald's brother can fight. His dad has over 1,000 games in the NHL, but he couldn't fight. That B. Gaunce was a first round pick by the Nucks. Was very high on him at the time.
Carlo signs for 2 x $2.85. thats a beautiful deal for the Broonz. I wouldnt expect his numbers to increase much so when he hits RFA again i wouldnt expect a huge jump in valuation. Sweeney locks up 2 of his top 4 for a combined $7.74, i'll take that all day. thought CM would get that by himself if he signed long term. Beleskey and Seidenberg both come off the books after this season at just over a $3m combined hit against. decision on Krug will be interesting, hopefully something team friendly or he could be on the block.
Vladar has really struggled. We both liked the pick at the time iirc, the kid just hasnt worked out so far, very inconsistent and the clock is ticking. looks like he'll be lucky to backup in Providence. Gaunce and Ritchie both ex-bigtime prospects. i like the idea of bringing in guys like this. he'll compete with a few guys for a spot, should bring everyone's game up. maybe chemistry with Krejci, been tough to find since the Krejci with Bigfat, Horton/Iginla era.
Krug's camp will probably seek a raise since he's been steady offensively also. Bruins probably saved the trickiest contract extension to work out for last.
He’s not actually up until next year but they can sign now. He’s on the record saying he wants to stay and is interested in making it happen. All comes down to cost. I like Krug but there are obvious limitations to his game. One area Sweeney does well in is renegotiations, maybe he cal lock up Krug for 2-3 years around $6 per.
2018 3rd round pick Jakob Lauko. Not short on confidence, he dubbed himself one of the steals of the draft directly after. Hoping he wasn’t wrong. https://nesn.com/2018/06/bruins-third-round-pick-jakub-lauko-thinks-hell-be-biggest-steal-of-draft/
That was a heady second play of the puck, there. Guy moves well and instinctively through space. I see a lot of the younger guys play that way, but can they refine the other parts of their game? Borgstrom in FL is a good example of a guy who did stuff like that routinely, but hit a wall in the NHL (bad coaching didn't help). It'll be interesting to see what this kid can do - is he Junior eligible, or is he AHL this year?
I really like Borgstrom, hope they didn’t screw him up. Definitely one of the better college Fs coming out over the past couple seasons. He would play in Springfield (AHL) if not in Florida. I actually saw one of Owen Tippet’s first AHL game a couple years ago. Jordan Binnington was the Prov Bs goalie
All the players are raging about how Borgy came out in camp this year. He's looked good in preseason. Fingers crossed Q can undo any damage last staff might've done. Q seems to be rotating the team's shooters next to him - Vatrano or Hoffman will likely be one linemate - so he should get plenty of chances to create offense, which he was prevented from doing last year on the 4th line. Owen has a real shot to make the roster. It's a serious fight for the last 1-2 spots. Word is they cut to 25 or fewer F's today, but no word from organization. Just a handful of missing suspects at practice today. I think he ends up making it, and likely plays next to Borgy regularly by end of season. And sorry - my AHL and 'kid' comment was about this Lauko kid. Should've been more specific. I was genuinely interested in the B's for once, rather than trying to want about FL
Bruins are in a weird spot. They nearly won the Cup, should have even, but staying put this off season wasn't necessarily good enough. TB and Toronto have better rosters, TB much better. Getting out of the Atlantic will be real tough and I think it'll be increasingly hard for the next fews years, at minimum. Assuming Sweeney was looking at the long game to try to stay flexible moving forward. That said, lock up Coyle now. Florida could be a real threat to the B's and wont make a playoff spot a sure thing. Forwards should be strong again. although is Krejci already hurt? 2nd line W is a question mark, has been for a couple years. Hoping Bjork can take it, a matter of health for him so far in his young career. He plays real fast and aggressive, thats how this kid can stick out on this roster, especially losing Acciari. The Bergeron line is incredible but it shouldnt be out of the question to break them up if doing so makes the team stronger. A couple years ago, going in to the season they had Marchy-Bergy-Bjork but then the kid got hurt. Just wondering how the 2 Czechs- Krejci + Pastrnak would look together. Would definitely need some size on the opposite wing on that hypothetical line. I really like Charlie Coyle and think that he could step right in to a 2C spot when/if it opens up. Would love to see him flanked by Chris Kreider, those two play a similar style at a similar pace and a similar size. You could put anyone on the other side and it'd be easy living for them. Bruins also need more BC guys, 3 BU guys makes my hockey soul hurt. Backes has 2 more years at a $6 cap hit ($4 per real money). Sucks but I dont think they can afford to unload him, by that I dont think they should pay the cost to the acquiring team. Lost two good Fs- Johansson (Buff) and Acciari (Fla) this offseason in free agency and replaced them with Par Lindholm and Brett Richie. Downgrade there but understandable. A bunch of kids fighting for playing time at F- Bjork, Studnicka (face goal the other night), Frederic, Laukko, and Oskar Steen (not Thomas Steen's other kid) the real candidates up front. Also happy having Chris Kelly back in the organization as Player development coordinator. Don Sweeney.....................Zach Senyshyn!
Leaving Karson Kuhlman out of the B's Fs post above is ridiculous. He dressed in game 7 of the Cup and got some good minutes. He'll start the season to Krejci's right, assuming Krejci isnt already broken.
Bruins win last night was the exact game I expected them to play in game 7 last June. Getting that first goal is so pivotal for the Bruins against physical teams like St. Louis
Charlie Coyle and Chris Wagner both re-up on multi year deals. Coyle 6x $5.25 and Wagner 3 x $1.25. Love it, local kids that have earned their dollars.
I was hoping Coyle would learn - next season - exactly why players love living in Buffalo. Great signings for the hockey team from Boston.
I wanna get this out there. I am on record as not being a fan of the hockey team from Boston.* (* I have not spoken THAT name in close to 50 years. While I had youthful logic for formulating my disdain for the team, a more mature analysis of my logic establishes that I was an insipid kid. Nevertheless, tradition is time-honored in hockey. Therefore, I will never speak that name. Incidentally, similar analysis of my view of the hockey team from Philadelphia could conclude that my logic was clouded by youthful idiocy. However, I stubbornly maintain that in this case my logic was sound. They beat the Sabres in the 1975 SCF; that'll put you on my shit list forever.) Now the truth: I really like the way the hockey team from Boston is constructed. They strike me as a potential President's Cup team that ALSO is built for postseason success. They have a dominant first line, a solid defense, and a good-to-great goalie. They have leadership almost coming out their ass (ass is purposefully singular here since I'm referring metaphorically to the org., and not the physical attribute of any individual). They have youth backing up a strong veteran core. They are skilled AND physical. Right now Boston seems to be running away with the Atlantic. While I do not expect that they'll sustain the current pace, the div. race may be decided by January. There are, like with every team, some questions. But I think they'll be able to find answers given the overall strength of the org. Who knows? The Buffalo Sabres could end up being their next-best divisional competitor. (Toronto could turn it on, but almost just as likely - statistcally/analytically - imp!ode. TB just looks lethargic. Florida could challenge, but there's work to do in Sunrise still. Montreal kinda blows. Ottawa? Detroit? We're talking about the playoffs and not draft lottery odds. But IF Buffalo is Boston's strongest competitor, the outcome will resemble the Bills-Patriots results for this millennium - utter domination.
