Subtracting Savard's money and the Bruins are looking at $61.5-ish spent right now. That's w/ 10 Fs, 5 D, and 1 G signed. F Bergy, Marchand, Smith, Krejci, BigFat, Eriksson, Pastrnak, Kelly, Talbot, and Ferlin all locked up for next year. Thats a solid core?.. I would've said a great core a year ago. Some easy moves to be made to make it better. Subtract 1 large fat waste of space that happens to wear the #17 and now your talking. Much like Bill Daly, that is the hill that I'll die on. Spooner and Connolly are RFAs. Im assuming they're looking at bridge deals. Can Spooner handle 3rd line responsibilities? Im not so sure but the kid deserves a chance. Im really excited to see what Connolly can do if he can stay healthy for an entire season, I liked what I saw from him in his brief play at the end of the season. Im hoping that he can make Reilly Smith expendable. Some possible kids that could crack the lineup- best is Khochlachev but he's a small top 6/9 guy so Im not so sure how he'll fit in on the big club just yet. Made a trade for former first rounder Zach Phillips at last year's deadline but I think that was just an even swap of underperforming Euro-bound kids. Seth Griffith and Anthony Camara perhaps. Camara is a big guy so if Sweeney makes the right move and moves Lucic Id think Camara stays up. Signed college FAs Frankie Vatrano and Noel Acciari. Both most likely Providence bound. Should be an easy move for Acciari as he was the Capt. of the PC Friars last year. Campbell and Paille are gonzo, Soderberg TBD but I don't see how they can fit him in w/ the way the team is currently constituted cap-wise. Signed F- Joonas Kemppainen??so theres that. Im not going to pretend that I know anything about him. D Douglas Hamilton will probably want $4.5+ per. Would be great if the Bruins could sign him to a Jonis Brodin like deal- $25 over 6 years ($4.16 per). Brodin signed that at the beginning of last year though so Im assuming that the price has only risen. Not to mention the weak FA crop this year and the [del]always[/del] somewhat possible offer sheet option. I actually read a real article recently about the Oilers giving Hamilton an offer sheet. Obviously someone's been spying on the ditch or tapping in to my brain. need moar foil! or the someone that wrote that article happens to also be a genius. Look for Zach Trotman on the big club next year. He's on a 1-way for '15/16 and he's a solid player and cheap at $625k. Ive included him in my numbers for the D. He's a truculent sort, Kevan Miller type. I think Trotman/Miller make McQuaid expendable. I love me McQuaid but he's just too injury prone and w/ this FA class someone will pay him more than the Bruins. Had high hopes for Bartkowski but it just never happened. Good luck to him, Vancouver seems to be mentioned w/ him and has for a while now. Should be the year for Joe Morrow, he looks the part out there. I have a tough time rooting for him because he seems like a real prick off the ice. Seems like he's been a prospect forever but he's only 22. G Is Subban going to backup Rask? Im hoping not. More beneficial for him to get the work down on the farm. A reliable backup shouldn't be hard to sign. Of course I said the same thing last year and it didn't work out so well. Most important question in net- will Tuukka get rid of the god damn yellow in his pads? goalies are superstitious so Im banking on yes. and there are your Stanley Cup Champions for 2016-2020+.
Had to thank you for the laughs. SC champs in 2020? Matty, everyone knows the Sabres are going to start their SCC screed in 2019.
so Hamilton wants Doughty money. that in and of itself seems laughable. i can get on board that Hamilton's trajectory isn't what Doughty's is and was, but upon further review the kid can make a fairly strong case for himself. Kind of shocked looking at Drew Doughty's stats. His best season point-wise was his 2nd where he hit 59 points. He has only reached 40 pts twice since then in the following 5 seasons. Dougie Hamilton went for 42 points this season and both his play and point production has increased nicely in each of his 3 NHL seasons. Not completely discounting Doughty, he's been a monster in the playoffs. Hamilton has missed some games in each of the past two seasons whereas Doughty pretty much doesn't miss games at all. Im just shocked that their numbers are as close as they are and I would think that when they're both fully matured that Hamilton will be the better one defensively.
This just scored a 9.8 of 10 in terms of awsumness. The best part is that Dougie has all the leverage. Go get em' Sweeney. I'm just going to dismiss any comparison to Doughty at 3 years and Hamilton. Hamilton is much closer to Tyler Myers than Doughty. By year 3 Doughty had emerged as a legitimate top pair dman for any system. He was far more physical, better and more willing to block shots, and started establishing himself as an effective PK dman. He was averaging over 25 minutes a game for a team going into its 2nd year of playoff contention. When ALL of the numbers are thrown on table, I don't think Hamilton is anywhere close to Doughty and Dougie still has a long journey to go to get to where Doughty was in 2011. They have a few similar numbers, but overall, the only real comparison is the leverage they have over their respective gms at the same time. Doughty was getting paid in large part for what he had already done where Hamilton is looking to cash in on a promise if their contracts are going to be close to the same % of the cap.
I would think the opposite was more likely. Doughty was showing early signs of being a dominant defensemen, I still haven't seen Hamilton take care of the better forwards consistently, gain the puck, and get it out nearly as well as Doughty was able to at the same time.
Im not comparing their overall game as it stands right now because Doughty is the better of the two, quite clearly. When its all said and done I think Hamilton will be right there w/ Doughty and better in his own end. Hamilton's ceiling is still a question mark. When Doughty has guys lined up he can deliver the blow and hip check but Hamilton is much stronger and capable of bullying the opposing forwards. His ceiling in terms of physical play is much higher, he's got about 5 inches on Doughty and Hamilton is a workout fiend, Doughty's rep is that he's an ice cream fiend. So in stature Dougie's physically superior to Doughty and that's huge for a D, I think that'll come in to play as he moves forward. It should anyway. Seems like Dougie has been scared by Cload's system and goes through stretches of really sheepish play. He was much more run n gun and would line the opposition up when he was a rookie. A delicate balance that seems to be one of the harder things to figure out for young D. Would be disastrous for the Bruins to allow Hamilton to leave. I really think that he will be the next Hedman. Certainly not advocating for Dougie to get anything close to Doughty money because he hasn't earned it. He's earned $4-5 imo. I would lock him up long term around $5 if possible because he'll outplay that based on my projections anyway. * my projections aint worth shit for a pro hockey player thats pretty damn fat.
Find me anybody that can project young players, please. Back to Doughty vs Hamilton, Hamilton needs to put down the happy sunny unicorn friend he keeps in his locker or else he's fucked. Can't shut down top players without a nasty streak and I don't think Kale shakes and July crunches do anything more for that than Eskimo pies for breakfast. -I can't believe I just went full meatball. I do think Hamilton will be very good, I just think it's more likely that he falls short of what Doughty is and has been.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/..._bruins_win_next_season_it_will_be_because_of Stephan Harris thinks Clode is dreamy. Summary: management sucks but Clode is good enough to make them better than their flawed construction. Nothing new, but it appears they won't be altering the roster to make him fit. No good stuff on Hamilton talks.
Sweeney and Seabass have to make a move to get some cred with Sully. Who do they move for the sake of making a big splash for Booyah- effect?
