If they didn't have a cup, 2 finals appearances, and a president's trophy, postseason almost every year, I would say they were fucked. I think they're doing things alright overall.
I think the Bruins F corps will be better next year than last. I simply can't overstate how excited I am to have the Bigfat anchor out of the lineup. Understandably you're changing your philosophy by trading him and letting Soderberg walk because they're both at least heavy bodies and BigFat could use his size from time to time. This change is welcome and been a long time coming. Adapt or die. All you really know is where Krecji and Bergeron/Marchand slot in. I like the competition for spots between some pretty good players. 3 top 6 spots available, all 3 on W. Pastrnak (R) don't know where this kid's ceiling is. Real slick and smart, Gaudreauesgue vision. 10 goals in a very protected 47 games last year. Seems really ripe for major improvement given his age, lack of experience, and size. Could end up being the most talented in the bunch, probably should. How the hell did so many teams whiff on this kid? probably the best draft pick this regime has had. Eriksson (L) really good player. I want him to at least go in to camp on Krejci's side possibly w/ Hayes or Connolly on the opposite side. No reason he shouldn't be a top 6 here. Connolly (R) has a chance to be a good top 6 player that isn't afraid to shoot??rare among the B's F. I liked what I saw in his brief time last year. I really like how he signed a 1 year prove it deal. Probably going to break his wrist in a camping accident or something like that in the preseason though. Spooner (L), real fast and knows when to push the play. I like him a lot at C but he could be in play for a W spot too depending on where you slot Kelly- 3C, 3W or 4C? It would really help this kid of Cload didn't despise him. He had a horrible start to the season and finished real strong. 8g/10a in 28 games in total. Beleskey (L)- top 9 and a possibility for top 6. I like having options, up to Cloaderoni to help the team find chemistry. Would think that he could jump on in w/ Bergy/Marchy. Hayes (R)- i remember older Hayes well. Haven't seen too much as a pro but seen enough to know that his games hasn't changed too much since his days at BC. Lulz (pun!) you to sleep but can be dangerous. These types of guys are usually infuriating. His brother was like that until his senior NCAA season and then he got real good so maybe the elder can bust out a bit too. 4th line probably looks like- Kelly?, Rinaldo, Talbot, Joonas Kemppainen- a Euro 27 year old signing. some lennies seem to like him. then wildcard guys like Khochlachev, Griffith, Phillips, Camara, maybe even when of the real young picks/prospects. D is the real issue, i'll try tackling that later. Hopefully something will have been done by then to address this hemorrhage.
I think the forward group on the whole are worse, by a decent margin. After the scoring woes of last year, I think Claude will make adjustments, at least to prove he can do it as his leash is very short and very tight. The numbers to look at will be in things like close possession numbers, zone entries, zone starts, etc. I think goals will be up regardless, but I think all the % will dip, and that's far more important in the big picture. If Claude doesn't adjust to allow for less structure, they miss the playoffs and he's fired imo. Are they slotted at all? Which line brings the primary scoring? Will Marchand have to go with Krejci for some semblance of balance? I just really don't like the mix of forwards, and I don't like the They're bringing up players that don't have, or haven't fully accepted a role yet. Connolly, Pastrnak, JHayes, Beleskey, Spooner, and the depth don't have a slot. Bergeron isn't a guy to take over a game in the offensive zone and Marchand goes on terrible droughts anymore. Other than Eriksson there isn't a solid 2 way option on the top line in all situations. Krecji is the scoring guy? He has 36 goals his last 174 games and he's been having problems away from a big wing that draws attention away. JHayes ins't going to command attention and he's more of a playmaker than a finisher and Beleskey can't pass. Maybe they put Eriksson there with 2 right shooters and gamble on somebody else with Bergeron. I think he has to be with Pastrnak but JHayes has to be in a scoring role to be effective. Connolly, he's Jack Skille with better finishing ability, he still doesn't know where to go but he doesn't look as bad as he is because he does all the 'try hard' stuff. One of the best looking grinders when he loses the puck again and again. Beleskey. Another guy that has to be in a scoring role now that he's making 3.8. He's best suited for situational 3rd line forechecker or the 4th line to grind out some fun, but he's not a great skater or good enough defensively to be in the top 6. While he finishes well last year, he was still 2x his career shooting % and he's dependent on playmakers. Boston doesn't have the guys to make space for the playmakers anymore. They're stuck relying on Krug to skate around to move defenders. Spooner. Is he a 3C? Will Cload use him in a spot where he's useful. I thought he was okay away from the puck. Kelly-Keep him on a line with Beleskey so that they can actually eat up plenty of effective shifts even though they're a cap drain collectively. Rinaldo-whatever, good luck. I can't even go any further my head is going to explode. This roster sucks with Clode. They can't build 2 lines that can stay within structure without shortchanging the other two lines massively at one end of the ice or the other. They're easy to matchup against. They need a coach like Bruce or Laviolette that isn't afraid to force the other team to make a play with the team they got. I can't see how they make it fit, and they have a number of flexible players. The big thing I can't project (in my head, since my predictions are prone to suckage) is how puck carriers, like Krug, at the back end allow for some of the gigantic holes in offensive skill sets to be covered up. Then it goes right back to matchups, since Krug is the only real threat back there...it's too easy to match up against this team once Clode gets them slotted. Fortunately, while he fumbles through the rotations and pairings, other teams won't know how to play them and Boston will have opportunities to rack up points the first 50 games or so if the overall blueline and goalie play is better. I didn't like Lucic at all, but he still made teams commit their top physical dmen in the top 4 against his line. Boston loses that now and that makes things very difficult for Claude when the games start to matter late in the year.
I do like Spooner in the bottom 6 and Pastrnak on the top scoring line wing. I just can't figure out a line. Too many bodies that haven't played with each other will compound some of the problems.
probably, won't deny that. on the other hand things have gotten stale and this has been needed. if this is the only way to get Cload to switch em up then so be it. will probably take its toll on the Krejci line specifically. Marchand and Bergeron are easy to play with, thats not to say that having someone that they're comfortable with on the right side wouldn't be more beneficial. Krejci + 2 Ws should be interesting.
On the other hand... new looks and new lines and fresh blood can be just whats needed to spark added chemistry, making them dangerous. I thing the Bruins are going to be just fine.
we see things differently here and here's why Im confident that Im right. - Krejci being injured and ineffective last year, thats an anomaly as far as Im concerned. his place on this team is extremely important. not just him there were so many bad seasons on this team last year, even guys like Kelly were very unKelly last year. - no more Lucic - Soderberg was good but nothing better than that. I like his possible replacements candidates - everyone was almost pre-slotted in to positions and became too comfy. the new guys and the semi new (Connolly, Spooner, Pastrnak) should provide valuable competition. training camp should be fun for the 1st time in a long time. - better mix of players this time around and more skill. yes it will be a transition but the top 2 Cs are the backbone here. - 4th line devolved from the best in the league in to one of the least effective and one dimensional lines in the league. new blood is welcome here. Rinaldo not welcome. well said I don't think Marchand is all that great on his own. Bergy has been making him money for a while now but you can't argue w/ their success together. I wouldn't touch those two. this has always been the case. its worked well as they've been one of the top 3 scoring teams in total over the past 4 or 5 years. they play that playoff style of plus/minus hockey all year. this will have to change to a degree but if Bergeron goes head to head w/ the oppositions #1C and comes out on top is the key. Its not really about total points for him. his usage has been as a shutdown center as the #1 priority. Krejci has more free reign out there. Throw the responsible Eriksson on one side and then you can gamble a bit on the other and let a Pastrnak fly around. i like that line in theory. hoping you're wrong on Connolly. the kid finally has a real shot at real offensive situations while being healthy. i like the prospects of him as a top 2 liner. we'll see. Spooner, Im just most worried that Cload will bury him for the whole season after a perceived non-backcheck in a preseason tilt against Winnipeg. i think an effective 3W isn't a let down for him or that contract. I want to see how he does first anyhow but I think he's going to earn that money. $3.8 isn't ideal for 3rd line minutes but we'll see how Cload uses him or the 3rd line (with or without him) to really get a grasp on his value relative to his deal. when the Bruins were humming (all the time excluding last season) Cload would use his 3rd line much differently and more than other teams. Cload really relies on the middle of the ice play in all 3 zones and uses the centers in a very specific way i think. This is why I wouldn't be upset if he let Spooner fly freely around a bit on the wing as long as it doesn't shortchange his overall game. Either way, same 2 ( or 3?) Centers here for a long time now. Im not arguing that there won't be change but I don't think it will be huge and I thinks it's overdue. Might be forcing Cload's hand and if its ugly early I think he's on a real short leash. Im not denying that team looks worse on paper now than it did a year ago. I like the F group better and found last year's version very apathetic and crappy to watch. a little piss and vinegar is ok by me. the D is a disaster, Ive got nothing for you on that.
i love all Broonz related takes. anyone that wants to spout off, please do. i may not be smart but I'm smart enough to know that I'm more than capable of being wrong.
I watched a team implode on itself after management became too complaisant with their team-building work; which lead to them being blown to smithereens. I want to make it clear that I do not think the hockey team from Boston's problems come remotely close to the Sabres'. However, I'm a stock market guy and am a strong believer in watching the little things that could become future problems. That's my view on the hockey team from Boston last year; there were a few "troubling" signs that indicated the team was not all on the same page with each other. Will used the term "chemistry" and I believe that describes this as well as anything. Sometimes a team needs a trim and other times it's necessary to do some serious pruning, but if addressed in time it helps avoid the need to tear things down completely. Some of their moves were clearly cap related, but I suspect that some were motivated by the need to change the personnel mix in the locker room. It's never a given that the kind of pruning they've done will restore things quickly. In fact, it usually takes a little time for things to really get to where a team wants to be. I think that Sweeney probably feels that he deserves an incomplete for this offseason. I think he planned on doing more that for what ever reason did not come to fruition. But, I commend him for taking serious action now rather than dithering like Regier did in Buffalo. I'd err on the side of caution when projecting their 2015-16 season. We do know for a fact that they've significantly upgraded their prospect pool and there is little reason to doubt that in another year they'll be making Matty smile again.
Funny, I was more down on Soderberg last year and you were high on him (I think that was last year) . Now we've switched roles. I think the loss hurts. I do believe competition for spots is a big help and that is something the franchise had been lacking for a few years now. That's the single biggest area I would have for optimism. While Krecji's injury is very signficant, I think the injury situation could have been worse among the forwards with Marchand, Bergeron, Eriksson, Soderberg, looch, etc. missing more time. I still think Lucic was valuable in drawing the opposing coach to counter him throughout a game. I was never a big fan of his but I think the size/physicality created a matchup advantage for the Bruins, especially in a series or among divisional teams that were familiar. I think this is correct. I'm a big fan of continuity now that systems trump creativity more often than not. I would imagine the smart play is to keep at least one wing-center combo as a fixture. I get the concept of what Bergeron's role has been for years in relation to Krecji. This is where I think Marchand's slumps and Lucic's loss hurts. Teams don't have to pick pairs to matchup against the two lines anymore, they can just go through their normal rotation. During the regular season many teams do it anyway, now, I don't see divisional opponents worrying about it. I think I saw this happening last year, but it's so tough to say with all the mess all over. Who knows. lol about the non-backcheck (perception of one). I like Spooner. Great name too. He's going to look like a stud out of the gate, if I was putting money on it. Check with me (I have crows in the yard as a precaution) come the deadline each year thereafter. I don't trust his wheels to handle the bigger workload and his game isn't one suited for staying on the ice all year. Given Sweeney's disaster at the draft and flipping of players for assets (space, high floor picks, and picks over roster help), I would say Sweeney is very mindful of asset management (still shaking my head on the Looch retention) I won't be surprised if they forgo a pickup of a 4-5 dman in favor of another big or scoring forward and cheaper 6-7 type dmen. The reason being is that it would be more cost effective In a short sample size, it seems to be where his head is at. Also, if they hit on a few forwards, they can deal for a dman in the year. Otherwise they're only going to get one stab in the dark on a dman. We'll see.
Bob, I am simply not sure I understand your question. That rarely stops anyone from responding, so I'll bull forward. I believe that every team has a plan, and internally they believe that it's well-defined. The problem is that some team's plans suck; it's a lousy plan. In other cases unforeseen events throw a wrench into the works, (e.g., a player gets arrested or seriously injured). In many cases when there's not - to outsiders -an identifiable plan it is because the team is horrible at execution. I am convinced that Sweeney has a plan. In fact, I believe it was probably a pretty good plan on paper. Certainly the cap forced their hands on certain moves. (That's just one of the factors that has to be integrated into every team's plan. The Hawks deal with it perennially and distinguish themselves very well on that count.) So, perhaps Sweeney's plan was not as he would have wished it could be. In the end, I do not think he planned to draft 13-15 and pick up several second round players. I believe he planned to move up to at least one, but probably two, 3-10 picks. After the generational top-two, this is where there were elite players in this draft. Perhaps he bought other team's smokescreen and expected that he had acquired the ammo to move up, but obviously that did not happen. What I expected as draft day unfolded was for them to move up to pick either Marner & Hannifin or Marner & Werenski. If they had added one of these duos then I do not think anyone would be lambasting their draft. They would not question their plan; they'd be lauded for their genius. Perhaps Sweeney is not decisive enough; perhaps he got beat by other GM's at this game; perhaps he simply demonstrated rookie GM mistakes. I am not a fan of his team so it does not bother me, but I do not believe that Matty should be too bothered either because the team began to address systemic problems with the team, and positioned them to reload much more quickly than if they had stood pat. When I properly prune a tree it looks uglier than when I started, but in a season it looks much better and is much healthier. Or, looking at it another way, if it will take the Sabres a couple of seasons to integrate all the new pieces, I believe that it will take a minimum of half a season for the hockey team from Boston to do the same. Finally, even when we cannot identify a plan, there is still one in place. There is always a plan.
You make sense, I disagree with a few parts. I think "well-defined" is very subjective. PHI has had very clear plans, so has EDM. I'm not sure it looks good on paper. I'm not sure the all the aspects of this plan are aligned or will lead to the same place. Right now, it doesn't appear to have mattered. That's a huge problem. They took a playoff roster, and weakened it and weren't ready to handle what they were going to get in return. In my opinion, that's worse than Snow with Vanek, because of where the respective franchises were at the time. To compound the problem, they addressed the wholes with multiyear commitments to questionable players. Not with clowns like me out there. I would have hammered that plan to move up too. Not only would they have had to burn assets they need to build up organizational depth, but they would be wasting a year of Bergeron, Rask, Krecji, and Chara while still having a playoff roster. They were one year from a pres trophy, a winning culture, and in a division where none of the good teams, (including the overhyped shallow forward pool in TB), can afford a single loss to their top pair or top line and still hit 100pts. Anything that didn't either improve the roster now, either with roster help and/or significant quality depth at both levels, would have been give a ditch stamp of approval. I'm not sure what was addressed though, and reloading isn't really an option if they're just taking picks for everything. Developed prospects are for reloads, picks are for rebuilds. Boston had few of the former and their core will be mostly declining by the time they're near useful development. They added picks and reached with picks and still haven't proven they have a successful developmental pipeline. None of it matters if they don't overhaul the rest of the front office and/or make sure they have an effective developmental program in place. Vancouver had a bigger laundry list last year for example, and they made far more headway in a short period of time, without setting the roster backwards. But Sweeney was pruning a cactus with a screwdriver. I agree there's a plan I just think it's completely fucked. Summer is still early though. If he adds a healthy 4 or 5 and a big, 2 way forward, things will make more sense to me, outside of the draft.
Well, I think it comes down to this: some GM's are stupider than other GM's. Sweeney is not off to a swell start, but it's still early for him. I think he F!ed up big time because at the end of the day the plan is worth S! if you do not execute well. I believe that every team has a plan, and internally they believe that it's well-defined. So, with proper emphasis placed my intent is hopefully more clear. They believe they have a plan and they believe that it's a good plan, but some GM's are stupider than others.
Now we get to the bigger part. Who is "they" and is Sweeney included in the "they". I smell Chuck and Seabass.
