Bruins season 2021-22

Another excerpt in that story implies he actually lost his pension for that! Violation with suspension over a certain number of games (he got 15). Apparently he and Orpik were friends and still are, though it was strained for a time.

Read this earlier in the day and was going to post it here, beat me to it. I liked the Tie Domi story the most. For a guy you love to hate it gives you a reason to like him. Funny how most of these tough guy enforcer types are actually great teammates.

Good!

A Retained Phil Kessel

My guess is it will be some equally flawed young player. Saw many say that Chicagos Dylan Strome makes a TON of sense. Similar contracts. Similar age. Similar hints of potential. Similar downward spiral.

Pasta and McAvoy untouchable. Carlo would require a big return. Patrice if he wants to be traded.

Everyone else on the table.

Shameless plug for a college dormmate, Don Reddick, UMass '75, member hockey team . He writes books with a local flavor, almost always hockey oriented. One of the most quick witted people I've known.

Here's his latest.....

reddickbooks.godaddysites.com/?fbclid=IwAR00APRQMCQbMAEyU-6NS6UKGlpBAt79zTDRKBk5shJ46x7qBs6efUwWKsw



ADD: I don't know if there are any Bruins stories but I do know there are stories about playing in Boston Garden.

One of my favorites was about Bobby Orr in a book about his life. I guess the team would go to the same bars all the time in Boston and the girls would show up, hard to imagine right. Well they used to play "spin the Bobby". With a good buzz on they would blindfold him and spin him around with the girls standing around him, when he stopped spinning he would go home with the girl he was pointing at.  

They’ll be using all 3 goalies is my bet. With covid, durability concerns, and our condensed schedule it is very important for us to have as many capable netminders as possible. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Swayman for this season

They’re playing some damn good hockey lately

Blidh might be my favorite player, he stirs a bunch of crap up. That 4th line has been great lately

I really hope DeBrusk is taking back his trade demand.

As we head into March and towards the trade deadline, I have some thoughts:

Top Pair LH Defenseman - While the lines have seem to settled in nicely, I think it's still clear that Boston's primary need is a partner for McAvoy. They've tried multiple guys and nothing seems to work consistently (Vaakanainen was arguably his most successful partner but he's been hurt of late. Even healthy, he's probably best as a 2nd Pair guy. You'd also probably want someone who could carry should Charlie get hurt for a period of time.) The question is whether or not you want someone young and with term (which would cost more including 1 of your best prospects AND a 1st) OR a pending FA (Mark Giordano has been one of the names mentioned). It'd certainly be nice to get someone to pair with McAvoy for multiple years, but how much would that cut into your future. BTW - Some people think Mason Lohrei could be THAT GUY. Others not so sure.

2nd Line C - First on Krejci. He has to pass through waivers so, to guarantee it, Boston might have to agree to hand over an asset to a team high in the pecking order to ensure he "gets through". And that's IF DK wants to sign here. Wonder if Brad Marchand's response to a tweet about him yesterday indicates he knows DK wants to stay put. Meanwhile, Erik Haula has worked nicely on that line. For those that feel he's "not a 2nd line C" . . . true. But Hall is really playing that role from a playmaking standpoint (17 assists in 27 games since January 1). Obviously, Haula takes the faceoffs and has C responsibilities on D but Hall/Pasta drive the offense so Haula is fine. However, the questions are a) what if Haula gets hurt? Are you comfortable with moving everyone up a rung? Or would you be okay with Studnicka on that line? and b) What about next year? if PB retires or signs with another team (gah!!), nobody is making one feel comfortable going forward. So the need up the middle is likely a future need (more on that later in the post)

Wing - At one point, some felt scoring winger was as much of a need as C but, for now, JDB seems to have squashed that (until/unless he's traded - again, more on him later). There is certainly an argument for adding another winger anyway as, despite how he's looked on the 3rd line, Frederic is probably dragging the offensive potential of that line down. Depending on what happens with C, it's possible Haula would get another crack at LW (he hasn't been great on the wing BUT, I'm not sure he's spent much time there with Coyle at C and, maybe, reuniting him - back from their Minny days - would work). Of course, if you DO trade JDB, then a scoring RW jumps back up to being a need.

on JDB - my hope is that Cassidy and JDB realize they need each other for the rest of the season. Riding with BM and PB is likely DeBrusk's best path to a payday as a restricted FA this offseason. I'd also think that, especially if he continues to succeed in this role, the potential return in a trade gets bigger this offseason (more teams interested in making moves and having Cap Space). Maybe at that point you can get a potential 2nd Line C with upside for him.

on Trade assets - Fluto Shinzawa (the Athletic) ranked the assets as such:

1. Mason Lohrei, LHD
2. Fabian Lysell, W
3. 2022 1st Rd Pick
4. Jack Studnicka, C
5. Urho Vaakanainen, LHD
6. 2023 1st Rd Pick
7. Trent Frederic, F
8. Jack Ahcan, LHD
9. Brett Harrison, C
10. John Beecher, F
11. Oskar Steen, W
12. Jakub Lauko, W
13. Trevor Kuntar, F
14. Jake DeBrusk, F
15. Zach Senyshyn, F

Gotta believe there has been some movement on that with JDB playing so well in his new role. Fluto also suggests that the top 3 (Lohrei, Lysell and this year's 1st should be "untouchable"). I'd just add an "it depends" to that. Yes, you're going to need cheeper high-end talent as the current core gets paid more but, if you have a chance to get an U-25 long term piece, you have to consider it.

Other Trade Pieces - if Boston is going to add pieces that move the needle, I'm guessing some veterans not on the above list will be headed elsewhere (either in the trade to fill the needs OR in other moves that create room and add additional pieces). My thoughts on those vets under consideration:

Nick Foligno - he'd be the ideal candidate to move salary since he really doesn't have a role on this team but, at 3.8M for next year as well, I'd be hard pressed to think of a scenario where another team takes him without a significant offset of his # and/or giving up an asset to move him. Given that he's likely a sunk cost, it might be better to have him as an expensive bandage should someone get hurt down the stretch.

Charlie Coyle OR Erik Haula - if a non-JDB forward gets moved it's likely going to be Haula. At only 2.375 for next year, he's shown some ability to C a scoring line or, at least, not cause it to suffer. Probably doesn't happen unless Boston somehow acquires a legit #2 C. I only added Coyle for completeness. I like him but he's definitely better as a 3rd Line C and that number/term is likely too big for someone to take on.

Reilly/Forbort/Grzelcyk - IF Boston adds a top Pair D, then one of these guys likely becomes expendable. Ideally, we're probably looking at Reilly or Forbort, however they are likely just "dumps" or contract matches at best. Meanwhile, for the same term (and only 688K/yr more) a team might be willing to offer legit pieces for Grizz. I'd also add that some of his value would get impacted if a Top Pair D is acquired (one would assume, a true top pair guy would have PP abilities where some of MG's value lies. He could get bumped from that role anyway.) For me, it just comes down to who are you getting more in return for. That could easily be Grzelcyk.

Anyway, that's my brain dump. I probably just sent them on a big losing streak by posting about them since I've been mostly silent (other than posting news/transactions) in '22.

Also, if it's better to break these topics up to discuss them separately, I can (though, I suppose, anyone commenting can do so by just quoting the section you wish to discuss).