Boston Bruins 2023-24 Roster and Salary Cap Discussion X

[JoeIsAStud]

Using their record without Beecher compared to with Beecher a massive stretch. I don’t mind beecher, but during this losing stretch the bruins 4th line has looked the best it’s looked all season.

4th line is really the only line clicking right now.

He is certainly not the only reason they are struggling, but 3rd period with a lead JB is an important player they are missing, and it is part of the reason they can't close games out

 

[UncleRico]

He is certainly not the only reason they are struggling, but 3rd period with a lead JB is an important player they are missing, and it is part of the reason they can't close games out

Personally I don’t think the bruins would even call him up right now if they had the cap space. The 4th line is playing better without him than with him.

And that’s no disrespect to Beecher and more of a tip of the cap to how the 4th line has been lately.

 

[DominicT]

Boring Sunday rumour Day.

They are on the road and will return home Tueaday. That and no Patriots parade makes things quiet.

Big reason I postponed our live podcast tonight until Tuesday

 

[neelynugs]

They are on the road and will return home Tueaday. That and no Patriots parade makes things quiet.

Big reason I postponed our live podcast tonight until Tuesday

good call. tuesday/wednesday is their only 2 day gap between games before the deadline

 

[zaYG]

Bullshit.

Zacha is being asked to play a role above his pay grade. As is Charlie Coyle. Both have done an admirable job.

Sometimes I’d like to be able to use a rating system.

Dumbass
Interesting
Brilliant
Confusing

I’ll let you guess which category I’d assign in this case.

Coyle has admittedly been great. Zacha is invisible most nights and has many plays die on his stick. His production has been rough and would be an embarrassment if not for getting so much ice time with Pasta this season. He really needs to step it up offensively.

 

[BiteThisBurrows]

Using their record without Beecher compared to with Beecher a massive stretch. I don’t mind beecher, but during this losing stretch the bruins 4th line has looked the best it’s looked all season.

4th line is really the only line clicking right now.

Boquist is MUCH better than he was in training camp and at the start of the year. His speed has made the difference, as he's not really a 4th line player in the traditional sense.

The 4th line has outplayed their counterparts without question but my problem is what happens come playoff time? I look at a team like the Rangers adding Rempe and Edstrom to their 4th line and suddenly they are massive and physical and on a winning streak. How are Boquist and Richard and others going to hold up to that? I love Brazzeau's story and he seems like a good guy but he is slow, like REALLY SLOW and he doesn't seem to really like to hit anybody. Kind of awkward. If he had Lauko's attitude on that frame and maybe with Lauko's speed we'd really have something but as is, he's good screening in front and that's about it.

I just do not see this team holding up against Florida or the Rangers or even Tampa or anybody who plays us hard and physical come playoff time. The philosophy of what the 4th line is has me concerned.

 

[goldnblack]

Coyle has admittedly been great. Zacha is invisible most nights and has many plays die on his stick. His production has been rough and would be an embarrassment if not for getting so much ice time with Pasta this season. He really needs to step it up offensively.

Are you doing Zacha relative to his $? Because I still think he's tremendous value.

 

[GordonHowe]

Takeaways: Potential trades won’t solve Bruins’ shutdown issues alone

Here's what we learned following Boston's fifth consecutive overtime appearance in Saturday's game against the Canucks.

www.boston.com

 

[zaYG]

Are you doing Zacha relative to his $? Because I still think he's tremendous value.

well there certainly are a lot of players making much more than him that are even worse so it’s hard to complain about that, but I’m just tired of being frustrated waiting for him to piece it together for more than a few games. Maybe I’m too hard on the guy but you can see that he can play hockey for a while but then has multiple games of not showing up on the score sheet because the offense died on his stick or he just kept trying to force plays that weren’t there.

Maybe it’s just better off having him on the wing. Really wish Bergy did want to come back!

 

[SPV]

In: Okposo & Girgensons from Buffalo; Pageau from NYI, and Englund & Riitch from LA

Out: Ullmark, DeBrusk, and Forbort.

No idea on the particulars of the trades, probably third teams, or using assets from one move for the other. But those guys give us some grind and sandpaper throughout the lineup. Not stars, but good role players. Money in and out is equal, probably have to send a few guys down to Providence to make the roster work.

 

[World of Wardlow]

Bruins need a solid hitting, stay at home D - I saw the rumor of Carrier (NSH), but I would also look into bringing back Lauzon if price is right.

However, issue this season is that we have no assets (i.e draft picks) to do anything much.

 

[Hookslide]

Are you doing Zacha relative to his $? Because I still think he's tremendous value.

I have no inside information, but why do I feel Zacha might be hurt anyone else with the same feeling, my biggest concern with him would be his shot accuracy, other than that I don't have a problem with him.

well there certainly are a lot of players making much more than him that are even worse so it’s hard to complain about that, but I’m just tired of being frustrated waiting for him to piece it together for more than a few games. Maybe I’m too hard on the guy but you can see that he can play hockey for a while but then has multiple games of not showing up on the score sheet because the offense died on his stick or he just kept trying to force plays that weren’t there.

Maybe it’s just better off having him on the wing. Really wish Bergy did want to come back!

Lets move forward and the past with the Bergey talk...........

 

[UncleRico]

Boquist is MUCH better than he was in training camp and at the start of the year. His speed has made the difference, as he's not really a 4th line player in the traditional sense.

The 4th line has outplayed their counterparts without question but my problem is what happens come playoff time? I look at a team like the Rangers adding Rempe and Edstrom to their 4th line and suddenly they are massive and physical and on a winning streak. How are Boquist and Richard and others going to hold up to that? I love Brazzeau's story and he seems like a good guy but he is slow, like REALLY SLOW and he doesn't seem to really like to hit anybody. Kind of awkward. If he had Lauko's attitude on that frame and maybe with Lauko's speed we'd really have something but as is, he's good screening in front and that's about it.

I just do not see this team holding up against Florida or the Rangers or even Tampa or anybody who plays us hard and physical come playoff time. The philosophy of what the 4th line is has me concerned.

Playoffs is a giant unknown for the current 4th line and really any 4th line this team can assemble.

One thing I know for sure right now is that every day this current 4th line is stepping out on the ice they are buying themselves a few more games together without montgomery even considering breaking them up.

 

[PB37]

Zacha passes the eye test for me. I think he should have more points on the board, especially goals. They've been designing some plays for him to get a one timer off recently but it hasn't worked out so far. I was hoping for 60 to maybe even 70 points from him this year but I don't think that's going to happen. He's still a solid player who's been asked to do more this year.

 

[Babajingo]

THe more games I watch the more I realize this D core is super soft. Good skaters/puck movers/blah blah blah. Great for regular season games against St Louis in November.

The only tough one is McAvoy. If they play the Panthers or Rangers in the POs they are doomed. Last night was a great example. For that second goal, Carlo should've just got a box of popcorn and grabbed a seat. Maybe they miss Hamphus more that I realize. I don't know.
I Just see no one making the opposition pay for being in front of the net.

 

[Gee Wally]

The Bruins’ dismal 10-game stretch underscores the need for help at the trade deadline. But will that be enough? - The Boston Globe

David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Jake DeBrusk, among others, have cooled down. DeBrusk remains No. 1 on the trade block if Don Sweeney and Cam Neely intend to add some scoring help before March 8.

www.bostonglobe.com

SEATTLE — For a bunch of guys well on their way to the playoffs, the Bruins have spent the vast majority of the last month looking and playing like they’re headed straight to puck Palookaville.

The latest shot to their collective glass jaw was Saturday night’s 3-2 overtime loss in Vancouver, where Jim Montgomery’s black-and-gold charges again drifted into a fog and chased their own lead (2-0 halfway into the third period) into their seventh loss in 10 games (3-4-3).

The numbers have not been good. Their play has been worse, something that the sweet salve of .500 hockey can’t disguise.

Yes, the Bruins will make the playoffs with ease. Yes, every team lifts its game once the rubber hits the icy road beginning with Game 83.

But to borrow a phrase that team president Cam Neely is accustomed to using when things just ain’t going right: This dog won’t hunt. Not as presently constituted. Not with its tracking nose most nights not sniffing around the net and its bark scaring absolutely no one. Fact is, this team barely yelps.


Neely and GM Don Sweeney now have this short stretch leading to the league’s March 8 trade deadline to conjure up a reset. Short time span. Tall order.

The Neely-Sweeney “needs’ list as of this morning runs deep. To wit:

▪ With Hampus Lindholm expected out for a protracted stretch, back-end help has to be priority. That said, it was a priority before Lindholm went down Monday with his knee injury.

As much as they will miss his skill, the Bruins already had not replaced the back-end moxie factor that exited the lineup when Connor Clifton departed as a UFA to Buffalo. Parker Wotherspoon has added a smidgen of that here and there, but much more is needed.

▪ Relief on the penalty kill. Both Coyle and Marchand receive ample time on the PK and PP units. It looks like time-on-ice has caught up with both of those thirty-somethings. Montgomery has to draw from others to ease their burden, or Sweeney and Neely have to find one or two PK drones in the trade market. Playing both of those guys to exhaustion is not the cure.

▪ Goal scoring. Remember the days when “Get us a sniper, Harry!” was the cure to all Bruins’ needs? Decades later, especially after these last 10 games, it stlll resonates. It’s just not that easy.

Rick Nash and Tyler Bertuzzi were top-six deadline acquisitions made in that spirit, and the results were, let us say, mixed at best. Don’t be looking for that guy now.

More realistically, they’ll move DeBrusk for a guy whose size and game (read: drool factor) can plug into the top six and buy (read: muscle up) some space for the likes of Marchand, Coyle, Pastrnak, and the where-did-he-go? Pavel Zacha.


A Canucks strategy was to pummel Pastrnak, early and often. The star Czech winger took two stiff hits early from 6-foot-6 Nikita Zadorov and then Noah Juulsen, both in the opening 10 minutes. Pastrnak finished 0-0–0, but kept firing, landing six of his nine shots.

Hammering Pasta will be high on every opponent’s list the rest of the way, for these next 23 games …and beyond, however long that ends up being.

 

[The don godfather]

THe more games I watch the more I realize this D core is super soft. Good skaters/puck movers/blah blah blah. Great for regular season games against St Louis in November.

The only tough one is McAvoy. If they play the Panthers or Rangers in the POs they are doomed. Last night was a great example. For that second goal, Carlo should've just got a box of popcorn and grabbed a seat. Maybe they miss Hamphus more that I realize. I don't know.
I Just see no one making the opposition pay for being in front of the net.

Rags dont scare me.

 

[DominicT]

The Bruins’ dismal 10-game stretch underscores the need for help at the trade deadline. But will that be enough? - The Boston Globe

David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Jake DeBrusk, among others, have cooled down. DeBrusk remains No. 1 on the trade block if Don Sweeney and Cam Neely intend to add some scoring help before March 8.

www.bostonglobe.com

SEATTLE — For a bunch of guys well on their way to the playoffs, the Bruins have spent the vast majority of the last month looking and playing like they’re headed straight to puck Palookaville.

The latest shot to their collective glass jaw was Saturday night’s 3-2 overtime loss in Vancouver, where Jim Montgomery’s black-and-gold charges again drifted into a fog and chased their own lead (2-0 halfway into the third period) into their seventh loss in 10 games (3-4-3).

The numbers have not been good. Their play has been worse, something that the sweet salve of .500 hockey can’t disguise.

Yes, the Bruins will make the playoffs with ease. Yes, every team lifts its game once the rubber hits the icy road beginning with Game 83.

But to borrow a phrase that team president Cam Neely is accustomed to using when things just ain’t going right: This dog won’t hunt. Not as presently constituted. Not with its tracking nose most nights not sniffing around the net and its bark scaring absolutely no one. Fact is, this team barely yelps.


Neely and GM Don Sweeney now have this short stretch leading to the league’s March 8 trade deadline to conjure up a reset. Short time span. Tall order.

The Neely-Sweeney “needs’ list as of this morning runs deep. To wit:

▪ With Hampus Lindholm expected out for a protracted stretch, back-end help has to be priority. That said, it was a priority before Lindholm went down Monday with his knee injury.

As much as they will miss his skill, the Bruins already had not replaced the back-end moxie factor that exited the lineup when Connor Clifton departed as a UFA to Buffalo. Parker Wotherspoon has added a smidgen of that here and there, but much more is needed.

▪ Relief on the penalty kill. Both Coyle and Marchand receive ample time on the PK and PP units. It looks like time-on-ice has caught up with both of those thirty-somethings. Montgomery has to draw from others to ease their burden, or Sweeney and Neely have to find one or two PK drones in the trade market. Playing both of those guys to exhaustion is not the cure.

▪ Goal scoring. Remember the days when “Get us a sniper, Harry!” was the cure to all Bruins’ needs? Decades later, especially after these last 10 games, it stlll resonates. It’s just not that easy.

Rick Nash and Tyler Bertuzzi were top-six deadline acquisitions made in that spirit, and the results were, let us say, mixed at best. Don’t be looking for that guy now.

More realistically, they’ll move DeBrusk for a guy whose size and game (read: drool factor) can plug into the top six and buy (read: muscle up) some space for the likes of Marchand, Coyle, Pastrnak, and the where-did-he-go? Pavel Zacha.


A Canucks strategy was to pummel Pastrnak, early and often. The star Czech winger took two stiff hits early from 6-foot-6 Nikita Zadorov and then Noah Juulsen, both in the opening 10 minutes. Pastrnak finished 0-0–0, but kept firing, landing six of his nine shots.

Hammering Pasta will be high on every opponent’s list the rest of the way, for these next 23 games …and beyond, however long that ends up being.

So, moving DeBrusk..... someone else is finally on it.

When I asked someone with knowledge of the convo between Boston and St Louis, the Blues were told to "get back to is when you have a serious offer"

 

[Sheppy]

Rags dont scare me.

Trouba will have a field day.

 

[TCB]

Trouba will have a field day.

He would and then u have the new man child there , when and if freddy wants to provoke him ( Trouba ) to throw down.

 

[RatKing]

What about Hartman from Minny?

 

[The don godfather]

Trouba will have a field day.

Yea suspended after game 1. Hes a head hunter.

 

[SwayHeyKid]

Yea suspended after game 1. Hes a head hunter.

You never would have survived 80's-mid 00's hockey

 

[RatKing]

Yea suspended after game 1. Hes a head hunter.

You know the best way to stop a headhunter, with a headhunter on your own team. I don’t condone it or like it, but with the way the Bruins are constructed today guys like Trouba can run around taking liberties on our guys with no repercussions. So they are going to continue to do so. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched guys not finish their check on this team. The only guy on this squad that will lay a big open ice hit is there 2nd best player, I’d rather that come from 3rd/4th line 5th/6th d men types then there best defenseman.

 

[sarge88]

I think the plan needs to be this:

1. Do no harm
(Do not give up any picks better than 4th rounders or Lysell or Lohrei, unless the return is a no brainer….and by no brainer, I’m talking the kind of deal where 70% of posters here are ok with).

2. Accept the fact that teams can and do win cups when they aren’t top 1/2/3/4 in the league during the RS. The second the deadline ends and the roster is relatively set, put lines and pairings together and keep them for 5 games to see what you’ve got. Mike minor adjustments from there. Maybe things jell and they go on a roll like lots of other teams do when they aren’t regular season world beaters.

3. Acknowledge that having two Vezina caliber goaltenders is an unnecessary luxury and at least consider moving Ullmark if the right player/package is coming back. Yes, the plan worked, but 70% of the season is gone. Take advantage of your riches….again, provided it’s the right return.

4. Resolve JDB’s situation. Re-sign him or move him.

5. Get a couple of bottom of the roster guys at the deadline who will bring some intensity/toughness and attitude and will be here for a while to help re-invent the identity of the team.

6. Look at the big picture and take advantage of the market. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I give them about a 15% chance at winning a cup at the moment. (Could change based on trades, other teams injuries, etc.). Given that - if someone wanted to offer a 2nd rounder or a legit prospect with some jam to his game for JVR, Heinen, Geekie, or even a Boqvist, do it. Losing one of those guys doesn’t move the needle enough to change the fortunes of this team. IMO.

7. In the off season, find a way to get at least two impactful forwards who play tough and physical. We’re not getting a Tkachuk, but there are guys out there who are capable of playing in the top 9 who actually initiate contact, enjoy hitting opponents, stick up for teammates and are tough to play against. Finally sign Hanifin.

Looking ahead to next year:

Zacha — New C — Pasta
Marchand — Poitras/Coyle — JDB(Or Replacement) or Frederic
New F - Poitras/Coyle - Frederic/New F
Boqvist - Geekie - Brazeau

Hanifin - McAvoy
Lindholm - Carlo
Lohrei - Wotherspoon/Regula

Swayman
Bussi

8. Win 2024/2025 Stanley Cup