Boston Bruins 2024-2025 Roster & Salary Cap Discussion IV

[BMC]

Totally understand the situation.
I made a post a couple of weeks ago saying that whomever we get from free agency this summer will likely be our 2C the following season.
2024-25 is likely going to be another transition season.

I'd rather see the Bruins do that. From what has been said here & elsewhere, this year's UFA class is underwhelming.

 

[mjhfb]

I don't think Heinen's game will falter when he gets older. His overall style of play isn't dependent on his physicality like it is with other players who are which is always a worry when those type of players start reaching the end of their prime.

We will see what happens with Frederic and Geekie. Coyle will also be in the last year of his deal after next season so there are ways the Bruins can make cap space if needed.

I agree. Some players deteriorate because the skill that got them there fades away. As long as Heinen stays healthy and doesn't get stupider he should still be a serviceable piece somewhere for the near future.

 

[The Un4casted Storm]

Very little chance either hit open market. You have to deal with reality and reality is its the Lindholm and Stevenson's that tend to hit FA. Lindholm will be a too 2C on Boston meaning if you can sign Stevenson that means Coyle's or Stephenson is your 3C and you have really strong Center depth that can survive an injury to the top 3C.


They aren't moving Miller or Pettersonn to wing to make Lindholm happy, come on man.

Oh I'm not banking on them hitting the open market, just using them as an example of the type of players I would overpay for.

All I'm trying to say is that I don't see Lindholm as a sign-at-all costs type of player, regardless of how much the cap is expected to go up. Are people here going to be thrilled if the Bruins land him but it costs them $10.5+ x 7 years or something like that (as an example)? Lots of teams have money available and it's a thin free agent class so it's not inconceivable a bidding war could erupt. At a certain point the bad contract you don't hand out is better than overspending to fill a hole imo.

Personally, I'm hoping they go the hockey trade route. See if they can pry a Mercer out of New Jersey for example.

 

[stungun54]

wow. i watched nearly every minute of the playoffs and cant believe the dakota joshua band wagon has us paying him 3.5 a year to play with pasta on the first line. wow. just wow. sure fire way to cripple this franchise. I assume he gets a 7 year deal and a NTC too. this guy is not close to 3.5 in value. Total 64 Pts in 184 GP, and 8 playoffs Pts in 14 GP. Like his style but no way i pay him that money never mind slotting him into the top line. ridiculous. comparing him to Heinen is like apples to oranges two very different players its irrelevant.

 

[LouJersey]

Lindholm is a very solid two-way center iceman, who only once in his career has averaged at least a point a game and that year was 21-22 when he was playing with Tkachuk and Gaudreau, who had 104 and 115 respectively, Lindholm had 82 in 82 games.

I like him as a perfect number two center. (In 818 career games he has 557 points.) Would love him as a Bruin, but am I'm going to over pay for him just because I have the cap space and the need for a number one center? The answer is no, I'd rather go the trade route, and if there's nothing there be patient don't enter the world of cap hell over a Elias Lindholm. Like I said I like the player and a lot, but Im not throwing anything more than 6.5 his way. Maybe 7 depending on term.

You're not gonna get him then. What's plan B?

 

[JoeIsAStud]

wow. i watched nearly every minute of the playoffs and cant believe the dakota joshua band wagon has us paying him 3.5 a year to play with pasta on the first line. wow. just wow. sure fire way to cripple this franchise. I assume he gets a 7 year deal and a NTC too. this guy is not close to 3.5 in value. Total 64 Pts in 184 GP, and 8 playoffs Pts in 14 GP. Like his style but no way i pay him that money never mind slotting him into the top line. ridiculous. comparing him to Heinen is like apples to oranges two very different players its irrelevant.

But he shot over 21% this year, you don't think that is sustainable?

I would put the odds of Joshua leaving Vancouver at less than 50/50 and the odds of him being in Boston next year at less than 5 percent. If he chooses FA,, he'll likely get 15 offers and he has no ties to the Boston area

Oh I'm not banking on them hitting the open market, just using them as an example of the type of players I would overpay for.

All I'm trying to say is that I don't see Lindholm as a sign-at-all costs type of player, regardless of how much the cap is expected to go up. Are people here going to be thrilled if the Bruins land him but it costs them $10.5+ x 7 years or something like that (as an example)? Lots of teams have money available and it's a thin free agent class so it's not inconceivable a bidding war could erupt. At a certain point the bad contract you don't hand out is better than overspending to fill a hole imo.

Personally, I'm hoping they go the hockey trade route. See if they can pry a Mercer out of New Jersey for example.

A hockey trade for Mercer works, but you need AT LEAST one more top 6 player unless they choose to resign Debrusk, and likely a Center, as Mercer doesn't solve the center hole.

 

[The Un4casted Storm]

A hockey trade for Mercer works, but you need AT LEAST one more top 6 player unless they choose to resign Debrusk, and likely a Center, as Mercer doesn't solve the center hole.

I definitely agree they'll need to do more. Don't know that it necessarily has to all be this year though as I'm fine with next year being another transition year if it means being patient and getting the right players in place.

Yeah, it sucks for Marchand and you'd be wasting some of the McAvoy/Pastrnak window but it is what it is. The blunt reality is that this group wasted their best opportunities to win in 2019 and 2023. That's on them. I'd rather build towards being a legit heavyweight contender again in say 2-3 years rather than patching the ship with whatevers on hand right this instant and hoping and praying that the stars align next year. After the last two playoffs this group frankly hasn't given me any reason to believe they can get it done without major changes imo.

 

[JCRO]

 

[Bodit9]

Stephenson will be better value. Less money and term. I like Lindholm as well but he seems to be dropping off quickly.

 

[sarge88]

I definitely agree they'll need to do more. Don't know that it necessarily has to all be this year though as I'm fine with next year being another transition year if it means being patient and getting the right players in place.

Yeah, it sucks for Marchand and you'd be wasting some of the McAvoy/Pastrnak window but it is what it is. The blunt reality is that this group wasted their best opportunities to win in 2019 and 2023. That's on them. I'd rather build towards being a legit heavyweight contender again in say 2-3 years rather than patching the ship with whatevers on hand right this instant and hoping and praying that the stars align next year. After the last two playoffs this group frankly hasn't given me any reason to believe they can get it done without major changes i

2019 almost becomes more soul crushing as time wears on, as going into that series I was never more confident about a Boston team in a finals than the Sox vs. Colorado or the Pats vs. Philly (first one).

I know it’s sports and sports are unpredictable, but to this day I know that the B’s were the better team.

 

[22Brad Park]

If Bruins needed cap it would go up maybe a million .Teams like the Oilers need it and voila, its here u go sign your star players.

 

[Bruin4]

You're not gonna get him then. What's plan B?

Well plan A wasn't to over pay to bring in Lindholm. Don't get me wrong I like the player, Like him a lot but I don't want to see Sweeney over pay to bring in a soon to be 30 year-old who has one season of being a point per game player. I really think some team is going to anti up around 9mil per for this guy and I just hope its not the Bruins. Now if he comes in around the 7 mil mark Im all for it.

 

[JoeIsAStud]

I definitely agree they'll need to do more. Don't know that it necessarily has to all be this year though as I'm fine with next year being another transition year if it means being patient and getting the right players in place.

Yeah, it sucks for Marchand and you'd be wasting some of the McAvoy/Pastrnak window but it is what it is. The blunt reality is that this group wasted their best opportunities to win in 2019 and 2023. That's on them. I'd rather build towards being a legit heavyweight contender again in say 2-3 years rather than patching the ship with whatevers on hand right this instant and hoping and praying that the stars align next year. After the last two playoffs this group frankly hasn't given me any reason to believe they can get it done without major changes imo.

Do you think they play next year at 15 milion under the cap ? I don't really believe that is an option for them .

 

[Bruin4]

So when the Bruins move Ullmark they'll have over 27million in cap space.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Stephenson will be better value. Less money and term. I like Lindholm as well but he seems to be dropping off quickly.
View attachment 880621

So this definitely has nothing to do with his time in Calgary on a team that plummetted after the Tkachuk trade and his 3rd line time in Stanley Cup Vancouver.

 

[SPV]

So when the Bruins move Ullmark they'll have over 27million in cap space.

Exactly. And when you figure you only need to spend big on three of those players (Swayman, 2 Top 6 forwards), 27 million goes pretty far. Maroon or Boqvist, whoever they pick is probably around 1 million, and a physical defender is probably around 2.

 

[Bodit9]

So this definitely has nothing to do with his time in Calgary on a team that plummetted after the Tkachuk trade and his 3rd line time in Stanley Cup Vancouver.

Maybe. But the trend is a bit concerning.

 

[dafoomie]

Sam Reinhart would be intriguing as a 1C. High IQ player, plays between the dots, plays the bumper on the PP, not afraid to shoot the puck. Would check a lot of boxes for the Bruins. He hasn't been a full time center often in his career but he was drafted as one, had some success there in Buffalo and has done it from time to time in Florida. The challenge of taking that on with a competitive team might even be intriguing to him. They have to overcome the Panthers before they can go anywhere, what better way than to take one of their best players?

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Maybe. But the trend is a bit concerning.

This is like saying McAvoy is not worth much because he had a non-Norris season last year. I think that's vastly over simplifying things.

There are reasons a player can trend down that cant be seen on a stat sheet.
Injuries, team performance, linemates, line movement.

You can greatly reduce Connor McDavids stats by deploying him on the 4th line with 4th line minutes. Does not mean he is trending down?

IMO, Vancouver has boggled the Lindholm acquisition as they could not find ANYONE on that team he had chemistry with. Can that be argued that it was Elias that was just bad? Sure! WAS debated that way until round 1 when he started putting up consistent points and important goals. If Lindholm was bad why would Vancouver want to reach out to him for a contract?

 

[Kegs]

Stephenson will be better value. Less money and term. I like Lindholm as well but he seems to be dropping off quickly.
View attachment 880621

It’s the defensive play we are ignoring. Lindholm is a far better player overall imo. It’s not just about production

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

It’s the defensive play we are ignoring. Lindholm is a far better player overall imo. It’s not just about production

I hope we’re not ignoring defensive play, because Stephenson is a stellar defensive forward.

 

[Over the volcano]

Stephenson will be better value. Less money and term. I like Lindholm as well but he seems to be dropping off quickly.
View attachment 880621

Now do their playoff #s

I'm not against Stevenson but they need higher end C talent first.

 

[Bodit9]

It’s the defensive play we are ignoring. Lindholm is a far better player overall imo. It’s not just about production

Obviously ppg doesn't capture all context including other attributes like defense and faceoffs (couldn't find a nice %xG graph). There are tradeoffs involved. But would you rather have Lindholm at 7x$7.5M or Stephenson at 5x$6M? I think Stephenson will end up being a better value.

 

[Bodit9]

Now do their playoff #s

I'm not against Stevenson but they need higher end C talent first.

Playoff ppg
Lindholm: 0.68
Stephenson: 0.41

 

[Bodit9]

This is like saying McAvoy is not worth much because he had a non-Norris season last year. I think that's vastly over simplifying things.

There are reasons a player can trend down that cant be seen on a stat sheet.
Injuries, team performance, linemates, line movement.

You can greatly reduce Connor McDavids stats by deploying him on the 4th line with 4th line minutes. Does not mean he is trending down?

IMO, Vancouver has boggled the Lindholm acquisition as they could not find ANYONE on that team he had chemistry with. Can that be argued that it was Elias that was just bad? Sure! WAS debated that way until round 1 when he started putting up consistent points and important goals. If Lindholm was bad why would Vancouver want to reach out to him for a contract?

Where did I say Lindholm was bad? I said I like him but the trend is a bit concerning and I believe Stephenson will be better value.