Boston Bruins 2024-25 Roster and Salary Cap Discussion
- Thread starter Gee Wally
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I approve. More pricks needed
dredeye
BJ Elitist/Hipster
- Mar 3, 2008
- 27,450
- 3,114
It sucks that we have nothing to look forward to at the draft
dredeye
BJ Elitist/Hipster
- Mar 3, 2008
- 27,450
- 3,114
i really hope they move him but hard to justify after a second round run and a point out of winning your division.
bruinsfan1968
I'm rich I can do whatever I want! Lol MARW
He's not coming back! Book it! Lol
The don godfather
Registered User
Darn I want him.
I think Don is solid . Just has bad luck. He went for it last year and patched a broken team with el cheapo free agents and almost went 3rd round. Who can do better then that?
I think he trades linus to get back in.
dangermike
Registered User
- Jan 24, 2022
- 1,157
- 1,297
i wonder how the roster/money would have to look to get geekie slotted next to beecher on the 4th line bc i think that type of talent dispersion could be hard to matchup against
Had some time to cool down and think about the future. We are in a pretty good shape going forward but absolutely need some major changes
We have a very solid team but we just aren't good enough to keep up with the top teams in the league. We need guys who play faster both on offense and defense. And by fast I don't mean players who are fast skaters, I mean players who make quick decisions with the puck and allow the team to play fast. There are too many times where our guys just linger with the puck, look around and then the forecheck is on them and we can't clear the zone and make dumb mistakes. This is probably our biggest issue on the power play too. Teams defend our power play by just pressuring the puck aggressively. Normally this is a risky strategy but we just don't move the puck fast enough to punish teams and just allow the pressure to disrupt our play
Overall I like our defensive group but we definitely need more offense from them. I think our dmen deserve significant blame in our offense not producing enough. They had 151 points in the regular season which was the 6th lowest in the league. Of the 8 teams that made the second round in the playoffs, we ranked just ahead of the Rangers in points by dmen. I don't have enough hockey knowledge to say if this is a coaching issue or a personnel issue, its probably a mix of both but it has to be better. Very excited about Lohrei since he's looking like a guy who can make a big impact on the offensive end. He needs to be the first guy penciled into PP1.
As the second highest paid player on the team, its fair to say McAvoy has been very underwhelming, especially in the last two playoffs, on both ends. I think his poor performance also has a trickle down effect making everyone else on D look worse than they are. I don't think he's going anywhere so he has to be better.
On offense, the absolute priority must be to get not one but two centers. It is obviously easier said than done but this is the inept offense you'll get if you dress Geekie, Coyle and Zacha as your top 3 centers in a playoff series so you have to do something about it. They might need to get creative but I don't think its an impossible task. Sign one from FA like Lindholm and trade for another like Mittelstadt who is a RFA.
Pasta needs to stay, it would be much worse than the Seguin trade if we move him. You don't find 50 goal scorers growing on trees. He is an elite play-finisher and we don't do a good job of getting him the puck in good spots so he tries to compensate by trying to play in a playmaking role and that makes him worse. You try to find ways to use Pasta more effectively, you don't get rid of him.
I would keep Debrusk, he is one of the few players on the team who actually elevate their level of play in the playoffs.
I'm done with Coyle. I don't know if he has any value on the trade market but he'd be the first guy I'd look to move among the forward group. He disappears for long stretches, doesn't produce enough and has been pretty bad in all of his playoff runs with us except the 2019 season. He has moments when he looks really good but they are very few and far between.
Goalie seems to be the most clear cut answer. Sign Sway at all costs and trade Linus. Ride with Sway & Bussi or a low end vet. A trade with the Avs sending them Ullmark for the rights to Mittelstadt could be interesting but I'm assuming the Avs are on Linus' NT list.
So the team would look something like this, if there is money & assets remaining look to add a RW who can play on the 2nd line. Replace the names in parentheses with whatever, these are the two guys I thought of:
Debrusk-1C (Lindholm)-Pasta
Marchand- 2C (Mittelstadt)-Frederic
Zacha-Geekie-Brazeau
Boqvist-Beecher-Lauko
Lindholm-McAvoy
Lohrei-Carlo
Wotherspoon-Peeke
Swayman
Bussi
And then you give every chance to the young guys like Poitras, Merkulov, Lysell etc to win the jobs of guys like Geekie, Lauko, Boqvist etc
We have a very solid team but we just aren't good enough to keep up with the top teams in the league. We need guys who play faster both on offense and defense. And by fast I don't mean players who are fast skaters, I mean players who make quick decisions with the puck and allow the team to play fast. There are too many times where our guys just linger with the puck, look around and then the forecheck is on them and we can't clear the zone and make dumb mistakes. This is probably our biggest issue on the power play too. Teams defend our power play by just pressuring the puck aggressively. Normally this is a risky strategy but we just don't move the puck fast enough to punish teams and just allow the pressure to disrupt our play
Overall I like our defensive group but we definitely need more offense from them. I think our dmen deserve significant blame in our offense not producing enough. They had 151 points in the regular season which was the 6th lowest in the league. Of the 8 teams that made the second round in the playoffs, we ranked just ahead of the Rangers in points by dmen. I don't have enough hockey knowledge to say if this is a coaching issue or a personnel issue, its probably a mix of both but it has to be better. Very excited about Lohrei since he's looking like a guy who can make a big impact on the offensive end. He needs to be the first guy penciled into PP1.
As the second highest paid player on the team, its fair to say McAvoy has been very underwhelming, especially in the last two playoffs, on both ends. I think his poor performance also has a trickle down effect making everyone else on D look worse than they are. I don't think he's going anywhere so he has to be better.
On offense, the absolute priority must be to get not one but two centers. It is obviously easier said than done but this is the inept offense you'll get if you dress Geekie, Coyle and Zacha as your top 3 centers in a playoff series so you have to do something about it. They might need to get creative but I don't think its an impossible task. Sign one from FA like Lindholm and trade for another like Mittelstadt who is a RFA.
Pasta needs to stay, it would be much worse than the Seguin trade if we move him. You don't find 50 goal scorers growing on trees. He is an elite play-finisher and we don't do a good job of getting him the puck in good spots so he tries to compensate by trying to play in a playmaking role and that makes him worse. You try to find ways to use Pasta more effectively, you don't get rid of him.
I would keep Debrusk, he is one of the few players on the team who actually elevate their level of play in the playoffs.
I'm done with Coyle. I don't know if he has any value on the trade market but he'd be the first guy I'd look to move among the forward group. He disappears for long stretches, doesn't produce enough and has been pretty bad in all of his playoff runs with us except the 2019 season. He has moments when he looks really good but they are very few and far between.
Goalie seems to be the most clear cut answer. Sign Sway at all costs and trade Linus. Ride with Sway & Bussi or a low end vet. A trade with the Avs sending them Ullmark for the rights to Mittelstadt could be interesting but I'm assuming the Avs are on Linus' NT list.
So the team would look something like this, if there is money & assets remaining look to add a RW who can play on the 2nd line. Replace the names in parentheses with whatever, these are the two guys I thought of:
Debrusk-1C (Lindholm)-Pasta
Marchand- 2C (Mittelstadt)-Frederic
Zacha-Geekie-Brazeau
Boqvist-Beecher-Lauko
Lindholm-McAvoy
Lohrei-Carlo
Wotherspoon-Peeke
Swayman
Bussi
And then you give every chance to the young guys like Poitras, Merkulov, Lysell etc to win the jobs of guys like Geekie, Lauko, Boqvist etc
So we have any idea if Linus NT list is all geographic (western teams) (Canadian teams) or something else? (like maybe he doesn't want to go to a team that's not close to winning)
They have alot of holes to fill. Yes the top 6 need 2 good quality scoring players, bottom 6 need grit and toughness, this D corp is weak and cannot win boards battles and sustain deep forecheck they are machine turnovers, need solid tough D and one who can drive the PP no one in this group can. They need to trade Ullmark and i d consider to trade a guy like Zacha who s not built for tough games he become a ghost the biggest disapointment for me during this PO run. For Debrusk i'm not sure maybe at 5x5mil not more he was good during playoffs
My targets are:
Top 6
Elias Lindholm
Monahan
Bottom 6:
Dakota Joshua
Duhaime
Defence:
Zadorov
Roy
Pesce
Skjei
Last time Sweeny get 25mil to spend it was a disaster he signed a bunch of 3rd and 4th liner and bottom pairing overpaid bad D = Forbort, instead of quality elite players. He s scares me...
My targets are:
Top 6
Elias Lindholm
Monahan
Bottom 6:
Dakota Joshua
Duhaime
Defence:
Zadorov
Roy
Pesce
Skjei
Last time Sweeny get 25mil to spend it was a disaster he signed a bunch of 3rd and 4th liner and bottom pairing overpaid bad D = Forbort, instead of quality elite players. He s scares me...
I would imagine it’s a lot of teams that dont have a bonafide #1 goalie that are on the list (knowing that teams with a solid #1 won’t be trading for him)
Imagine having a hot take, 2nd take or any take on a Boston Bruin message board after elimination, just wild.
gerrycheeversmask
Registered User
I love Bertuzzi, but the guy chose Toronto over Boston. The Bruins are not bringing him back.
I could see Bert going back to Detroit.
I could see Bert going back to Detroit.
LouJersey
Registered User
Just assuming, but a lot of these things are tactical. I would think many of the teams on the list already have a goalie like say the Isles or Stars. Then you would maybe list teams in your division because those deals are rare. Who knows. Assuming he will go to any team that would give him an extension (within reason, he prob won't go somewhere he would be unhappy)
I assume you mean 2021, and i don't believe Sweeney had 25 million to spend.
He got
Huala (One good year and then flipped for a much better player)
Foligno (One disaster year, one ok year, but that sandpaper guy the board loves and wants)
Ullmark (arguably the best player from that class)
Nosek (relatively inexpensive, and did his job very well)
HE struggled finding defense as he signed
Forbort, Reily
But guess what, the 2021 FA class sucked t
Hamilton ( Lets face it neither the team, and especially not the player wanted him back0
Danault (Solid middle 6 center, would have been better tha Foligno+nosek, but no idea if he would have wanted Boston as he chose to go home)
Fun season. Finished in heartbreaking fashion (of course it did) but end of the day I think this team outperformed just about every single expectation I had for them at the start of the season, so I can't really be too upset this morning. This offseason will be really interesting to watch, cause this team has just about every depth position filled out and tons of cap space to go and be aggressive at adding real top 6 talent to this team.
Lohrei had an up and down regular season, but I though he showed enough in the playoffs where you can go into next season with him paired with Carlo and bet on his development. Poitras only played around 30 games, but he looked good enough where I'm putting him right back in at 3C. Beecher is the 4C on opening day no question. And some of the older rookies like Brazeau and Wotherspoon looked good enough where I don't see the need to pay for upgrades in free agency. All of those guys slot right in if it's me. Also Swayman proved he's the guy, trade Ullmark and give the net to the kid.
So to me a template for the offseason is something like this:
Zacha-x-Pasta
Marchand-Coyle-x
Fred-Poitras-Geekie
Lauko-Beecher-Brazeau
Lindholm-Mac
Lohrei-Carlo
Wotherspoon-Peeke
Sway/Bussi
Depending on what you sign Sway at, that leaves you with 15-16mil in cap space (accounting for 3 scratches) to fill 2 holes in your lineup. I'd personally look to retain Derbusk after that playoff, thought he was maybe our most consistent forward, if that money gets allocated elsewhere then whatever. But this team desperately needs real top 6 talent that can help flip 5v5 play, particularly someone that can play with Pasta. NEEDS to be the focus.
Lohrei had an up and down regular season, but I though he showed enough in the playoffs where you can go into next season with him paired with Carlo and bet on his development. Poitras only played around 30 games, but he looked good enough where I'm putting him right back in at 3C. Beecher is the 4C on opening day no question. And some of the older rookies like Brazeau and Wotherspoon looked good enough where I don't see the need to pay for upgrades in free agency. All of those guys slot right in if it's me. Also Swayman proved he's the guy, trade Ullmark and give the net to the kid.
So to me a template for the offseason is something like this:
Zacha-x-Pasta
Marchand-Coyle-x
Fred-Poitras-Geekie
Lauko-Beecher-Brazeau
Lindholm-Mac
Lohrei-Carlo
Wotherspoon-Peeke
Sway/Bussi
Depending on what you sign Sway at, that leaves you with 15-16mil in cap space (accounting for 3 scratches) to fill 2 holes in your lineup. I'd personally look to retain Derbusk after that playoff, thought he was maybe our most consistent forward, if that money gets allocated elsewhere then whatever. But this team desperately needs real top 6 talent that can help flip 5v5 play, particularly someone that can play with Pasta. NEEDS to be the focus.
FrankerC
Registered User
Lohrei may move past Lindholm next year.
ON3M4N
Ignores/60 = Elite
Looking over the Bruins current FA:
Swayman - 100% need to re-sign to a long term deal. The crease is 100% his and its time to let him be a work horse netminder, no more 50/50 stuff
DeBrusk - I'd like to bring him back, but I'm not overpaying to keep him.
Heinen - Great season (should have won 7th player) for a guy that wasn't given an offer until after the season started. Didn't show much in the playoffs though. I'd likely let him walk
Maroon - I'd bring him back on a 1yr deal / league min deal. He's a good mentor for the younger guys and brings grit to the bottom 6.
JVR - Started well and then he ran out of gas. I'd let him walk
Boqvist - For the right deal sure I'd keep him. I just don't know what or where is role on this team is
Forbort - Bye
Grzelcyk - Bye
Shatty - Bye
I'd look to move Ullmark (we've all said this). I also see what the market for Hampus would be....but he has a NMC.
Swayman - 100% need to re-sign to a long term deal. The crease is 100% his and its time to let him be a work horse netminder, no more 50/50 stuff
DeBrusk - I'd like to bring him back, but I'm not overpaying to keep him.
Heinen - Great season (should have won 7th player) for a guy that wasn't given an offer until after the season started. Didn't show much in the playoffs though. I'd likely let him walk
Maroon - I'd bring him back on a 1yr deal / league min deal. He's a good mentor for the younger guys and brings grit to the bottom 6.
JVR - Started well and then he ran out of gas. I'd let him walk
Boqvist - For the right deal sure I'd keep him. I just don't know what or where is role on this team is
Forbort - Bye
Grzelcyk - Bye
Shatty - Bye
I'd look to move Ullmark (we've all said this). I also see what the market for Hampus would be....but he has a NMC.
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