Boston Bruins 24-25 Roster/Cap thread VII

[Gordoff]

Posted this in the PGT, but in my opinion, the reasoning here from Montgomery is off.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856024632702218734

WHAT "structure" Monty. You are out of your mind and element. Don Sweeney please fire the weenie!

 

[BruinsJoe]

WHAT "structure" Monty. You are out of your mind and element. Don Sweeney please fire the weenie!

This need to stop as soon as possible, Monty is really really lost and going deeper in bad decision making

 

[LouJersey]

They remind me of the last days of the Wings reign. The slow non retaining and retiring of all the cup winning players. We are witnessing the aging star Zetterberg and the younger star Larkin (Marchand and Pasta) with a not so good prospect pool outlook and middling players. Bruins are probably in a bit better shape, but they are trending downward

Great comp.

 

[HumBucker]

The amazing part to me is they seemingly made the moves they did to counter Florida. And it’s the exact opposite of how you do it. You need speed and skill and defensemen who can move the puck up the ice. The opted for Zadorov and any other player over 6’4 they could find - in Boston, Providence, and the draft.

So... Grizz?

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

So... Grizz?

Grizz three years ago. Or Mason Lohrei next year. But Grizz last year and the year before was a far better option than Forbort that's for sure.

 

[Gordoff]

I'm not sure why Geekie on the top line is such a shock to people. Numbers wise it was arguably their best line in last years playoffs. In 42 mins together 4 goals for, none against.

Guy had 40 pts. here last year. He's off to a slow start this year but you could say that about a number of guys.

Although you have to question the coach when he basically took anything that worked last year and said to hell with that, and tried to reinvent the wheel.

He tried to "reinvent the wheel" DURING the 2023 playoffs with a juggernaut, winning team. Bottom line, he's reached his level of incompetence.
Meanwhile, Sweeney is evaluating.

 

[BruinDust]

He tried to "reinvent the wheel" DURING the 2023 playoffs with a juggernaut, winning team. Bottom line, he's reached his level of incompetence.

His constant changing of lines/shifting guys from wing to C, has stepped on my last nerve. It's maddening I can't imagine what the players think. I think to a certain degree it shoots his credibility with the players right in the foot. Sometimes leaders/managers need to make a decision and just stick to it. Always changing things up on the fly makes him look like he doesn't know what he's doing and has no conviction to his decision making.

Another thing that drives me nuts about him now is how he handles the shifts right after a special teams situation. It's always some makeshift line or pairing. Would it kill him to have some sort of correlation to PP units and PK pairings (for example, don't have say Koepke from line 4 killing penalties paired up with Zacha from line 1)? And try to avoid the mish-mash lines coming out of a PP or PK.

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

His constant changing of lines/shifting guys from wing to C, has stepped on my last nerve. It's maddening I can't imagine what the players think. I think to a certain degree it shoots his credibility with the players right in the foot. Sometimes leaders/managers need to make a decision and just stick to it. Always changing things up on the fly makes him look like he doesn't know what he's doing and has no conviction to his decision making.

Another thing that drives me nuts about him now is how he handles the shifts right after a special teams situation. It's always some makeshift line or pairing. Would it kill him to have some sort of correlation to PP units and PK pairings (for example, don't have say Koepke from line 4 killing penalties paired up with Zacha from line 1)? And try to avoid the mish-mash lines coming out of a PP or PK.

It's funny. I used to hate on Claude for never switching the lines.
Now I hate on Jim for switching the lines way too often.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

They remind me of the last days of the Wings reign. The slow non retaining and retiring of all the cup winning players. We are witnessing the aging star Zetterberg and the younger star Larkin (Marchand and Pasta) with a not so good prospect pool outlook and middling players. Bruins are probably in a bit better shape, but they are trending downward

I get the comparison with Detroit, but Larkin was 21 years old when Zetterberg retired
at the end of 2017-18. Larkin and Pastrnak are the same age.

Sweeney did a better job retooling after two straight 2 DNQ and Marchand, Bergeron
and Krejci were closer to their prime than Zetterberg\Datsyuk after the DNQ. Boston has maintained a significant goaltending advantage also for 8 years.

Holland did a poor job after 2013, which was the last good Wings team. People forget they were up 3-1 on Chicago in 2013.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

I get the comparison with Detroit, but Larkin was 21 years old when Zetterberg retired
at the end of 2017-18. Larkin and Pastrnak are the same age.

Sweeney did a better job retooling after two straight 2 DNQ and Marchand, Bergeron
and Krejci were closer to their prime than Zetterberg\Datsyuk after the DNQ. Boston has maintained a significant goaltending advantage also for 8 years.

Holland did a poor job after 2013, which was the last good Wings team. People forget they were up 3-1 on Chicago in 2013.

Yeah I don't think there's any comparison with Detroit. Last year was their best year since 2015-16 and they had 91 points.

 

[Dr Hook]

It's funny. I used to hate on Claude for never switching the lines.
Now I hate on Jim for switching the lines way too often.

I honestly thought Bruce had it about right- he had his lines that were constant, but he would change them up sometimes when needed. Kind of a middle ground between Clode and Monty.

 

[PlayMakers]

I don't get the Red Wings or the Penguins comps. Those were old teams who doubled down by adding more old guys. The Penguins have 11 guys older than 30. Their solution to replace 37 year old Letang was 34 year old Karlsson.

We replaced Chara with McAvoy, Krejci with Pastrnak, Rask with Swayman... Complain about those guys if you want but they're all in their 20's and would be top of the roster players on any team, all-stars and/or guys who will represent their countries in best on best tournaments.

The Bruins are one of the youngest teams in the league, 10th or 11th I think. They're younger than Chicago, Seattle... They're younger than Detroit is now and Detroit has been "rebuilding" for 10 years.

Maybe I'm wrong but to me, this isn't some ancient team showing their age, it's a re-tooling team that still has work to do.

 

[Concessionaire]

Poitras to Providence does a couple of things. It allows him to work on his game in an environment which is less of a pressure cooker than the current sorry state of the main club. And it's a chance to see if he has chemistry with any of the other top prospects currently playing in the AHL.

 

[GordonHowe]

I thought Merk would get a look with Matthew being sent down, but as Mass Live noted, they are both centers and do not fit an obvious need at the moment.

It could be Brown or even Tufte.

Probably the PRO captain.

 

[GordonHowe]

Big Changes Coming to Bruins

The Boston Bruins aren’t that far removed from a record-setting season that saw them put up a 65-12-5 record in 2022-23. Through 16 games of the 2024-25 season, the Bruins are 7-7-2 and aren’t getting their best hockey from several key players.

www.yardbarker.com

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Talk is cheap.

Sweeney may point out what the team needs, but that doesn't mean there are any deals or FAs to acquire that will accomplish that. Especially considering the Cap. He's gone for broke a couple of times, as he should have, and that has impacted the pipeline considerably. So not much to deal any more.

I still think this should be a solid playoff team. Top players need to start playing like it matters to them.

This is true. The Bruins' ability to trade was very limited, for a start. Then if you look at FA centers, there were Lindholm, Stephenson and not much else. So you either take what you can get there or do nothing. So it's not easy, a lot of of the time.

But I still think it's fair to ask wider questions about the way this roster was constructed. There are some fairly obvious issues, some important areas that Sweeney has consistently ignored or marginalized for years and, again, some pretty wide disparities between what was talked about and what we got. Is this the best that Sweeney or any other GM could have done, or were there missed opportunities or paths not taken?

Regardless, I agree this is still a playoffs caliber roster if it plays to its full potential. I am far from seeing a genuine Cup contender but with some help and luck you never know. But even if they were to qualify again, it wouldn't necessarily mean that the time for some major front office change, or for making some significant changes to core parts of the roster, hasn't arrived. Like I said, I'm not calling for a definite major shake up. I just think it should be on the table.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I don't get the Red Wings or the Penguins comps. Those were old teams who doubled down by adding more old guys. The Penguins have 11 guys older than 30. Their solution to replace 37 year old Letang was 34 year old Karlsson.

We replaced Chara with McAvoy, Krejci with Pastrnak, Rask with Swayman... Complain about those guys if you want but they're all in their 20's and would be top of the roster players on any team, all-stars and/or guys who will represent their countries in best on best tournaments.

The Bruins are one of the youngest teams in the league, 10th or 11th I think. They're younger than Chicago, Seattle... They're younger than Detroit is now and Detroit has been "rebuilding" for 10 years.

Maybe I'm wrong but to me, this isn't some ancient team showing their age, it's a re-tooling team that still has work to do.

To me the comparison with the Pens isn't about age, it's about two teams who have had their day in the sun and are trying to extend it beyond its natural shelf life, and about the risks that come with that.

But they are going about it in different ways. The Pens are old and mostly keep trying to prop up their aging stars with other experienced players. Whereas the Bruins have had a greater turnover and focus on a more serious re-tool and a new core, with at least some prioritization given to youth, hence they are indeed the 12th-youngest roster in the league. But you still get similar problems around lack of high draft picks, troubles developing guys internally, getting shafted in FA and so on. All of which make the battle to stay competitive harder as the years tick by.

I do think the Bruins are in a better position than Pittsburgh, for the reasons you mentioned and more. I am glad our management have followed a different and better path than theirs. Doesn't mean it's going to work out for us. Re-tooling without an injection of serious, high-end home grown talent is incredibly difficult. Frankly management have done very well in a lot of ways. But there is a long way from 'there abouts' to genuine contender. And I'm not really interested in 'there abouts'. Can you re-tool your way to a proper top end team? I'm not convinced.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

It's hard to justify tearing everything down when you just signed your 25-year old No.1 goalie to a 8 year deal and your franchise forward is 28 and also signed for many more years. Not to mention your top D-man is 26 and also signed long-term. And your best center is 29 and signed for 7 years.

So what is the alternative? Just changing coaches seems like a half-measure.

After this past off-season, it seems much more likely that this franchise needs a new set of eyes up top making personnel decisions. We are approaching a decade now of Sweeney and Neely's vision for this team. Some of the teams issues (lack of overall speed, mediocre shooting ability) have been the same issues for several years now. The fact they didn't mention shooting or primary scoring as a major need is concerning. If the Bruins end up sellers at the deadline and miss the playoffs, should Sweeney and Neely get the opportunity to re-tool this roster next off-season?

This is a common argument and I get why. But the vast majority of teams have at least a few really good pieces. Doesn't mean most of them are going anywhere fast. It's fortunate and good management for the Bruins to have those pieces, but are they a) the right ones? and b) are they enough in themselves to build a truly competitive team around, once you factor in limitations around the draft, our prospect pool, the state of the market etc.? Might be, hopefully it is, but might not be too. In which case, then what?

But I do agree, I would change management and get some fresh hands taking charge of this roster and its future direction before I would completely pull apart the current playing core. There is enough there, and enough argument as to why Sweeney and co. may simply have reached their used by dates, to warrant trying that road first, if indeed the Bs do DNQ this season.

The same reasoning applies to getting a new man behind the bench sooner rather than later too. May do nothing, but it would be useful to find out.

 

[Hookslide]

It's funny. I used to hate on Claude for never switching the lines.
Now I hate on Jim for switching the lines way too often.

There is a sweet spot, no.

 

[DominicT]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856457648167604240

 

[Aussie Bruin]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856457648167604240

'Lots', in other words. I would have been very interested to know though whether, at a base level at least, he thought the issues were more due to the roster, coaching or players.

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

'Lots', in other words. I would have been very interested to know though whether, at a base level at least, he thought the issues were more due to the roster, coaching or players.

Not sure anyone can pin point what the problem is watching on tv. Hell Monty is trying to figure it out standing a foot away from the players.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Not sure anyone can pin point what the problem is watching on tv. Hell Monty is trying to figure it out standing a foot away from the players.

Agreed, but unbiased, unfiltered professional opinion is always interesting and worth hearing. Doesn't mean it would be accurate. But I'd give a penny for that sort of thought.

 

[LouJersey]

I don't get the Red Wings or the Penguins comps. Those were old teams who doubled down by adding more old guys. The Penguins have 11 guys older than 30. Their solution to replace 37 year old Letang was 34 year old Karlsson.

We replaced Chara with McAvoy, Krejci with Pastrnak, Rask with Swayman... Complain about those guys if you want but they're all in their 20's and would be top of the roster players on any team, all-stars and/or guys who will represent their countries in best on best tournaments.

The Bruins are one of the youngest teams in the league, 10th or 11th I think. They're younger than Chicago, Seattle... They're younger than Detroit is now and Detroit has been "rebuilding" for 10 years.

Maybe I'm wrong but to me, this isn't some ancient team showing their age, it's a re-tooling team that still has work to do.

This term is driving me nuts. Don't champions re-tool? They have won one round in three years and that was with their worst team.

The Detroit/Pittburgh comp is them when they started their demise/lackluster play, one round and done. Bruins are trending that way, and some would say already are there.

Where are all the good players coming from to push Boston to where we all want them to be? The July 1 guys have been overrated and overpaid for a few years now, there isn't much in the pipeline either. Marchand is old. Coyle looks old. Lindholm not young. McAvoy was better before his big extension. Lindholm looks great, but wrong side of 30. Carlo is limited. Lohrei who knows. Zadorov stinks. Swayman I am hoping like hell he's just gotta get up to speed. Re-tooling is a player or two away from being a Cup contender IMO, which I don't see here right now.

 

[Dr Hook]

@LouJersey The problem really seems to be that they haven't drafted the next Bergeron and Krejci. The most important position on the ice especially in the Bruins' system, and they don't have those guys or anyone looking like they will be those guys. They can "retool" all they want but they are never going to replace those players that way. They need to draft them (both second rounders, so it's not like they need to tank to do it), or acquire someone young enough with that kind of potential. Getting established guys or nearly so as their retool plan I don't think pushes them to the next level.