Boston Bruins 24-25 Roster/Cap thread VII

[Over the volcano]

We heard the same thing when Cassidy was coach. It should be clear at this point that Frederic's unwillingness to be physically engaged on a consistent basis is a Frederic issue and not something that we can blame the coaches for.

He's physical but not predatory, seems happy enough to challenge guys and have em back down. Beyond that there's nothing doing. Thought he'd become a tougher version of Coyle, and watching Coyle this year maybe this is it.

 

[BruinsJoe]

Monty has no extension in place. His contract is up at season's end. I know its still early but it appears he has lost the room. Quenneville sitting there waiting for an opportunity to get back in. He would be my choice.

That being said, looking at this roster and good lord. Aside from Pastrnak, where is the offence going to come from. Marchand looks 300 years old out there as he's been beyond awful. During the broadcast you don't hear E. Lindholm's name often, which is very concerning.

Coyle isn't a 2nd line player in the NHL. Geekie isn't even a 3rd line player in the NHL. Frederic? You alive?

Moving on to the d-corp. I am convinced McAvoy requires laser eye surgery. He's been garbage this year. H. Lindholm has been decent I suppose. Zadorov? Woah. Carlo? Another Woah!

Something needs to change. Hopefully they wake up and I can rip my own post in a week or two from now but what are we watching??

Also, Judd need to stop saying 'cage' Has a good voice but he's been underwhelming as the new voice of the Bruins.

Clearly if a change happen it will be for Jay Leech

 

[22Brad Park]

Clearly if a change happen it will be for Jay Leech

Gross,,need experience u ask me

 

[Over the volcano]

As much as I like Debrusk losing him didn’t magically make the team this bad. They look slow out of place and disinterested as a whole (especially the d). I think it’s time to move on from Montgomery before trading assets.

He hasn't scored this year either - still a bruin in his heart.

Clearly if a change happen it will be for Jay Leech

Because he's done wonders with the defense so far?

At this point I'd rather see Chara step behind the bench- started writing that as a joke but love the idea now.

 

[Nothingbutglass]

It's pretty odd that 80% of the roster has underachieved so far. Seems like coaching can help a bit here.

 

[PlayMakers]

I think Bruins issue is lack of scoring in top 6.But fair enough.We knew going in they needed more scoring on wings.

I think the Bruins issue is lack of effort in the top6. Adding Kastelic and Koepke to the group would help address that.

I do agree they also lack talent in the top6, but that's not going to change until the deadline so you have to work with what you've got. And, I will say, adding talent doesn't always fix the problem. Zacha, Lindholm and Pasta are all talented, but they haven't meshed well. Sometimes complementing talent with grit does more than adding more talent. Look at Taylor Hall. He was better with Coyle than with Krejci. Zacha and Pasta were better with a mucker like Bertuzzi than with a playmaker like Hall...

 

[PlayMakers]

Maybe, but given how a guy like Frederic has shown he is capable of playing physically, why is Monty not able to get that Fred to come out to play…ever?

Interesting that people think Frederic hasn't been physical. He's on pace for 240+ hits which would be a career high. He's got 4 less hits than Kastelic (who leads the team) and 5 more than Zadorov.

Those 3 guys are leading the charge from a hitting standpoint.

 

[dangermike]

Interesting that people think Frederic hasn't been physical. He's on pace for 240+ hits which would be a career high. He's got 4 less hits than Kastelic (who leads the team) and 5 more than Zadorov.

Those 3 guys are leading the charge from a hitting standpoint.

freddy's hit numbers dont really pass the eye test tho - a lot of flying by players with the puck. im not looking for sam bennet but you have to make a literal impact at some point if you are not being competitive with just your stick.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

4th liners playing with the stars is recipe for failure .I am on Bruins need a good hockey trade train.

They need to have guys who will get their nose dirty and skate hard, the pretty boys play permieter hockey. I advocated for this a month ago and people said leave the 4th line alone, where has that got us. They have to figure it out inside the room and the leadership needs to be better. Besides who is going want to trade for our failing players, they are a team in a position of weakness. Its going to be hard, when a lot of skill and scoring walked out the door and the leftovers are day olds. Maybe time to finally revamp.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

We heard the same thing when Cassidy was coach. It should be clear at this point that Frederic's unwillingness to be physically engaged on a consistent basis is a Frederic issue and not something that we can blame the coaches for.

I actually agree with that. Frederic reminds me of Nick Ritchie at this point. A big guy, capable of physicality, but that seems to greatly prefer standing around waiting for the puck to come to him. It's just strange given how different his attitude was when he first came into the league. I understand he was trying to impress and keep a spot with the big club, but did potting some goals really change his view of himself that much? 99% of the time he looks not engaged and/or confused. It's very frustrating. Granted, Fred has given me that same "not sure how he has gotten all those points" vibe that Jimmy Hayes did in his first year here for many years now. Statistically, he's been an overachiever, and it's all but killed off the root of what got him here.

Maybe he's not the best example to criticize Montgomery, but there are plenty of others. As I was saying in the GDT, he's a coach who has been quoted as saying "I favor quality over quantity" in terms of shots. That philosophy seemed to be fully on display during the PP's against Philly last night. An all-out obsession with setting some guy up for an open net and forcing passes that are 100% not there, but that players WANT to be there. It's one thing to struggle to gain entry into the zone or to just be snakebitten on the PP. But it shouldn't be that difficult to change the guys to a shoot mindset when they're turning the pucker over incessantly despite extended zone time. Unfortunately, he's already expressed that's not what he believes so I have doubts he's doing anything of that sort.

 

[Chevalier du Clavier]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851652355885871320

 

[22Brad Park]

They need to have guys who will get their nose dirty and skate hard, the pretty boys play permieter hockey. I advocated for this a month ago and people said leave the 4th line alone, where has that got us. They have to figure it out inside the room and the leadership needs to be better. Besides who is going want to trade for our failing players, they are a team in a position of weakness. Its going to be hard, when a lot of skill and scoring walked out the door and the leftovers are day olds.

Truty be told the Bruins could use a couple lottery picks, but that is not happening the way they do buisness now.

 

[PlayMakers]

Clearly if a change happen it will be for Jay Leech

Not sure if it's Leach or Sacco. They made Sacco an Associate Head Coach while Leach is an Assistant Coach.

If it were up to me and it was clear that the players aren't buying into Monty's systems and strategies then I'd clear house. All of the coaching staff would be gone and I'd get some fresh minds in who will look at this roster with critical eyes (as opposed to sympathetic eyes).

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Interesting that people think Frederic hasn't been physical. He's on pace for 240+ hits which would be a career high. He's got 4 less hits than Kastelic (who leads the team) and 5 more than Zadorov.

Those 3 guys are leading the charge from a hitting standpoint.

Sure, maybe he's compiling hits "technically" because he's making some contact over the course of play. But you can't honestly tell me, with any extended viewing of the games, that Fred is playing anywhere near his capabilities physically.

He isn't good enough to be any sort of consistent point-getter in my opinion. And I think this coach, this organization, and Fred himself disagree with that assessment based on how he has put up some points the past few seasons and reduced the "edge" proportionally. Even if he wasn't putting up points, he was a "tone setter" going right at players like Tom Wilson when he first came into the league. Where has that gone? That was his calling IMO.

Take Coyle as another example. He had a great statistical year last regular season playing up on the first line, but do we actually think that means his identity is as a top line player? He's better off further down the lineup and so is Fred. The longer you keep those guys in spots where they don't really belong, the more inevitable it becomes that it's going to bite you at some point, whether it be in the playoffs or just as time goes by during the regular season.

Without a coach able to milk more out of the lineup in terms of pure effort, and with a lineup that has so many players slotted above their abilities/roles, the result will be a middling team. And maybe that's this team's destiny. There's a lot of assumption (understandably, considering how long we've heard that this is "the year" that they miss the playoffs) that they just....are....a playoff team and/or contender. It wasn't long ago that the board was claiming "embarrassment" because they couldn't topple an "obviously inferior" Florida team that bulled their way to a Cup just last playoffs. I think the truth is that the regular season results have fooled a lot of people into thinking it's a better overall team than it really is. The playoffs have shown otherwise and now it's catching up to even the regular season play.

Could they be better than now with better focus, harder play, and a different mindset? I do think so. But I also think that their regular seasons, played against the entire range of NHL teams, has been deceiving in that it has hidden weaknesses. Time just may be up.

 

[Hookslide]

What did he do? He's been cleared. Second chances do exist in life.

It is what he didn't do is he problem.......Google it

 

[Hookslide]

I agree wholeheartedly. The middle of the lineup is nothing but filler. Frederic and Geekie are free agents at year end and should be busting their asses for a new contract. Instead, they look like they don’t give a shit. Forward group needs a shakeup and adding Lysell + Johnson is the obvious, easiest first move. They couldn’t look worse than the guys they’ve got

Johnson is not the answer, and would be a mistake, Lysell had a meh training camp, but there are times a player will move and be a better player in the big show, let's find out if he is another mistake and then move on from him if can't cut it.

 

[Gordoff]

Changes will come...sign TJ, insert Jones and call up Brown

If I'm TJ I'm having my agent call around to ANY other team. "Myis ii client p needs work, he'll do anything, wash floors or whatever you've got."

This team and coach(es) are without answers.
The Associate/Assistant coaches were NOT hired by Monty
so they have no allegiance to JM, and he has none for them.
So IMO none of the coaches have had any answers to the
issues that they're faced with. Maybe Sacco has something in
his back pocket and he's not using it so that he can be the savior
when Monty is fired. If he is holding back and not doing all he can
thinking that he's the next HC, I wouldn't want him here either.
They seem to lack confidence at level, particularly the
inept coaching issues that seem to have become
a boil on the teams behind. Monty lacks imagination
and has no confidence and no answers. He's lost and confused.
No idea how he got here or where he's going.
It shows on his face in the po
There are 2 quick ways to fix this, fire all of the coaches
(Jacobs won't do that for a bunch of reasons) and/or a big
trade.
Sweeney seems to usually wait until the eleventh hour to see
if a situation fixes itself but this situation here is becoming dire.
If this keeps up until Thanksgiving there's little chance the season
will be salvaged.
The problem is that keeping Sacco, and all of these very comfortable
millionaires is just more of the same.
The players also seem to have forgotten how to play.
This team needs a defibrillator jolt to wake it up.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851652355885871320

Happy to hear that. The lineup has its holes, but he's got to do everything he can to light a fire under them and get them playing harder hockey.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

If I'm TJ I'm having my agent call around to ANY other team. "My client needs work, he'll do anything, wash floors or whatever you've got."

I’m sure he has.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Johnson is not the answer, and would be a mistake, Lysell had a meh training camp, but there are times a player will move and be a better player in the big show, let's find out if he is another mistake and then move on from him if can't cut it.

This whole "the answer" concept is a distraction. No one is saying Tyler Johnson is "the answer" to the team's problems. They're opining that he's an option worth trying to see his impact.

Lysell isn't "the answer" either. Is he more intriguing than Johnson because of his age and the fact that he really hasn't been tried in real NHL play? Yes. But not "the answer". Again, an option worth trying.

 

[Hookslide]

Right now you got to ride it out and hope the good players on this team figure out how to play again. No major trades are going to happen this time of year.

You are right, ride it out a bit, but should also be keeping you ear to the ground, and do some of evaluation of possible players available. I understand what you are saying about trades this time of year, but something feels different this year, there are some struggling teams out there, all it takes is one move and there could be a league wide dominoes effect.

 

[PlayMakers]

freddy's hit numbers dont really pass the eye test tho - a lot of flying by players with the puck. im not looking for sam bennet but you have to make a literal impact at some point if you are not being competitive with just your stick.

Sure, maybe he's compiling hits "technically" because he's making some contact over the course of play. But you can't honestly tell me, with any extended viewing of the games, that Fred is playing anywhere near his capabilities physically.

He isn't good enough to be any sort of consistent point-getter in my opinion. And I think this coach, this organization, and Fred himself disagree with that assessment based on how he has put up some points the past few seasons and reduced the "edge" proportionally. Even if he wasn't putting up points, he was a "tone setter" going right at players like Tom Wilson when he first came into the league. Where has that gone? That was his calling IMO.

I think fans have wanted Frederic to be something he's not from Day 1. Well, maybe Day 2. That first year Frederic gave fans what they wanted, but I think Frederic used fighting to get into the league and then once here he focused on trying to become a good hockey player, a player like Coyle. I think he's done that and I think fans hate him for it.

At this point, you've got 1 year of the guy who goes after Wilson and 3 years of the guy who is trying to be a solid two-way player, who hits and isn't afraid to fight but also isn't a tone setter. Last year's playoffs he was the two-way player, not the tone-setter. I think the two-way player is who he is.

Fwiw, I would not sign Frederic. I've defended him and made this argument (Coyle 2.0) many times over the years but as a UFA I think he's going to get more than he's worth. 200 hit/15 goal guys bring big bucks, and despite the numbers he just doesn't have a big impact.

 

[TobanWest]

Right now you got to ride it out and hope the good players on this team figure out how to play again. No major trades are going to happen this time of year.

Pretty hard to do that when they are on different lines each game, period and even shift. Hard to gain consistency and chemistry imo. You don't see Johnson or Lysell having a spark?

freddy's hit numbers dont really pass the eye test tho - a lot of flying by players with the puck. im not looking for sam bennet but you have to make a literal impact at some point if you are not being competitive with just your stick.

This

 

[TobanWest]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851652355885871320

That'll show em

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

Pretty hard to do that when they are on different lines each game, period and even shift. Hard to gain consistency and chemistry imo. You don't see Johnson or Lysell having a spark?


This

Johnson 100% absolutely not.

I thought Lysell should have been on the team out of camp. I don't think it's a good situation to bring him up now when the top players on the team are playing like asshats.

Either way, neither of these two players are going to fix the team.