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Boston Bruins 24-25 Roster/Cap thread VIII

PlayMakers

PlayMakers

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BruinDust said:
There isn't a team in hockey history that worked it's asses off all 82 games. Just not realistic.

You say they lack passion, well they are 3rd in hits and among the more frequent fighting teams.

Want to know a good way to demoralize a group of hockey players? Build a bad hockey team. Players are all students of the game, they know when as a group they just aren't good enough to win consistently. They won't say it to the media, and drop buzzwords like urgency. But deep down the players know what Sweeney and Neely has assembled this year just won't cut it.

Let's be honest about last year's team. They made a lot of hey when the sun shined in the first half of the season. It was far from one of the best teams in the 2nd half.
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Teams that are consistently good work hard consistently. You can't play the Panthers system without working your ass off. It's man to man, it's high pressure, it's all or nothing. Carolina plays the same system and outworks their opponents every night. Literally can't win if you aren't busting your ass in that system. Bruins have long been one of the hardest working teams in the league, they outworked teams last year, but aren't doing it this year, not consistently.

I'm also not buying the theory that they're too demoralized by their roster construction to try.
 
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Absurdity

Absurdity

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PlayMakers said:
Maybe they read HFBoards and have been convinced the regular season doesn't matter. :sarcasm:

I jest but... that's definitely a theory I'm considering. They had the best regular season in history and it didn't help them in the playoffs. The fans couldn't care less. So why should they? All they need to do is get in, and they don't even need to worry about that until Thanksgiving.

Another theory is the perfect storm. 3 of their 4 best players all had complicated off-seasons and are off to slow starts. Marchand's surgeries, Pasta's surgery, Swayman's hold out... Those guys elevate everyone around them but you could argue they've dragged people down at times this fall.

I'm not a big Monty guy, but I do think he's done things to try to get these guys going. He's chewed out Marchand. He benched Pasta. He's started Korpisalo over Swayman. He's demoted Coyle to the 4th line. He's played 4th liners in the top6 to embarrass the top6 into playing harder. He's changed lines and D pairs. He's tried to let lines and D pairs stay together. None of it seems to work. Which, may be why they need to fire him. At this point he seems like he's out of ideas and at a loss for how to get them to care enough to show up for 60 minutes a night every night.

Edit: I'll add that there's yet another theory that Swayman broke the culture with his holdout. I wasn't happy with Swayman's approach but that seems a bit unfair considering Pasta and McAvoy also held out. Still, they didn't claim to be holding out to set a new precedent for the goalie union and right or wrong, the players in that locker room may feel he put himself and/or the goalie union ahead of his team and teammates. That kind of animosity can be hard to hide in a closed loop like the locker room.
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All valid theories. The one theory I hope isn't true and is the worst-case scenario for this team is that the Panthers Buffaloed the Bruins when they beat the Bruins twice in 7 games to start the year. Maybe they think even with the new additions on the team, Lindholm and Zadorov, they aren't able to beat the Panthers. It would be premature thinking and a huge red flag regarding the leadership on the team.
 
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wintersej

wintersej

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BruinDust said:
They miss that shooting threat in the bumper with Bergeron as well. Not just on the PP, he was a threat from there at EV as well. Even when he didn't score, he got it on net consistently.
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I, for one, saw Lindholm highlights and thought that would be him. But I can’t recall one Lindholm shot all season lol.
 
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GordonHowe

GordonHowe

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NDiesel said:
It didn't become a shooters league overnight. He was stopping these same shots last year and this year just can't seem to do it as well. Sure the team likely limited these shots better but I don't recall him letting in nearly as many clean shots last year and i don't think we should just brush it off since every goalie is playing the same shooters and the other top paid guys around the league are playing like it, even on a other dumpster fires like Nashville, or Islanders. You as a goalie are paid to make the first stop at minimum, and he is not doing it well enough
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He missed all of training camp, and we all know why.

Training camp may not be that big of a deal to the players in front of a goaltender. But it is critical to get those reps in training camp for the man between the pipes.
 
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BruinDust

BruinDust

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PlayMakers said:
Teams that are consistently good work hard consistently. You can't play the Panthers system without working your ass off. It's man to man, it's high pressure, it's all or nothing. Carolina plays the same system and outworks their opponents every night. Literally can't win if you aren't busting your ass in that system. Bruins have long been one of the hardest working teams in the league, they outworked teams last year, but aren't doing it this year, not consistently.

I'm also not buying the theory that they're too demoralized by their roster construction to try.
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By your theory Florida and Carolina should never lose a hockey game. Even they have off-nights where the players aren't going full throttle from buzzer to buzzer. This is a marathon from September to June. No coach can expect to have the peddle to the metal for 8-9 months.

Could the Bruins work harder? Sure. They are playing physical. They have been sticking up for one another. It hasn't translated into results.

What happens when they start working to their max capacity and it still doesn't give positive results? I look at this roster I don't see a pile of lazy players. It's not like it's a bunch of skill guys who don't believe they have to work hard to win and can just get by on natural ability. It's pretty much a roster of defensive forwards and grinders.

You know how teams win games even when they haven't brought their work-boots for the entire 60 minutes?

Talent.

wintersej said:
I, for one, show Lindholm highlights and thought that would be him. But I can’t recall one Lindholm shot all season lol.
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Not from the bumper or any high danger area.

He scored on that slapper vs. LA in Game 3. That's all I got.
 
Mr. Make-Believe

Mr. Make-Believe

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BruinDust said:
By your theory Florida and Carolina should never lose a hockey game. Even they have off-nights where the players aren't going full throttle from buzzer to buzzer. This is a marathon from September to June. No coach can expect to have the peddle to the metal for 8-9 months.

Could the Bruins work harder? Sure. They are playing physical. They have been sticking up for one another. It hasn't translated into results.

What happens when they start working to their max capacity and it still doesn't give positive results?

You know how teams win games even when they haven't brought their work-boots for the entire 60 minutes?

Talent.
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I think I’m in the middle of you and Bill here.

I don’t see a lack of passion MOST nights. I see a lack of execution and a team-wide frustration. It’s affecting their decision-making (see: reluctance most nights to shoot the puck and instead overpass) and their confidence.

Where I’ll agree with PlayMakers, is I don’t believe this roster is as bad as people make it out to be. I think they have enough “middle-six” forwards, a strong enough blueline and high-end goaltending ON PAPER to be more competitive than they’ve shown. It’s not the best roster in the NHL… But it should be good enough to win most nights.

Question is: how do you get the confidence back? Is it a shakeup with a top six forward added? Is it a coaching change? Seems that everything Montgomery is trying is only leading to more frustration.

I don’t know what the answer is either. But what’s happening right now isn’t working. And we need to see some urgency in getting it fixed because this season is quickly swirling down the toilet.
 
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BruinDust

BruinDust

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Mr. Make-Believe said:
I think I’m in the middle of you and Bill here.

I don’t see a lack of passion MOST nights. I see a lack of execution and a team-wide frustration. It’s affecting their decision-making (see: reluctance most nights to shoot the puck and instead overpass) and their confidence.

Where I’ll agree with PlayMakers, is I don’t believe this roster is as bad as people make it out to be. I think they have enough “middle-six” forwards, a strong enough blueline and high-end goaltending ON PAPER to be more competitive than they’ve shown. It’s not the best roster in the NHL… But it should be good enough to win most nights.

Question is: how do you get the confidence back? Is it a shakeup with a top six forward added? Is it a coaching change? Seems that everything Montgomery is trying is only leading to more frustration.

I don’t know what the answer is either. But what’s happening right now isn’t working. And we need to see some urgency in getting it fixed because this season is quickly swirling down the toilet.
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You hit the nail on the head with the bolded. Their confidence with the puck has been shattered. Even just making simple clean crisp passes can help build confidence but they are having trouble even executing that. Getting shots, creating open looks, even if the puck isn't going in as often as they'd like, helps build that confidence, lower the frustration level. You know what gets a lot of players amped up now? Creating offensively. It's a different generation of players now. They didn't have a pile of power forwards to worship.

The difference between me and you guys is I think this forward group is absolute trash and is beyond fixing in-season.
 
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PlayMakers

PlayMakers

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Mr. Make-Believe said:
I think I’m in the middle of you and Bill here.

I don’t see a lack of passion MOST nights. I see a lack of execution and a team-wide frustration. It’s affecting their decision-making (see: reluctance most nights to shoot the puck and instead overpass) and their confidence.

Where I’ll agree with PlayMakers, is I don’t believe this roster is as bad as people make it out to be. I think they have enough “middle-six” forwards, a strong enough blueline and high-end goaltending ON PAPER to be more competitive than they’ve shown. It’s not the best roster in the NHL… But it should be good enough to win most nights.

Question is: how do you get the confidence back? Is it a shakeup with a top six forward added? Is it a coaching change? Seems that everything Montgomery is trying is only leading to more frustration.

I don’t know what the answer is either. But what’s happening right now isn’t working. And we need to see some urgency in getting it fixed because this season is quickly swirling down the toilet.
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I think that's fair. Their lack of execution has been infuriating. I guess for me, I see some of that lack of execution coming from carelessness which I equate with a lack or effort or passion. Whether it is or not I don' know but lack of execution, all those not sharp passes and details are killing them.
 
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PlayMakers

PlayMakers

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NYI - Hockey Trade? They're tied with the Bruins (and 2 other teams) for the last wild card slot.
NJD (2 scouts including GM) - Buyer
BUF - Hockey Trade?
SJS - Seller
NSH - Seller
MIN - Buyer
NYR - Buyer (But also looking to shed long term salary for Shesterkin.)
DET - Seller
VAN - Buyer
VGK - Buyer
TBL - Buyer
ANA - Seller
STL (2 scouts) - Seller
OTT - Hockey Trade (tied with Boston)
DAL - Buyer
SEA - Hockey Trade
TOR - Buyer
EDM - Buyer
 
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BruinDust

BruinDust

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Get whatever they can for Marchand, Frederic, Brazeau, Coyle, Geekie, Johnson, Wotherspoon, Carlo, Peeke, and Korpisalo between now and the deadline.

If they can find some takers for either Zadorov, Elias or Hampus without having to give the acquiring team a 1st round pick, they should jump all over it. Probably wishful thinking though. No sane GM is taking those albatross contracts.
 
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