Boston Bruins 24-25 Roster/Cap thread XI

Absurdity

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Why not try our own guy? Poitras? Merkulov? 1pt per game guy in ahl
I agree. I'm in the call up Poitras, Merkulov, and Lysell camp. Farinacci is playing really well too. For me, I think the Bruins would be better off giving Kaliyev more of a shot than Wahlstrom.
 

PlayMakers

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Just wish they could turn the 3rd line into a scoring line if Marchand/Lindholm/Coyle becomes a shutdown line.

I’d be curious what people would want to turn the “???” into if you lock into the following:

Geekie Zacha Pasta
Marchand Lindholm Coyle
??? ??? ???
Beecher Kastelic Koepke

Ideally this line is another 2nd line since they don’t have a top notch first line offensively. This is the line that has to make teams pay for loading up on Pasta.

Frederic, Brazeau, Wahlstrom, and the AHLers.

Any two of those names seem like you can add another name to and make it a scoring line? I see a few guys who could be the worst guy on the line. I don’t see any pairs for the 24-25 season. Maybe you hope the kids can be there in 25-26?

Or maybe you could put one of the AHL kids and Brazeau with a legit first line player (that could also provide a left shot on the PP, perhaps). Is that enough? Are there options outside of the Canucks to try to find that?
Merkulov - Poitras - Brazeau maybe.

If the Bruins add a top6 F for the Pasta line then maybe Geekie drops down...
Geekie - Poitras - Brazeau

It's a problem that extends to next season, because the team has a lot of 3rd line types in Coyle, Geekie, Brazeau, Frederic and maybe Wahlstrom. Where do guys like Merkulov or Lysell break in? And if you don't have a spot for them, do you trade them now? Do you trade the guys who are playing and contributing? (Geekie, Brazeau)

This team is light in the top6 and log jammed on the 3rd line.
 

Eddie Munson

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Merkulov - Poitras - Brazeau maybe.

If the Bruins add a top6 F for the Pasta line then maybe Geekie drops down...
Geekie - Poitras - Brazeau

It's a problem that extends to next season, because the team has a lot of 3rd line types in Coyle, Geekie, Brazeau, Frederic and maybe Wahlstrom. Where do guys like Merkulov or Lysell break in? And if you don't have a spot for them, do you trade them now? Do you trade the guys who are playing and contributing? (Geekie, Brazeau)

This team is light in the top6 and log jammed on the 3rd line.

This is my whole issue with Sweeney. It's like he has a hard time seeing the forest through the trees. He brings in these bottom-6 guys and he has nowhere to give some of his forward prospects who turned pro 2+ years ago a look. We then proceed to let these kids wilt on the vine. Not that there's a lot of wilting. Our current prospect list under Sweeney is a who's who of whos?

I think Lohrei is also a good example of this as well. You have a kid who seems on the edge of an NHL top-4 role and has a year left before he hits RFA, and we bring in Zadarov and give him $5m per. If Lohrei took the next step this year then we have a backlog of guys blocking him from a role in the top-4 all of whom have NMCs and Carlo a 10-team no trade list. It's like everyone he signs he does so in a vacuum not fully understanding what that may mean year to year or even day to day.
 

bme44

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Merkulov - Poitras - Brazeau maybe.

If the Bruins add a top6 F for the Pasta line then maybe Geekie drops down...
Geekie - Poitras - Brazeau

It's a problem that extends to next season, because the team has a lot of 3rd line types in Coyle, Geekie, Brazeau, Frederic and maybe Wahlstrom. Where do guys like Merkulov or Lysell break in? And if you don't have a spot for them, do you trade them now? Do you trade the guys who are playing and contributing? (Geekie, Brazeau)

This team is light in the top6 and log jammed on the 3rd line.
I would trade Brazeau if you receive a good offer that helps the team going forward . He will be a UFA at season end . I think we are seeing him at his best so it may be a chance to cash in.

Geekie I would like to see him remain a Bruin. Think he has still more to give and he is a RFA
 

Hookslide

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Nov 19, 2018
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They have a good foundation so a retool makes more sense than a full rebuild. They need to trade away players that don't have a long-term future on this team.
Washington, model might be something to consider. Full rebuild should not be in the cards. The question is do we have the right people in place to follow this through and get this done, when completed do we have the people in place that can show take what is given and get the most out of them.
 
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Hookslide

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I would trade Brazeau if you receive a good offer that helps the team going forward . He will be a UFA at season end . I think we are seeing him at his best so it may be a chance to cash in.

Geekie I would like to see him remain a Bruin. Think he has still more to give and he is a RFA
I must say it was good to see Brazeau score with a actual shot, I was getting concerned that take him away from the crease and he would be cooked. Geekie is really starting show he is capable of being a productive NHL player, and not just on the score sheet. Brazeau deserves all the credit he is getting for how hard he has worked in his career but now is probably the best time to move him value wise.
 
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Gee Wally

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Today’s Globe:

Blue line black hole​

The 6-4 loss in Toronto Saturday night once again included not a single goal from the Bruins’ defensemen, stretching to 14 the number of games the boys along the blue line posted a bagel. It’s now up to 15 games, as they again weren’t able to score Sunday night.

The drought, which began with a Dec. 4 visit to Chicago, ranked No. 3 in the post-Bobby Orr era for the Boston blue liners’ longest streak without contributing a goal.

In the decade of the 1950s, well ahead of Orr’s arrival on Causeway Street in the fall of ‘66, the Bruins in four seasons went through stretches of 14 games without a goal from their backliners.

The Bruins have not had a goal from a backliner since Nikita Zadrov scored Dec. 3 in a 3-2 OT win over the Red Wings.

Collectively, through the first 42 games of the season, Bruins blue liners have scored a total of 12 goals — led by Charile McAvoy (5) and Hampus Lindholm (3), and Lindholm has been out of the lineup with a knee injury since Nov. 12. Interim coach Joe Sacco said Thursday, prior to the club’s 2-1 loss against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, that the 30-year-old soon could be rejoining the team for on-ice workouts.


No advantage here​

The power play continues to bedevil the Bruins, its failures virtually in lockstep with its poor performance in the 20 games that led to Jim Montgomery’s dismissal from behind the bench Nov. 19.

Entering Sunday night, the Bruins’ power play, at 12.7 percent, ranked 31st in the NHL, with only the sad-sack Islanders (11.0%) between them and rock bottom.

Upon Montgomery’s departure, the Bruins ranked last overall with 11.7 percent efficiency (9 for 77).

The Bruins have gone 0 for 10 on the advantage the last six games, and now stand 8 for 58 (13.8%) in the 23 games under Sacco’s tutelage.

As bad as the power play has been for the Bruins, it has been even worse in tight games. Consider:

▪ In their eight losses by a single goal this season, the Bruins are 0 for 17 on the PP, while their opponents scored twice (2 for 19).

▪ In their five losses by two goals, including Saturday’s defeat, the Bruins went 1 for 15 on the PP. Their opponents went 4 for 14.

All in all, in one- and two-goal losses, the power play has gone 1 for 32 — just 3.13 percent.
 

kdog82

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This team stinks. Better off not doing anything other than to unload some players.

I cannot believe how bad Zadorov and E. Lindholm have been. Maybe the worst Free Agent signings in Bruins history. Zadorov looks completely clueless out there. No awareness, can't make a 5 foot pass, constantly makes horrendous decisions. Maybe Vancouver would take both of them back? I recall these players were loved during their time in Vancouver.

Lindholm shows some signs he's alive but those are few and far between for a guy making 7.8 per

Frederic... well I don't know if you'd get anything for him to be honest the way he pleasure skates during games.

Swayman has the look of a guy that tries when he wants, almost allows goals in on purpose because his feelings are still hurt.

Everything stinks about this team currently. Can it change? I really hope so but I doubt it.
 
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smithformeragent

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Sep 22, 2005
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Today’s Globe:

Blue line black hole​

The 6-4 loss in Toronto Saturday night once again included not a single goal from the Bruins’ defensemen, stretching to 14 the number of games the boys along the blue line posted a bagel. It’s now up to 15 games, as they again weren’t able to score Sunday night.

The drought, which began with a Dec. 4 visit to Chicago, ranked No. 3 in the post-Bobby Orr era for the Boston blue liners’ longest streak without contributing a goal.

In the decade of the 1950s, well ahead of Orr’s arrival on Causeway Street in the fall of ‘66, the Bruins in four seasons went through stretches of 14 games without a goal from their backliners.

The Bruins have not had a goal from a backliner since Nikita Zadrov scored Dec. 3 in a 3-2 OT win over the Red Wings.

Collectively, through the first 42 games of the season, Bruins blue liners have scored a total of 12 goals — led by Charile McAvoy (5) and Hampus Lindholm (3), and Lindholm has been out of the lineup with a knee injury since Nov. 12. Interim coach Joe Sacco said Thursday, prior to the club’s 2-1 loss against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, that the 30-year-old soon could be rejoining the team for on-ice workouts.


No advantage here​

The power play continues to bedevil the Bruins, its failures virtually in lockstep with its poor performance in the 20 games that led to Jim Montgomery’s dismissal from behind the bench Nov. 19.

Entering Sunday night, the Bruins’ power play, at 12.7 percent, ranked 31st in the NHL, with only the sad-sack Islanders (11.0%) between them and rock bottom.

Upon Montgomery’s departure, the Bruins ranked last overall with 11.7 percent efficiency (9 for 77).

The Bruins have gone 0 for 10 on the advantage the last six games, and now stand 8 for 58 (13.8%) in the 23 games under Sacco’s tutelage.

As bad as the power play has been for the Bruins, it has been even worse in tight games. Consider:

▪ In their eight losses by a single goal this season, the Bruins are 0 for 17 on the PP, while their opponents scored twice (2 for 19).

▪ In their five losses by two goals, including Saturday’s defeat, the Bruins went 1 for 15 on the PP. Their opponents went 4 for 14.

All in all, in one- and two-goal losses, the power play has gone 1 for 32 — just 3.13 percent.
Fill in the blank:

Charlie McAvoy is a top ______ defenseman in the NHL.
 
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BigGoalBrad

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Jun 3, 2012
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Washington, model might be something to consider. Full rebuild should not be in the cards. The question is do we have the right people in place to follow this through and get this done, when completed do we have the people in place that can show take what is given and get the most out of them.
PLD would have been a better addition than Lindholm but fans on here screamed about his was a franchise killer.

Washington wasn't scared to turnover the middle of their roster like we are. Its beyond pathetic that overpaid plugs like Carlo and Coyle are still Bruins and haven't been shifted off for futures or other veterans in need of a change.
 

Hookslide

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Nov 19, 2018
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PLD would have been a better addition than Lindholm but fans on here screamed about his was a franchise killer.

Washington wasn't scared to turnover the middle of their roster like we are. Its beyond pathetic that overpaid plugs like Carlo and Coyle are still Bruins and haven't been shifted off for futures or other veterans in need of a change.
Washington, was making a hockey decision, PLD is young and skilled, skilled big body center, I was always interested in him, now could he go back to his lazy ways again absolutely, but I thought at the time he was the play. The Bruins love to brag about their culture and how strong their room is, well maybe they should have been tested with the acquisition of a PLD. There were others in the past that might have been interesting and helpful adds, but for some reason they keep shooting themselves in the foot. Maybe we should question the lack talent evaluation from this team, on the pro and amateur levels.
 

Babajingo

Registered User
Today’s Globe:

Blue line black hole​

The 6-4 loss in Toronto Saturday night once again included not a single goal from the Bruins’ defensemen, stretching to 14 the number of games the boys along the blue line posted a bagel. It’s now up to 15 games, as they again weren’t able to score Sunday night.

The drought, which began with a Dec. 4 visit to Chicago, ranked No. 3 in the post-Bobby Orr era for the Boston blue liners’ longest streak without contributing a goal.

In the decade of the 1950s, well ahead of Orr’s arrival on Causeway Street in the fall of ‘66, the Bruins in four seasons went through stretches of 14 games without a goal from their backliners.

The Bruins have not had a goal from a backliner since Nikita Zadrov scored Dec. 3 in a 3-2 OT win over the Red Wings.

Collectively, through the first 42 games of the season, Bruins blue liners have scored a total of 12 goals — led by Charile McAvoy (5) and Hampus Lindholm (3), and Lindholm has been out of the lineup with a knee injury since Nov. 12. Interim coach Joe Sacco said Thursday, prior to the club’s 2-1 loss against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, that the 30-year-old soon could be rejoining the team for on-ice workouts.


No advantage here​

The power play continues to bedevil the Bruins, its failures virtually in lockstep with its poor performance in the 20 games that led to Jim Montgomery’s dismissal from behind the bench Nov. 19.

Entering Sunday night, the Bruins’ power play, at 12.7 percent, ranked 31st in the NHL, with only the sad-sack Islanders (11.0%) between them and rock bottom.

Upon Montgomery’s departure, the Bruins ranked last overall with 11.7 percent efficiency (9 for 77).

The Bruins have gone 0 for 10 on the advantage the last six games, and now stand 8 for 58 (13.8%) in the 23 games under Sacco’s tutelage.

As bad as the power play has been for the Bruins, it has been even worse in tight games. Consider:

▪ In their eight losses by a single goal this season, the Bruins are 0 for 17 on the PP, while their opponents scored twice (2 for 19).

▪ In their five losses by two goals, including Saturday’s defeat, the Bruins went 1 for 15 on the PP. Their opponents went 4 for 14.

All in all, in one- and two-goal losses, the power play has gone 1 for 32 — just 3.13 percent.
One problem the D have is that they take forever to shoot the puck. By the time they decide to shoot it, there are 2 opposing players in the way and the goalie has had plenty of time to set.
Ex: yesterday, Carlo got a pass and he was wide open inside the top of the circle. He took a long time to set up his shot. By then, it was useless.
McAvoy always decides to shoot about 5 seconds after he gets the puck (thats a long time).

It's not brain surgery. Who gives a crap if its 200 mph, if it takes a while to take the shot. 99.9% of the time the goalie can save it.
 

Fenian24

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bottoming out and getting a high pick/possibly nabbing david carle as the next coach doesn't seem like a terrible thing.
guess we'll see what the 2nd half brings.
I am all in for a rebuild. Sweeney has to be fired before that happens. Hire Dale Hunter as GM. Build a fast, tough team with skill. It isn't impossible, look at Tampa or Florida. find the next Tkachuk and Bennett. Have a Matt Olivier and Jack McBain in your bottom 6 with guys who can actually score and play with grit. Build your top six to have speed, scoring and jam. Value a Tkachuk or Konecny as much as a Pastrnak. Balance your scoring. Have a defense that can skate but that is smart and physical and maybe one who can run a power play. No soft "speed and skill" players who don't produce. If you play soft you better put up points. No "power forwards" like Trent Frederic who show up once a month and are invisible the rest of the time. No Geekies in the top 6. No Zadorovs in the top 4.

Speed, grit, hustle, commitment to winning. No more country club mentality
 

wintersej

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Nov 26, 2011
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North Andover, MA
This is my whole issue with Sweeney. It's like he has a hard time seeing the forest through the trees. He brings in these bottom-6 guys and he has nowhere to give some of his forward prospects who turned pro 2+ years ago a look. We then proceed to let these kids wilt on the vine. Not that there's a lot of wilting. Our current prospect list under Sweeney is a who's who of whos?

I think Lohrei is also a good example of this as well. You have a kid who seems on the edge of an NHL top-4 role and has a year left before he hits RFA, and we bring in Zadarov and give him $5m per. If Lohrei took the next step this year then we have a backlog of guys blocking him from a role in the top-4 all of whom have NMCs and Carlo a 10-team no trade list. It's like everyone he signs he does so in a vacuum not fully understanding what that may mean year to year or even day to day.

I think he thinks that if one of the forwards can’t beat out a 3rd liner for a job then they don’t deserve a job. It’s not like the 3rd liners are signed to 5 year deals.

On the D front, I think we have seen over and over teams abuse the Bruins bottom pairing in the playoffs. Hard to hide on the road. They run the pairs pretty evenly at 5 on 5. Having three top 4 quality LD isn’t a bad thing. Whenever Lorhei can take over PP1 he will get his 20+ minutes.
 

BruinDust

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Aug 2, 2005
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PLD would have been a better addition than Lindholm but fans on here screamed about his was a franchise killer.

Washington wasn't scared to turnover the middle of their roster like we are. Its beyond pathetic that overpaid plugs like Carlo and Coyle are still Bruins and haven't been shifted off for futures or other veterans in need of a change.

Washington, was making a hockey decision, PLD is young and skilled, skilled big body center, I was always interested in him, now could he go back to his lazy ways again absolutely, but I thought at the time he was the play. The Bruins love to brag about their culture and how strong their room is, well maybe they should have been tested with the acquisition of a PLD. There were others in the past that might have been interesting and helpful adds, but for some reason they keep shooting themselves in the foot. Maybe we should question the lack talent evaluation from this team, on the pro and amateur levels.

Dubois has 5 goals. On a team that averages a full goal per game more than the Bruins do. His 5 would have him tied with McAvoy for 10th on this Bruins team.

We can talk about Lindholm signing being a mistake, but don't act like PLD was some great alternative or would of solved anything for this club. 8.5 million per and on pace for 10 goals. Caps can keep him.
 

4ORRBRUIN

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For a dman making over 9 per one would think he should consistently reach 60-70 points every season. Underwhelming player. I expect a lot more from him.
The guy plays with AHL defenseman every game. He obviously says F it, never seen him roam around in the ozone like he is.

He's struggling this season like the entire team so I will give him a pass. There has been zero structure to this team all year. Monty F that up, it may be broken beyond repair this season.

He is a great player, not sending him to the trash bin just yet
 
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The don godfather

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Dubois has 5 goals. On a team that averages a full goal per game more than the Bruins do. His 5 would have him tied with McAvoy for 10th on this Bruins team.

We can talk about Lindholm signing being a mistake, but don't act like PLD was some great alternative or would of solved anything for this club. 8.5 million per and on pace for 10 goals. Caps can keep him.
Lindholm would have 10 more points if players finished his passes. Real clear A grade chances too.
 

wintersej

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Nov 26, 2011
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North Andover, MA
Dubois has 5 goals. On a team that averages a full goal per game more than the Bruins do. His 5 would have him tied with McAvoy for 10th on this Bruins team.

We can talk about Lindholm signing being a mistake, but don't act like PLD was some great alternative or would of solved anything for this club. 8.5 million per and on pace for 10 goals. Caps can keep him.

Yeah, and I doubt that Washington keeps up these shooting percentages to pad his assist totals:

Screenshot 2025-01-06 at 10.47.33 AM.png
 
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