Boston Bruins 24-25 Roster/Cap thread XII

[Absurdity]

 

[22Brad Park]

This team feels like a dangerous opponent in the first round for Washington OR Toronto:

Zacha - XXX - Pastrnak
Marchand - Lindholm - Merkulov/Lysell
Geekie - Poitras - Brazeau
Kopke - Kastelic - Beecher
XXX

Zadorov - McAvoy
Lindholm - Peeke
Lohrei - Wotherspoon/Osterle/XXX
XXX

Swayman
Korpisalo

Where's Coyle at?

 

[22Brad Park]

There goes our 1st

 

[Over the volcano]

Did he really though?
He inherited a team with Bergeron, Krejci,Chara, Marchand, Krug, Rask, Pasta, Lucic,Hamilton and Tuukka. That’s 4 hall of famers and 2 will be knocking on the door. He handcuffed himself in the 2015 draft , and the Nash and Backes deals leading up to the 2019 finals. He did add Coyle an Johansson during the cup run, but any Owner to say Sweeney built that team wouldn’t have done their due-diligence.

Team he inherited missed the playoffs, and then missed again the following year.

 

[PlayMakers]

It infuriates me that he’s had 10 seasons to find replacements for his 1A & 1B center yet here we are watching Zacha Coyle now Lindholm being forced into a spot they aren’t capable of holding down. He drafted Frederic & Beecher in round one and immediately tells the fanbase that they project as bottom 6 centers.

Why didn't Sweeney take 1st round swings at centers who at least had the potential to play in your top 6 in the future??

So, I appreciate your point and put some thought into it. I looked at all the drafts since Sweeney took over, and from what I can see, there really weren't a lot of opportunities to draft top6 centers.

From 2018 to 2021 there were no top6 centers taken immediately after or in the round after the player we chose (if at all). In 2022 we picked Poitras. That covers 5 of his drafts. It's too early to tell what will become of the last 3 drafts but he did pick 8 centers including Dean Letourneau who's top6 or bust.

In 2017 they picked Vaakanainen and a promising center in Studnicka, but they could have picked Josh Norris.

In 2016 Frederic was picked 29th and he is the 23rd highest scorer from his draft year, but Kyrou was taken in the 2nd round so they could have picked him.

And of course we know he struck out in 2015.

So there is truth to what you're saying, at least in those first 3 drafts. On the other hand, he did come away with 9 NHL players in those 3 drafts. He hit on 41% of his picks, which blows the NHL average (19%) out of the water, and 2 of those 9 players were franchise cornerstones McAvoy and Swayman.

You mentioned Bergeron and Krejci being 30 when he got them, well Chara was 38 and Rask was 27 which isn't old but Swayman's first full season turned out to be Rask's last.

So yeah, the center issue wasn't addressed but the franchise G and D were. It sucks that he couldn't get a franchise C in there but I think this is where I fundamentally disagree with all the draft haters. Nobody drafts the "right guy" all the time. In fact, most teams draft the wrong guy 81% of the time.

I mentioned they could have taken Kyrou instead of Frederic. Here's a list of the busts who were taken before Kyrou: Puljuarvi, Jost, Brown, Kunin, Gauthier, Rubtsov, Borgstrom, Jones, Tufte, Howden, Steel, Korshkov, Benson, Asplund... and that's just the forwards. Jake Bean was taken right before McAvoy. Frederic was drafted after 11 of the guys I just listed.

So I guess what I'm saying is, yes he failed to draft a franchise center, but failures and misses are a fact of life with the draft. And he succeeded in drafting two franchise players in those 3 early years. After that, they took a swing on Studnicka and missed. 2018 to 2021 there are no centers taken at our spot or later that turned into top6 centers. In 2022 they got Poitras.

What is his plan now? They are a team stuck in the middle of the pack. Unless Poitras or Lohrei really take a major step forward this season or next, they’ll be here again next season. I don’t trust him to make hockey trades. He no longer can afford to trade 1st round picks at the deadline. Is he headed for a retool? If so, how long is this retool going to take? He lacks vision imo.

You think he's bad at hockey trades? He got two firsts for Lucic, he got a 1st and two 2nd's for Hamilton, he got a 1st for Ullmark, he got Zacha for Haula, he got Peeke for a 3rd round pick. Those seem like pretty good deals for Boston.

What's his plan now? I think he does what he's always done, try to make this team better. I guarantee he adds a top6 forward before the deadline. My guess is it will be someone who fits in long term. I think they'll need to move some money to make that addition work so that exchange could change the team dynamic but I don't think I'd go so far as to say it's a re-tool. I think Lohrei and Poitras take steps next season, and I think Sweeney adds another UFA for scoring depth on July 1st.

I also think players learn their lesson from this season and have more of a sense of urgency from the start of camp. I think Swayman rebounds, I think Pasta is fully recovered and comes out of the gates firing, I think Marchand starts off much stronger than he did this year... I think there is the potential for this team to be much better next season, but you're right, there is a lot of work to be done to get there.

 

[PB37]

Did he really though?
He inherited a team with Bergeron, Krejci,Chara, Marchand, Krug, Rask, Pasta, Lucic,Hamilton and Tuukka. That’s 4 hall of famers and 2 will be knocking on the door. He handcuffed himself in the 2015 draft , and the Nash and Backes deals leading up to the 2019 finals. He did add Coyle an Johansson during the cup run, but any Owner to say Sweeney built that team wouldn’t have done their due-diligence.

I believe that was the season he won GM of the Year for.

 

[GordonHowe]

Hasn't he reached the playoffs 8 of 9 times? The only time he missed was his first season on the job. This is his 10th season, and we don't know if they're going to miss this year. So reached the playoffs: 89%

Yeah, the lack of a Cup is a black mark, but my guess is an owner would say he built a team that got to Game 7 of the Cup Finals, at home. At some point it's the players have to take some responsibility for not being able to win the last game. I also think 25 other owners would kill to have the 5th most playoff wins in the league, over the last 9 years. I know that means nothing to fans, but it's literally millions of dollars in revenue to an owner.

Fwiw, I'm not even a "Sweeney guy." His press conferences and non-answers annoy me, his hiding from the media annoys me, I think he has a disdain for the fans, the way they try to hide bad news behind other big events bugs me. I feel like I criticize him for his mistakes (like signing Elias Lindholm and Backes) but I try to be impartial so I also defend him when I think people are being unfair or off base. I mean, outside of HFBoards, I think Sweeney is well respected. Around the league, I think Sweeney is considered one of the best GM's in the league. Yet, a lot of folks here act like he's a buffoon.

Fine Post.

I don't believe Sweeney is a buffoon. Nor do I think he has contempt for the fans. The way Harry did. Does he have contempt for the media? Yes. With reason.

All true as to regular season success and playoff gate. True to some extent relative to player responsibility for losing in 2019, and at other times.

But fans do not measure success in terms of regular season wins or playoff gate. If they do, their priorities are misplaced.

The fact remains that Don Sweeney constructed these teams. Over nearly a decade at the tiller.

For the most part, they have been "competitive," as Harry might say. They have not been built to win where it matters most, the post season.

There is a history of largely poor drafting, year after year: Major, costly free agent whiffs: Minor, no needle pick ups; depleting the prospect pool by repeatedly trading away high draft selections for plug & play that keeps the ship afloat in the short term but little else.

More damning: David Krecj bereft of quality wings *for years,* wasting his talent.

Far more damning:

_Complete failure_ to address critical need for capable 1C & 2C as #37 & #46 aged into retirement.

Apparently,.planning for this eventuality did not take serious shape while Patrice and David played out their final years in Boston.

Refusal to address this crucial concern in straightforward fashion when SweeNeely & Company could have acted decisively to preempt a headache they surely knew was coming.

Needless to say, the issue is ongoing.

You can't buy a 1C center in free agency.

You have to grow them at home.

Which brings us back to robbing Peter (drafting) to pay Paul (regular season success, playoff gate).

Now, why?

Because, in my view, although Don Sweeney & Cam Neely care about icing a club that can legitimately challenge for a Stanley Cup, ultimately they care more about fulfilling the mandate from Buffalo.

And the mandate from Buffalo, first, last and always, is to keep the Boston Bruins profitable. Sustainably, season in, season out.

Period..