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Boston Bruins 24-25 Roster/Cap thread XIV

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ON3M4N said:
Sounds great, but how many guys actually fit this and would be available?

What do we consider "young"
What defines a "top 6 center"
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I don't think we can afford a Pettersson or Barzal so I'm looking mostly at guys who project to be top6 centers; NHL'ers under 24 who are either struggling or haven't popped yet, or NHL ready prospects who project to be top6 centers.

By top6 I mean guys who look like they'll be 60+ point producers in their prime or in rare cases a Bennett type who may not top 50 points but can play with skill and drive a line with competitiveness.

So guys like...

Cozens, Zegras, Mittelstadt, Mercer, Hayton, Wright as current NHL'ers with top6 center potential. The first 4 names on that list are all rumored to be available.

Ritchie, Nazar, Del Bel Belluz as NHL ready prospects who project to be top6 NHL centers. These guys haven't been talked about a bunch in the media, you don't get a lot of clicks talking about Luca Del Bel Belluz, but their fans believe they'd be available for deadline deals and we've seen those types of deals every year.
 
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The Andrew Peeke Fan said:
No, it doesn't. It's just about playing hockey well. So, so many Cup teams won while enduring internal strife, much it of it well-publicized after the fact

The Bruins have been drafting for character over skill, on consideration, for probably even longer than I am fully aware of; in the 20 years I've actually been watching, they've killed themselves doing it
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They have been doing this for my 50 years and about five before Sinden. For better or worse, it is part of Bruin DNA. There were departures from it by Sinden who shall remain nameless, but they were rare. The three I am thinking did not really work out in the long run. Interestingly, they were all centers.....Hmm, is history repeating itself?

I am with you though. Most players have strong character, you don't need sterling character at the expense of skill.
 
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The Andrew Peeke Fan said:
No, it doesn't. It's just about playing hockey well. So, so many Cup teams won while enduring internal strife, much it of it well-publicized after the fact

The Bruins have been drafting for character over skill, on consideration, for probably even longer than I am fully aware of; in the 20 years I've actually been watching, they've killed themselves doing it
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Well we have more wins than any other team in the past15 years than any other team,so ya culture means some thing. How are the Sabres doing? The Bruins won’t rebuild. Retool fine.
 
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PB37 said:
I think grit is the wrong word, because I think they're plenty gritty and work hard.

1. Speed
2. Talent
3. Mental toughness

IMO those are the three glaring issues with the forward crew that has plagued them this season. Not enough speed to get open for transition. Not enough speed to get around defender's sticks to shoot the puck without getting blocked. Not enough skill to overcome the lack of speed to create their own openings. And last but certainly not least, their lack of focus and staying clocked in during important game situations ( after a goal is scored, last minute of the period, special teams ) kills so much of the team's confidence and momentum.
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I agree with pretty much everything you'd said, but one important skill that I think the team is really lacking -> Poise. You can see the panic when they are pressured, end of periods, give up a loose goal, etc. They look to be grippin the sticks too tight and playing hot potato with the puck. It may be a focus issue, but to me it looks more like panic.

Looking back on the best Bruins teams of the past couple decades - Bergeron & Chara are 2 of the most composed players I've ever seen on the ice and we just don't see that skill in the current group.

I know he's made a lot of mistakes this season, but I love watching Lohrei handle the puck - the patience and poise is something that we seriously lack right now. (yes I know he basically had an own goal the other day - he needs to fix those mental lapses)
 
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PB37 said:
I think grit is the wrong word, because I think they're plenty gritty and work hard.

1. Speed
2. Talent
3. Mental toughness

IMO those are the three glaring issues with the forward crew that has plagued them this season. Not enough speed to get open for transition. Not enough speed to get around defender's sticks to shoot the puck without getting blocked. Not enough skill to overcome the lack of speed to create their own openings. And last but certainly not least, their lack of focus and staying clocked in during important game situations ( after a goal is scored, last minute of the period, special teams ) kills so much of the team's confidence and momentum.
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I think most teams with any hardness going into a B's game are pretty much thinking it's a night off from real physicality and are thinking we can push them around physically. Who are you going to be wary of? It's a very soft lineup, particularly but not exclusive to the D.
Just think of our heyday in the 10s and how much of a disaster those guys were to play against.
This is by no means an argument against your points because I agree with them
 
HumBucker said:
Filling gaping holes is hardly “going all in”.
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I would go so far as to say they deliberately left gaping holes open.

There was an episode of Behind the B from the summer where Sweeney, his staff and Monty are talking about how the team is light on offense, but they don't like the guys remaining in free agency and they're discussing if they should sign a guy now that they don't really like, or wait to see how things play out and then add what they need at the deadline.
 
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KillerMillerTime said:
Poitras doesn't exactly play two way hockey. He couldn't maintain a place in the line up on a team that doesn't exactly strike fear into opposing forwards worried about scoring goals.

I doubt most people would agree with you on Zegras not being any better than Poitras.
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I think he is decent defensively. He causes turn overs. Gets back. Gets into passing lanes. He is pretty good at winning pucks on the boards too. He is probably one the better two way 20 year olds I’ve seen play on the bruins.
 
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Kegs said:
I think he is decent defensively. He causes turn overs. Gets back. Gets into passing lanes. He is pretty good at winning pucks on the boards too. He is probably one the better two way 20 year olds I’ve seen play on the bruins.
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He doesn't play down low in his own zone because he would get worked and probably increase his chances of getting walloped even more than he does.

He is good offensively and in totality subpar defensively, because if he was a true two way center would get worked over in his own end. He also gets gassed quickly
which I still see now. Good young player but I don't see as high a skill set as TZ.

Not saying at all he is a jag, but I would absolutely take TZ in a one for one trade.
 
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quietbruinfan said:
Poitras tries to get back defensively, but poor placement of turnovers, average speed and lack of experience work against him.

On the plus side, his passing decisions are getting much faster and much better. He has also knocked down a backchecker twice now. It led to Pasta's second goal. Kid is improving.
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I think this is the most positive post I’ve ever seen out of you.

This post scientifically proves poitras is a stud.
 
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Tbaybruin said:
Well we have more wins than any other team in the past15 years than any other team,so ya culture means some thing. How are the Sabres doing? The Bruins won’t rebuild. Retool fine.
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This team has always been top heavy, and has had historically great goaltending throughout that time. 1 lucky Cup
 
By the time Zegras finished his 20 year old season he had 60 points and was 2nd in Calder voting

Im a huge Poitras guy but they aren’t even close developmentally. It’s not to say Poitras might be better in the future, who knows but it’s very far off

On a smaller scale, Zegras kind of reminds me of the Seguin trade
 
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PlayMakers said:
I don't think we can afford a Pettersson or Barzal so I'm looking mostly at guys who project to be top6 centers; NHL'ers under 24 who are either struggling or haven't popped yet, or NHL ready prospects who project to be top6 centers.

By top6 I mean guys who look like they'll be 60+ point producers in their prime or in rare cases a Bennett type who may not top 50 points but can play with skill and drive a line with competitiveness.

So guys like...

Cozens, Zegras, Mittelstadt, Mercer, Hayton, Wright as current NHL'ers with top6 center potential. The first 4 names on that list are all rumored to be available.

Ritchie, Nazar, Del Bel Belluz as NHL ready prospects who project to be top6 NHL centers. These guys haven't been talked about a bunch in the media, you don't get a lot of clicks talking about Luca Del Bel Belluz, but their fans believe they'd be available for deadline deals and we've seen those types of deals every year.
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Who wants too talk about Luca Del Bel Belluz...lol. F*** typing that name everytime.
Lets call him The Bluez.😂😂😂

Nice young player though. Remember reading about him being compared to Bergeron.

Gordon Howe would never finish a post about him.😂

quietbruinfan said:
They have been doing this for my 50 years and about five before Sinden. For better or worse, it is part of Bruin DNA. There were departures from it by Sinden who shall remain nameless, but they were rare. The three I am thinking did not really work out in the long run. Interestingly, they were all centers.....Hmm, is history repeating itself?

I am with you though. Most players have strong character, you don't need sterling character at the expense of skill.
Click to expand...
Iafrate wasn't your prototypical Bruin.
 
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Tbaybruin said:
Well we have more wins than any other team in the past15 years than any other team,so ya culture means some thing. How are the Sabres doing? The Bruins won’t rebuild. Retool fine.
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Tampa, Chicago & Pittsburgh all won Cups with Kucherov, Kane & Kessel playing important rolls. You can fit in talented players who don't conform to a
two way culture.
 
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Bruin4 said:
Sure but when you pay them the money he did, its not to likely he's throwing in the towel after spending to the cap with his off season moves, so essentially it was all in for him, the right moves is totally a different conversation.
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Spending to the cap is not the same as going all in. The latter is when you add players to an already-contending team to go all in on a run for the Cup, like DS did a few seasons ago when we still had Bergeron and Krejci.
 
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