Are the Bruins becoming an undesirable destination for players?

[Cronuss]

Definitely not a place players want to play. Probably last on their list. That is why we couldn't sign Backes.

 

[Marchy63]

I would say that Boston is a desirable place to play when the Bruins have a clear direction and the team is winning. Right now they are kinda in a wait for the kids, but try to compete at the same time. To an older player, would you want to make the decision to sign with the Bruins only to have them tell you they are going to go full rebuild? Or as a younger player would you want to risk that they use you to trade for a vet and go for it?

I believe this team needs to pick a direction (wait for future or try to win now) because I feel they contradict one another. If the young Dmen were closer than the 3-5 year timetable most project, then I would say this team is ok staying the course, but I feel without knowing who is going to be in the top 4 (other than Krug and a rapidly aging Chara) going forward is a major concern that needs to be addressed and soon.

 

[the overrated]

Definitely not a place players want to play. Probably last on their list. That is why we couldn't sign Backes.

Do we know what other teams were finalists for Backes, and what their offers were? If he came here for more money, or for longer term, it'd say less about the B's desirability and more about their money being green & plentiful.

The only other team I know of is STL & the rumor I read was that he wanted a year more than they were willing to commit to. If they'd agreed to his term, he wouldn't be a Bruin now.

 

[remer]

A direction would be nice, but asset management would be better. Some real dumb moves considering the following: Seguin deal. Trading Smith for Hayes, burning a 3rd for Rinaldo. Moving out Hamilton for a small return because he was scared of an offer sheet that likely was never going to happen, Burning a 2,3,4 and 5 Rd picks on players with little impact at the deadline, not moving Loui and getting nothing in return, same goes for Soderberg and not packaging Connolly to get something if there were no plans to resign. Questionable draft picks, McQuaid and Miller signings, and the list could go on.
Vesey signing here would have been a step in the right direction, but failure again.
It's time for Sweeney to make a few moves that would classify as wins and he needs it badly.

 

[DKH]

A direction would be nice, but asset management would be better. Some real dumb moves considering the following: Seguin deal. Trading Smith for Hayes, burning a 3rd for Rinaldo. Moving out Hamilton for a small return because he was scared of an offer sheet that likely was never going to happen, Burning a 2,3,4 and 5 Rd picks on players with little impact at the deadline, not moving Loui and getting nothing in return, same goes for Soderberg and not packaging Connolly to get something if there were no plans to resign. Questionable draft picks, McQuaid and Miller signings, and the list could go on.
Vesey signing here would have been a step in the right direction, but failure again.
It's time for Sweeney to make a few moves that would classify as wins and he needs it badly.

Hamilton was moved out for a small return. Did they get DiBrincat ?

Don't forget they could have drafted Datsyk and Zetterberg

I will give you credit I checked what you thought of Chiarelli in old posts and you thought he was horrible also so you are not just picking on Sweeney

 

[patty59]

Hamilton was moved out for a small return. Did they get DiBrincat ?

Don't forget they could have drafted Datsyk and Zetterberg

I will give you credit I checked what you thought of Chiarelli in old posts and you thought he was horrible also so you are not just picking on Sweeney

figures since half the moves he listed as brutal were made by Chiarelli

 

[PlayMakers]

I would say yes.

Fair or not, the media is painting this group as a team on the decline, and without a direction. I know lots of fans feels that way too, so why wouldn't some players?

Yes, they got Backes but they paid top dollar to get him, that's not necessarily an endorsement. Eriksson didn't want to stay. Vesey said no.

That said, fans and players have very short memories. If they can have a good year this year, that perspective will do a 180. Because then the optics will read that they're not all washed up, "They've still got a great core there that knows how to win, and look what's on the way!"

 

[PacificNWBruin]

I'd say yes just because this team has fallen short the past two seasons. Chara is a year older. Kevan Miller and Mcquaid look to be our top 4 RHD. To me that's not desirable. The FO talked about being better with their transition game but haven't done anything to improve on that to impact the team this upcoming season. Granted our FUTURE D prospects look amazing and looking forward to seeing them progress their games. They're still just prospects, unproven.

 

[Gator Mike]

I would say yes.

Fair or not, the media is painting this group as a team on the decline, and without a direction. I know lots of fans feels that way too, so why wouldn't some players?

Yes, they got Backes but they paid top dollar to get him, that's not necessarily an endorsement. Eriksson didn't want to stay. Vesey said no.

That said, fans and players have very short memories. If they can have a good year this year, that perspective will do a 180. Because then the optics will read that they're not all washed up, "They've still got a great core there that knows how to win, and look what's on the way!"

Again, it depends on the player.

Vesey might have looked at the Bruins and thought they were on decline. A guy like O'Gara looked at the Bruins and probably sees a team where he could get an opportunity to play in the NHL early in his career.

I mean, if you're a guy in Vesey's situation, wouldn't you also look at the Bruins as a team that's willing to give undrafted college free agents a chance? Krug, Vatrano, Acciari, etc...

 

[Blowfish]

Players are moving towards Anonymity so yes (Thorton and Stamkos examples)....however this impacts a large number of teams.

 

[Dellstrom]

Money is the #1 factor. We've been pretty tight to the cap for the past 6-7 years, so obviously we won't get a lot of big fish because we don't have the cap space. So yeah, right off the bat, that's pretty undesirable.

You saw how Backes said a huge motivation to come to Boston (besides the aforementioned 6m a year) was the chance to play with guys like Bergeron and Marchand. Bergeron has gotten a lot of praise from pretty much every fanbase, but I'm sure he's even more well-regarded around the league.

Boston is also a huge hockey market. The fans are extremely passionate, that's a good thing if you're a good player, a very bad thing if you're not. Hard working guys like Backes see that as motivation. A player like Bergeron can do no wrong here, he very rarely gets any criticism because he's been the standard of consistency and excellence for years. It's not easy to reach that level, but it's extremely rewarding when you do. I'm sure a lot of players would prefer being a star player in Boston/Chicago/Toronto/Montreal/other huge markets over smaller markets like Florida. So the market size really depends on the player. For guys like Beleskey and Backes, that was a big factor.

The weather here sucks, yeah, especially in the winter. But the majority of the players in the NHL are from Canada, countries that are as cold/colder than MA (Russia, Sweden, etc) or states that are as cold/colder than MA (NY, MI, MN, etc), so I doubt that's a really big factor. A lot of states have much better tax benefits, though.

I don't think Boston is any less attractive than any other team. If you're raising a family, the suburbs outside of the city are beautiful and then education is top notch. If you're a party animal, it's the college capital of America, if not the world. If you're neither, it's a cool city. Not as big as Chicago/NY/etc, but it's still a major US city with loads of history behind it.

 

[PlayMakers]

Again, it depends on the player.

Vesey might have looked at the Bruins and thought they were on decline. A guy like O'Gara looked at the Bruins and probably sees a team where he could get an opportunity to play in the NHL early in his career.

I mean, if you're a guy in Vesey's situation, wouldn't you also look at the Bruins as a team that's willing to give undrafted college free agents a chance? Krug, Vatrano, Acciari, etc...

Yeah, you would have thought that giving those guys time would've helped our cause with JV. The fact that it didn't only reinforces the ida that they're not well perceived right now.

 

[Gator Mike]

Yeah, you would have thought that giving those guys time would've helped our cause with JV. The fact that it didn't only reinforces the ida that they're not well perceived right now.

It might reinforce that idea, but I'm not sure that's the reason Vesey signed with the Rangers.

 

[vjcsmoke]

Is this poll posted because Vesey picked the Rangers over Boston as well as a number of other teams? That move still makes no sense to me. Rangers top 6 is stacked, is Vesey even going to play a bit role there this year?

We signed a pretty big free agent last year in Beleskey and this year in Backes. So I don't feel like it's really a recruitment issue as much as a scouting issue. We can get 1 or 2 decent free agents a year, but where we fall on our face is the scouting and the trading. We tend to give up our best talents in trade when their contracts run down and draft poorly. If we could fix those deficiencies, we would probably be fine.

I'm not slamming Sweeney, but he hasn't exactly made any moves to inspire confidence lately. Was signing another center in Backes a good move when we already had Spooner in place??

 

[ODAAT]

Is this poll posted because Vesey picked the Rangers over Boston as well as a number of other teams? That move still makes no sense to me. Rangers top 6 is stacked, is Vesey even going to play a bit role there this year?

We signed a pretty big free agent last year in Beleskey and this year in Backes. So I don't feel like it's really a recruitment issue as much as a scouting issue. We can get 1 or 2 decent free agents a year, but where we fall on our face is the scouting and the trading. We tend to give up our best talents in trade when their contracts run down and draft poorly. If we could fix those deficiencies, we would probably be fine.

I'm not slamming Sweeney, but he hasn't exactly made any moves to inspire confidence lately. Was signing another center in Backes a good move when we already had Spooner in place??

I think DS has shown he`s far more committed to drafting and developing than Chia and Co and it`s far too early to say DS has failed in drafting legit kids. I am not thrilled he hasn`t been able to secure a top 4 d-man but I also recognize, it ain`t as easy/simple as I tend to think it is.

My biggest concern is DS won`t be given the time to see his vision through as Cam and the Jacobs family grow too impatient. Sweeney has set himself up reasonably well to create cap space to make a move, I wonder out loud if "possibly" the fact the B`s don`t or haven`t secured that top 4 D-man yet is opposing GM`s haven`t yet been willing to part with a player like that yet? Wasn`t it reported that a possible deal with the Blues at the deadline was nixed because DS didn`t want to take on the contract of a certain player on the Blues? No clue who that player was but at the same time, I don`t have an issue with it if that were the case

 

[DKH]

now that Pastrnak's not being traded we need an August thread to get us through the dog days or August

 

[Fenway]

now that Pastrnak's not being traded we need an August thread to get us through the dog days or August

If you want to start a new one fine but things HAVE changed in a year

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