Cam Neely weighs in on state of Bruins – Boston Herald
As of right now, there doesn’t appear to be any help coming from the outside, at least not yet. And for a day anyway, there was no call made down to Providence for some different young blood.
“We’re constantly talking about what we can maybe do and what the options are,” said Neely. “Providence, we’ve had guys come up and down and we’ve had guys playing more than we anticipated them playing this year from Providence. But that doesn’t mean we’re done with that. We have to look at all our options to see how we can get ourselves playing a little cleaner. But let’s be honest. We’ve got a tough stretch coming up.”
GM Don Sweeney has made no secret that he’s looking for some help. Even when healthy, they could use – from this observer’s perspective – a top six wing and a third line center, in that order. He’d surely like to make some kind of an impact deal and not just one to get them over this current hump, formidable though it may be.
Injuries haven’t helped the B’s standing in the trade market, either.
“It makes it a little more challenging because teams know that you’re a little more vulnerable,” said Neely. “On the one hand, you really want to make a hockey trade and not necessarily just a band aid, but if there’s an opportunity where it could be a “band aid,” you don’t want to give up an asset that may not be ready yet but they are going to be ready and will help you for a lot longer than a band aid. There’s that delicate balance to make sure you’re doing the right thing for the club, both short-term and long-term.”
So for today at least, the message is to get back to grinding out the points like they’d done for a several weeks. And keep it simple.
“Simplify your game and see where it takes you,” said Neely. “Because playing that way isn’t working.”
As of right now, there doesn’t appear to be any help coming from the outside, at least not yet. And for a day anyway, there was no call made down to Providence for some different young blood.
“We’re constantly talking about what we can maybe do and what the options are,” said Neely. “Providence, we’ve had guys come up and down and we’ve had guys playing more than we anticipated them playing this year from Providence. But that doesn’t mean we’re done with that. We have to look at all our options to see how we can get ourselves playing a little cleaner. But let’s be honest. We’ve got a tough stretch coming up.”
GM Don Sweeney has made no secret that he’s looking for some help. Even when healthy, they could use – from this observer’s perspective – a top six wing and a third line center, in that order. He’d surely like to make some kind of an impact deal and not just one to get them over this current hump, formidable though it may be.
Injuries haven’t helped the B’s standing in the trade market, either.
“It makes it a little more challenging because teams know that you’re a little more vulnerable,” said Neely. “On the one hand, you really want to make a hockey trade and not necessarily just a band aid, but if there’s an opportunity where it could be a “band aid,” you don’t want to give up an asset that may not be ready yet but they are going to be ready and will help you for a lot longer than a band aid. There’s that delicate balance to make sure you’re doing the right thing for the club, both short-term and long-term.”
So for today at least, the message is to get back to grinding out the points like they’d done for a several weeks. And keep it simple.
“Simplify your game and see where it takes you,” said Neely. “Because playing that way isn’t working.”