Management Charlie Jacobs, Bob Sweeney and Cam Neely speak to the media from the Bruins Black and Gold Gala

[Fenway]

https://www.audacy.com/weei/sports/bruins/neely-bruins-will-look-at-two-paths-for-trade-deadline

“We're gonna have to see where we are in the standings when teams start really fleshing themselves out,” Neely told reporters. “There's some teams right now that are bona fide sellers, and there's a lot of teams that are probably looking to buy. So, we're in the playoff picture right now. That could change, but right now we're in the playoff picture and we want to continue to improve as a hockey club, whether that's internally or externally.

“We’ll see where we’re at,” he added. “I think right now, we've gotta look at two paths: one that we're buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit. We still feel like we've got a playoff team here, and we certainly don't want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we've made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present.”

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[Sevendust]

https://www.audacy.com/weei/sports/bruins/neely-bruins-will-look-at-two-paths-for-trade-deadline

“We're gonna have to see where we are in the standings when teams start really fleshing themselves out,” Neely told reporters. “There's some teams right now that are bona fide sellers, and there's a lot of teams that are probably looking to buy. So, we're in the playoff picture right now. That could change, but right now we're in the playoff picture and we want to continue to improve as a hockey club, whether that's internally or externally.

“We’ll see where we’re at,” he added. “I think right now, we've gotta look at two paths: one that we're buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit. We still feel like we've got a playoff team here, and we certainly don't want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we've made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present.”

They don't get it. He and Sweeney have to go.

 

[Fenway]

NOBODY in the media dared to ask the question - How is the Chairman doing?

 

[Aussie Bruin]

“We’ll see where we’re at,” Neely added. “I think right now, we've gotta look at two paths: one that we're buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit. We still feel like we've got a playoff team here, and we certainly don't want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we've made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present.”

Predictable but wrong approach IMO. It shouldn't just be about whether or not the team is good enough to make the playoffs. The correct question is will the team be good enough to seriously compete for a Cup? If the answer to that is 'no', then making short-term moves or letting good trade opportunities pass by purely for the sake of the playoffs alone is the wrong thing to do. It's just wasting time for the sake of $$$$ and selling rainbows.

I will take just a little comfort from the fact Neely even dared to mention the word 'retooling', suggesting it might at least be on the table in some circumstances. But my guess is those circumstances are narrow and will need to be quite desperate. It also does sound like there's some realism there and they're not going to throw the kitchen sink at a Cup tilt this year, so if nothing else they might well avoid doing anything really stupid and detrimental. Little steps, I guess.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

NOBODY in the media dared to ask the question - How is the Chairman doing?

The answer is most probably "not well". Which is unfortunate, but realistically it has to be recognized that JJ is almost certainly going to have to be happy with his one Cup. I know he very much wanted two, but we often don't get what we want. Time runs out for all of us in the end.

 

[DKH]

As probably the most honest and straight shooter here I love Cam’s honesty.

something to be said for growing up not spending 4 hours a day in Tick Talk all excited watching penguins jumping out of airplanes

 

[Fenway]

The answer is most probably "not well". Which is unfortunate, but realistically it has to be recognized that JJ is almost certainly going to have to be happy with his one Cup. I know he very much wanted two, but we often don't get what we want. Time runs out for all of us in the end.

@Aussie Bruin

The Chairman said many times the team will not be sold while I am alive but after I am gone my children can do what they want.

My take is Delaware North is looking for a way to keep the Celtics at TD Garden including selling TD and the Bruins to the new Celtics owners.

This bombshell just happened in Philadelphia

 

[Blowfish]

Actually all interviewed were in sync and provided good responses. IMO good interview.

 

[bwunderlich]

Fenway and others have said this for several years that JJ would love another Cup. Shouldn't that, for once and all dispell the notion that he is cheap and only interested in the bottom line?

Since 2019, this mngt team has approached their jobs as such and dutyfully mortgaged the future because of JJ's desire, and it should cost them their jobs??

I'd venture Cam and Don would have approached the past five years differently if JJ was 20-years younger.

Just my .02

 

[Fenian24]

Fenway and others have said this for several years that JJ would love another Cup. Shouldn't that, for once and all dispell the notion that he is cheap and only interested in the bottom line?

Since 2019, this mngt team has approached their jobs as such and dutyfully mortgaged the future because of JJ's desire, and it should cost them their jobs??

I'd venture Cam and Don would have approached the past five years differently if JJ was 20-years younger.

Just my .02

NO

 

[whitetape]

They don't get it. He and Sweeney have to go.

What don't they get?

 

[Dizzay]

As probably the most honest and straight shooter here I love Cam’s honesty.

something to be said for growing up not spending 4 hours a day in Tick Talk all excited watching penguins jumping out of airplanes

Amen.......I'm going to print this off and post on my wife's side table!

 

[Fenway]

Fenway and others have said this for several years that JJ would love another Cup. Shouldn't that, for once and all dispell the notion that he is cheap and only interested in the bottom line?

Since 2019, this mngt team has approached their jobs as such and dutyfully mortgaged the future because of JJ's desire, and it should cost them their jobs??

I'd venture Cam and Don would have approached the past five years differently if JJ was 20-years younger.

Just my .02

Charlie desperately wanted to win another Cup for his father and 2019 hurt

2023 they went all in

Sinden controlled the budget for 30 years and there is no evidence that Jacobs refused a Sinden request for more funding.

Where Jacobs drew the line was having owners like Mike Ilitch in Detroit willing to lose 10 million a year to buy a Cup. We lost the entire 2004-2005 season over that.

 

[Babajingo]

"we certainly don't want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we've made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present"

Goodbye first round pick.
Sigh.

 

[bbfan419]

The Jacobs are first and foremost business people and like any business they want to make as much money as they can, while doing the least possible. As long as there are fans filling the arena, buying concessions and merchandise, then why fire Sweeney and Neely? The only way this changes is if they miss the playoffs 2-3 years in a row and attendance starts to fall, that is what will prompt them for change. Get ready for Sweeney and Neely to be here a while yet. The last time they hired a new GM they just walked down the hall and promoted the next man up.

 

[Shaun]

i’ve heard bezos wants both teams and the arena by a garden executive

 

[DKH]

Amen.......I'm going to print this off and post on my wife's side table!

Haha

I no longer watch sports games with my phone on

Especially the Bruins

You can kind of do it with football but hockey

As for cute cat videos and guys juggling chain saws it’s pretty cool and I’ve seen but personally I would lose my life - this place was my one decision to use my f-around time

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

As probably the most honest and straight shooter here I love Cam’s honesty.

something to be said for growing up not spending 4 hours a day in Tick Talk all excited watching penguins jumping out of airplanes

Be careful not to pull a muscle with this patting yourself on the back.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Haha

I no longer watch sports games with my phone on

Especially the Bruins

You can kind of do it with football but hockey

As for cute cat videos and guys juggling chain saws it’s pretty cool and I’ve seen but personally I would lose my life - this place was my one decision to use my f-around time

Your account must of been hacked during the last game with those multiple posts in the last GDT.

 

[Kalus]

The Zadorov and E Lindholm overpays in both term and cap hit made it clear at the time that they were going for one last big push over the next 2-3 seasons before going through a heavy retool or rebuild. This is very predictable by just looking at the cap hit and term on the books for players that will be deep in their age regression years (both Lindholms, Kori, Zadorov) at that time and with Pasta and McAvoy getting into their 30s (typical regression milestone) with very little in the pipeline. Part of the premise is assuming they would perform well over these 2-3 years and have late round draft picks that they would probably need to trade anyway in the last push years. So the pipeline would be very dry 2-3 years from now, requiring that rebuild / heavy retool when paired with the tough cap structure (heavily regressed players with cap hits well above their on ice value).

The surprise is how poorly this season has gone vs. expectations. We can only hope they turn it around, hopefully win a round this spring and then have a bounce back season next year. They really need to squeeze the juice out of this roster while it still has some juice.

For those that don’t believe in aging curves, here is a nice explanation backed up by data:

Age and Decay

 

[KillerMillerTime]

“We’ll see where we’re at,” Neely added. “I think right now, we've gotta look at two paths: one that we're buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit. We still feel like we've got a playoff team here, and we certainly don't want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we've made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present.”

Predictable but wrong approach IMO. It shouldn't just be about whether or not the team is good enough to make the playoffs. The correct question is will the team be good enough to seriously compete for a Cup? If the answer to that is 'no', then making short-term moves or letting good trade opportunities pass by purely for the sake of the playoffs alone is the wrong thing to do. It's just wasting time for the sake of $$$$ and selling rainbows.

I will take just a little comfort from the fact Neely even dared to mention the word 'retooling', suggesting it might at least be on the table in some circumstances. But my guess is those circumstances are narrow and will need to be quite desperate. It also does sound like there's some realism there and they're not going to throw the kitchen sink at a Cup tilt this year, so if nothing else they might well avoid doing anything really stupid and detrimental. Little steps, I guess.

Yeah, I think if by 4Nations they are 6 points out of a PO spot and #27 still is a couple of weeks before getting back, that retool, depending on what's offered for UFA's such as Marchand and Frederic might make things complicated for them.

 

[lopey]

“We’ll see where we’re at,” Neely added. “I think right now, we've gotta look at two paths: one that we're buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit. We still feel like we've got a playoff team here, and we certainly don't want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we've made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present.”

Predictable but wrong approach IMO. It shouldn't just be about whether or not the team is good enough to make the playoffs. The correct question is will the team be good enough to seriously compete for a Cup? If the answer to that is 'no', then making short-term moves or letting good trade opportunities pass by purely for the sake of the playoffs alone is the wrong thing to do. It's just wasting time for the sake of $$$$ and selling rainbows.

I will take just a little comfort from the fact Neely even dared to mention the word 'retooling', suggesting it might at least be on the table in some circumstances. But my guess is those circumstances are narrow and will need to be quite desperate. It also does sound like there's some realism there and they're not going to throw the kitchen sink at a Cup tilt this year, so if nothing else they might well avoid doing anything really stupid and detrimental. Little steps, I guess.

Playoff revenue. Its all about the benjamins