NHL Draft lottery race - Bruins currently have 4th Pick

[Alicat]

Nice

You owe me a phone call before Thursday

 

[BB88]

Acquiring some competent plays this off-season?

Of course it's possible.

That’s my problem with your premise

As I said you can build a team that fights for a playoff spot next season but the ceiling is limited

They aren’t some good players away from being real threat

They are multiple elite players away from being a legit threat. How and where do you find those elite talents this offseason?

Marner is the only one left, Rantanen already signed

 

[since76]

Hat trick crosby !!! Pens won !!! At dallas
It is a sign of destiny
Bruins get Misa

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

That’s my problem with your premise

As I said you can build a team that fights for a playoff spot next season but the ceiling is limited

They aren’t some good players away from being real threat

They are multiple elite players away from being a legit threat. How and where do you find those elite talents this offseason?

Marner is the only one left, Rantanen already signed

There is a big difference between elite talents and competent players.

The only real chance of getting elite talent is from the draft. Which they will hopefully get.

Competent players can fill the holes.

A good coach can make the sum of the parts better than the individual talent.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Hat trick crosby !!! Pens won !!! At dallas
It is a sign of destiny
Bruins get Misa

I've heard he's still a pretty good player.

 

[Oates2Neely]

 

[BB88]

There is a big difference between elite talents and competent players.

The only real chance of getting elite talent is from the draft. Which they will hopefully get.

Competent players can fill the holes.

A good coach can make the sum of the parts better than the individual talent.

So the plan is to build a WC team, not a contender?

As you say the only real chance is the draft and now that you are pushed into a situation where you have the ability to spend this and next draft drafting that talent why say no and instead rebuild something very flawed?

I always think rebuild as something where you try to build something that can win something one day, not just be happy about taking part

 

[Oates2Neely]

Because it’s really not possible

Nashville and Boston were the big spenders last offseason, both teams fell of the cliff

There’s only 1 player that’s good enough to make it a 1 offseason plan and it’s Marner& that’s not happening.

You can’t fix a flawed core/roster via UFA market, that’s how you end up with declining Lindholm as your 1C

They have to find a legit 1C prospect, it has to be franchise level or it’s a failed project from the start. That’s the beginning of all

The second part is finding another Pasta, the next 2 drafts gives you the best chance to address those issues, not the UFA market.

Thirdly, with how bad the prospect pool is they aren’t in a place to be trading from their high picks to add players now. The prospect pool needs to be rebuild and they can’t be competitive in a trade market anyways for Pasta caliber players

So again you get back to the draft, 2 top 5/10 picks to address the high end talent on F, spend big in the offseason of 2026

Florida, Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Bennett
Tampa, Kucherov, Point, Guentzel, Hagel
Ottawa, Stutzle, Tkachuk, Cozens
Etc

Boston? Pasta, x, x, x

How do you fix that talent difference in 1 offseason?

Edit

Even Montreal is building a strong core with Suzuki, Caufield, Demidov just from the Atlantic

You mention Florida and their four stars. The only player you list that was a Panther draft pick is Barkov. Tkachuk Reinhart Bennett were all acquired via trade. Bobrovsky was a UFA signing.

IMO the Bruins need to take a center in this draft. And make some trades this summer. The free agency market doesn’t look so hot.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

So the plan is to build a WC team, not a contender?

As you say the only real chance is the draft and now that you are pushed into a situation where you have the ability to spend this and next draft drafting that talent why say no and instead rebuild something very flawed?

I always think rebuild as something where you try to build something that can win something one day, not just be happy about taking part

So I guess your plan would be to stand pat this season.

And what if Swayman, McAvoy, Lindholm and Pasta (for the whole season) return to form? Geekie proves to be a true 30 (or better) goal scorer. Poitras turns out to be what we have hoped for. Lohrei actually improves defensively. Are we really guaranteed to get a top 10 pick? Or do we trade half of those guys to tank again at the deadline next season? Don't think that would fly.

 

[GordonHowe]

If they happen to win 2-3 games that would be great and if that means their pick is lower, oh well.

Me saying what I said earlier was intentional. Nothing like a lively discussion instead of the same doom and gloom bullshit.

I know they need a rebuild and I know the draft is important but I am not going to act like getting the 4th pick is a lock and I'm not going to pretend that whomever we pick is going to be on the opening night roster. I've seen us get screwed before and we all know about this team's draft history. I don't trust the current regime to not f*** things up and I sure the hell don't trust the league from messing with the lottery to screw us over.

Because it’s really not possible

Nashville and Boston were the big spenders last offseason, both teams fell of the cliff

There’s only 1 player that’s good enough to make it a 1 offseason plan and it’s Marner& that’s not happening.

You can’t fix a flawed core/roster via UFA market, that’s how you end up with declining Lindholm as your 1C

They have to find a legit 1C prospect, it has to be franchise level or it’s a failed project from the start. That’s the beginning of all

The second part is finding another Pasta, the next 2 drafts gives you the best chance to address those issues, not the UFA market.

Thirdly, with how bad the prospect pool is they aren’t in a place to be trading from their high picks to add players now. The prospect pool needs to be rebuild and they can’t be competitive in a trade market anyways for Pasta caliber players

So again you get back to the draft, 2 top 5/10 picks to address the high end talent on F, spend big in the offseason of 2026

Florida, Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Bennett
Tampa, Kucherov, Point, Guentzel, Hagel
Ottawa, Stutzle, Tkachuk, Cozens
Etc

Boston? Pasta, x, x, x

How do you fix that talent difference in 1 offseason?

Edit

Even Montreal is building a strong core with Suzuki, Caufield, Demidov just from the Atlantic

I agree with much of this.

I would only add that this is likely a two season turnaround.

I guess you draft the best player available, but if they can snag a legitimate, nearly NHL ready center, I see no reason why they can't use the cap space they have to pick up a Marner or other production machines on the wing.

No need to touch your draft selections, painstakingly acquired at the deadline this season, to improve scoring on the wing.

Not ideal, but hardly undoable.

The question is whether you trust Sweeney and his brain trust to bring in the proper players. As we have seen several times over the years, that remains an open question.

I will agree with Ty Anderson:

If they f*ck this up, Sweeney and Neely *will* be gone.

 

[DKH]

Because it’s really not possible

Nashville and Boston were the big spenders last offseason, both teams fell of the cliff

There’s only 1 player that’s good enough to make it a 1 offseason plan and it’s Marner& that’s not happening.

You can’t fix a flawed core/roster via UFA market, that’s how you end up with declining Lindholm as your 1C

They have to find a legit 1C prospect, it has to be franchise level or it’s a failed project from the start. That’s the beginning of all

The second part is finding another Pasta, the next 2 drafts gives you the best chance to address those issues, not the UFA market.

Thirdly, with how bad the prospect pool is they aren’t in a place to be trading from their high picks to add players now. The prospect pool needs to be rebuild and they can’t be competitive in a trade market anyways for Pasta caliber players

So again you get back to the draft, 2 top 5/10 picks to address the high end talent on F, spend big in the offseason of 2026

Florida, Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Bennett
Tampa, Kucherov, Point, Guentzel, Hagel
Ottawa, Stutzle, Tkachuk, Cozens
Etc

Boston? Pasta, x, x, x

How do you fix that talent difference in 1 offseason?

Edit

Even Montreal is building a strong core with Suzuki, Caufield, Demidov

I’d swap out Bennett UFA for Lundell
Batherson for Cozens who has nearly identical stats as Lindholm and an inferior 3 zone player - and playing all year with better skilled players

Bruins
1. Get top 6 pick at worst - one at best, and 4 OA I’ll take right now - add a very good young F

2. Add Marchand back for L2 LW

3. Assign McAvoy 25 number & pair with Lindholm for a 25 minute-a-night killer top pair

4. Resign RFA Geekie & leave Zacha & Pastrnak together ~ if you are paying attention and not in your phone during games, Pastrnak is a different and happy animal with his 2 buddies

5. I’d break in Minton on 4th line with Kastelic

6. Trade Korpi & resign UFA DePietro

7. Go after a top 6 with ceiling Mitch Marner and floor a Dylan Holloway-type not him but how he was 10 months ago

 

[Bruin4]

So the plan is to build a WC team, not a contender?

As you say the only real chance is the draft and now that you are pushed into a situation where you have the ability to spend this and next draft drafting that talent why say no and instead rebuild something very flawed?

I always think rebuild as something where you try to build something that can win something one day, not just be happy about taking part

The Bruins have done relatively well with having ample cap space entering their off seasons as of late, its what the architect has decided to use it on, has been the problem, same guy hasn't had much success with his drafting in 10 years of 60 or so picks. That's why I'm not overly confident that next season the Bruins will be a WC team let alone a cup contender.

On the plus side a top 6 pick should guarantee anywhere from a solid NHL player to a big time producer for years to come.

 

[chizzler]

My dog never said that.

I was against the Zboril selection from the beginning.

Kirk Luedeke raised red flags about effort and hockey sense on draft day.

It's also apparent that they were not prepared with a plan b when plan a blew up in their faces.

That's called a rookie mistake.

Sweeney still can't draft terribly well, but things have gotten better in the intervening decade. They hit on a few. Matthew being one of them in my book. Though matters have become cloudy in that instance.

They weren’t prepared? How can that be. What the f*** was Gretzky doing? Wasn’t he in charge of the scouts?

 

[Mick Riddleton]

With the Pens winning, they created a little space from the Bruins. Philly, the Sabres and Seattle need to win some games. The Flyers are 2 pts ahead of us, the other two are only one point ahead.

There is a good chance that they can finish no higher than 7th. They are 5 pts back of the next two, the Pens in 8th and the Ducks at nine.

I think they can lose 2 spots at the most in the draft lottery but move up as far as 1st. The lottery is May 5th or 6th. The 4th spot has a 9.5% chance of picking first.

 

[NeelyDan]

And to be clear, I don’t disagree with any of this.

But as long as they keep losing, I’ll be saving my cellies for draft day.

Yeah there’s a distinction to be made between celebrating the losses vs being focused on what they represent big picture

But it’s sports - there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun, too

 

[DKH]

They weren’t prepared? How can that be. What the f*** was Gretzky doing? Wasn’t he in charge of the scouts?

Gretzky (by self no other Bruins personnel) went to Zach’s home picked him up and took to lunch mid week of the draft

I’d say they were prepared to take him

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I’d swap out Bennett UFA for Lundell
Batherson for Cozens who has nearly identical stats as Lindholm and an inferior 3 zone player - and playing all year with better skilled players

Bruins
1. Get top 6 pick at worst - one at best, and 4 OA I’ll take right now - add a very good young F

2. Add Marchand back for L2 LW

3. Assign McAvoy 25 number & pair with Lindholm for a 25 minute-a-night killer top pair

4. Resign RFA Geekie & leave Zacha & Pastrnak together ~ if you are paying attention and not in your phone during games, Pastrnak is a different and happy animal with his 2 buddies

5. I’d break in Minton on 4th line with Kastelic

6. Trade Korpi & resign UFA DePietro

7. Go after a top 6 with ceiling Mitch Marner and floor a Dylan Holloway-type not him but how he was 10 months ago

Just can't see how they land a Marner-type talent.

Everything thing else looks good.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Yeah there’s a distinction to be made between celebrating the losses vs being focused on what they represent big picture

But it’s sports - there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun, too

I watch these games and instinctively root for the Bruins.

But I'm still hoping in the end they lose.

 

[DKH]

Yeah there’s a distinction to be made between celebrating the losses vs being focused on what they represent big picture

But it’s sports - there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun, too

I want the Bruins to be really good because my tickets cost $150 a game now - so I want a really talented C/F and to get that the odds are exponentially higher the closer to one

countries have lost battles to win wars

I don’t want anyone hurt or injured but I want the 4 OA on May 7 lottery

The fun of speculating who to draft and the players we may get will be a welcome event after this season

If someone wants to think I’m crap for it I can promise you I don’t give two shits about your opinion

Let’s go Flyers

 

[BB88]

So I guess your plan would be to stand pat this season.

And what if Swayman, McAvoy, Lindholm and Pasta (for the whole season) return to form? Geekie proves to be a true 30 (or better) goal scorer. Poitras turns out to be what we have hoped for. Lohrei actually improves defensively. Are we really guaranteed to get a top 10 pick? Or do we trade half of those guys to tank again at the deadline next season? Don't think that would fly.

I wouldn’t do anything stupid, like I said they already tried to fix a broken core via UFA market and they fall of a cliff. The worst thing they can do is to double down on last offseason and go for another Lindholm signing. You are just tying too much money/term on declining assets then

I’d get the team healthy, avoid major signings for this offseason as I don’t see them realistically working out as they need them to

McAvoy, Pasta, Swayman is the ”veteran” core
Draft the core to compliment them in -25& 26.

After that you have more assets, cap to add top talent from the market than you do now. They can’t afford to go after talent like Rantanen now with nothing on the prospect pool and absolutely needing to use their own pick for drafting

If this team is healthy next year and they focus on seeing what they have in the new/younger players they are at best, picking around 12 spot, realistically 8-12 spot in a draft that should be better than this one.

Tampa, Florida, Toronto are given as better teams next year, Ottawa, Montreal, Detroit would be favourites over them as well, but could challenge 1 or 2 of them

The 2015 ”worked” because they had Bergeron, Pasta, Marchand Krejci, Rask, Chara. This needs superior drafting and rebuilding the prospect pool in order to make them a contender

 

[Bruin4]

Down with the Habs and Lightning!!!

 

[chizzler]

I’m still on the two year plan. Problem is they get Mac and Hampus back. Sway will be better. That is my problem.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Gretzky (by self no other Bruins personnel) went to Zach’s home picked him up and took to lunch mid week of the draft

I’d say they were prepared to take him

And they may not have been prepared to take 3 guys in the first round. Didn't they acquire two of those picks the day of the draft?

 

[DKH]

Just can't see how they land a Marner-type talent.

Everything thing else looks good.

clearly but if you offer 7/98 why not see what happens - weirder things have happened

I’d say odds are very poor but at least make the Leafs uncomfortable knowing the Bruins are serious

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I’d get the team healthy, avoid major signings for this offseason as I don’t see them realistically working out as they need them toMcAvoy, Pasta, Swayman is the ”veteran” coreDraft the core to compliment them in -25& 26.
After that you have more assets, cap to add top talent from the market than you do now. They can’t afford to go after talent like Rantanen now with nothing on the prospect pool and absolutely needing to use their own pick for drafting
If this team is healthy next year and they focus on seeing what they have in the new/younger players they are at best, picking around 12 spot, realistically 8-12 spot in a draft that should be better than this one.

Tampa, Florida, Toronto are given as better teams next year, Ottawa, Montreal, Detroit would be favourites over them as well, but could challenge 1 or 2 of them

The 2015 ”worked” because they had Bergeron, Pasta, Krejci, Rask, Chara. This needs superior drafting and rebuilding the prospect pool in order to make them a contender

Disagree with this part.