News Article: FLUTO: Bruins’ first line needed more support

[Dellstrom]

Stafford should be offered a deal. He outplayed alot of that roster .He was a nice fit

I liked him, great pickup, scored a lot of clutch goals.

But he also made a lot of bad defensive mistakes, and is very slow. I feel like over an 82 game season, the latter would outweigh the former. Again, terrific pickup, but I'd move on.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Final regular season +/- numbers tell the story.

Top 5

Marchand +18
Chara +18
Bergeron +12
Pastrnak +11
Carlo + 9

Bottom 5

Krejci -12
Krug -10
Belesky -10
Czarnik -10
Spooner - 8

So the top 5 are literally the top unit.

Krejci & Krug accumulated their numbers mainly early in season, coming off of surgeries.

 

[BRUINS since 1995]

OR when it was Oates-Neely-Insert Left Winger Name Here

Have they won th big honors? I know some dynasty team was there at that moment, but parity was still not the same. Bruins won and went a second time to SC final with depth. Hawks lost in 4 with no depth. The first line was....4x5, 5vs4 and play 5x5 averaging more than 20 minutes a game. That load work has nothing to do with floating time game a la Jagr.

 

[nmbr_24]

OR when it was Oates-Neely-Insert Left Winger Name Here

I remember it differently. I remember the Bruins management being blamed for not being willing to spend the money needed to get guys to help those players.

 

[Kaoz]

Well not trading Carlo or Charlie,wouldn't move Lauzon either.Bruins have to be careful what they give away on D,there number one Defenceman is 40 yrs old.

You have to give to get. Our number one D is 40, but they have a blue chip in McAvoy coming along nicely and quite a bit of depth in the position both in the system and already established to supplement. They could stand to move one of the bluechips in Lauzon, Carlo, or Zboril to address an obvious area of weakness.

Offense is needed to win cups now too, and the Bruins have been incredibly thin up front in terms of difference makers for a few years now. Marchand and Pasta can't do it all, and you can't depend on Krejci to stay healthy or Bergeron to carry the load both defensively AND offensively 100% of the time.

Landeskog or Duchene would be worth the risk imo, but I guess that depends on your perception of them. Regardless, it would be nice to see the Bruins trade from a relative area of strength to properly address their forward woes for a change, instead of overpaying for the one hit wonders in Free Agency.

 

[bruins repeat time]

I cant say I saw enough from Stafford I want him back. He can score and we do need that but to me he has a lot of issues that come with it .

 

[LouJersey]

I cant say I saw enough from Stafford I want him back. He can score and we do need that but to me he has a lot of issues that come with it .

I'll pass on him. He only adds to our collection of tortoise like forwards. Need to get some speed in the top 9.

 

[Dr Hook]

I'll pass on him. He only adds to our collection of tortoise like forwards. Need to get some speed in the top 9.

Agreed- he was a decent TDL pickup, made us marginally better, scored some important goals, but is a defensive disaster, slow, and inconsistent. He did what he was brought in to do, and from that point of view the move was a success, but we need an upgrade in our top 6 wing department in the long term.

 

[PB37]

Stafford was fine as a mercenary, but I think the Bruins should look internally for a cheaper option.

 

[Estlin]

Stafford was fine as a mercenary, but I think the Bruins should look internally for a cheaper option.

The problem is that Boston is very weak on the right side. With Hayes likely not returning, which right-shooting RWs do the Bruins have for the second and third lines (assuming Backes becomes the third-line C next season)? I wouldn't mind seeing Stafford return on a cheap one-year deal.

 

[Greek_physique]

Stafford doesn't really bring much...he did well; but his play really declined from his previous years (Buffalo Sabres).

With the game becoming so much faster..I'd rather invest elsewhere.

 

[Cory Trevor]

Stafford was fine as a mercenary, but I think the Bruins should look internally for a cheaper option.

Yup. Enough solid young talent coming through that gets you better replacement value and has potentially for more.

 

[Tampbear]

The problem is that Boston is very weak on the right side. With Hayes likely not returning, which right-shooting RWs do the Bruins have for the second and third lines (assuming Backes becomes the third-line C next season)? I wouldn't mind seeing Stafford return on a cheap one-year deal.

I agree, I assume he can be had on a cheap 1 year deal, he'll want to prove his slow season was because he was just coming off a surgery and could have a comeback year. Worst case scenario he ends up a 13th forward, but would provide someone proven for our 3rd line. Right now it looks like we are in need of an entire 3rd line and a top 6 winger, I think there is a spot on this team for Stafford. Have a 4th that consists of Nash, Acciari, and Kuraly, maybe bring back Schaller for a little more depth.

Yup. Enough solid young talent coming through that gets you better replacement value and has potentially for more.

Counting on a number of guys to step up this year left us with an AHL caliber 3rd line. I would like to have cheap veteran depth for insurance purposes. Someone mentioned Joe Thornton as veteran depth, and I would love to make that guy our 3rd line center. I know he had issues back in the day but people can grow up and I think he could provide real valuable depth for a year or two. If we can't upgrade by trade finding solid veteran depth for insurance if the kids can't steal the spots would make us look a lot better next year.

 

[ODAAT]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/b...ore-support/hvYG1WXU487uGYZk2xsbpJ/story.html

Fluto is better than this, even a fair weather hockey fan could have written a column with this as it`s subject

 

[Cory Trevor]

Counting on a number of guys to step up this year left us with an AHL caliber 3rd line. I would like to have cheap veteran depth for insurance purposes. Someone mentioned Joe Thornton as veteran depth, and I would love to make that guy our 3rd line center. I know he had issues back in the day but people can grow up and I think he could provide real valuable depth for a year or two. If we can't upgrade by trade finding solid veteran depth for insurance if the kids can't steal the spots would make us look a lot better next year.

You know it's funny I said that exact same thing this morning to a coworker.

He's slow as **** though.