How our defense looks now compared to then

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

i know we like to complain about how hopeless our d is now... so i started to remember that 2011 cup winning d and how quickly and easy it was put together... shockingly with NO DRAFT PICKS AT ALL??!

lets go back 5 years earlier to 2006 and see what chiarelli inherited prior to chara being here

brad stuart was our ace
nicholas boynton was fading quickly
brian leetch was finishing his career
hal gill was the big guy
andrew alberts was the other big guy
milan jurcina was the other other big guy
and david tanabe was a guy that skated good

i dare say our defense today is better than this crap

now... in 5 years this group was assembled

zdeno chara
dennis seidenberg
johnny boychuk
andrew ference
adam mcquaid
tomas karberle
shane hnidy
matt bawtowski

how did it happen? did we trade any superstars for these guys? make and drafts for any of them?

karberle did cost us a first as a deadline rental...
and ference was picked up for brad stuart

most these guys were scrap yard reconciliation projects.

florida gave us seidenberg for picks... boychuk was grabbed from the colorado farm system and mcquaid was also a minor league deal.

really the only move this board over welmly supported was chara... everything else was luke warm at best.

so that was then... and another gm was in charge... how does that effect today?

what lessons if any can we learn?

i think with a great goalie and a team of forwards committed to playing defense, you can get by with journymen d... but a kingpin like chara does seam to be necessary

teams without a doughty or keith or letang or a chara dont seam to win the cup

guys like subban and weber do move... so its not impossible to get one but the cost is obviously sky high.

ryan suter moved recently... seth jones moved... adam larson moved.

maybe one of our drafted kids might answer all our problems but draft picks like mark stuart, matt lashoff, shaonne morrison, lars jonsson never played for our cup winning team.

i think as fans we should remember from the past there is more than 1 way to win. a good gm with a plan might surprise us. a hopless situation might suddenly be the answer to all our dreams.

personally... i see good things happening. we are trying out guys like morrow a k miller looking for that possible surprise. and lord only knows we are drafting kids at an unprecidented rate. weve never had this many first and second round drafted dmen in the system at one time before.

will we get an ufa guy signed to help out? there arent too many chara about to become ufa in the near future but san jose has both burns and vlasek about to hit the market. will they be able to afford both?

i rambled on alot here but thought it interesting how we all think only the draft can build a team... or how its important to make a big trade for proven guys

that wasnt how we did it last time... finding castoffs and kids with potential worked too

Click to read more...

 

[Dr Quincy]

Look how PITT just won a Cup at F. Undrafted nobody like Sheary, little thought of 3rd rd prospect Rust, old retreads like Cullen, Kunitz, Eric Fehr. Getting 2 of the most maligned players in the league that many said you can't win with in Kessel and Schultz.


My point? Yeah if you have a couple of transcendent players it's easy to fill in the rest of your roster. Crosby, Malkin, Chara, Thomas (in 2011),..... with guys like that on your team it lifts everyone else.

To simply say "Hey we can do it again, all we have to do is get the next Chara!" doesn't seem to me to be a likely plan.

 

[smithformeragent]

Chara basically fell into their laps.

They had an in with Chiarelli. That's a once in a generation thing happening. No way you can count on a franchise defenseman going to market and you getting him like that again. If you don't have Chara, none of the other lower tier guys matter.

Now it appears that he's cooked. Unless you replace him, you're basically right back to square one as you were post Bourque.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

bruins history during my 48 years of life..,

orr
leading to
park

park hangs around long enough to bring in bourque

thats over 30 years of uninterrupted time where we always has one of the 3 best dmen in the league at the top of our food chain...

but how many cups did we win from 71 to 2000?

bringing in chara clearly was super important but by itself it wasnt a fixall...

philly still came back against us down 0-3 despite chara and thomas being here.

we got so injury riddled... it killed our depth. a lack of depth allowed philly to comeback.

i suggest our depth up front today is good enough... our goaltending is good enough... our team leadership is good enough... our grit is good enough.

2 or 3 minor tweaks could turn the bare bones of our team around very quick...

but what is the plan? are we trying to turn around with tweaks? or are we building by dealing guys like boychuk, hamilton, lucic for kids?

im ok with either approach but i dont want half and half... i dont want this team stuck spinning its wheels in no mans land.

we now have enough kids we could make a very good offer for a seth jones or an adam larson if someone like that becomes available...

or we could shop guys like krecji/marchand/chara if the plan is to rebuild with picks.

either choice might result in very good things.

chiarelli clearly had a plan as we look back in hindsight. he completely rebuilt our d in just 5 seasons changing all 7 members.

my desire now is to see what sweeny will do.

 

[TheBigBadB]

Chara - not a number 1 anymore, but serviceable
Liles - terrible defensively but transitions ok
Krug - the one real hope to take a top 4 position
Mcquaid bottom pairing guy
Miller bottom pairing guy

Really it comes down to the young players Miller/Morrow to grab a hold of a spot because this defense is the worst I have seen in years. Rask is going to have to have a stellar year

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Look how PITT just won a Cup at F. Undrafted nobody like Sheary, little thought of 3rd rd prospect Rust, old retreads like Cullen, Kunitz, Eric Fehr. Getting 2 of the most maligned players in the league that many said you can't win with in Kessel and Schultz.


My point? Yeah if you have a couple of transcendent players it's easy to fill in the rest of your roster. Crosby, Malkin, Chara, Thomas (in 2011),..... with guys like that on your team it lifts everyone else.

To simply say "Hey we can do it again, all we have to do is get the next Chara!" doesn't seem to me to be a likely plan.

id probably argue malkin/crosby failed quite often when their help was ill suited to compliment them.

id probably argue the right mix of role players was found last season. a guy like kessel found a role he excelled in...

you are sort of making my argument for me. everyone was crapping on pittsburgh... people were laughing at rutherford... the common talk was pittsburgh was finished... not even a playoff team... kessel was a disaster... crosby was having his worst season ever... the coach had to be fired...

but at the heart of it all rutherford had a plan... no one was wheeling and dealing more than he was

we mocked his deals... but he had a plan

he almost missed the playoffs but ultimately he won the cup.

crosby and malkin made it easier... but that rag tag mess of no name talent all filled the gaps

after a team wins... their no name guys become legend. bryan bickell becomes an allstar if chicago wins. the la 3rd and 4th line are gods... thornton and paille and campell become the best 4th line when we win...

the truth is these guys just fit... they are in the right spot at the right time

building a winning team is about picture building moreso than it is about simply getting the most talent... because the right talent beats the superior talent when its a team game.

im hoping sweeny can pull this off. im hoping he does have a plan. im just saying his plan might not require bringing in alot of sexy names. some of these guys might already be the right guys. we may already have 3 or 4 of the right guys here once the missing pieces complete the picture

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Chara - not a number 1 anymore, but serviceable
Liles - terrible defensively but transitions ok
Krug - the one real hope to take a top 4 position
Mcquaid bottom pairing guy
Miller bottom pairing guy

Really it comes down to the young players Miller/Morrow to grab a hold of a spot because this defense is the worst I have seen in years. Rask is going to have to have a stellar year

i think i agree but...

weve never before seen anyone with charas size approach 40. smaller guys like lidstrom and bourque and chelious have shown us 40 isnt too old to be a number 1 dman.

chara clearly hasnt been fully healthy for 2 years... will his health be better this year? can his game improve if his responsibilty is decreased? can krug/liles allow chara to focus more on stayhome?

to me chara repersents the best chance for our d to surprise. i think the d rests on his shoulders. im not ready to close the book on him as a number 1

as for krug... hope to heck he scores more goals. i believe it is possible for krug to develop into a top 3 dman. brian ralfalski was no bigger. if krug continues to learn how to compensate for his size... elliminates his mistakes... he can be very good. his work on the pp is already outstanding.

to me kevan miller looks like a very solid bottom pair guy we can win with. hes a bit like a young johnny boychuk without the shot

im pretty good with these 3 guys as part of a 6 man unit we can win with.

mcquaid is good too... but i dont like him AND k miller BOTH on one team. either guy can play in my bottom pair and make me happy... but both are paid too much.

liles... doesnt strike me as a guy you win with... doesnt strike me as a guy that wins matchups... doesnt strike me as a difference maker... but as a bottom pair depth guy hes ok

c miller... obviously has tools. kids like this are wildcards.

morrow... i like his raw tools. thats why he wasa first round pick... why 2 organizations prized him as a trade target... i am not closing the door yet on morrow

i think to me its obvious liles needs to be upgraded... mcquaid swapped out for an offensive talented rhs...

but if c miller and morrow do step up this defense has potential to be at least average... assuming im right about chara also looking better

and then if we acquire a legit top 3 guy at the deadline to upgrade over liles defense could be a strength by the playoffs.

it might go the other way too... if morrow and c miller cant step up... if chara breaks down... it might get super ugly

but who saw boychuk and seidenberg and ference being such key parts to a cup winner?

sometimes good things happen

 

[TheBigBadB]

i think i agree but...

weve never before seen anyone with charas size approach 40. smaller guys like lidstrom and bourque and chelious have shown us 40 isnt too old to be a number 1 dman.

chara clearly hasnt been fully healthy for 2 years... will his health be better this year? can his game improve if his responsibilty is decreased? can krug/liles allow chara to focus more on stayhome?

to me chara repersents the best chance for our d to surprise. i think the d rests on his shoulders. im not ready to close the book on him as a number 1

as for krug... hope to heck he scores more goals. i believe it is possible for krug to develop into a top 3 dman. brian ralfalski was no bigger. if krug continues to learn how to compensate for his size... elliminates his mistakes... he can be very good. his work on the pp is already outstanding.

to me kevan miller looks like a very solid bottom pair guy we can win with. hes a bit like a young johnny boychuk without the shot

im pretty good with these 3 guys as part of a 6 man unit we can win with.

mcquaid is good too... but i dont like him AND k miller BOTH on one team. either guy can play in my bottom pair and make me happy... but both are paid too much.

liles... doesnt strike me as a guy you win with... doesnt strike me as a guy that wins matchups... doesnt strike me as a difference maker... but as a bottom pair depth guy hes ok

c miller... obviously has tools. kids like this are wildcards.

morrow... i like his raw tools. thats why he wasa first round pick... why 2 organizations prized him as a trade target... i am not closing the door yet on morrow

i think to me its obvious liles needs to be upgraded... mcquaid swapped out for an offensive talented rhs...

but if c miller and morrow do step up this defense has potential to be at least average... assuming im right about chara also looking better

and then if we acquire a legit top 3 guy at the deadline to upgrade over liles defense could be a strength by the playoffs.

it might go the other way too... if morrow and c miller cant step up... if chara breaks down... it might get super ugly

but who saw boychuk and seidenberg and ference being such key parts to a cup winner?

sometimes good things happen

I agree with most you said. I do really like the talent we have in the stables. Hopeful for the future, just not hopeful for today.

Chara is not going to get better. It's not health that's an issue its Father Time. You can't beat it. Chara was never a strong skater to begin with and his already lost a few steps. To throw him out there like a number 1 in every situation this year is a disservice to him. This town can be ruthless and will attack him when he doesn't deserve it.

Kevin Miller is just a terrible defenseman and will in no way be like Boychuk. Boychuk dominated the AHL. Kevin is just a run of the mill block headed defenseman with very little skill. He can't even make a decent pass on transition.

Mcquaid is redundant, but I like him better than Miller. He brings more edge to the game with the same skill set as Miller (which is not saying much)

Krug I agree, best hope to be Letang. I think he has the capability if he puts it all together.

Liles is just filler until hopefully a kid steps up. Not expecting much at all from him. He honestly didn't look all that good late last season.

Our hope lies with the young guys Miller, Morrow, Carlo etc. they all have skill and can skate. Some are better defensively and others offensively. I think the stable has a great blend, but I think most are still unripe and will not factor much into this season. It would be a nice surprise but I just don't see it.

This season may end up being a tough one of hemmed in the zone more than pushing the pace.

One thing Don and Julien knows is that this team still can make the playoffs is if they ditch the play at a high tempo push the pace this season. They may give media lip service but make no mistake with the players Donnie is getting up front. They are going to be a trap team.

 

[remer]

Bruins need to hope that a defenseman comes available as the roster finalize before the season begins. Like the Boychuk situation.
Maybe Winnipeg pulls the trigger and moves Trouba. May the Ducks move Fowler. Maybe Minny moves one of the many defenseman they have. Hard to say.

 

[EverettMike]

It's easy when you think of it like that. Make two brilliant trades after you have signed a number 1 stud d-man.

 

[HiyaGeorgii]

I'll be happy when Marchand is extended.

 

[BruinDust]

I agree with most you said. I do really like the talent we have in the stables. Hopeful for the future, just not hopeful for today.

Chara is not going to get better. It's not health that's an issue its Father Time. You can't beat it. Chara was never a strong skater to begin with and his already lost a few steps. To throw him out there like a number 1 in every situation this year is a disservice to him. This town can be ruthless and will attack him when he doesn't deserve it.

Kevin Miller is just a terrible defenseman and will in no way be like Boychuk. Boychuk dominated the AHL. Kevin is just a run of the mill block headed defenseman with very little skill. He can't even make a decent pass on transition.

Mcquaid is redundant, but I like him better than Miller. He brings more edge to the game with the same skill set as Miller (which is not saying much)

Krug I agree, best hope to be Letang. I think he has the capability if he puts it all together.

Liles is just filler until hopefully a kid steps up. Not expecting much at all from him. He honestly didn't look all that good late last season.

Our hope lies with the young guys Miller, Morrow, Carlo etc. they all have skill and can skate. Some are better defensively and others offensively. I think the stable has a great blend, but I think most are still unripe and will not factor much into this season. It would be a nice surprise but I just don't see it.

This season may end up being a tough one of hemmed in the zone more than pushing the pace.

One thing Don and Julien knows is that this team still can make the playoffs is if they ditch the play at a high tempo push the pace this season. They may give media lip service but make no mistake with the players Donnie is getting up front. They are going to be a trap team.

I don't think playing at a high tempo had anything to do with this team not making the playoffs.

They were always a trap team, Julien still employs the 1-4 forecheck exclusively. Did last year, will again this year.

Now they had their D be more aggressive in pinching at the offensive blue-line last year. It burned them a few times. They tried to implement changes to their break-outs early on without really having the right personnel, get away from the constant D-to-D breakout, and they quickly reverted back to their old ways once Julien decided it wasn't working.

Their weakness was in the defensive zone. A combination of A) Weaker defensively at C with Spooner and a cast of also-rans on the bottom-lines. Which contributed to B) Taxing Krejci and Bergeron more, which caught up to them in March. And the big one, C) A D-corps that simply couldn't defend as effectively as in years past. Once again a personnel issue.

A center-ice group of Krejci-Bergeron-Backes-Moore should alleviate problems A and B. It gives Julien the ideal group to play his defensive system. The added support down low should only help the likes of Kevan, McQuaid, Liles, etc.

As for Problem C, we'll see. I certainly like a D-group of Chara-Krug-Kevan-Colin-McQuaid better than Chara-Krug-Kevan-Trotman-McQuaid-Seidenberg. Everyone, including Sweeney, knows what is missing. Can he find it? More importantly can he find it without taking away from his more than capable forward group or selling the farm in terms of prospects/picks? I have my doubts but we'll see. His fellow GMs know what he needs, supply is low, demand is high, and it becomes a big poker game.

Personally I'm not worried about what this team looks like come Oct. 15th. I'm more worried about what it looks like post-trade-deadline. Can a young guy not penciled in step-up and surprise like Pastrnak did back in 2015? Can Sweeney find the help he needs on D?

I expect a team that if anything is more consistent than the last two years, where they'd win 8 out of 10, then proceed to lose 8 out of 10. This WILL be a better defensive team than last year, how much better is debatable. Will that increased consistency result in a playoff team? I'm not sure, the East is getting better, the days of racking up points steam-rolling the likes of Toronto, Buffalo, NJ, Carolina, etc. are beginning to close. That doesn't help their chances of claiming one of the eight playoff spots.

 

[Duguay]

i know we like to complain about how hopeless our d is now... so i started to remember that 2011 cup winning d and how quickly and easy it was put together... shockingly with NO DRAFT PICKS AT ALL??!

lets go back 5 years earlier to 2006 and see what chiarelli inherited prior to chara being here

brad stuart was our ace
nicholas boynton was fading quickly
brian leetch was finishing his career
hal gill was the big guy
andrew alberts was the other big guy
milan jurcina was the other other big guy
and david tanabe was a guy that skated good

i dare say our defense today is better than this crap

now... in 5 years this group was assembled

zdeno chara
dennis seidenberg
johnny boychuk
andrew ference
adam mcquaid
tomas karberle
shane hnidy
matt bawtowski

how did it happen? did we trade any superstars for these guys? make and drafts for any of them?

karberle did cost us a first as a deadline rental...
and ference was picked up for brad stuart

most these guys were scrap yard reconciliation projects.

florida gave us seidenberg for picks... boychuk was grabbed from the colorado farm system and mcquaid was also a minor league deal.

really the only move this board over welmly supported was chara... everything else was luke warm at best.

so that was then... and another gm was in charge... how does that effect today?

what lessons if any can we learn?

i think with a great goalie and a team of forwards committed to playing defense, you can get by with journymen d... but a kingpin like chara does seam to be necessary

teams without a doughty or keith or letang or a chara dont seam to win the cup

guys like subban and weber do move... so its not impossible to get one but the cost is obviously sky high.

ryan suter moved recently... seth jones moved... adam larson moved.

maybe one of our drafted kids might answer all our problems but draft picks like mark stuart, matt lashoff, shaonne morrison, lars jonsson never played for our cup winning team.

i think as fans we should remember from the past there is more than 1 way to win. a good gm with a plan might surprise us. a hopless situation might suddenly be the answer to all our dreams.

personally... i see good things happening. we are trying out guys like morrow a k miller looking for that possible surprise. and lord only knows we are drafting kids at an unprecidented rate. weve never had this many first and second round drafted dmen in the system at one time before.

will we get an ufa guy signed to help out? there arent too many chara about to become ufa in the near future but san jose has both burns and vlasek about to hit the market. will they be able to afford both?

i rambled on alot here but thought it interesting how we all think only the draft can build a team... or how its important to make a big trade for proven guys

that wasnt how we did it last time... finding castoffs and kids with potential worked too

I think since the point is to win the Stanley Cup, I doubt it's fair to blame anyone who remembers 5 whole years ago, when the Bruins won it, that the Blueline consisted of;

*a 34 yr old Zdena Chara/ Dennis Seidenberg (in his prime)/ Johnny Boychuck (who was a machine)/ Andrew Ference/ Adam McQuaid/ Tomas Kaberle/ Shane Hnidy and Matt Bartkowski.

Not exactly scrap heap, but yes it could be construed at pieced together by some, which is actually quite consistent with many Stanley Cup Bluelines. There always seems to be a Sean O'Donnell, Matt Greene or Willie Mitchell among the group.

This is also a team that had (granted as you have mentioned) Ray Bourque, best in the business, patrolling back there for 21 seasons AND before him Brad Park and Bobby Friggin Orr.

Now, some may call that "complaining." I don't. Not even close. I call that reference, knowledge and un biased pragmatic wisdom.

That is how I view this topic

 

[Glove Malfunction]

Chara - not a number 1 anymore, but serviceable
Liles - terrible defensively but transitions ok
Krug - the one real hope to take a top 4 position
Mcquaid bottom pairing guy
Miller bottom pairing guy

Really it comes down to the young players Miller/Morrow to grab a hold of a spot because this defense is the worst I have seen in years. Rask is going to have to have a stellar year

If you're really honest, this year's defense does look marginally better than last year's. Still bad though.

 

[bruins309]

I think it's that the pro scouting dept for the Bruins was really on fire in that 2008-2010 time period when they got Boychuk and Seidenberg. They gave up nothing of note for Seidenberg and Hendricks for Boychuk.

Didn't happen overnight; took about a year and a half for Boychuk to emerge.

They should shop around to see if there are any guys in their mid-20s who haven't been given much of a shot and take a flier on them.

 

[smithformeragent]

It's so much easier to add the right complimentary pieces when you have a Norris caliber #1 like Chara was for this team.

Those guys don't grow on trees, and when you no longer have one, guys are then slotting out of where they should be. Suddenly you're asking 5s and 6s to play top four minutes and in more roles. Brad Stuart was a nice piece, but he was not a number one defenseman.

As you've said, they didn't win anything with just Chara. You need the supporting cast as well, but which is easier to find, the supporting cast or the star?

 

[Dr Quincy]

It's easy when you think of it like that. Make two brilliant trades after you have signed a number 1 stud d-man.

Hey guys, the Pats built a dynasty by getting a QB pretty easily in the 6th round, so it should be easy to do that again.

I mean, I appreciate the optimism and things aren't anywhere near hopeless, but I think AOR is glossing over just what a unique player prime Chara was in his ability to lift all boats.

That model isn't going to work as you aren't getting that player again. But there are other models that will work.

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

i know we like to complain about how hopeless our d is now... so i started to remember that 2011 cup winning d and how quickly and easy it was put together... shockingly with NO DRAFT PICKS AT ALL??!

lets go back 5 years earlier to 2006 and see what chiarelli inherited prior to chara being here

brad stuart was our ace
nicholas boynton was fading quickly
brian leetch was finishing his career
hal gill was the big guy
andrew alberts was the other big guy
milan jurcina was the other other big guy
and david tanabe was a guy that skated good

i dare say our defense today is better than this crap

now... in 5 years this group was assembled

zdeno chara
dennis seidenberg
johnny boychuk
andrew ference
adam mcquaid
tomas karberle
shane hnidy
matt bawtowski

how did it happen? did we trade any superstars for these guys? make and drafts for any of them?

karberle did cost us a first as a deadline rental...
and ference was picked up for brad stuart

most these guys were scrap yard reconciliation projects.

florida gave us seidenberg for picks... boychuk was grabbed from the colorado farm system and mcquaid was also a minor league deal.

really the only move this board over welmly supported was chara... everything else was luke warm at best.

so that was then... and another gm was in charge... how does that effect today?

what lessons if any can we learn?

i think with a great goalie and a team of forwards committed to playing defense, you can get by with journymen d... but a kingpin like chara does seam to be necessary

teams without a doughty or keith or letang or a chara dont seam to win the cup

guys like subban and weber do move... so its not impossible to get one but the cost is obviously sky high.

ryan suter moved recently... seth jones moved... adam larson moved.

maybe one of our drafted kids might answer all our problems but draft picks like mark stuart, matt lashoff, shaonne morrison, lars jonsson never played for our cup winning team.

i think as fans we should remember from the past there is more than 1 way to win. a good gm with a plan might surprise us. a hopless situation might suddenly be the answer to all our dreams.

personally... i see good things happening. we are trying out guys like morrow a k miller looking for that possible surprise. and lord only knows we are drafting kids at an unprecidented rate. weve never had this many first and second round drafted dmen in the system at one time before.

will we get an ufa guy signed to help out? there arent too many chara about to become ufa in the near future but san jose has both burns and vlasek about to hit the market. will they be able to afford both?

i rambled on alot here but thought it interesting how we all think only the draft can build a team... or how its important to make a big trade for proven guys

that wasnt how we did it last time... finding castoffs and kids with potential worked too

Thank you . That was the most hopeful post I have read in this entire off season .

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Hey guys, the Pats built a dynasty by getting a QB pretty easily in the 6th round, so it should be easy to do that again.

I mean, I appreciate the optimism and things aren't anywhere near hopeless, but I think AOR is glossing over just what a unique player prime Chara was in his ability to lift all boats.

That model isn't going to work as you aren't getting that player again. But there are other models that will work.

i dont mean to gloss anything over... and yes guys like keith and doughty have been winning cups lately... in the past it was guys like robinson and potvin...

i know traditional wisdom says you need a guy like this... hell, anaheim grabbed 2 for their cup win when they got both niedermayer and pronger

these guys dont move frequently so it seams hard to imagine getting one but they do move. colorado grabbed borque and blake... detroit imported chelious... pittsburgh picked up gonchar

alot of times fans will say... that guy is too old but alot of these hof dmen were still winning cups at 35-36-37... still getting norris votes

times change with the cap... more long term deals are handed out then ever before... picks are being hoarded like gold...

and yet we do see number 1 dmen and potential number 1 dmen move all the time still... if you are willing to pay the price.

the hurricanes won a cup with mostly 3-4 dmen... no superstars... just steady guys doing their job. after letang, that descibes penguins defense too.

i guess thats my message here... a true number 1 helps alot but the rest of your d can be unhearlded guys as long as they fit their roles. a group of 3-4 depth guys can get the job done if the team puts them in position to succeed.

we have 3 guys already in place the next 2 years we can be comfortable with... and 2 kids at the point they will make it or break it

it seams gloomy, but i think the prospects looked more desperate 10 years ago... and then there was ZERO DRAFT PICKS to help...

this team looks alot better to be now and we all know how great that team turned out

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

...

I believe the doom and gloom is for the present and not the future AOF. Problem is, that this is year three with no definite end in sight. If there isn't an addition it's at least this year and next before the blueline can start to turn itself around via the prospects.

It's difficult to swallow with the cap space to spare, the recent history and with much of everything ELSE in place to ice a competitive team.

 

[smithformeragent]

It's almost as if we're seeing the same pattern under the NHL cap era that we've seen unfold with MLB revenue sharing. In baseball, we see mid market teams locking up their young starting pitching. There are guys that are dealt and guys who hit the open market, but you're going to overpay, often times for a guy with warts. Same with defensemen who have high end talent.

The problem when you want to be competitive now, is that you can't bring yourself to weaken your team in one area to fix a more glaring hole. That and teams aren't actively seeking to move on from their younger, cost certain top pairing guys.

 

[LSCII]

Look how PITT just won a Cup at F. Undrafted nobody like Sheary, little thought of 3rd rd prospect Rust, old retreads like Cullen, Kunitz, Eric Fehr. Getting 2 of the most maligned players in the league that many said you can't win with in Kessel and Schultz.


My point? Yeah if you have a couple of transcendent players it's easy to fill in the rest of your roster. Crosby, Malkin, Chara, Thomas (in 2011),..... with guys like that on your team it lifts everyone else.

To simply say "Hey we can do it again, all we have to do is get the next Chara!" doesn't seem to me to be a likely plan.

Spot on. When you have elite talent you can cover up the holes far easier. When you don't, you end up being a middling team just hoping to qualify for the playoffs.

 

[KnightofBoston]

It's easy when you think of it like that. Make two brilliant trades after you have signed a number 1 stud d-man.

Did you think they were brilliant at the time?

 

[EverettMike]

Did you think they were brilliant at the time?

I don't remember thinking anything about the Boychuk deal, but I liked the seidenberg one. Though I thought they ****ed it up the previous off-season by signing Derek Miller over him.

But brilliant? No.

I don't really understand the point though you are trying to make.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

There is a lot of revisionist history Boychuk was not that good in 2011 he was still the same guy he was in 09 and 10. Didn't suck but he wasn't anywhere near what he turned into a year or two later 'yet' could even say he was the weaker link on the second pairing with Ference.


Didn't suck and our 1st and 3rd pairings were perfectly fine and Cup worthy but that 2nd pairing wasn't a strength like people are claiming it was 5 years later and with how much the team missed JB when he left.