What the Bruins are doing/What you'd like to see this off-season 2014 Part III

[Bruinswillwin77]

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be opposed to making Spooner the RW for Bergy's line (even though sources tell me that he will retire if forced to play wing ). Put Smitty up with DK and Loosick, and keep the Swedes on the 3rd with CK (helps him shed the overpaid 4th liner label ).

I know it might/probably will fail miserably, but I think it gives Spooner a real opportunity to get legit minutes playmaking for 37 and 63. It also gives us a matchup advantage vs. just about any other 3rd line in the league.

Now I know that Spooner is a natural C, but at this point I can't see him usurping 46, 37, or 34.. so pending the departure of one of those 3, why not give it a shot? There's nothing wrong with experimentation, or at least that's what the hippies used to tell me.

*This is assuming that Pastrnak's Calder season comes a year late, and he doesn't make the cut.

Ive read many'a posts saying Spooner said he 'can't' play RW though, or is that false and he never did actually say that? Maybe they trade him for a proapect on the same level as him who has a right handed shot and plays RW if Spooner can't?
I only say prospect since we don't have the cap space for a proven player without dumping johnnyb or whatnot.

 

[qc]

I don't know what he said, I think it was just a running gag on here exaggerating his statement about how he feels more comfortable at C. Regardless, if you'd choose the option of playing center in the AHL over playing wing in the NHL, then you ain't my kind of guy.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

I don't know what he said, I think it was just a running gag on here exaggerating his statement about how he feels more comfortable at C. Regardless, if you'd choose the option of playing center in the AHL over playing wing in the NHL, then you ain't my kind of guy.

Well unless he knows he can't or doesn't trust himself and doesn't want to end up being an epic fail playing wing. Eh?

 

[DoubleAAAA]

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be opposed to making Spooner the RW for Bergy's line (even though sources tell me that he will retire if forced to play wing ). Put Smitty up with DK and Loosick, and keep the Swedes on the 3rd with CK (helps him shed the overpaid 4th liner label ).

I know it might/probably will fail miserably, but I think it gives Spooner a real opportunity to get legit minutes playmaking for 37 and 63. It also gives us a matchup advantage vs. just about any other 3rd line in the league.

Now I know that Spooner is a natural C, but at this point I can't see him usurping 46, 37, or 34.. so pending the departure of one of those 3, why not give it a shot? There's nothing wrong with experimentation, or at least that's what the hippies used to tell me.

*This is assuming that Pastrnak's Calder season comes a year late, and he doesn't make the cut.

I like the idea of pairing a kid with Bergy. I think if you did this, moving Spoons to the left side and flipping Marchand is probably the best way. 63 did play a fair bit of the right side in Jr if I'm not mistaken. Think its a lot to ask of Spooner to play out of position and on his off-wing. You could give Spooner a bit more of a free pass in the offensive zone with smart players like Bergy and Marchand helping him out.

 

[DoubleAAAA]

He said in an interview early in the season that he was uncomfortable at the position. He's also said repeatedly he'll do anything the club asks of him. I think just a case of honesty biting him in the ass a bit. He needs to "not play at the end of his stick" to quote Claude, but I don't think it's ridiculous to assume he could make the transition.

Of course the easiest thing may just be to flip him for a RW prospect and let him develop at his natural position.

 

[alg363636]

I'm fully confident if Julien looks at Spooner and says "you're playing RW" Spooner will be playing RW. Whether that is a good option is the question.

Didn't Julien say something about swapping Campbell to the wing and Spooner centering? That could be a good option. You can play on the wing for a few games and see how he does but continue letting him develop in his natural position. Or Soupy could end up being traded for picks/cap space, in which case obviously Spooner moves up.

I just don't like stifling natural centers on the wing. Look at Seguin. If he'd been playing center/gotten more chances at the very least we could have gotten a slightly better trade value assuming he thrived at his natural position (look at his value now...Eriksson and some prospects, ha!). Like the poster above me said, I'd rather just swap him for a RW prospect of similar status and develop them here.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

I'm fully confident if Julien looks at Spooner and says "you're playing RW" Spooner will be playing RW. Whether that is a good option is the question.

Didn't Julien say something about swapping Campbell to the wing and Spooner centering? That could be a good option. You can play on the wing for a few games and see how he does but continue letting him develop in his natural position. Or Soupy could end up being traded for picks/cap space, in which case obviously Spooner moves up.

I just don't like stifling natural centers on the wing. Look at Seguin. If he'd been playing center/gotten more chances at the very least we could have gotten a slightly better trade value assuming he thrived at his natural position (look at his value now...Eriksson and some prospects, ha!). Like the poster above me said, I'd rather just swap him for a RW prospect of similar status and develop them here.

i think seguins value is at an all time high after playing a year on a non playoff team when he was allowed to run and gun all season and focus on having a few 5 point games. I'm not sure anyone feels even after his offensive success that he could win match ups against other team top centres at crunch time. i don't think that there was any option for us to play him in the middle considering this issue

 

[Gordoff]

I'm fully confident if Julien looks at Spooner and says "you're playing RW" Spooner will be playing RW. Whether that is a good option is the question.

Didn't Julien say something about swapping Campbell to the wing and Spooner centering? That could be a good option. You can play on the wing for a few games and see how he does but continue letting him develop in his natural position. Or Soupy could end up being traded for picks/cap space, in which case obviously Spooner moves up.

I just don't like stifling natural centers on the wing. Look at Seguin. If he'd been playing center/gotten more chances at the very least we could have gotten a slightly better trade value assuming he thrived at his natural position (look at his value now...Eriksson and some prospects, ha!). Like the poster above me said, I'd rather just swap him for a RW prospect of similar status and develop them here.

Here we go

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Dont want to turn this into a seguin thread but too many people get lost in the highlight package on tv. Seguin scored an incredible 14 goals and 22 points in 5 games... wow he is crazy talented.

But that means he had 23 goals and 39 assists in his othet 72 games.

From dec 20 until jan 21 he had 3 goals and 10 points in 16 games as dallas lost 11 of 16 games.

Down the stretch in final 10 crucial games he scored 2 goals 5 points in 10 games


No one denies the guy is crazy talented but It is issues like this why boston judged he isnt someone they can count on to win with. Team success must be put before individual. Lets all hope the kid puts it together but sitting here today i support the teams choice.

As for spooner lets hope he makes hockey and winning a higher priority than guys like thornton and kessel and seguin did. To play on this team it is critical

 

[JOKER 192]

I see your point. But, first line duty (and minutes) for a rookie (see: Pasternak)?

Yeah I see your point too, just stick with the truth , all your telling him is your gonna give him a shot your not telling him he's first line set in stone. He'll have to earn it to stay there or even get the chance.

I think the B's are going to the playoffs as they are so why not try a few things. With the new playoff format all finishing first gets you is a really late first round pick. They should avoid getting in to deep like last year we can tweak things if need be at trade deadline or even before.

 

[member 96824]

Dont want to turn this into a seguin thread but too many people get lost in the highlight package on tv. Seguin scored an incredible 14 goals and 22 points in 5 games... wow he is crazy talented.

But that means he had 23 goals and 39 assists in his othet 72 games.

From dec 20 until jan 21 he had 3 goals and 10 points in 16 games as dallas lost 11 of 16 games.

Down the stretch in final 10 crucial games he scored 2 goals 5 points in 10 games


No one denies the guy is crazy talented but It is issues like this why boston judged he isnt someone they can count on to win with. Team success must be put before individual. Lets all hope the kid puts it together but sitting here today i support the teams choice.

As for spooner lets hope he makes hockey and winning a higher priority than guys like thornton and kessel and seguin did. To play on this team it is critical

This is so ****ing cherry picked it's disgusting.

and it's also false. He had 5 goals, 9 points in the final 10 games down the stretch. 27 points in the last 23 games of the season(March+April)

In before the predictable regular season doesn't matter.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

This is so ****ing cherry picked it's disgusting.

and it's also false. He had 5 goals, 9 points in the final 10 games down the stretch. 27 points in the last 23 games of the season(March+April)

In before the predictable regular season doesn't matter.

Couldn't agree more...it's ridiculous. If you took out every players best 5 games of the year their numbers would look a lot worse too.

Besides, 62 points in 72 games (70 point pace)...and 13 points in 16 games (66 point pace) isn't anything to sneeze at. If those are his worst stretches I would say he is doing pretty good.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

This is so ****ing cherry picked it's disgusting.

and it's also false. He had 5 goals, 9 points in the final 10 games down the stretch. 27 points in the last 23 games of the season(March+April)

In before the predictable regular season doesn't matter.

The 10 games i see him playing are
8th 0 points
9th 1 assist
11th 1 goal
13th 0
16th 1 goal
18th 0
21 1 assist
23 0
25 0
27 0

Which amounts to 2 assists in final 5 games as dallas was desperately looking to him to play playoff hockey

Not sure what 10 games you are thinking of? Im just using his game log from nhl.com

 

[finchster]

Couldn't agree more...it's ridiculous. If you took out every players best 5 games of the year their numbers would look a lot worse too.

Besides, 62 points in 72 games (70 point pace)...and 13 points in 16 games (66 point pace) isn't anything to sneeze at. If those are his worst stretches I would say he is doing pretty good.

Those bad streaks or paces are good enough for first or second place on the Bruins last year

Seguin is the most offensively talented player the Bruins had since Oates or Neely. Whether or not he can take his talent and become a franchise player is another question.

 

[member 96824]

The 10 games i see him playing are
8th 0 points
9th 1 assist
11th 1 goal
13th 0
16th 1 goal
18th 0
21 1 assist
23 0
25 0
27 0

Which amounts to 2 assists in final 5 games as dallas was desperately looking to him to play playoff hockey

Not sure what 10 games you are thinking of? Im just using his game log from nhl.com

I think it's generally accepted that "Down the stretch" doesn't imply playoff games.

Why 10 if you're going to include the playoff games? Because it cuts off the previous 4 games...in which he had goals in 4 straight games and 6 points.

Cherry picking at it's finest.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Couldn't agree more...it's ridiculous. If you took out every players best 5 games of the year their numbers would look a lot worse too.

Besides, 62 points in 72 games (70 point pace)...and 13 points in 16 games (66 point pace) isn't anything to sneeze at. If those are his worst stretches I would say he is doing pretty good.

I guess the point is someone said we should have made him our center . i think thar poster feels seguins season waa much better as a center being allowed to run and gun.

My point was seguin had 5 games where he was godlike. The rest of his year was the same as his last 2 seasons for us. Heck he led us in scoring. No one denies the kid can score.

He was traded because he doesnt apply himself off ice as a professionsl and disappears at playoff time. The stats i used were intentional and back up boston's assessment very powerfully. Sorry if you dont like when facts support an opposing opinion

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

If we want to include playoff games I could just as easily say he had 29 points in his last 26 games.

 

[member 96824]

If we want to include playoff games I could just as easily say he had 29 points in his last 26 games.

87 points his last 86 games

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

I think it's generally accepted that "Down the stretch" doesn't imply playoff games.

Why 10 if you're going to include the playoff games? Because it cuts off the previous 4 games...in which he had goals in 4 straight games and 6 points.

Cherry picking at it's finest.

More like brain cramping which i must plead guilty too... somehow thought dallas missed playoffs. But if these are playoff games then my point is stronger. Seguin was dealt because bosto management dudnt feel he did enough at playoff time

Sorry for getting the math wrong due to my brain cramp

 

[finchster]

I guess the point is someone said we should have made him our center . i think thar poster feels seguins season waa much better as a center being allowed to run and gun.

My point was seguin had 5 games where he was godlike. The rest of his year was the same as his last 2 seasons for us. Heck he led us in scoring. No one denies the kid can score.

He was traded because he doesnt apply himself off ice as a professionsl and disappears at playoff time. The stats i used were intentional and back up boston's assessment very powerfully. Sorry if you dont like when facts support an opposing opinion

If you remove those 5 games, 62 points in 72 games is still a better pace than anyone else on the team, so it was not like his other two seasons.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

If you remove those 5 games, 62 points in 72 games is still a better pace than anyone else on the team, so it was not like his other two seasons.

He scored very well for us and led our team in scoring. You have to also account for icetime. Id argue that seguin was our best scorer his last 2 years with us and his production rate was very impressive.

Seguin was never dealt because he couldnt put up very impressive offensive numbers. That isnt why we dealt kessel. We didnt deal thornton because of his failings offensively in the regular season eithet.

The bruins have a history of dealing away 4 top10 very talentef picks who all finished top 20 scoring ths year because they were all judgef to be guys we cant win with.

I didnt make these trades. Our team did. Our team went to the finals 2 of last 4 seasons. Its hard for mrd for me to argue with results.

I dont hate any of these ex bruins but i love the team first. We have been a better team with guys like chara and bergeron and lucic and krejci making 24 million dollars. Im willing to drink the coolaid.

Remember oates and neely and bouque had incredible individual success for us but all the posters here ***** and whine we didnt win a cup for 30 years. All the success of our hof heros was called not good enough. We needed a cup

Now we got a cup. Cant you all ever be happy?

 

[EverettMike]

I hate intellectual dishonesty.

 

[The Sweetness]

Seguin also had 0 points all year when looking deeper at his performance in games when he went scoreless. That's pretty scary when you think about it.

Not sure why people would question Alberta O'Reilly Fan. The Bruins made the finals two out of the last four years as he stated... Therefore the trade was a success and he AOF is correct in his analysis because management is never wrong. Despite the playoff performance last year after moving Seguin.

Why can't everyone be happy?

 

[ODAAT]

another thread hijacked by Seguin talk

 

[Stone Clode]

Seguin also had 0 points all year when looking deeper at his performance in games when he went scoreless. That's pretty scary when you think about it.

Not sure why people would question Alberta O'Reilly Fan. The Bruins made the finals two out of the last four years as he stated... Therefore the trade was a success and he AOF is correct in his analysis because management is never wrong. Despite the playoff performance last year after moving Seguin.

Why can't everyone be happy?

THIS is why we can't have nice things.