Where do the Bruins go from here?

[HFpapi]

First of all, as a Leafs fan and first class Bruins hater, happy trails to Bergeron. Absolute legend, classy human being, best defensive forward to ever do it. Sorry to see him go.

That said, I think the Bruins are screwed.

I have a long history of posts suggesting I think they should clean house, trade McAvoy & Pasta, end up with maybe two top 20 prospects, a few other good ones, and some 1st round picks and set a rebuild light years ahead.

Bruins fans think this is the dumbest idea ever and remain seemingly defiant to the notion that they won't be contenders forever. Fine.

Where do they go now then? Don't want a pissing fest, genuinely curious what people think they can do to remain afloat moving forward because I just really don't see it.

You lose Chara, you lose Rask, now Bergeron. Marchand looked very pedestrian down the stretch and at 35 isn't trending upwards. One of the worst prospect pools in the league. Lost their #1 & 2 centers in the same summer and don't have the cap space to replace even one much less both since they paid them 5.5 million combined and a good center costs upwards of 7.

Please don't tell me Zacha/Coyle as your 1/2 center punch is fine. Bruins don't have the assets or cap space to land Scheifele.

They lost Bergeron, Krejci, Hall, Bertuzzi, Orlov, from a roster that already was bounced in round 1.

Really, what the hell do they do?

Click to read more...

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

Almost everyone said we wouldn't make the playoffs last year, and we saw what happened.

Also, the best the Bruins looked in that series vs Florida was when 37 was out.

My favorite player of all time but I'm not worried. Just happy I got to grow up watching him play.

 

[Dread Clawz]

What all teams do who age out after a long run of success. Obviously there won't be a ton more immediate success. They'll fight for the playoffs this season, and trend downwards after that unless Sweeney can make some amazing moves. Then they'll have to re-tool and assimilate younger players into the lineup and sell off anything valuable for futures.

 

[HFpapi]

Almost everyone said we wouldn't make the playoffs last year, and we saw what happened.

Also, the best the Bruins looked in that series vs Florida was when 37 was out.

My favorite player of all time but I'm not worried. Just happy I got to grow up watching him play.

I do honestly totally get the "we've heard this a million times before" sentiment from Bruins fans, really.

You have indeed been hearing since like 2012 that you're done. But you can't really deny that this time it's different.

Chara/Bergeron/Marchand and a Vezina winning goalie (Thomas --> Rask --> Ullmark) were constants.

Chara and Bergeron are gone, Marchand looked old 2nd half of last season, and who really is putting any money on Ullmark ever playing at that level again with a weaker team in front of him?

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

I do honestly totally get the "we've heard this a million times before" sentiment from Bruins fans, really.

You have indeed been hearing since like 2012 that you're done. But you can't really deny that this time it's different.

Chara/Bergeron/Marchand and a Vezina winning goalie (Thomas --> Rask --> Ullmark) were constants.

Chara and Bergeron are gone, Marchand looked old 2nd half of last season, and who really is putting any money on Ullmark ever playing at that level again with a weaker team in front of him?

What you're missing is that Jeremy Jacobs owns the Bruins. If the Bruins miss the playoffs it makes it slightly harder for Jacobs to raise ticket prices for the next season. This precarious balance built on generational greed is what has kept the Bruins as a playoff team for most of my entire life.

 

[Sniper99]

congrats on a helluva career Bergeron. Just wish you would have chilled out on the Leafs once in awhile.

 

[HFpapi]

What all teams do who age out after a long run of success. Obviously there won't be a ton more immediate success. They'll fight for the playoffs this season, and trend downwards after that unless Sweeney can make some amazing moves. Then they'll have to re-tool and assimilate younger players into the lineup and sell off anything valuable for futures.

I guess that's kind of my point though. If you know low playoff/wild card seed + first/second round playoff eliminations are the immediate future until you sink to the bottom, why is trading McAvoy + Pasta for a couple of A++ prospects and a couple of years of high drafting not a good idea?

I know it sounds very NHL 2023 but I do think in this instance it makes the most sense.

Pasta + Zacha + McAvoy + Lindholm + Ullmark isn't horrible by any means but it isn't getting you very far and Boston doesn't have the cap space nor the prospects to build around this.

 

[UConn126]

Bergeron was a great player but one 38 year old retiring doesn't sink an entire team. Bruins have elite defense and goaltending, probably the best in the league for both. That alone will win them enough games to make the playoffs. Then there's that guy who won the rocket a couple years ago and put up another 60 goals last year who's locked in for another 8 years...

Bruins will be fine. Won't be setting another regular season wins record any time soon but they're not about to instantly fall from top of the league to the bottom.


I didn't read the whole post initially. Chara and Rask?? lol. Those guys have already been replaced. Again, elite #1 D in McAvoy, strong #1B/#2 in Lindholm, best goalie tandem in the league with a clear goalie of the future in Swayman. Keep dreaming, bud.

 

[Dread Clawz]

I guess that's kind of my point though. If you know low playoff/wild card seed + first/second round playoff eliminations are the immediate future until you sink to the bottom, why is trading McAvoy + Pasta for a couple of A++ prospects and a couple of years of high drafting not a good idea?

I know it sounds very NHL 2023 but I do think in this instance it makes the most sense.

Pasta + Zacha + McAvoy + Lindholm + Ullmark isn't horrible by any means but it isn't getting you very far and Boston doesn't have the cap space nor the prospects to build around this.

I guess I can see your point. They won't trade Mac or Pasta though. They'll try to win as much as they can with them. No man's land is around the corner for the Bruins.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

They’re still a playoff team , they have a very good d corps, good goalies, and great wingers. Maybe they swing a move for a center. They’re not cup favs anymore tho.

 

[Sheppy]

The Bruins still have some solid pieces.

Ullmark/Swayman combo
Pastrnak signed long term
McAvoy & Lindholm will be around for a while

They'll free up a lot of cap space next summer, too.

I think ultimately they did a decent job signing some vets to 1 year deals.

 

[The don godfather]

First of all, as a Leafs fan and first class Bruins hater, happy trails to Bergeron. Absolute legend, classy human being, best defensive forward to ever do it. Sorry to see him go.

That said, I think the Bruins are screwed.

I have a long history of posts suggesting I think they should clean house, trade McAvoy & Pasta, end up with maybe two top 20 prospects, a few other good ones, and some 1st round picks and set a rebuild light years ahead.

Bruins fans think this is the dumbest idea ever and remain seemingly defiant to the notion that they won't be contenders forever. Fine.

Where do they go now then? Don't want a pissing fest, genuinely curious what people think they can do to remain afloat moving forward because I just really don't see it.

You lose Chara, you lose Rask, now Bergeron. Marchand looked very pedestrian down the stretch and at 35 isn't trending upwards. One of the worst prospect pools in the league. Lost their #1 & 2 centers in the same summer and don't have the cap space to replace even one much less both since they paid them 5.5 million combined and a good center costs upwards of 7.

Please don't tell me Zacha/Coyle as your 1/2 center punch is fine. Bruins don't have the assets or cap space to land Scheifele.

They lost Bergeron, Krejci, Hall, Bertuzzi, Orlov, from a roster that already was bounced in round 1.

Really, what the hell do they do?

Screwed eh? Let's see this is the Boston bruins.

 

[SomeDude]

 

[ricky0034]

fun fact #1: if the Bruins were literally last in the league in goals scored last year they still would have had a better goal differential than both wild card teams and only slightly worse than Tampa

fun fact #2: both of their Goalies and basically their entire Defense other than Orlov who they only added at the deadline are returning

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Bergeron was a great player but one 38 year old retiring doesn't sink an entire team. Bruins have elite defense and goaltending, probably the best in the league for both. That alone will win them enough games to make the playoffs. Then there's that guy who won the rocket a couple years ago and put up another 60 goals last year who's locked in for another 8 years...

Bruins will be fine. Won't be setting another regular season wins record any time soon but they're not about to instantly fall from top of the league to the bottom.


I didn't read the whole post initially. Chara and Rask?? lol. Those guys have already been replaced. Again, elite #1 D in McAvoy, strong #1B/#2 in Lindholm, best goalie tandem in the league with a clear goalie of the future in Swayman. Keep dreaming, bud.

Is Krejci coming back? Having Zacha or Coyle be your #1C sounds rough.

 

[nucksflailtogether]

Rebuilding is such an overestimated way to build a team. It fails as often as retooling.

It should be done when you have nobody to build around. They might scuffle for a season and then sign or trade for a C like Scheif and go right back to winning because that’s what strong organizations do.

I’d love to see them suck for eternity but we have been waiting since 2012 and it’s not happening.

 

[UConn126]

Is Krejci coming back? Having Zacha or Coyle be your #1C sounds rough.

It won't be pretty, but it will probably still be effective. Marchand and Coyle together will be an elite possession/shutdown line and Zacha has proven chemistry with Pasta and looked good at C in his stints last year, including in the playoffs. I'm not really worried about it. They'll just beat teams 2-1 instead of 5-1 like last year lol.

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

It won't be pretty, but it will probably still be effective. Marchand and Coyle together will be an elite possession/shutdown line and Zacha has proven chemistry with Pasta and looked good at C in his stints last year, including in the playoffs. I'm not really worried about it.

The thing with Zacha is that he has shown to wilt when he is counted on to be a leader on the team. So we will see, maybe the Bruins management has unlocked a new work ethic for him, but there was a reason that the Devils took him off center, then off the PK, then off the PP. If the team falls apart, having him as 1C will be a good tanking strategy for when they have their first round picks again (2025 and onward).

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Almost everyone said we wouldn't make the playoffs last year, and we saw what happened.

This is a bit of an exaggeration; see:

RUNOFF 2023 HFBoards Stanley Cup Favourite #13 Boston VS Washington

So Caps and Bruins all tied up for the 13th spot so they go head to head here. Who ya got? 1 Colorado 65% 2023 HFBoards Stanley Cup Favourite #1 2 Tampa 70% 2023 HFBoards Stanley Cup Favourite #2 3 Carolina 41% 2023 HFBoards Stanley Cup Favourite #3 4 TIE: NYR TOR 22% 2023 HFBoards Stanley Cup...

forums.hfboards.com

Consensus 13th Cup favorite certainly isn't "almost everyone said we wouldn't make the playoffs".

 

[HockeyVirus]

They are going to slowly become a lottery team. No real prospects in the cupboard, Krejci is now all but gone as well. What team can survive losing their two top centers who are also two of their best players? Marchand is solidly into his mid 30's. Pasta had likely his career season in a contract year. He also doesn't impact the game nearly as much given he is fairly one dimensional offensively and on the PP without bringing much else.

Not to mention they also lost Hall trying to keep Bertuzzi and then lost him as well. Nevermind Orlov and other depth. They will be a bubble team like other teams in the same boat. Probably pretty good defensively due to players and system, but will struggle to score and take a step back defensively losing their top shutdown player as well.

Next few years will look like the Pens last few years. Bubble teams who are out in round 1 if they make it. And as time goes on, they will get worse and worse and eventually rebuild.

 

[BTO]

Down

 

[SENStastic]

Probably drop from no. 1 in the conference to 6, especially if this also means Krejci won't return, but still a playoff team next season. Don't think they'll threaten a deep run though.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

The Rask, Chara, Bergeron era is officially over. Now it's Pastrnaks and McAvoys era.

 

[goldnblack]

Down

shocking prediction!

 

[ON3M4N]

I guess that's kind of my point though. If you know low playoff/wild card seed + first/second round playoff eliminations are the immediate future until you sink to the bottom, why is trading McAvoy + Pasta for a couple of A++ prospects and a couple of years of high drafting not a good idea?

I know it sounds very NHL 2023 but I do think in this instance it makes the most sense.

Pasta + Zacha + McAvoy + Lindholm + Ullmark isn't horrible by any means but it isn't getting you very far and Boston doesn't have the cap space nor the prospects to build around this.

Bruins ownership will not allow for blowing it up. They'd rather make the playoffs as the 8 seed and at minimum get their 2 home game revenue.