Where do the Bruins go from here?

[I am Bettman]

A team with Pasta, Mcavoy, Debrusk, Marchand, Lindholm, Ullmark, Swayman, Zacha, and Carlo will be a good team.

 

[CTHabsfan]

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.

Bruins fans wouldn't be the only people thinking this is the dumbest idea ever. Trade a 25-year-old #1 defenseman and a 27-year-old who has won the Maurice Richard Trophy for prospects and draft picks???

 

[HFpapi]

A team with Pasta, Mcavoy, Debrusk, Marchand, Lindholm, Ullmark, Swayman, Zacha, and Carlo will be a good team.

It will be an *okay* team for a few seasons with no real chance to win anything.

Then, given the Bruins prospect pool and lack of any foundational players under the age of 23, they will become one of the worst for god knows how long.

Or, they can get ahead of the curve of this fast-approaching reality, decide to not be a middle-of-the-road team for the next few seasons but instead trade two insanely valuable assets for a haul of top 20 league-wide prospects and first round picks.

Bruins fans wouldn't be the only people thinking this is the dumbest idea ever. Trade a 25-year-old #1 defenseman and a 27-year-old who has won the Maurice Richard Trophy for prospects and draft picks???

Yes, precisely.

When you consider that their 1/2 center punch is Zacha/Coyle and 3rd best player is 35, that they have zero cap space and arguably the worst prospect pool in the league, it starts to make more sense.

 

[AvroArrow]

They don't need to rebuild. They have a solid core of Pastrnak/McAvoy/Ullmark/Lindholm. They need to find a C, that's really about it.

Pasta is 27, McAvoy 25. They'll be fine, this next year is gonna be a downer though, that C depth is just bad.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

If there's a team that has proven they can retool on the fly, it's the Bruins. They may take a step back next year but I think they continue to try to build around McAvoy/Pastrnak/Ullmark. They just need to be smart with their cap and wait for an opportunity to arrive. You never know when an Eichel situation materializes again.

 

[I am Bettman]

It will be an *okay* team for a few seasons with no real chance to win anything.

Then, given the Bruins prospect pool and lack of any foundational players under the age of 23, they will become one of the worst for god knows how long.

Or, they can get ahead of the curve of this fast-approaching reality, decide to not be a middle-of-the-road team for the next few seasons but instead trade two insanely valuable assets for a haul of top 20 league-wide prospects and first round picks.

Not sure why 23 years old is the magic number here, all of the guys on that list have at least 5 years left of very productive and effective play. The Bruins prospect pool is thin, but the last few drafts have slightly replenished it. Lohrei, Lysell, and Poitras have a solid chance of being good nhlers. The team’s only hole is 1C, no reason to tear the entire team down and rebuild when you only have one significant hole on the roster.

 

[majormajor]

They have a much better chance of having a great team five years from now by keeping Pastrnak and McAvoy than by blowing it up. Teams that blow it up often just end up straight bad teams for a decade.

The Bruins have a very good chance of making the playoffs this year. They should stick together and look for opportunities to add a center over the next couple years.

 

[norrisnick]

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

Fun fact #3: Good ol' "rename the Selke!!" Had nothing to do with suppressing goals against.

 

[norrisnick]

If there's a team that has proven they can retool on the fly, it's the Bruins. They may take a step back next year but I think they continue to try to build around McAvoy/Pastrnak/Ullmark. They just need to be smart with their cap and wait for an opportunity to arrive. You never know when an Eichel situation materializes again.

At some point a GM has to identify what it was that held a team together. Holland jokingly did so many years ago when he stated that he'd retire the same day that Lidstrom did. He probably should have followed through with that... Would have saved the Wings one hell of a mess they are still digging out of 10+ years later.

 

[PettersonHughes]

When your team has the GM who can easily free up cap space (e.g. how they dumped Hall without retention or sweetener, and got back two prospects, at least on paper), I'm sure they could just as easily move a DeBrusk or Forbort if needed to bring in a center. With the team's winning history I'm fairly confident they could garner interest either in the trade or FA market in the future, and if anyone of interest gets bought out they could probably turn them into an asset. At worst they'll be a better version of the Wild (strong wingers, strong defense and goaltending, questionable center depth but could trade some of each of those positions to strengthen the middle).

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

At some point a GM has to identify what it was that held a team together. Holland jokingly did so many years ago when he stated that he'd retire the same day that Lidstrom did. He probably should have followed through with that... Would have saved the Wings one hell of a mess they are still digging out of 10+ years later.

It's a different situation. They have a #1W, #1D, and #1G in their primes with plenty of complimentary pieces. I don't see why you would tear it down for the chance at finding elite players through the draft. Part of what's taken Detroit so long to come back is the difficulty of finding those kinds of players in the draft, drafting high doesn't automatically get you elite players. Add in some bad luck in the draft lottery for good measure, another thing out of a team's control. Their best chance at competing is building around what they already have.

 

[McDoused]

Out:

Bergeron
Krejci
Hall
Bertuzzi
Orlov
Hathaway
Clifton
Nosek

Yeah they are going to be in it tough to make the playoffs in a division that has gotten better.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Bruins last year felt a lot like the Flames the year before, in the sense that every possible element went to plan until it didn't. And then they lose big names over the summer, with all the pressure on them to come back at a high level of performance.

Much like what happened to Calgary last year, the Bruins are in a position where it's wise not to expect lightning to strike twice, but that's incredibly hard to do when you feel like you're sniffing at a Cup. So they will push forward, leading to the inevitable resentment that comes with feeling "so close" and then having to suffer through the harsh reality of regression.

 

[Pavels Dog]

They don't need to rebuild. They have a solid core of Pastrnak/McAvoy/Ullmark/Lindholm. They need to find a C, that's really about it.

Ah, simply finding a #1C to replace one of the best to ever play. With zero prospects, not many draft picks, no cap space and no trade assets.

Seems easy enough.

 

[majormajor]

Out:

Bergeron
Krejci
Hall
Bertuzzi
Orlov
Hathaway
Clifton
Nosek

Yeah they are going to be in it tough to make the playoffs in a division that has gotten better.

They were on pace to break the regular season record before they even added Bertuzzi Orlov and Hathaway.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Screwed ? We were exterminating the Panthers before Bergeron came back.

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

Well, they won't set a regular season record again.
But they'll be fine.

- Should have the Jennings tandem back together
- McAvoy/Lindholm/Carlo is a might fine top 3 D along with Gryz(If he stays)
- Still have one of the best goal scorers in the league,
- Zacha looked like a new player last year hopefully he can keep that up.
- Marchand will be better than the fall off last season, he did have double? hip surgery last summer. Should be fully recovered now.
- DeBrusk is a fine top 6 player.
- With the additions they'll be a tougher team to play against

Maybe it's just me also, but for a team that's been a contender the past bunch of years and trading away picks, I'd say they have a pretty solid group of prospects...

This Bruins fan isn't too concerned at all

 

[KingsFan7824]

 

[HFpapi]

Ah, simply finding a #1C to replace one of the best to ever play. With zero prospects, not many draft picks, no cap space and no trade assets.

Don't forget replacing their long time #2 center and often best playoff performer as well.

Screwed ? We were exterminating the Panthers before Bergeron came back.

So the new narrative from Bruins fans is going to be that Patrice Bergeron was holding you back and you are a better team without that dead weight?

Second or third time in this thread I've seen it mentioned that you were a better team without him.

 

[Gee Wally]

Don't forget replacing their long time #2 center and often best playoff performer as well.


So the new narrative from Bruins fans is going to be that Patrice Bergeron was holding you back and you are a better team without that dead weight?

Second or third time in this thread I've seen it mentioned that you were a better team without him.

fan
not fans.

 

[Nothingbutglass]

Don't forget replacing their long time #2 center and often best playoff performer as well.


So the new narrative from Bruins fans is going to be that Patrice Bergeron was holding you back and you are a better team without that dead weight?

Second or third time in this thread I've seen it mentioned that you were a better team without him.

No one said the team was better without him. Bergeron and Krecji both sucked in the playoffs last year though because of injury whatever. The obvious plan is to just get in the playoffs this year and see what happens and have plenty of cap space next year

 

[BostonBruins11]

Well now they can make a move for another Center, hopefully they go after Elias Lindholm. They have over 5 million in cap space and they could easily move Grzelcyk and bury Forbort for another 6.6m.

I dont know if Sweeney has it in him but i wouldn't count them out yet, especially with that Youth in Net, D and wingers.

 

[BonMorrison]

Everyone's being so dramatic, this is Boston, they're gonna be fine lol

Will they fall down the standings? Yeah probably but this is still a playoff team.

 

[Senor Catface]

Eastern Conference fans from other teams are lucky the Bruins picked who they did in the 2015 draft.

The changing of the guard from their old core to what could have been would have been really fun to watch.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

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.

Swayman, Carlo, Debrusk... selective criticism taking place here.

The Bruins do need to resolve the issue of needing a top six center as they fail repeatedly to draft one.

Aside from that the defense and goaltending are near league best the next several years....