The Athletic - Boston Fluto: How the Bruins’ trade deadline moves solidified their Seattle Kraken expansion draft plans

[burstnbloom]

Well Ritchie is 25 years old now. If he doesn't have much "projection" left, what does that say about the likes of Frederic, Lauzon, Zboril, etc. who are all roughly the same age and yet still lesser NHL players than Nick Ritchie?

I'd argue that only Frederic is a lesser player than Ritchie and not by a particularly wide margin. He's easily the worst player in the top 9 and you can make an argument for Lazar and Kuraly over him as well. Maybe even Wagner if you look back at who he was last year and ignore completely this season. He doesn't skate very well, he's not particularly skilled with the puck (though he does have decent hands around the net), and he doesn't have much hockey sense. He does hit a little when he's engaged and he's a good fighter. I just don't see the things he would need to develop (feel for the game, hockey sense, skating) improving all that much after 300+ NHL games. Ritchie kind of is what he is at this point because if his head was going to catch up, you'd think after this many games, it would have. At 25, I'd be really surprised if the physical tools that he doesn't appear to have show up as they don't typically do that for most players. It hink he's a 3rd line LW on a second division team and the bruins fancy themselves as a first division team.

Lauzon and Zboril both appear to be significantly more talented than him and play positions that usually take 100+ games of development to see who they are at the NHL level. So I'd say there is a fair amount more projection in those two players. Zboril, in particular, has a lot of projection left in him because all of the physical tools are there. He's a very good skater, has a good shot (that never hits the net), can pass etc he just struggles with the pace of the game and the cerebral parts of playing D in the NHL. Will he develop more with more ice time? I have no idea, but he could. I think Lauzon is ahead of him between the ears but isn't quite as talented physically. I could see him getting a better feel for the game and settling in to a Johnny Boychuk type player but Johnny wasn't that guy until he was 26/27 years old. D develop slower than wingers.

 

[member 96824]

I think at this point, it would be great to move Kase's contract. I've seen a couple mocks where Kase is taken, so this may be best for Vegas

He's expiring at the end of the year. Expires as an RFA so we can retain his rights if we choose to but nothing guaranteed to be on the books

 

[Blowfish]

Interesting to see our discussions are around the D and our biggest concern is losing a D man versus forward...speaks to the recruitment process/strength of the B's organization. D being elite and F being meh.

 

[JoeIsAStud]

I'd argue that only Frederic is a lesser player than Ritchie and not by a particularly wide margin. He's easily the worst player in the top 9 and you can make an argument for Lazar and Kuraly over him as well. Maybe even Wagner if you look back at who he was last year and ignore completely this season. He doesn't skate very well, he's not particularly skilled with the puck (though he does have decent hands around the net), and he doesn't have much hockey sense. He does hit a little when he's engaged and he's a good fighter. I just don't see the things he would need to develop (feel for the game, hockey sense, skating) improving all that much after 300+ NHL games. Ritchie kind of is what he is at this point because if his head was going to catch up, you'd think after this many games, it would have. At 25, I'd be really surprised if the physical tools that he doesn't appear to have show up as they don't typically do that for most players. It hink he's a 3rd line LW on a second division team and the bruins fancy themselves as a first division team.

Lauzon and Zboril both appear to be significantly more talented than him and play positions that usually take 100+ games of development to see who they are at the NHL level. So I'd say there is a fair amount more projection in those two players. Zboril, in particular, has a lot of projection left in him because all of the physical tools are there. He's a very good skater, has a good shot (that never hits the net), can pass etc he just struggles with the pace of the game and the cerebral parts of playing D in the NHL. Will he develop more with more ice time? I have no idea, but he could. I think Lauzon is ahead of him between the ears but isn't quite as talented physically. I could see him getting a better feel for the game and settling in to a Johnny Boychuk type player but Johnny wasn't that guy until he was 26/27 years old. D develop slower than wingers.

Yeah, I still think Frederic becomes a better all around player than Ritchie. Nick had a nice start this year, but has been invisible for 2 months now.

 

[wintersej]

I think at this point, it would be great to move Kase's contract. I've seen a couple mocks where Kase is taken, so this may be best for Vegas

I doubt they qualify him.

 

[Babajingo]

Gryz is ok. He gets owned in front of the net and one-on-ones. His breakout and offense negates that, I guess. That being said, I would protect him before Lauzon.

 

[BruinsBtn]

I doubt they qualify him.

Unless there's some kind of injury exemption, they have to offer him a 1 year/$2.6m deal to qualify him. I don't see how they can do that unless he comes back very soon and plays very well in the playoffs.

Only way I can see him staying is if he takes some kind of Kevan Miller style bonus-laden contract.

 

[s3antana5757]

Does DeBrusk and Gryz/Lauzon get you a D from Nashville or Minnesota? Ekholm or Brodin?

 

[inactive user]

I doubt they qualify him.

End of an era.

 

[wintersej]

Unless there's some kind of injury exemption, they have to offer him a 1 year/$2.6m deal to qualify him. I don't see how they can do that unless he comes back very soon and plays very well in the playoffs.

Only way I can see him staying is if he takes some kind of Kevan Miller style bonus-laden contract.

Yeah maybe they do a one year prove you can stay healthy cheap deal.

 

[inactive user]

Does DeBrusk and Gryz/Lauzon get you a D from Nashville or Minnesota? Ekholm or Brodin?

Possibly but I don't think Ekholm is going anywhere same with Brodin since he just signed a long term deal.

 

[BruinDust]

Unless there's some kind of injury exemption, they have to offer him a 1 year/$2.6m deal to qualify him. I don't see how they can do that unless he comes back very soon and plays very well in the playoffs.

Only way I can see him staying is if he takes some kind of Kevan Miller style bonus-laden contract.

Apparently (I had to look this up) there is a games played requirement of 400 games played for a player to accept a bonus-laden contract that isn't an ELC or 35+ contract. Kase won't meet that requirement even if he played every game the rest of the year.

Collective Bargaining Agreement FAQs | NHL.com - Collective Bargaining Agreement

My guess is he's not qualified but is offered a one-year, one-way standard player contract that is for a lower amount than his current deal. If he comes back and plays, that's a win for him and the Bruins as he's a good player when healthy.

 

[DiggityDog]

I still think Lauzon is the one who goes. If they resign Reilly your top four is

Gryz-Mac
Reilly-Carlo

Very strong defensive group tailor made for today’s NHL

 

[inactive user]

Apparently (I had to look this up) there is a games played requirement of 400 games played for a player to accept a bonus-laden contract that isn't an ELC or 35+ contract. Kase won't meet that requirement even if he played every game the rest of the year.

Collective Bargaining Agreement FAQs | NHL.com - Collective Bargaining Agreement

My guess is he's not qualified but is offered a one-year, one-way standard player contract that is for a lower amount than his current deal. If he comes back and plays, that's a win for him and the Bruins as he's a good player when healthy.

I agree he's a good hockey player and we should try to keep him if we can. I still believe he's capable of a 20 goal season.

 

[BruinDust]

I agree he's a good hockey player and we should try to keep him if we can. I still believe he's capable of a 20 goal season.

There really is minimal risk. If he takes a 1-year deal at small money and performs well, then great for him and the team.

If he gets injured again, he becomes just another guy on LTIR. It's not ideal but certainly not back-breaking.

If his performance is awful and he can't get back up to NHL speed, than his cap hit is so low that sending him to Providence is of little consequence cap-wise.

Right now I'm certainly inclined to give him another chance on a 1-year low money deal to see if he can revitalize his career. Very little risk there.

 

[BruinsBtn]

There really is minimal risk. If he takes a 1-year deal at small money and performs well, then great for him and the team.

If he gets injured again, he becomes just another guy on LTIR. It's not ideal but certainly not back-breaking.

If his performance is awful and he can't get back up to NHL speed, than his cap hit is so low that sending him to Providence is of little consequence cap-wise.

Right now I'm certainly inclined to give him another chance on a 1-year low money deal to see if he can revitalize his career. Very little risk there.

I suspect there will be many GMs who feel the same way. So then it's a matter of who is willing to pay the most.

Thinking about it more... maybe if he's ready to come back this season, the Bruins can offer him a one-year extension at $1.4m or something and then you give him some security.

If you're him, and you're one hit away from retirement, you gotta take the money. That said, he has taken +$3m from the Bruins for 8 regular season games, so maybe he feels some loyalty. There's certainly a spot for him in the lineup if he's decent. You'd risk losing him to Seattle if he plays well but it would be better than nothing.

 

[The National]

I think if they sweeten a deal for Seattle to take anyone it will be for Clifton. If not I’d prefer they take Zboril over Lauzon. Not that I think one has really out performed the other but just that style of defensemen he is. We need more bigger body guys that can play physical hockey.

Carlo is big but not necessarily physical. McAvoy can definitely play a physical game but not necessarily big. Miller obviously plays physical but who knows if they bring him back, and if they do how healthy he’ll be able to stay. Zboril, Grz, and Reilly are all offense first, puck moving defenseman. In the system is Ahcan, Vaak, and Lyle, not necessarily big physical guys.

Not to mention the fact he can play RD, with Vaak, Zboril, and Ahcan all being LD.

I’d like to hang on to Lauzon over Zboril if I had to choose. We need bigger bodies over smaller puck movers.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

If I am Seattle right now I go after Lauzon.
Young and has played in a top 4 D role consistently in his first NHL season. Has good potential.

7F
Wagner, Lazar, RFA's(Kase & Ritchie) Available
Kase, Ritchie, Frederick(Protected) RFA's
Bergeron(NMC), Pastrnak, Marchand(NMC), Smith, DeBrusk, Coyle(NMC), Frederick Protected
Krejci, Hall, Kuraly UFA's

3D
Clifton, Lauzon, Zboril Available
McAvoy, Carlo, Gryzlcyk Protected
Reilly UFA
Miller, Tinordi, Kampfer, & Moore do NOT meet Games Played requirements to be made available as of this writing.

1G
Booth Available
Vladar Protected
Rask & Halak UFA's

If I am Seattle I am looking at Lauzon. All the other choices are lower-level line-up players. Lauzon is the only player who has played in a top-of-the-lineup role and still has the potential to be a top 4 D man on an NHL team. Wagner, Lazar, & Ritchie are bottom 6 forwards. Kase is middle 6 but too much of a risk. Clifton and Zboril are bottom pair defenders.

This is assuming Seattle chooses to pick from Boston instead of making a run at Krejci, Hall, Rask, or Halak. If they sign any of these UFA's then Boston is then exempt from losing any players off their roster.

Weighing Lauzon vs. signing Krejci or one of the goaltenders would be an interesting debate. That would mainly be affected by the players though, of our UFA's I think none of them want to test free agency. They would look at resigning with Boston or retiring.

 

[inactive user]

If they sign any of these UFA's then Boston is then exempt from losing any players off their roster.

How would that work though considering free agency begins after the expansion draft?

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

How would that work though considering free agency begins after the expansion draft?

Expansion teams get a free week(I believe) and first crack at all UFA's.

 

[inactive user]

Expansion teams get a free week(I believe) and first crack at all UFA's.

Wow I really hate the expansion draft

 

[Dr Hook]

How would that work though considering free agency begins after the expansion draft?

Seattle has a 48 hour window to negotiate and sign UFAs while they are still under contract to their teams. If they sign one of them, then that counts as their selection for that team.

 

[BruinsBtn]

If you're Seattle, you really need to go through every team before you make a strategy.

,
I agree with others that Lauzon is the 'best' available player but you can only keep 8 defensemen on the roster and teams can only protect 3/4 defensemen, so there are a lot of guys of Lauzon's caliber out there or better. (Dante Fabro, Justin Holl, Vince Dunn, Orlov, Shattenkirk, Giordano/Tanev, Skjei, Graves, Caleb Jones, McDonagh).

Up front, you've got to have 13 forwards so all else equal, you're leaning towards the forward. I'd leave Ritchie available and he's young and brings a rare element so I think they take him.

You've also got to take 30 players (all waiver eligible) and you can only keep 23 on the roster. So you risk losing 7 for nothing. More if you sign any UFAs.

I think Vegas did a great job bluffing teams into paying to avoid guys but I think the pendulum swings the other way this time.

 

[trenton1]

Wow I really hate the expansion draft

The modern ones suck. I wish they gave them additional high picks in their first one or two entry drafts instead of quality players developed by another club for upwards of 6 years.

The owners are getting a nice payday from the entry fee so...

 

[DKH]

They won’t have DeBrusk & Ritchie if Hall signs one way or another

Vladder

McAvoy
Carlo
Grzelcyk

Bergeron
Marchand
Coyle
Smith
Pastrnak
Frederic
DeBrusk

no moves just current roster