If Boston loses to Florida, SHOULD they blow it up?

[BB79]

Need 2 quality centermen and also a couple real jerkwads to beat the crap out of those other jerkwads they keep running into in the playoffs.

 

[Outl4w]

No way. Add a top 6 center or two and they are back in business.

 

[Score8]

The thing about both Pastrnak and McAvoy is that they are core players but they are complementary. You really need a player of greater magnitude up ahead of them for the Bruins to be anything but an also-ran team.

That's not even getting into their weak depth.

This is some truly groundbreaking analysis. That weak depth had them in the run for the presidents trophy until the last 2 wks of the season, and had them finish a point behind the Atlantic winner, and knocked out the leafs mega core in the first round. They’re a piece or 2 away from being a juggernaut

 

[BruinLVGA]

You don‘t „blow up“ a 109 points team whose top players are young (Pastrnak, McAvoy, Swayman).

 

[TD Charlie]

I wouldn’t be against it. People saying “oh they just need two top six center” are correct, but let’s stop acting like thats an easily obtainable goal

I listen to offers on anybody other than Swayman.

 

[Hockeyholic]

There is only two players who should be 100% untouchable: Swayman is number one. It's obvious he is a number one goalie and has Vezina potential imo. Crazy that the Bruins have had vezina level goaltending for nearly 20 years. Thomas/Rask/Swayman/Ullmark. And...they have one cup to show for it.

Second is Pastrnak. Now if Edmonton came calling and offered Draisaitl for Pastrnak, Boston takes it and runs. But that isnt happening. You need scorers. And he is the only guy who is a pure scorer.

McAvoy is not in that Makar/Fox/Hughes tier. He will never win a norris barring injuries to all those guys. He's a very good 1 D. I wouldn't openly shop him. But if a team came calling with a crazy offer, you take it. I wouldn't put him as totally untouchable though. He is not a good playoff performer though. He needs to get better in that area. And fast.

Nobody else on that roster is good enough or young enough to be 100% safe imo. Marchand is on the decline. Maybe you etc a 2nd rounder for him.

Lindholm is not a legit #1 D. He has not been good in the postseason.

I think it's time to start asking what Sweeney & Neely bring to the organization. Sans being beloved alumni players.

 

[violaswallet]

I'll give my view: they need a good (not even great) 1C: Lindholm will suffice. Re-sign DeBrusk and trade Ullmark. Then they need one more solid top 6 option (Tarasenko level) and another top 4 D. A top 9 of

Marchand-Lindholm-Pastrnak
Zacha-DeBrusk-Coyle
?-Geekie-Taraseno

is solid.

They'll win less regular season games without Ullmark, but they'll go farther in the playoffs..

 

[TheBeard]

This team keeps finding young gems from all over, from Lohrei to Brazeau to Beecher to Lauko and on and on. If Poitras can elevate his game from what we saw earlier in the year there's no reason he can't be a legit high-end 2C in this league. Bussi is gonna take over for Ullmark and they still have guys like Lysell and Merkulov when they're ready.

 

[Oneiro]

So they just lack a few guys better than their best and a bunch of depth guys too. K

There is nothing to blow up really. The biggest change will come when Marchand retires. That's when the team identity blows up and they will need to redefine who they are. He's the last guy really carrying the torch of their culture as a club.

A winger, a goalie and a 1b. I'm also not a guy who thinks McAvoy is a top 5 D - his play is okay in the post-season but not nearly enough. He's not in the Makar, Fox, Hedman, Heiskanen tier to me.

One or two signings like say, Elias Lindholm, don't put you guys back into contention. There's nothing serious in the pipeline coming to help. The Bruins failure over the past decade has been directly related to not having the top end playmaking it takes to win it all, via poor drafting or poor trades.

This is some truly groundbreaking analysis. That weak depth had them in the run for the presidents trophy until the last 2 wks of the season, and had them finish a point behind the Atlantic winner, and knocked out the leafs mega core in the first round. They’re a piece or 2 away from being a juggernaut

A piece or two away? Good luck.

Another thing that needs to be said about their regular season accomplishments and I say this as a long time Devils fan who watched a similar team post lockout and post-Niedermayer: the system and the culture get you through the season but it's not enough come playoff time. You need more gamebreaking offensive talent to keep going on and having a top 2 sniper is not enough. They don't have that Kucherov, Kane, Eichel, etc. and most cup winners have that guy, except the Blues who had solid scorers throughout the lineup in Steen, Thomas, Perron, etc. It's not a surprise their only cup came with a historic performance by Thomas. Swayman was the only reason they were still in this one.

And about that record-breaking season a year prior: it was a great accomplishment but it's tempered by the fact that a post-COVID cap constricted other competitive teams (who didn't get sweetheart deals from their core guys), 1/2 the league was aging out and also in cap trouble (PIT, WAS, etc) and the other half was too young with lost development time / still rebuilding, particularly in that Atlantic division where there were a lot of layup games (BUF, OTT, MTL, DET). They caught the right moment in history to do something epic but they were not actually a great team and it's not a surprise they choked it away.

You don't have to believe me. It's going to play out this way. You've seen it before in Calgary, Minnesota, Nashville, now Winnipeg, etc. Those fans also told me how they'd re-tool and build around what was left.

 

[Over the volcano]

A winger, a goalie and a 1b. I'm also not a guy who thinks McAvoy is a top 5 D - his play is okay in the post-season but not nearly enough. He's not in the Makar, Fox, Hedman, Heiskanen tier to me.

One or two signings like say, Elias Lindholm, don't put you guys back into contention. There's nothing serious in the pipeline coming to help. The Bruins failure over the past decade has been directly related to not having the top end playmaking it takes to win it all, via poor drafting or poor trades.


A piece or two away? Good luck.

Another thing that needs to be said about their regular season accomplishments and I say this as a long time Devils fan who watched a similar team post lockout and post-Niedermayer: the system and the culture get you through the season but it's not enough come playoff time. You need more gamebreaking offensive talent to keep going on and having a top 2 sniper is not enough. They don't have that Kucherov, Kane, Eichel, etc. and most cup winners have that guy, except the Blues who had solid scorers throughout the lineup in Steen, Thomas, Perron, etc. It's not a surprise their only cup came with a historic performance by Thomas. Swayman was the only reason they were still in this one.

And about that record-breaking season a year prior: it was a great accomplishment but it's tempered by the fact that a post-COVID cap constricted other competitive teams (who didn't get sweetheart deals from their core guys), 1/2 the league was aging out and also in cap trouble (PIT, WAS, etc) and the other half was too young with lost development time / still rebuilding, particularly in that Atlantic division where there were a lot of layup games (BUF, OTT, MTL, DET). They caught the right moment in history to do something epic but they were not actually a great team and it's not a surprise they choked it away.

You don't have to believe me. It's going to play out this way. You've seen it before in Calgary, Minnesota, Nashville, now Winnipeg, etc. Those fans also told me how they'd re-tool and build around what was left.

A Devils fan more than anyone would know how rarely "Blowing it up" works and when it does, how long it takes. How many top 10 pick have you guys had in the last decade?

And where has it got them... to another one this year.

BTW thanks for Zacha. He's helped the retool.

 

[Oneiro]

A Devils fan more than anyone would know how rarely that "Blowing it up" works and when it does, how long it takes. How many top 10 pick have you guys had in the last decade?

And where has it got them... to another one this year.

BTW thanks for Zacha. He's helped the retool.

'23 was just a taste. Most reasonable fans expected a step back - you don't win shit with that goaltending and three rookies on defense.

And the entire Boston style and culture that exists today is a direct lift from Lou Lam's philosophy. Just with less cups. Your whole organization has been littered with ex-Devils for years.

 

[Over the volcano]

... and three rookies on defense.

And the entire Boston style and culture that exists today is a direct lift from Lou Lam's philosophy. Just with less cups. Your whole organization has been littered with ex-Devils for years.

Whatever you need to tell yourself

 

[Flan the incredible]

I have to chuckle when people are saying "Oh they just need a top center or two". If its that easy the rest of the league would do it regularly. Its not and if they can't draft them which where they are finishing is no easy task they will have to over pay for them is FA or trade for them. I dont see any FAs that I would give a big contract. I will take it a step further and say if they do decide to spend in free agency they could regret it immediately. If I was Boston I would try and get a young center with potential via trade. They do have some pieces who could interest other teams.

Clock is ticking on Marchand as he is getting older. A rebuild may be in the works in the next year or two whether they like it or not.

 

[Over the volcano]

...Clock is ticking on Marchand as he is getting older. A rebuild may be in the works in the next year or two whether they like it or not.

Oh for sure. There are changes coming and when he hangs em up it will be a whole new team identity. But "blowing it up" means dealing core players and they just won't because there are so few that'd get a return worth the deal. They'll do their best to identify value in trades an and free agency and work from there.

This year they were handcuffed and did alright for themselves, even got a few young pieces that'll help going forward. Now it's just time for the front office to go to work.

 

[Kranix]

blow what up? They have 3-4 key players signed long term.

 

[WarriorofTime]

blow what up? They have 3-4 key players signed long term.

Exactly. What’s their best long contract?

 

[Fatass]

Need 2 quality centermen and also a couple real jerkwads to beat the crap out of those other jerkwads they keep running into in the playoffs.

Lindholm this summer as a UFA?

 

[WarriorofTime]

The case for blowing it up - Better to do it a year too early than a year too late. Better to have three year rebuild than a ten year rebuild as often becomes inevitable when a team tries to “re-tool”.

Case for not - only one team wins and there’s a lot of variance that you can win even without the better team. Maybe you can get a really fortunate FA value deal with a player that doesn’t follow a conventional aging curve if you are aggressive with cap space.

Philosophically it’s 50/50 on what the right move is. I know they won’t in reality. But to pretend it’s not a really close call is ignoring reality.

 

[McGarnagle]

Where I'm kind of at is that Elias Lindholm is the only legitimate #1 center on the market. If the get him, they'll be really competitive. If they miss out on him, then You're left with he choice of running it back and committing money to a second rate guy like Monahan or Domi or Wennberg or getting a headstart on a reboot. The logical thing is the latter, but it's hard to fold.

 

[Brookbank]

What is there to blow up ? What is there to sell ? It is just a band of older mid players that criminally over achieve

 

[TheBeard]

If they let Debrusk go, would Boston go after Stammer?

 

[Fatass]

What is there to blow up ? What is there to sell ? It is just a band of older mid players that criminally over achieve

Pasta and McAvoy are elite. Great goaltending too. The Bruins are where Vegas was before they got Eichel. They need to pry loose an elite 1C. Not too sure which club would trade away that kind of player though?

 

[elmaco]

Where I'm kind of at is that Elias Lindholm is the only legitimate #1 center on the market. If the get him, they'll be really competitive. If they miss out on him, then You're left with he choice of running it back and committing money to a second rate guy like Monahan or Domi or Wennberg or getting a headstart on a reboot. The logical thing is the latter, but it's hard to fold.

Steven Stamkos sweepstakes

 

[Flan the incredible]

Oh for sure. There are changes coming and when he hangs em up it will be a whole new team identity. But "blowing it up" means dealing core players and they just won't because there are so few that'd get a return worth the deal. They'll do their best to identify value in trades an and free agency and work from there.

This year they were handcuffed and did alright for themselves, even got a few young pieces that'll help going forward. Now it's just time for the front office to go to work.

Minus Marchand who should retire a Bruin, there are 3 Bruins who i wouldn't trade (Pasta, Swayman and maybe McAvoy). The rest of the team I would make available for the right price. I wouldn't sell everyone for draft picks rather NHL players. A trade like Middlestat for Byram is what I would be looking at. Try to get a young center with upside who could be a 1 or 2C.

Not sure what the official definition of blowing it up is but having everyone available minus 2 or 3 guys may or may not qualify for "blowing it up".

My biggest fear for the Bruins is giving a guy like Lindholm and huge contract and he doesn't revert to the player he once was and the Bruins then have an 7 year boat anchor. Personally I think he is going to get the biggest over payment in FA because there are so many teams who need a top center. I wouldn't want to be the team that pays him 7 or 8 million a year which I think some idiot GM is going to give him.

 

[Over the volcano]

Exactly. What’s their best long contract?

They only have three forwards on contracts that last beyond next year...