Boston Bruins 22-‘23 Bruins roster and trade proposals discussions. XII

[RussellmaniaKW]

Tampa has built their dynasty on having insane top end skill, a large, mobile D and an all-world goalie. They have supplemented all that with strong depth additions over the years. Once they had the core in place they went all-in on depth at multiple deadlines and it got them back to back Cups.

Yes they have size on D and have added enough physicality in the bottom 6 to not be soft, but let's not pretend they are like a 70s Bruins team or something.

 

[Dizzay]

Why does Calgary, a team in the playoff hunt, desire to retain $2.6m on their cap for the rest of the season? Does hobbling their cap flexibility bring some sort of benefit to them?

How do the Bruins fit Lucic's $2.6m? They don't have the space now and no one is taking Reilly for free, so Lucic would cost his acquisition cost plus the cost of jettisoning Reilly. And there'd be about a million in cap space left over after all this, so any depth would be bargain bin only.

I love Milan Lucic. He's easily the nicest pro athlete I've met. He's more than welcome next season, but for this playoff charge, sorry, we're full.

1. Well.....I believe by the time we get to Friday, it'll be evident that Calgary are sellers. I could be way off but it's just a gut feeling.

2. I believe retaining 50% on Lucic's cap hit does not mean a ton to them if they're sellers. I believe he's owed very little money this season in true dollars.

3. Would they take Reilly for Lucic retained, likely not straight up. I said if it could get done by adding a mid-level prospect or even Greer.

My post was to meant to showcase that if all else fails and we can rid ourselves of Reilly, who's signed through next year and acquire Looch as insurance, great. But first order of business would be to use Reilly's space on an upgrade at 3RW

 

[wintersej]

come on. Some of those guys are under 190 pounds. The only guys on that list who provide a "nonstop heavy physical forecheck" are maybe Jeannot, Perry & Paul. The other guys aren't soft by any means but they are no more physical than the average ~6ft 185lb guy. And Maroon is too slow to cause any problems on the forecheck. He can be a net front guy and nothing more.

The idea that they are some super heavy team that will pound our D to death is just myth at this point. Most of their size is on D, but none of it makes up for losing McD IMO.

It's not about the size but the style. I think OUR D is well setup to handle the Tampa aggressive forecheck, which hasn't always been the case.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Not me give me 2 cups right now I'll never complain till the end. Fans dont know how hard it's to touch that silver mug. Ask leaf fans 1967 . Canucks 1970. Buffalo. St louis finally broke their drought. Caps . They only have one. Islanders since 1984. Calgary since 1989. The mighty habs 1993 the rich rags since 1993 . That silver cup is impossible to get. Let's hope this one ours this year. We have a solid shot.

In season 5 of crappy non-playoff hockey, those Cups aren't going to make watching your lousy team any easier.

 

[LavioletteScores]

IMO, the thing the Bruins need most is to improve their 5v5 scoring beyond the first line. I am in no way saying their 5v5 play right now is bad, but I feel like it could always be better.

It's what Sweeney has been working towards the last few years, whether from the defense or third and fourth lines. I don't see how Lucic does that. Hall, Zacha, Lindholm, now Orlov, all efforts to improve 5v5 play. Anyone who comes in needs to contribute something better than what we have 5v5.

 

[BruinsJoe]

Bruins really need a solide third liner to replace Smith...really!

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

They are playing with good structure. But so do the other top teams. Then you start looking at the talent on their blue line and it's a bit wanting compared to what Boston, Carolina and Tampa are throwing out there. Can they defend with structure and lessor talent when they start playing Boston, Carolina and Tampa? Never worked for those Boston teams against Tampa that had questionable defensive depth but good regular seasons stats.

It's a brutal season for teams in the east. Only one team is coming out alive. Haven't even mentioned the Devils or Rangers.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

Bruins really need a solide third liner to replace Smith...really!

only if they're better than Frederic.

 

[BlackFrancis]

My post was to meant to showcase that if all else fails and we can rid ourselves of Reilly, who's signed through next year and acquire Looch as insurance, great. But first order of business would be to use Reilly's space on an upgrade at 3RW

Yeah, that's the way I read it. I've got some pretty big issues with it, though.

First, you'd think getting rid of Reilly would allow you to do better than a $2.6m/$1m split of the freed up cap space, with the larger portion going to a depth player.

Second, if you pick up a 3RW, that pushes Fred down. Now, Lucic is behind Foligno and Fred, both of whom are significantly better players currently. Are they really that desperate for a 14th forward?

The biggest issue Lucic has as a depth player for a playoff march is he has no flexibility. He's not a PKer anymore. He's always been a LW only, positionally.

 

[13Hockey]

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

It's not about the size but the style. I think OUR D is well setup to handle the Tampa aggressive forecheck, which hasn't always been the case.

ok but the thing is that is NOT Tampa's style and never has been. They have a few guys who can punish you on the forecheck. but that is not the style that the team is playing. They are a high skill, puck possession team. By definition if you have the puck close to 60% of the time then you are not spending most of your time hitting and forechecking. This idea that Tampa is just rolling a constant wave of guys putting our D through the end boards is just a complete figment of your imagination.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

View attachment 658296

Get outta here with your stats. #chartz

 

[FrankerC]

Its funny how Gavrikov rumors have basically halted since Bruins made their move. CBJ has really fumbled this one, putting so much weight on a Bruins deal.

 

[BlackFrancis]

IMO, the thing the Bruins need most is to improve their 5v5 scoring beyond the first line. I am in no way saying their 5v5 play right now is bad, but I feel like it could always be better.

It's what Sweeney has been working towards the last few years, whether from the defense or third and fourth lines. I don't see how Lucic does that. Hall, Zacha, Lindholm, now Orlov, all efforts to improve 5v5 play. Anyone who comes in needs to contribute something better than what we have 5v5.

Two things you can never get enough of during the playoffs: garbage goals and guys who can turn transition into goals all by themselves.

I brought Bonino up a month ago, as he's a faceoff guy who always rattles the garbage cans. So, who's the quick strike specialist? And what position does he play?

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Lost me at Hagel

You clearly don't watch much Tampa Bay.

 

[Healthy Wrap]

IMO, the thing the Bruins need most is to improve their 5v5 scoring beyond the first line. I am in no way saying their 5v5 play right now is bad, but I feel like it could always be better.

It's what Sweeney has been working towards the last few years, whether from the defense or third and fourth lines. I don't see how Lucic does that. Hall, Zacha, Lindholm, now Orlov, all efforts to improve 5v5 play. Anyone who comes in needs to contribute something better than what we have 5v5.

Agreed. It's hard to complain about what looks like one of the greatest teams in history. But...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little concerned about the 3rd line. I know they're getting a ton of defensive zone starts but it still feels like they should be contributing more. Hall has been a non-factor offensively for months now. I love the makeup of the 4th line with the Hathaway addition but that's not necessarily a line that's going to generate a ton offensively. I'd like to see Sweeney add another forward as insurance in case the top 6 starts to struggle.

 

[dugg133]

Its funny how Gavrikov rumors have basically halted since Bruins made their move. CBJ has really fumbled this one, putting so much weight on a Bruins deal.

Jarmo overplayed his hand. If he wanted to get a deal done then don’t make us look elsewhere to offload salary, otherwise this is what happens.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

Agreed. It's hard to complain about what looks like one of the greatest teams in history. But...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little concerned about the 3rd line. I know they're getting a ton of defensive zone starts but it still feels like they should be contributing more. Hall has been a non-factor offensively for months now. I love the makeup of the 4th line with the Hathaway addition but that's not necessarily a line that's going to generate a ton offensively. I'd like to see Sweeney add another forward as insurance in case the top 6 starts to struggle.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

It’s going to be an entertaining series. On paper Toronto D is awful. Somehow they play like a tight unit. O’Reilly will most likely be tasked with keeping Kucherov off the score sheet. I think it goes 7 games.

Does Jeannot take lots of penalties?

For a guy who drops the gloves and has 275-300 hits? No not really. His PIM are 85 as of today.

 

[NDiesel]

Tampa has built their dynasty on having insane top end skill, a large, mobile D and an all-world goalie. They have supplemented all that with strong depth additions over the years. Once they had the core in place they went all-in on depth at multiple deadlines and it got them back to back Cups.

Yes they have size on D and have added enough physicality in the bottom 6 to not be soft, but let's not pretend they are like a 70s Bruins team or something.

This x1000. I never agreed, when we lost to them in 2018, that they beat us because of their physicality. Lots of posters here wanted us to get bigger, but to me it was always their depth scoring that was far superior.

We had guys like Kuraly, Schaller, Riley Nash, Heinen, Backes, Acciari in our bottom 6...none of those guys scored at all and had maybe 2 or 3 points across the 12 games.

Meanwhile they had guys like Cirelli, Gourde, Killorn, Callahan, JT Miller in theirs.

Always thought we needed to match those guys better and not their Maroons and Paquettes.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

For a guy who drops the gloves and has 275-300 hits? No not really. His PIM are 85 as of today.

That’s the fifth most in the league, two behind third.

 

[The don godfather]

The arms race is still heating up canes want JT miller . Donny isnt done no way.

 

[wintersej]

ok but the thing is that is NOT Tampa's style and never has been. They have a few guys who can punish you on the forecheck. but that is not the style that the team is playing. They are a high skill, puck possession team. By definition if you have the puck close to 60% of the time then you are not spending most of your time hitting and forechecking. This idea that Tampa is just rolling a constant wave of guys putting our D through the end boards is just a complete figment of your imagination.

Nope, my eye test is the only one in the world that is always accurate.

You are right, of course, that they like to possess the puck and pass it around and look for good shots. This isn't the dump and chase Blues. But, they have more of that physical element than any of the other top contenders... and its an element most Bruins fans have PTSD over since the Islanders, Tampa and STL have all left our defense groups in injured shambles.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

ok but the thing is that is NOT Tampa's style and never has been. They have a few guys who can punish you on the forecheck. but that is not the style that the team is playing. They are a high skill, puck possession team. By definition if you have the puck close to 60% of the time then you are not spending most of your time hitting and forechecking. This idea that Tampa is just rolling a constant wave of guys putting our D through the end boards is just a complete figment of your imagination.

This TB isn't going to have the puck 50% of the time against Toronto and didn't last year either. So it makes sense for them to load up on guys like Paul, Perry, Maroon and Jeannot.

Not to mention Perry and Colton who bring some skill while Hagel, Cirelli and Killorn have skill and apply a great speed forecheck.

TB's elite skill guys upfront are Point, Kucherov and Stamkos. TB has a 3 tier mix of forwards but 7 are capable of being really physical.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

That’s the fifth most in the league, two behind third.

I am talking about how many put his team shorthanded for the amount of his hits.