Line Combos: Bruins D pairings for 2013-2014

[Morris Wanchuk]

Holy poop. That's your #2 and #3 defensemen on a team that relies on defense to win. I have a hard time thinking of one being gone, both would take quite some time to recover from.

Sorry meant to say both.

Seids is due for a hefty raise at the end of next season.

 

[Numbah4]

Everyone elses cap is going down too. I think you're overestimating that value.

I think a team like the Isles could use Kelly. They have a lot of team speed. He fits in there. And, he's still an excellent defensive player. And, they could use that going forward.

I'd like to keep Peverly going into next year. And, if we need an upgrade during the season. You can make a trade then.

Absolutely keep Boychuk. Let Ference and Redden walk. You don't have to activate Spooner and Krug because they are on two way contracts. As soon as Savvy's LTIR kicks in they're on the roster.

If we can deal Kelly, we'd have about 3.7m to use on signing a RW. I'm not sure if Seguin fits better with Lucic and Krejci. Or, maybe with Soderberg and Spooner.

 

[Nicholas723]

The way right now is perfect.

Chara Hamilton
Boychuk Bartowski
Mcquaid Krug

- Let Ference walk. I hope he signs with a western conf team.
- Trade Seidenberg. Another hard decision, but only has one year left in his contract , and is older than Boychuk, Mcquaid who play a similiar rugged stay at home type game. Going to miss his dependability, physical play and shot blocking capabilities. What i won't miss alot is avg skating skills, lack of offensive help and having him play the pp.

Average skating skills?

Love the way people analyze hockey on these boards, people just love to type up total nonsense.

If you're rating skating skills, Seidenberg would be in the top percentile of the Bruins... he's an exceptional skater and he's been praised for this before.

 

[BCeagle]

Injuries

What would have happen if the B's didn't have these injuries? Would they be in this position?

Krug especially has shined and the B's have to think hard about next season. He's no Bobby Orr but the way he has ramped up the offense has people thinking. The way he quickly outlets the pass or pinch into the offensive zone is amazing. That behind the back pass through his legs showed so much confidence and poise, it infectts the whole team.

 

[BklyNBruiN]

HAHAHA Seidenberg isn't going anywhere people.. This guy is one of our best players on the team period. Seidenberg was born to play for the Bruins.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

wideman is awful, ask flames fans what they think...ask bruins posters what they think. i would take boychuk with 1 leg over wideman.

wideman is limited... and streaky. if you try to use him as a number 1 then you are going to be hurting. but real nhl gm/coaches aren't stupid. wideman gets paid over 5 mill a year on his salary and gets 23-25 mins of ice per night on teams like boston and Calgary and Washington because the guy has real nhl talent. he averages 12-14 goals over an 82 game schedule because the guy has real nhl talent. he gets a mention in a sports illustrated article as a potential Norris trophy candidate because when used right.. the guy has real nhl talent

it does come down to using him correctly though. I see Chara as our beast... the guy that is going to get the top defensive assignments and the biggest role in pk situations. He does have a heavy shot for the pp but quick puck moving isn't his biggest strength. He isn't an ideal pp qb. As much as his shot is nice on the pp... his size in front of the net might even be nicer. He has been used in front of the net often in his career and maybe our pp would be better with him there???

but then we move to dougie Hamilton and this is the guy I see as moving into the number 2 role on the team in the very near future. the kid is very bright and I don't think learning nhl defense is going to be hard for him. I think we are only waiting for this kid to get a bit stronger. If Hamilton is paired with chara for the most part... who better to learn how to play big man style of hockey from? Its a rh/lh shot pair. Hamilton will probably develop into a fine pk guy... and for now I wouldn't want to ask him to qb the pp but eventually he has those types of skills too.

Seidenberg is our 2/3 guy that gets by mostly on smarts/hard work... he isn't the most super skilled guy in the world and he isn't the biggest guy in the world. He is a lh shot that plays good on the right side too. He is unfortunately only 1 year away from ufa and due for a big raise I think with his playoff performances.

so... id keep all three of these guys and build the rest of the defense around these 3... hence why I go for wideman over boychuck if I have my choice at a similar cap hit.

We don't have an ideal pp qb in these top 3 yet... we do have one big bruiser, one other big guy, and one hard nosed smaller guy.... grit is covered. leadership is covered. but Hamilton is a shakey top 3 projection and an injury to either Seidenberg or chara at playoff times leaves us very exposed.

I trust wideman more than boychuck to be thrust into a number 1 or 2 role on the team at playoff time... to be able to play pp mins... lead a transition game when trailing by a goal late in a game...

my bottom pair defense seems to have mcquaid locked in at a reasonable cap hit and he is a rh bruiser... boychuck is a much higher paid rh bruiser... how many rh bruising dman does a team need?

I like Hamilton/wideman/mcquaid as my rh dman moving forward more than I like Hamilton/boychuck/mcquaid. I love chara/Seidenberg as my 1/2 lh shot dmen. and then we get back to these kids

ference has earned a raise for his next deal I think... but we cant afford even his current deal. so I think ference is gone. I liked what I saw of redden and might bring him back at a similar cap hit but now im thinking only as a 7th dman.

I do think bartowski/krug have shown enough that I could go into next season with a reasonable expectation that at least one of them would work out as our 6th dman. A guy like Tommy Cross might really improve with another year of getting stronger too... so this team is looking pretty good for 6/7 kid dmen at the moment.

boychuck has really made the most of his chances... he seems to work hard and he has seemingly worked hard to be coached and to learn.. so I like the guy. I just don't like his contract for what is basically 4/5 skill set. Boychuck doesn't have the speed to handle checking assignments against the games elite superstars in a shut down role. he doesn't have the puck skills to produce offense on a consistient basis. this isn't a guy you can put into a 1/2 or even 3 role on your team and be too happy about. Wideman can be put into those roles and can run a good NHL pp. That's where I see the edge for wideman and why id probably proceed the way I am indicating {if Calgary wanted boychuck like I think they should}

 

[bb_fan]

Holy jebeezis batman.....

I can't beleive the number of people that have penciled krug Bart and Hamilton in as starting d men next year?????

I'll preface this with I always liked krugs play better than Bart's.... but they signed Bart yo a one year one way extension just before the failed calg. Trade.... so I assume he's automatically on the roster next year,? (Waiver eligible I assume?)

Then you have a developing Hamilton still as well.... no way do I see close tossing a third rookie in on D.

Plus no one knows how well Krug will take the full 82 game pounding.

Add to that.... three offensive small/aversge /and one stringbean sized player..... now that when big bag bruin thing is even less tough to play against.... plus figure at least one rookie forward?????

I can't Swiss or biychuck going anywhere... and mcquaids the perfect cheap physical bottom pairing guy you need as well.....

 

[DoubleAAAA]

Holy jebeezis batman.....

I can't beleive the number of people that have penciled krug Bart and Hamilton in as starting d men next year?????

I'll preface this with I always liked krugs play better than Bart's.... but they signed Bart yo a one year one way extension just before the failed calg. Trade.... so I assume he's automatically on the roster next year,? (Waiver eligible I assume?)

Then you have a developing Hamilton still as well.... no way do I see close tossing a third rookie in on D.

Plus no one knows how well Krug will take the full 82 game pounding.

Add to that.... three offensive small/aversge /and one stringbean sized player..... now that when big bag bruin thing is even less tough to play against.... plus figure at least one rookie forward?????

I can't Swiss or biychuck going anywhere... and mcquaids the perfect cheap physical bottom pairing guy you need as well.....

Depending on his waiver status (he should still be exempt I think), don't think the 1 way contract will have a whole lot of impact, apart from just not wanting to pay a guy an NHL salary (albeit minimal) to a guy in the A. Kind of the same as Bourque.

 

[Gargyn]

wideman is limited... and streaky. if you try to use him as a number 1 then you are going to be hurting. but real nhl gm/coaches aren't stupid. wideman gets paid over 5 mill a year on his salary and gets 23-25 mins of ice per night on teams like boston and Calgary and Washington because the guy has real nhl talent. he averages 12-14 goals over an 82 game schedule because the guy has real nhl talent. he gets a mention in a sports illustrated article as a potential Norris trophy candidate because when used right.. the guy has real nhl talent

it does come down to using him correctly though. I see Chara as our beast... the guy that is going to get the top defensive assignments and the biggest role in pk situations. He does have a heavy shot for the pp but quick puck moving isn't his biggest strength. He isn't an ideal pp qb. As much as his shot is nice on the pp... his size in front of the net might even be nicer. He has been used in front of the net often in his career and maybe our pp would be better with him there???

but then we move to dougie Hamilton and this is the guy I see as moving into the number 2 role on the team in the very near future. the kid is very bright and I don't think learning nhl defense is going to be hard for him. I think we are only waiting for this kid to get a bit stronger. If Hamilton is paired with chara for the most part... who better to learn how to play big man style of hockey from? Its a rh/lh shot pair. Hamilton will probably develop into a fine pk guy... and for now I wouldn't want to ask him to qb the pp but eventually he has those types of skills too.

Seidenberg is our 2/3 guy that gets by mostly on smarts/hard work... he isn't the most super skilled guy in the world and he isn't the biggest guy in the world. He is a lh shot that plays good on the right side too. He is unfortunately only 1 year away from ufa and due for a big raise I think with his playoff performances.

so... id keep all three of these guys and build the rest of the defense around these 3... hence why I go for wideman over boychuck if I have my choice at a similar cap hit.

We don't have an ideal pp qb in these top 3 yet... we do have one big bruiser, one other big guy, and one hard nosed smaller guy.... grit is covered. leadership is covered. but Hamilton is a shakey top 3 projection and an injury to either Seidenberg or chara at playoff times leaves us very exposed.

I trust wideman more than boychuck to be thrust into a number 1 or 2 role on the team at playoff time... to be able to play pp mins... lead a transition game when trailing by a goal late in a game...

my bottom pair defense seems to have mcquaid locked in at a reasonable cap hit and he is a rh bruiser... boychuck is a much higher paid rh bruiser... how many rh bruising dman does a team need?

I like Hamilton/wideman/mcquaid as my rh dman moving forward more than I like Hamilton/boychuck/mcquaid. I love chara/Seidenberg as my 1/2 lh shot dmen. and then we get back to these kids

ference has earned a raise for his next deal I think... but we cant afford even his current deal. so I think ference is gone. I liked what I saw of redden and might bring him back at a similar cap hit but now im thinking only as a 7th dman.

I do think bartowski/krug have shown enough that I could go into next season with a reasonable expectation that at least one of them would work out as our 6th dman. A guy like Tommy Cross might really improve with another year of getting stronger too... so this team is looking pretty good for 6/7 kid dmen at the moment.

boychuck has really made the most of his chances... he seems to work hard and he has seemingly worked hard to be coached and to learn.. so I like the guy. I just don't like his contract for what is basically 4/5 skill set. Boychuck doesn't have the speed to handle checking assignments against the games elite superstars in a shut down role. he doesn't have the puck skills to produce offense on a consistient basis. this isn't a guy you can put into a 1/2 or even 3 role on your team and be too happy about. Wideman can be put into those roles and can run a good NHL pp. That's where I see the edge for wideman and why id probably proceed the way I am indicating {if Calgary wanted boychuck like I think they should}

sorry, too long...but yes real nhl gms are that stupid, and his name is jay feaster, the same guy who offersheeted a guy who he should have known would have to pass through waivers first...feaster would have lost picks and the player...he is dumb and is terrible. and wideman is far from a number 2....maybe a good number 4 or decent number 3, but far from 2.