Proposal: Bruins Offseason Free Agency/Targets

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

But I like the idea of a big stay at home guy to pair with the kids on the 3rd pairing.

Then it's either McQuaid, or Miller, or Seidenberg. We cannot have more than 3 of those types being iced every night when healthy.

 

[Greek_physique]

I personally don't have an issue with McQuaid....I just cant handle Seidenberg another year.

 

[VanIsle]

I personally don't have an issue with McQuaid....I just cant handle Seidenberg another year.

No doubt, to many of the same type of players getting paid to do to much for doing to little.

Chara - Someone
Liles/Someone - C.Miller
Krug-McQuaid

Would be nice to have a free Yandle and someone to anchor the top pair that is young with upside, with the experience and still decent skill Chara has this team can be competitive again.

If nothing is done with the defense there is no way this team competes.

 

[Greek_physique]

I'd also pass on Liles; he did well but isn't a solution to our problems.

There's just so many possibilities this offseason.

Eriksson - Gone?
If you sign Yandle, do you then trade Krug for offense and keep C.Miller for the PP?

A lot can happen..I just hope we don't unload Rask.

 

[BruinDust]

Then you see St Louis D and they have size, wheels AND skills. That performance by Petro last night was legendary, he was all over the place.

It was phenomenal. Very impressive.

Paryako was very impressive as well. That Hawks series was really first time I seen a fair bit of him and came away very impressed. His upside is very high. He's a legit top 4 guy already.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

No doubt, to many of the same type of players getting paid to do to much for doing to little.

Chara - Someone
Liles/Someone - C.Miller
Krug-McQuaid

Would be nice to have a free Yandle and someone to anchor the top pair that is young with upside, with the experience and still decent skill Chara has this team can be competitive again.

If nothing is done with the defense there is no way this team competes.

I don't see how we can improve the top 4 with both Krug and McQuaid's salary on the bottom pair. Way too much money invested in a mediocre (at best) defense.

 

[BruinDust]

Then it's either McQuaid, or Miller, or Seidenberg. We cannot have more than 3 of those types being iced every night when healthy.

Then keep Seidenberg.

At least he can play RD and LD. Gives you more options for young D on the bottom-pair.

If you pencil Kevan or McQuaid into the 3rd pair alongside a kid than your pigeon-holed into using a young LD on the other side.

 

[BB88]

No doubt, to many of the same type of players getting paid to do to much for doing to little.

Chara - Someone
Liles/Someone - C.Miller
Krug-McQuaid

Would be nice to have a free Yandle and someone to anchor the top pair that is young with upside, with the experience and still decent skill Chara has this team can be competitive again.

If nothing is done with the defense there is no way this team competes.

That's 8M 3rd pairing(about).
That 1st pairing player would have to be on ELC to make the cap work.
Liles is not a player we should re-sign, he's not a game changer, time to move on and start rebuilding the defense properly.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

Then keep Seidenberg.

At least he can play RD and LD. Gives you more options for young D on the bottom-pair.

If you pencil Kevan or McQuaid into the 3rd pair alongside a kid than your pigeon-holed into using a young LD on the other side.

I don't disagree with you.

I just hope it's setup that way on the roster in October.

 

[BruinDust]

I don't see how we can improve the top 4 with both Krug and McQuaid's salary on the bottom pair. Way too much money invested in a mediocre (at best) defense.

And your likely once again breaking in a young player in your top 4.

That was hard enough to do when you had a better Chara-Hamilton-Boychuk as your Top 3. Even harder now with a declining Chara and basically question marks amongst the rest of the Top 3.

 

[Healthy Wrap]

McQuaid was our worst defenseman down the stretch bar none. His performances against Chicago and Ottawa were some of the worst I've seen from a Bruins D man since Dennis Wideman. If I'm Sweeney, I'm looking for someone, anyone, to take his and Seidenberg's contracts. Roll with Kevan Miller on the 3rd pair D. He's cheaper than McQuaid and showed significant improvement over the course of the season.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

McQuaid was our worst defenseman down the stretch bar none. His performances against Chicago and Ottawa were some of the worst I've seen from a Bruins D man since Dennis Wideman. If I'm Sweeney, I'm looking for someone, anyone, to take his and Seidenberg's contracts. Roll with Kevan Miller on the 3rd pair D. He's cheaper than McQuaid and showed significant improvement over the course of the season.

hate to say it, but I agree with this.

 

[slim399]

No doubt, to many of the same type of players getting paid to do to much for doing to little.

Chara - Someone
Liles/Someone - C.Miller
Krug-McQuaid

Would be nice to have a free Yandle and someone to anchor the top pair that is young with upside, with the experience and still decent skill Chara has this team can be competitive again.

If nothing is done with the defense there is no way this team competes.

Chara-Shattenkirk
Goligoski-C Miller
Krug-Mcquaid

 

[Greek_physique]

McQuaid was our worst defenseman down the stretch bar none. His performances against Chicago and Ottawa were some of the worst I've seen from a Bruins D man since Dennis Wideman. If I'm Sweeney, I'm looking for someone, anyone, to take his and Seidenberg's contracts. Roll with Kevan Miller on the 3rd pair D. He's cheaper than McQuaid and showed significant improvement over the course of the season.

Agreed; but at the same time we lost other dmen to injuries and McQuaid was put in a position he never should've been.

Keep him on the 3rd line and I have no issues.

He's a beast on the PK and plays with toughness which we lack.

 

[BadBruins]

The biggest problem with McQuaid is he's at best a 3rd pairing guy. He has no business in the Top 4 of any team.

But where do you break-in younger RD like C.Miller, and down the road hopefully Carlo, or anyone else they acquire, when McQuaid has a strangle-hold on that 3rd pair RD position, and has had it for the better part of half a decade now.

Either the kid has to play Top 4 minutes he isn't ready for yet. Or you play McQuaid in the Top 4 when you know full well he'll never be that type of guy.

Yes, and that is problem #1 with re-signing a bottom pairing defenseman to a long term UFA contract. If you're going to go down that road, it better be for a prime Andrew Ference type who can play both sides and give you spot duty in the top-4.

I think rebuilding the right side of the D core should be priority #1 this off-season. At least two top-4 defenseman are needed. Luckily there seems to be a number of quality RH defenseman potentially available via trade and free agency. Vatanan, Shattenkirk, Demers, Myers, Trouba, Brodin etc.

I'm not as sold on Colin Miller as many are. I don't see it.

 

[BruinDust]

Chara-Shattenkirk
Goligoski-C Miller
Krug-Mcquaid

Given the $$$$$ of that D, I don't want a younger D like C.Miller on the 2nd pair. Defeats the purpose of spending all that money on D just to use a 5 million guy like Krug on the 3rd pair to have a rookie on the 2nd.

 

[BruinDust]

Yes, and that is problem #1 with re-signing a bottom pairing defenseman to a long term UFA contract. If you're going to go down that road, it better be for a prime Andrew Ference type who can play both sides and give you spot duty in the top-4.

I think rebuilding the right side of the D core should be priority #1 this off-season. At least two top-4 defenseman are needed. Luckily there seems to be a number of quality RH defenseman potentially available via trade and free agency. Vatanan, Shattenkirk, Demers, Myers, Trouba, Brodin etc.

I'm not as sold on Colin Miller as many are. I don't see it.

I'm not a sold on him as I was earlier in the year.

Here's the problem.

Next year it's him or Morrow. They need at least one young D on a cheap contract in their regular Top 6, preferably on the bottom pair.

The next crop (Arnsson, O'Gara, Gryz, Carlo, Lauzon, Zboril) have all of 1 pro NA season combined between the lot of them (Arnesson) and I don't see any of them ready to step in next Oct.

Between Morrow and C.Miller I'd rather Miller.

So that means to me Kevan can't come back, and McQuaid has to go. Seidenberg is the better bet as he can play both sides but he's not ideal either especially at 4 million.

Rebuilding this D is going to be HARD.

 

[Mpasta]

I'd also pass on Liles; he did well but isn't a solution to our problems.

There's just so many possibilities this offseason.

Eriksson - Gone?
If you sign Yandle, do you then trade Krug for offense and keep C.Miller for the PP?

A lot can happen..I just hope we don't unload Rask.

We shouldn't be trading any defensemen for offense unless it's somebody old or somebody who may never be a top 4 defender.

 

[PlayMakers]

But I like the idea of a big stay at home guy to pair with the kids on the 3rd pairing.

I agree, but if McQuaid can't play the left side it limits what you can do.

That's why I'm open to hanging onto Seidenberg for one more year. Obviously he isn't a must have if there are moves that can be made and you need his money, but if you're not desperate for the extra $3m a buyout gives you, then he can play the left with C.Miller or the right with Morrow as needed.

 

[BB88]

http://www.startribune.com/for-wild-an-offseason-of-angst-has-begun/377054871/

Nothing new but, per Russo:

"He will have to investigate trades. Kuemper is a likely candidate to be dealt. The moment Devan Dubnyk re-signed for six years last summer, Kuemper’s fate was sealed. Zucker, who finished the season with two goals and four assists in his final 37 games (including the playoffs) and was minus-3 in the Wild’s Game 6 loss to Dallas; and Dumba, who struggled dramatically down the stretch and in the playoffs, are trade candidates, too. "
"Will Fletcher dangle defensemen Jonas Brodin or Marco Scandella in the hope of acquiring a scorer or a top center? "

Minny wants players and not future assets, is Boston a team that can then compete.
I know some really want Dumba but his defensive game is so raw and that scares me a ton, to put the top pairing expectations to him feels a bit too risky at the moment.

 

[PlayMakers]

Am I the only one who thinks Kevan Miller isn't awful?

To me, he's a guy who was asked to play big minutes against top lines all year, and while there were ups and downs, he did post the best +/- on the defense at +15, second on the team to Marchand.

It makes me wonder, if he was dropped back to the second pair where he would play against second lines, and if he got to play with more of a puck mover, would he thrive? You used to see that a lot with teams like Detroit. They'd take a guy playing top2 or top3 minutes and put him on a defense where he was 3rd or 4th and all of a sudden someone else's trash is the Wing's treasure.

Chara - Impact D
Krug - Kevan Miller
Seidenberg - C.Miller

Is that not a step in the right direction? Maybe this defenses' problems are too big to fix in one off-season. Next summer they could buy out Seidenberg and slot in O'Gara. The year after that, they could move on from K.Miller and bring in Carlo.

Chara - Impact D
Krug - Carlo
O'Gara - C.Miller

Thoughts?

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Given the $$$$$ of that D, I don't want a younger D like C.Miller on the 2nd pair. Defeats the purpose of spending all that money on D just to use a 5 million guy like Krug on the 3rd pair to have a rookie on the 2nd.

Krug is not a 3rd pair player.

 

[BruinDust]

Krug is not a 3rd pair player.

Your right, he's not, never said he was.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Am I the only one who thinks Kevan Miller isn't awful?

To me, he's a guy who was asked to play big minutes against top lines all year, and while there were ups and downs, he did post the best +/- on the defense at +15, second on the team to Marchand.

It makes me wonder, if he was dropped back to the second pair where he would play against second lines, and if he got to play with more of a puck mover, would he thrive? You used to see that a lot with teams like Detroit. They'd take a guy playing top2 or top3 minutes and put him on a defense where he was 3rd or 4th and all of a sudden someone else's trash is the Wing's treasure.

Chara - Impact D
Krug - Kevan Miller
Seidenberg - C.Miller

Is that not a step in the right direction? Maybe this defenses' problems are too big to fix in one off-season. Next summer they could buy out Seidenberg and slot in O'Gara. The year after that, they could move on from K.Miller and bring in Carlo.

Chara - Impact D
Krug - Carlo
O'Gara - C.Miller

Thoughts?

No. There are a few of us.

Best plus/minus for defensemen this past season, best plus/minus (+20) for the whole team the season before.

 

[BruinDust]

Am I the only one who thinks Kevan Miller isn't awful?

To me, he's a guy who was asked to play big minutes against top lines all year, and while there were ups and downs, he did post the best +/- on the defense at +15, second on the team to Marchand.

It makes me wonder, if he was dropped back to the second pair where he would play against second lines, and if he got to play with more of a puck mover, would he thrive? You used to see that a lot with teams like Detroit. They'd take a guy playing top2 or top3 minutes and put him on a defense where he was 3rd or 4th and all of a sudden someone else's trash is the Wing's treasure.

Chara - Impact D
Krug - Kevan Miller
Seidenberg - C.Miller

Is that not a step in the right direction? Maybe this defenses' problems are too big to fix in one off-season. Next summer they could buy out Seidenberg and slot in O'Gara. The year after that, they could move on from K.Miller and bring in Carlo.

Chara - Impact D
Krug - Carlo
O'Gara - C.Miller

Thoughts?

Probably the most realistic best-case scenario. If they can get one impact level RD this summer and shed McQuaid freeing up the 3rd pair RD spot for Colin. Morrow is likely your spare D in this scenario.

Not a fan of Kevan Miller in the Top 4 but I think Sweeney thinks more highly of him than most on this board do and I fully expect him back. And I doubt they can find a taker for Seidenberg's deal anyways, and can't see Jacobs allowing Sweeney to buy him out.

I will say Kevan Miller looked a heck of a lot better paired with Chara than he did paired with Krug. Which again presents itself a problem.