The Athletic - Boston By the numbers: Offseason grades for all 31 NHL teams

Trap Jesus

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Feb 13, 2012
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Certainly seems fair considering they haven't made any moves that fill any holes on their roster (there is no good replacement for Riley Nash at the moment, no established 2nd line RW I'm not as concerned about), or made any trades to justify potentially $5.5 million worth of the blueline sitting in the pressbox.

Halak SHOULD help take some pressure off Rask, but I don't think it was the biggest need to begin with.
 
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UncleRico

Registered User
May 8, 2017
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This seems like a pretty fair grade to me. Definitely still have some holes that didn’t get filled at 2nd line RW and 3rd line center. We also didn’t add any key pieces. He said the bruins went down roughly 2.8 wins so 5-6 points lower than last season.

With teams in our division improving and the bruins losing talent, I don’t think a 107 or 106 point season is a bad guess.
 
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GloryDaze4877

Barely Irrelevant
Jun 27, 2006
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It's more that losing Bozak and JVR is a huge defensive upgrade and basically all of the points they produced are replaced by JVR + replacement level player.

The B's lost a lot of their depth and added an actively bad and negative player, that's why he rated it that way.

“Lost a lot of their depth”?

“Added an actively bad and negative player”?

They “lost” Riley Nash, who up until this past season, nobody gave two shits about. Schaller will be replaced by the cheaper Nordstrom/Wagner options. Wagner in particular should bring a much-needed sandpaper element to the 4th line.

Rick Nash may or may not be back, but the B’s managed to put up a lot of points without him for most of the year. They replaced Khudobin with Halak and added some size and skating ability with a 4/5 D in Moore.

Who is the actively bad and negative player? Nordstrom? I missed the part where he was a dressing room cancer? And if you mean “bad” from a talent standpoint, I disagree, and am confident that he can handle his 12/13th F responsibilities. It’s not like they are sticking these guys on the top line.
 

Trap Jesus

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Feb 13, 2012
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“Lost a lot of their depth”?

“Added an actively bad and negative player”?

They “lost” Riley Nash, who up until this past season, nobody gave two ****s about. Schaller will be replaced by the cheaper Nordstrom/Wagner options. Wagner in particular should bring a much-needed sandpaper element to the 4th line.

Rick Nash may or may not be back, but the B’s managed to put up a lot of points without him for most of the year. They replaced Khudobin with Halak and added some size and skating ability with a 4/5 D in Moore.

Who is the actively bad and negative player? Nordstrom? I missed the part where he was a dressing room cancer? And if you mean “bad” from a talent standpoint, I disagree, and am confident that he can handle his 12/13th F responsibilities. It’s not like they are sticking these guys on the top line.
4th line is whatever, players come and go all the time on the bottom line on every team. That being said, Schaller actually brought some legit skill to that line.

I think the problem with the 2RW and the 3C is that it really stretches the team thin. As it stands right now, it looks like Kuraly could be the 3C. Like him as the 4C, but as the 3C? No thanks.

Donato should be able to plug one of those holes, but it's just about finding the right fit. Don't know if he's able to handle the responsibilities of the center position, and he'd be on his off-wing with Krejci.

Even if you weren't a fan of Riley, you have to admit that he brought stability. Defensive stalwart that could hold his own offensively. When Heinen-Nash-Backes was going, it was a huge reason for the Bruins success.
 

Critical13

Fear is the mind-killer.
Feb 25, 2017
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Confused - how does losing Bozak and JVR constitute a “huge defensive upgrade”, am I reading that wrong?

Did you not watch our series against one another last spring? JVR looks like Jason Allison on the back check and Bozak lost every single battle no matter which line he was up against. We simply couldn't shelter those guys against you, or any deep team for that matter.
 

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
73,961
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Since this article didn't shine a positive light on the Bruins, I am going to discredit the author as well.
I dig deep - made calls, exchanged emails, met people at park benches in both Boston Common and London Ontario using only passwords to identify.

I nailed this but the FAKE Bruins fans led by the High (and I do mean high) Priest Fire Sweeney don’t like it when the Bruins bashers are called out.

I get the hate I really do - lots of people want to wear a cool robe and hold candles burning pictures of Josef Stumpel.

It hurts but the truth is out there and I just happened to find it
 

EverettMike

FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
Mar 7, 2009
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So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?

Same question for the Leafs.
 

GloryDaze4877

Barely Irrelevant
Jun 27, 2006
44,395
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The Sticks (West MA)
4th line is whatever, players come and go all the time on the bottom line on every team. That being said, Schaller actually brought some legit skill to that line.

I think the problem with the 2RW and the 3C is that it really stretches the team thin. As it stands right now, it looks like Kuraly could be the 3C. Like him as the 4C, but as the 3C? No thanks.

Donato should be able to plug one of those holes, but it's just about finding the right fit. Don't know if he's able to handle the responsibilities of the center position, and he'd be on his off-wing with Krejci.

Even if you weren't a fan of Riley, you have to admit that he brought stability. Defensive stalwart that could hold his own offensively. When Heinen-Nash-Backes was going, it was a huge reason for the Bruins success.

It’s not that I’m “not a fan of Riley”. I just think the tendency on this site is to look at these moves in as negative a fashion as possible.

Heading into last season, there was a lot of negativity about how the B’s would do and players like Nash and Schaller were dismissed as 4th line fodder. Now I’m reading about how it was justified to grade the B’s offseason thus far a D because they lost those same guys that people were trashing last summer.

It’s f***ing hilarious.

Would I be more comfortable with a proven mid-20’s scorer on the 2nd line RW?

Absolutely.

However, I also realize that the B’s had 112 pts last season, despite quite a few injuries (which is what moved Riley Nash up in the lineup). They did that without Rick Nash, who played all of 11 games for the B’s. Now that he hasn’t returned, guys like the one who wrote the article act like he was this huge loss for Boston.

Third line C is my biggest concern for the team heading into this season, but wasn’t it a concern last year as well? I’m asking honestly, I don’t remember. It believe it was 37, 46, and then it was thought it might be Backes, but it turned out to be Nash, and Kuraly anchored the 4th line. Before last season Nash’s career high was 25 pts. He was three years removed from that and was coming off a 17 pt season for Boston the year before.

I think between Kuraly, Backes, Donato, Frederic, JFK, Studnicka, (maybe Heinen), the B’s can find themselves a 3rd line C. Like you, I’m skeptical about Kuraly’s ability to make the leap to 3C, but is he any worse a candidate than Nash20 was last year?

Even if they aren’t happy with any of those candidates, they have the ammo to go get one.
 
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Absurdity

light switch connoisseur
Jul 6, 2012
10,609
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So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?

Same question for the Leafs.
In my opinion, Bruins are the same, Leafs got better.

I still think both teams have some question marks on their roster. For the Bruins, do the 2nd-year players improve in their 2nd year, or do they fall into a sophomore slump? Are the Bruins able to fill the 2nd line RW and #3C positions from within? Does Chara have just a solid of a season as he did last season or does he slow down?

For Toronto, apart from their best four forwards (Tavares, Matthews, Nylander and Marner), will their depth forwards be productive? Will Marleau take a step back as he's getting up there in age? Will Hyman, Johnsson, Kapanen, and etc. be able to provide enough depth to compliment Toronto's centers and RWers? Toronto still has question marks on defense. Will they improve this season or will they be the same defense Boston exposed?

I don't know the rest of the list, but I don't think Toronto should be #1, should still be in the top 10, nor should Tampa be #2 for re-signing players already on their roster and "being front-runners for Karlsson" which doesn't seem like a deal will be done anytime soon. I don't know where St. Louis is on the list, but they should be very close to #1 if they aren't already.
 
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Trap Jesus

Registered User
Feb 13, 2012
28,686
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It’s not that I’m “not a fan of Riley”. I just think the tendency on this site is to look at these moves in as negative a fashion as possible.

Heading into last season, there was a lot of negativity about how the B’s would do and players like Nash and Schaller were dismissed as 4th line fodder. Now I’m reading about how it was justified to grade the B’s offseason thus far a D because they lost those same guys that people were trashing last summer.

It’s ****ing hilarious.

Would I be more comfortable with a proven mid-20’s scorer on the 2nd line RW?

Absolutely.

However, I also realize that the B’s had 112 pts last season, despite quite a few injuries (which is what moved Riley Nash up in the lineup). They did that without Rick Nash, who played all of 11 games for the B’s. Now that he hasn’t returned, guys like the one who wrote the article act like he was this huge loss for Boston.

Third line C is my biggest concern for the team heading into this season, but wasn’t it a concern last year as well? I’m asking honestly, I don’t remember. It believe it was 37, 46, and then it was thought it might be Backes, but it turned out to be Nash, and Kuraly anchored the 4th line. Before last season Nash’s career high was 25 pts. He was three years removed from that and was coming off a 17 pt season for Boston the year before.

I think between Kuraly, Backes, Donato, Frederic, JFK, Studnicka, (maybe Heinen), the B’s can find themselves a 3rd line C. Like you, I’m skeptical about Kuraly’s ability to make the leap to 3C, but is he any worse a candidate than Nash20 was last year?

Even if they aren’t happy with any of those candidates, they have the ammo to go get one.
Nash had a breakout year, but he had shown signs of dominant defensive play the year before. Some questioned the Bruins protecting him for the expansion draft, but he had shown flashes the year before and the Bruins clearly saw something in him. We're going from stability to uncertainty on the 3rd line, and that can bleed through to different lines if they have to start restructuring the different lines' roles (ie. maybe they have to start using the Bergeron line more defensively again).

I'd be fine slotting in Donato as a scoring winger, even if it isn't ideal. Rick certainly wasn't the answer there anyways.
 

UncleRico

Registered User
May 8, 2017
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So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?

Same question for the Leafs.

Slightly worse, but I still think the Bruins end up in the 106 point range. Teams around us have also got better and our division should be a little tougher next year.

A lot really depends on what we do with 2nd line RW and 3rd line center. Also don’t think our 4th line will be as good this year as it was last year.
 

Gonzothe7thDman

Registered User
Jun 24, 2007
15,092
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Central, Ma
So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?

Same question for the Leafs.

Our core is another year older, our #1 D could have the wheels fall off this season. We lost a top 6 RW that played a style no one else on the roster can replicate.

I'd say we are worse, or best case if all the young guys get better and have no dropoffs, we are the same.

Leafs took a boatload of pressure off AM34 by getting Tavares. Their core is on the young side, and have high end talent. I'd bet on them progressing vs regressing.

I'd say they got better.

And they were already good enough to push us to a game 7 3rd period lead after being down 3-1 in the series.
 

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
73,961
51,460
So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?

Same question for the Leafs.
We lost Nash but this time last year Riley was considered a bum

Kids have experience
Depth in the defense side

I’m going same as last year

105 points & 3rd but a dangerous balanced team

So I have them worse then last year
 

Mainehockey33

Powerplay Specialist
Jul 15, 2011
10,225
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Our core is another year older, our #1 D could have the wheels fall off this season. We lost a top 6 RW that played a style no one else on the roster can replicate.

I'd say we are worse, or best case if all the young guys get better and have no dropoffs, we are the same.

Leafs took a boatload of pressure off AM34 by getting Tavares. Their core is on the young side, and have high end talent. I'd bet on them progressing vs regressing.

I'd say they got better.

And they were already good enough to push us to a game 7 3rd period lead after being down 3-1 in the series.
That might not be a bad thing, all he did in the playoffs is spin off the boards and flick the puck into the goalie. :naughty:
 

KnightofBoston

Registered User
Mar 22, 2010
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The Valley of Pioneers
Did you not watch our series against one another last spring? JVR looks like Jason Allison on the back check and Bozak lost every single battle no matter which line he was up against. We simply couldn't shelter those guys against you, or any deep team for that matter.

So you think the defense is better for the leafs solely because Bozak and JVR are gone?

What’s that D word us bruins fans use for leafs fans a lot again? :laugh:
 

Critical13

Fear is the mind-killer.
Feb 25, 2017
12,617
9,435
Sitting at a desk.
So you think the defense is better for the leafs solely because Bozak and JVR are gone?

What’s that D word us bruins fans use for leafs fans a lot again? :laugh:

When you replace minus defensive players with mediocre or plus defensive players, then yes. I expect defence to get better. You can improve team defence in more ways than adding actual defencemen.
 

KnightofBoston

Registered User
Mar 22, 2010
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The Valley of Pioneers
So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?

Same question for the Leafs.


That’s an interesting question when you consider this time last year no one though Rileh nash would be anything special and no one would have guessed they’d bank 112 points

But knowing what we know now, I’m going to say slightly worse

Core is a year older, rookies are older too except on the positive side

No Riley Nash to anchor the 3rd line and step up when a top center is hurt

Lost some skill on the 4th line in schaller

You can argue Halak won’t be as good as Dobby here

Donato and DeBrusk are known and will be focused on now


However, looking at it another way;

- Starting the year with a better defense

- Donato DeBrusk Heinen even Bjork all have more experience now

- Rask was flat out of the gate, maybe he has a better season overall

- They added grit and size in Wagner and Moore

I think they end up with around 105 or so points which is what I thought they’d be last year and battle it out with Toronto for 2nd


It wouldn’t suprise me at all this year though to see Toronto take number one and Tampa to fall off a bit whether it be to injuries or team chemistry issues, the same could be said for Toronto. Or another way to phrase my haphazard thoughts - I wouldn’t be surprised to see anothe Atlantic team surprise and get into the top 3. Hopefully it’s just not at Boston’s expense
 

KnightofBoston

Registered User
Mar 22, 2010
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The Valley of Pioneers
When you replace minus defensive players with mediocre or plus defensive players, then yes. I expect defence to get better. You can improve team defence in more ways than adding actual defencemen.

When it comes to that actual series though,Bozak and JVR were some of your better players against Boston. They’ve been around against the b’s, like the only saying goes, a good offense is a good defense.

The real way your defense will have improved here is the addition of Tavares. But at the end of the day, that blue line is oooof, gonna hold ‘em back
 

chizzler

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Jan 11, 2006
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I can’t read the entire article without a subscription to the Athletic, but hopefully the thought and effort put in were better than what another Leaf writer, Luke Fox put forward in his article.
Save your money. It’s all the same writing except now they are all on the Athletic. I would take your writing over any national guy. These articles are just opinions. Most informed fans have a better idea of their own teams standing. Deep down inside weather they are rah rah fans or the more steady fans, they know. I stay away from summer articles. Didn’t all of them have the Bruins missing the playoffs last year?
 

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