Composition of the defense...

[Dennis Bonvie]

It's the 3rd pairing! Who cares! Oh know everything is ruined we don't have all L/R combos. no one does. its doesn't need to be. I hope Julien isn't that stubborn

using lesser talent because of handedness might be the dumbest thing i've ever heard

Then the whole NHL is crazy.

No one in the league pairs right-handed shooting defensemen together.

 

[reillysmith38]

Then the whole NHL is crazy.

No one in the league pairs right-handed shooting defensemen together.

It's not that there aren't any righty righty pairs.

You play guys who can successfully play their side.

Most of the time its RHD on the right and LHD on the left.

Lots more lefties playing defense so when they are younger they learn to play on the right. Some lefties in the NHL play on the right side. so there are some L-L pairs. Especially on teams with no righties on defense.

Nashville had a rare RHD-RHD pair last year. Jones, Franson and Ellis were all in the lineup. Weber's played with JOnes before too. The reason for Franson's benching was because he didn't fit in a lineup where there were better fit right handed players in their top 6.

If there are RHD's that have experience playing on the left, I'm okay with a righty-righty pair. this is just a rare occurance.

 

[DitClapper]

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Don Sweeney on the D:

“Well, you’re always going to want to have the best group you possibly can,†the GM said. “There’s probably an element of the unknown, because we have some guys that are going to push (for roster spots). But we have waiver decisions — there are certain things that impact the decision overall. There are a couple of free agents that we still have conversations with that we felt might improve our club if the financial component works, and we’re not going to stop having those conversations, because they might be the right thing to do. Matt Irwin coming on I think helps provide a lot of depth for our overall grouping.

“… But we have some younger players that at some point in time have to be given an opportunity if you believe in them. And for me, that’s an exciting part of the game. Yes it is. It’s a little bit of the unknown. I’m not going to sit here and blow smoke in any direction that it’s not. It absolutely is. Would a coach like to have four guys that have been in the All-Star Game the previous year? Yeah. If he can pencil that in, I’m sure he’s going to say, ‘Let’s check that box right off.’ But at times, it doesn’t happen that way. We’ve got five players who are returning who have played for your hockey club that had a lot of success, that I thin you’ve got a foundation there.â€


Who are they?

 

[Duguay]

As is, for now.

Forced compliance trades happen in October.

Watch for Sweens to try and spin the table on the Boychuck loss

 

[JOKER 192]

Don Sweeney on the D:

“Well, you’re always going to want to have the best group you possibly can,†the GM said. “There’s probably an element of the unknown, because we have some guys that are going to push (for roster spots). But we have waiver decisions — there are certain things that impact the decision overall. There are a couple of free agents that we still have conversations with that we felt might improve our club if the financial component works, and we’re not going to stop having those conversations, because they might be the right thing to do. Matt Irwin coming on I think helps provide a lot of depth for our overall grouping.

“… But we have some younger players that at some point in time have to be given an opportunity if you believe in them. And for me, that’s an exciting part of the game. Yes it is. It’s a little bit of the unknown. I’m not going to sit here and blow smoke in any direction that it’s not. It absolutely is. Would a coach like to have four guys that have been in the All-Star Game the previous year? Yeah. If he can pencil that in, I’m sure he’s going to say, ‘Let’s check that box right off.’ But at times, it doesn’t happen that way. We’ve got five players who are returning who have played for your hockey club that had a lot of success, that I think you’ve got a foundation there.â€


Who are they?

Chara,Sieds,Krug,McQuaid and Miller would be my guess as to who he's referring to.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Chara,Sieds,Krug,McQuaid and Miller would be my guess as to who he's referring to.

I think so too.

 

[PlayMakers]

Who are they?

Chara, Seidenberg, Krug, McQuaid and Kevan Miller.

That's his "foundation of five." Granted, they are the slowest and least effective puck moving group in the NHL, but that's what he's put together and who he's talking about.

He has 2-3 rookies vying for the 6th spot, and Irwin there to step in if they struggle.

 

[PlayMakers]

Don Sweeney on the D:

... But we have waiver decisions — there are certain things that impact the decision overall...

What waiver decisions do they have to make?

Are they carrying more than 23 one-way contracts (or more accurately stated, non-waiver eligible contracts)?

 

[Beesfan]

What waiver decisions do they have to make?

Are they carrying more than 23 one-way contracts (or more accurately stated, non-waiver eligible contracts)?

No, I think he means certain players have to be up in Boston or they will be subject to waivers. If they keep Morrow or C. Miller in Boston, they are going to lose K. Miller, Trotman or Irwin to waivers.

 

[Grumpy Grizz]

Aren't K. Miller and Irwin interchangeable? I hope they give Morrow a chance, he was one of the better d for retrieving pucks in our end, in the few times I saw him.
Chara - C. Miller
Morrow-Seids
Krug-Mcquaid
Irwin and K. Miller can fight it out for 7th.
Probably too drastic for Claude but you would have a defender and PMD on each pairing and youngsters would be with vets. You could also probably switch krug and Morrow if you wanted too. Unfortunately you'd have to waive either Miller or Irwin.

 

[JoeIsAStud]

Aren't K. Miller and Irwin interchangeable? I hope they give Morrow a chance, he was one of the better d for retrieving pucks in our end, in the few times I saw him.
Chara - C. Miller
Morrow-Seids
Krug-Mcquaid
Irwin and K. Miller can fight it out for 7th.
Probably too drastic for Claude but you would have a defender and PMD on each pairing and youngsters would be with vets. You could also probably switch krug and Morrow if you wanted too. Unfortunately you'd have to waive either Miller or Irwin.

K Miller and Irwin might be interchangable in that they are both 5-7 types, other than that they are about as different as 2 defenseman can be. Irwin is an offense first player. His game is all offense, and he lacks defense. K Miller brings no offense at all

I think Trotman plays with Chara if there are no other players added.

Krug absolutely deserves to be on the second pairing this year

 

[Eddie Munson]

K Miller and Irwin might be interchangable in that they are both 5-7 types, other than that they are about as different as 2 defenseman can be. Irwin is an offense first player. His game is all offense, and he lacks defense. K Miller brings no offense at all

I think Trotman plays with Chara if there are no other players added.

Krug absolutely deserves to be on the second pairing this year

I don't know if they can justify playing McQuaid on the 3rd pairing for what they're paying him, also you usually don't lock up a #5/6 defensemen with that much term. So it's looking like a top 4 of Chara, Seids, Krug, and McQuaid and a bottom 5-7 of some combination of Irwin, K.Miller, Trotman, Morrow, C.Miller, etc.

Truthfully though I really am baffled by the make up of this defense and hope it's the target of an overhaul next offseason.

 

[BB88]

I don't know if they can justify playing McQuaid on the 3rd pairing for what they're paying him, also you usually don't lock up a #5/6 defensemen with that much term. So it's looking like a top 4 of Chara, Seids, Krug, and McQuaid and a bottom 5-7 of some combination of Irwin, K.Miller, Trotman, Morrow, C.Miller, etc.

Truthfully though I really am baffled by the make up of this defense and hope it's the target of an overhaul next offseason.

Why?
That's your normal 3rd pairing money these days and he took a pay cut(McQuaid), that would be a bad bad reason to play someone in the top4 just like playing Trotman in the 1st pairing because you'd have to waive him otherwise.

McQuaid is a geat 3rd pairing D but he is a 3rd pairing D-player.

 

[Eddie Munson]

Why?
That's your normal 3rd pairing money these days and he took a pay cut(McQuaid), that would be a bad bad reason to play someone in the top4 just like playing Trotman in the 1st pairing because you'd have to waive him otherwise.

McQuaid is a geat 3rd pairing D but he is a 3rd pairing D-player.

Why are they retaining someone they look at as a #5/6 though for that term? Usually you expect young players to fill in the openings on the bottom pairings and then move up the lineup. I'm not saying play McQuaid as a #4 because they're paying him as a top-4, I'm saying I believe they see him as a #4, hence the salary/term given to him. Solidifying the bottom pairing with an Irwin signing, McQuaid re-signing and K.Miller while leaving a hole in the top-4 just doesn't add up to me unless there is more to come...?

Again I will be downright shocked if the defense doesn't look like: Chara - Seids, Krug - McQuaid, Irwin - Miller, Trotman/Morrow; come puck drop opening night. Just my $0.02.

 

[DominicT]

McQuaid (and his agent) knew he was leaving money on the table as a UFA. Love the Lone Wolf.

You'll have to explain this one to me Colt, because last I heard, McQuaid's agent was surprised at both the term and the money the Bruins offered and quickly jumped to sign that deal.

Thus, it surprises me to hear "McQuaid knew he was leaving money on the table".

 

[CDJ]

I could see McQuaid getting more $/year on the open market. Now obviously I have no idea what the behind-the-scenes stuff is like but Deryk Engelland got PAID over a nice term for essentially being a poor man's Adam McQuaid. Only takes one team that thinks they need to add some truculence.

It also wouldn't surprise me to see no other 4 year offers to him given his injury history- that's where I became skeptical of the deal. I can live with it though, he's a model teammate and brings toughness every game (something we don't have a whole lot of IMO). He's also fine in his own end, he just runs into trouble retrieving pucks. Him and Krug are an ideal pairing.

 

[LouJersey]

Chara-Trotman
Krug-Seids
Irwin-McQuaid

 

[BB88]

Why are they retaining someone they look at as a #5/6 though for that term? Usually you expect young players to fill in the openings on the bottom pairings and then move up the lineup. I'm not saying play McQuaid as a #4 because they're paying him as a top-4, I'm saying I believe they see him as a #4, hence the salary/term given to him. Solidifying the bottom pairing with an Irwin signing, McQuaid re-signing and K.Miller while leaving a hole in the top-4 just doesn't add up to me unless there is more to come...?

Again I will be downright shocked if the defense doesn't look like: Chara - Seids, Krug - McQuaid, Irwin - Miller, Trotman/Morrow; come puck drop opening night. Just my $0.02.

I don't see that money for UFA as top4 money, that is 3rd pairing money for UFA, and maybe they see him as an important piece in our tougher to play against style and as an important pk guy.

They can't expect him to be a top4 guy when 5-6 prospects are trying to push into the lineup after next season and we need to get a top pairing D somehow if we want to have success now in 1-3years time.
Also McQuaid on the 3rd pairing is a great partner for rookies.
I'm going to hate our next season, I don't know how I can watch the most boring/pointless D group in the league.

Colin has to win a roster spot, he has to, we need to have a rookie D in our lineup who is in our longterm plans, we need to have someone up who can find his game in our re-tool year so he can be a potential impact player in 1-2 years when we are trying to fight.
If we ice zero rookies who are in our future plans next year then why play at all next year, we'd be pushing 4-6 rookies into our lineup in 2016- and can we expect to make a strong push then when all those players are learning NHL game? To me that's just adding another re-tool year and wasting a year.

I get ..... mad when I think of that D group and think we have Julien and he will probably ice something like that, atleast we'd get a top10 pick. 10-11th in the East and only few teams on the West with weaker D's/teams.

Chara-Trotman
Krug-Seids
Irwin-McQuaid

That would be a very sad re-tool year D group, doesn't help our future at all.

 

[Eddie Munson]

That would be a very sad re-tool year D group, doesn't help our future at all.

Of course it does. Our pick will be top-5!

 

[BB88]

Of course it does. Our pick will be top-5!

If that's Sweeney's masterplan and we get our elite potential D at the draft then I'll apologize to everyone

I just want our season to have a meaning, do the groundwork for brighter/stronger future or build a potential top team that can do damage in the playoffs, but not doing neither of those and endip up with a 10-14 pick would drive me crazy, that's just risking the 2016- season as well.
I want us to be a top team in the East 2016-, so I'm praying Colin wins a roster spots and has next year time to find his game and step up, because after next season we'd have Colin, O'Gara, Grzelcyk, Arnesson, Carlo, Zboril pushing into the lineup and can you do damage with 3 D rookies in the lineup at the same time and would we play 3 rookies at the same time?
Do it in parts, Colin now, O'Gara/Grzelcyk after their season ends and then more fighting after next season, this means we need D spots and with Franson/Seids we'd have only 1 spot available and 5-6 kids pushing into lineup, that's just wasting money, stopping us from paying for a top player and not icing the best lineup as possible.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

If that's Sweeney's masterplan and we get our elite potential D at the draft then I'll apologize to everyone

I just want our season to have a meaning, do the groundwork for brighter/stronger future or build a potential top team that can do damage in the playoffs, but not doing neither of those and endip up with a 10-14 pick would drive me crazy, that's just risking the 2016- season as well.
I want us to be a top team in the East 2016-, so I'm praying Colin wins a roster spots and has next year time to find his game and step up, because after next season we'd have Colin, O'Gara, Grzelcyk, Arnesson, Carlo, Zboril pushing into the lineup and can you do damage with 3 D rookies in the lineup at the same time and would we play 3 rookies at the same time?
Do it in parts, Colin now, O'Gara/Grzelcyk after their season ends and then more fighting after next season, this means we need D spots and with Franson/Seids we'd have only 1 spot available and 5-6 kids pushing into lineup, that's just wasting money, stopping us from paying for a top player and not icing the best lineup as possible.

Okay, so if Colin Miller forces his way into the lineup:

Chara - Trotman
Seidenberg - Miller
Krug - McQuaid
Irwin, Miller

I don't see the problem here.

 

[BB88]

Okay, so if Colin Miller forces his way into the lineup:

Chara - Trotman
Seidenberg - Miller
Krug - McQuaid
Irwin, Miller

I don't see the problem here.

I think that's around what we are looking at right now(hopefully) but the feeling is that Sweeney will add another D player at some point this offseason.

With Colin in the lineup I could live with it, helps our future, allows us to take Chara off the pp and helps our transition, but we can as easily see
Chara-Franson
Krug-Seidenberg
Irwin-McQuaid
Trotman

D group and that is scary.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

I think that's around what we are looking at right now(hopefully) but the feeling is that Sweeney will add another D player at some point this offseason.

With Colin in the lineup I could live with it, helps our future, allows us to take Chara off the pp and helps our transition, but we can as easily see
Chara-Franson
Krug-Seidenberg
Irwin-McQuaid
Trotman

D group and that is scary.

I don't think they'll move Seidenberg over to the right side. Not until he shows he can play on his native left again. Recipe for disaster and no need to do it with all of the RH shots already around. Adding Franson would make it even less likely.

I'm actually having a lot of trouble trying to figure out where Franson fits at all. The entire defense falls into place once a partner is decided for Chara... but is he really that guy?

As it is, I don't see your second group of defense pairs as being worse than what I posted. And I don't see Colin Miller going from AHL developed by an entirely different organization straight to the top pair in Boston. Talk about setting the player up to fail and ruining the chance of his contributing in the future.

 

[BB88]

I don't think they'll move Seidenberg over to the right side. Not until he shows he can play on his native left again. Recipe for disaster and no need to do it with all of the RH shots already around. Adding Franson would make it even less likely.

I'm actually having a lot of trouble trying to figure out where Franson fits at all. The entire defense falls into place once a partner is decided for Chara... but is he really that guy?

As it is, I don't see your second group of defense pairs as being worse than what I posted. And I don't see Colin Miller going from AHL developed by an entirely different organization straight to the top pair in Boston. Talk about setting the player up to fail and ruining the chance of his contributing in the future.

Pairings are killing me too, Franson with us would have to be a 1st pairing guy because I don't think Krug-Franson 2nd pairing could work and they'll want to test Krug on the 2nd pairing, also Seidenberg-Franson 2nd pairing could be painfully low and We'd have a 6.2M 3rd pairing with that(Krug-McQuaid) and again the top4 would be painfully slow. I'm hoping Colin would be our 2nd pairing D playing potentially with Seidenberg on the 1st half of the season, same can be said for Trotman, but I see Colin bein a much better prospect and a fit into our lineup and for what is missing from our D group, he seems to hit everything thats missing.

Chara-Zidlicky
Seidenberg-Colin
Krug-McQuaid
is the group right now for me. O'Gara/Grzelcyk getting a look after their season ends.
= stay at home D with strong puck mover who lears the zone with speed or with strong passing.

Chara-Colin
Krug- Carlo/x
O'Gara-McQuaid
2016-,
then we'd still have Zboril, Grzelcyk, Arnesson ready to step up, if we lock 4-5 spots for years then how are we going to ever fit rookies into our lineup? We can't afford to pay for top players if we don't have strong ELC players on the roster and make us contenders= we wouldn't ice the best lineup as possible.

I see that my proposal answer to you being weaker because:

it won't
1) make us potential top teams in the East,
2)doesn't help our future at all, not allowing young players to step up and find their game/learn the NHL game in our retool year,
3)it would just harm our 2016- season when we'd be pushing lots of unexperienced players into the lineup at the same time and at the same time we would want to be top teams in the East.

Our season needs to have a meaning, purpose. Either be strong enough to do damage in the playoffs or get ready for future runs.