Current Bruins D-Core: Where Do They Rank?

[Trap Jesus]

I know something still has to give with the cap, and a defenseman may still be a casualty for that, but assume the Bruins deal a forward instead and go into the season with this group:

Chara-Hamilton
Seidenberg-Boychuk
Krug-Miller
Bartkowski, McQuaid

Potential call-ups: Warsofsky, Trotman, Morrow

Obviously switch the placements up to your liking (ie. switch Hamilton/Boychuk, Miller/McQuaid).

Where would you rank this group league-wide and stacked up against previous Bruins defensive-cores? I personally can't remember it being this strong in recent memory. They have a fantastic blend of playing styles, a huge breakout candidate in Hamilton, and are as deep as ever.

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[BlackNgold 84]

I know something still has to give with the cap, and a defenseman may still be a casualty for that, but assume the Bruins deal a forward instead and go into the season with this group:

Chara-Hamilton
Seidenberg-Boychuk
Krug-Miller
Bartkowski, McQuaid

Potential call-ups: Warsofsky, Trotman, Morrow

Obviously switch the placements up to your liking (ie. switch Hamilton/Boychuk, Miller/McQuaid).

Where would you rank this group league-wide and stacked up against previous Bruins defensive-cores? I personally can't remember it being this strong in recent memory. They have a fantastic blend of playing styles, a huge breakout candidate in Hamilton, and are as deep as ever.

Gotta say its pretty deep.. Its a good tough D. Hamilton will still have growing pains I think, but I do like his aggresiveness. And now with Seids/Boychuk (if he stays) being together could be tough every night.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

ive seen chara and seidenberg work together when healthy as a stud shut down duo equal to anyone. age is catching up possibly but this is a great starting point

i think hamilton's smarts/size along with the skill is going to see him emerge as a legit number 1 guy sooner rather than later. alot of the top dmen emerge in season 3 and become factors.

if boychuk is four on our depth chart than we have one hell of a good defense. i cant see many other number 4's that compare

krug might be the key to how good our d ranks 1-6 compared to other teams. i believe he is not much more than a pp specialist and as such he weakens our overall score. if im wrong... and if he can become as effective as a brian ralfalski did... then we are probably the best d core in the nhl

all of mcquaid/bartowski/miller are very quality 6/7 dmen

morrow in the pipeline gives us hope that we can suffer a loss of one of our top 4 guys and not end up suffering too much for more than a year or so

its a damn good dcore.. a strength of our team along with strength up the middle and in net

now if we can just solidify 2 more wingers for the top 3 lines

 

[VanIsle]

Top 5 right up there with. . .

St. Louis
Chicago
L.A.
Nashville

 

[Dellstrom]

Our top-8 (for now) is definitely up there.

Chara is starting to decline, but he still has a great chance to be a Norris finalist. Hamilton is going to take a HUGE step this year. The two of them compliment eachother really well. Hamilton isn't a #2 yet, but Chara makes him one. He gives a lot of help to Chara with his smooth skating, and he'll be the one taking the puck into the zone, which will give Chara a lot of rest. Both of them will put up good offensive numbers.

Having Seidenberg back is absolutely massive, and Boychuk is Boychuk. Depending on how Hamilton plays, no defenseman in our top 4 is a "#4". Chara is a #1, Seids a #2, Boychuk/Hamilton #3s. Seids and Boychuk won't put up many offensive points, but that's not their role. We need them to be a shutdown pairing, and that's what they're good at.

Krug-McQuaid/Miller is an amazing 3rd pairing. Krug gets pretty sheltered minutes, but no team has his explosiveness on their third pairing. He's going to score 40-50 points with 15-20 goals, while being good enough defensively to cover his assigned players. Miller/McQuaid are going to be physical, terrific defensively for their role, and will thrown down when needed, perfect #6s.

Bartkowski/Miller/McQuaid as our #7 is MUCH better than probably any other team in the league. Bartkowski can be a servicable #4 when he's on his game, but he's more of a #5. McQuaid and Miller are #6s on any NHL team. One of them, maybe two, is going to be traded, but we're in good shape for depth.

It's better than last year. By far, in my opinion. Hamilton's growth will hopefully cancel out Chara's decline, Seids is back, Krug has developed more and gotten more experienced. Our D and Rask is not a concern. Our offense, on the other hand... If we had trouble scoring last year, with that lineup, good luck to us.

 

[KnightofBoston]

Top 5 leaning toward top 3 with only hawks and kings ahead, and on any given night, one can outperform the other

 

[james30]

Boston's defence is not an issue. Need to find 3 forward lines with chemistry to replace the goals lost with Iginla leaving. I think we have the players for that!!!!

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

The D is good enough to win a Cup.I have never had more confidence in the back end but at the same time I am not confident our current group of forwards is good enough.We are likely two forwards away from being a contender.

 

[Mantis]

D-Pairs 1 or D-Pairs 2?

I know there has been many lineup threads recently but I'm asking something specific here.

It's pretty much a given our 3rd pair will be Krug-McQuaid/Miller

Would you prefer a top 4 of #1. Chara-Hamilton and Seidenberg-Boychuck or #2. Chara-Boychuck and Seidenberg-Hamilton

I like having Dougie with Chara so he can learn from the best and become the #1 D-man we will need when Chara finally hangs up the skates. At the same time I think a Seids-Manchuck pair would be lacking a good puck mover. If I remember correctly they were not all that great when paired in the past. They are both at their best when paired with Chara.

Edit: Sorry. Forgot to add a poll. If a mod could do that I would appreciate it. Curious to see what people think.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

#2 is my vote.

 

[Mantis]

Also, I'm sure both will be tried at some point early in the season, just curious to see what people think.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Chara-Dougie
Krug-JB
Bart-Seids


Swap 2 and 3 as you like for which is the third. Miller #7.

 

[trudatman*]

best. only real issues are backup goalie which we can all hope they won't need and star right winger needed. the second part can be solved be forcing Spooner to take the role and make it his thing or by trading some of the many extras, as long as they can somehow lose Kelly's hit in the process. anyway, let's hope this defense gels well and remains mostly interchangeable. crazy to think, but as good as this group is, the defense might be better after Chara.

 

[Odie]

I'd take #2. I hate Seidenberg and Boychuk together.

 

[Lobster57]

i think it is important to get Boychuk and Hamilton on the ice together a bit during the regular season. not as a regular thing, but a few shifts here and there. That way they have at least some familiarity with each other when it's time to play Chara and Seids together in the playoffs.

 

[Taz#24]

Disagree,

i think it is important to get Boychuk and Hamilton on the ice together a bit during the regular season. not as a regular thing, but a few shifts here and there. That way they have at least some familiarity with each other when it's time to play Chara and Seids together in the playoffs.

They both play the right side exclusively.

 

[Ten Thousand Hours]

I'd take #2. I hate Seidenberg and Boychuk together.

It hasn't looked good in the past. But I'd like to see them try it out for an extended stretch, which I don't think they have. Can always switch.

 

[Dellstrom]

i think it is important to get Boychuk and Hamilton on the ice together a bit during the regular season. not as a regular thing, but a few shifts here and there. That way they have at least some familiarity with each other when it's time to play Chara and Seids together in the playoffs.

I don't really think that's necessary anymore.

Put Chara and Hamilton with Krejci's line, put Seids and Boychuk with Bergeron's line.

We learned in the SCF... Chara-Seidenberg is way too slow to handle the Kanes and Toews of the league. And those two didn't even play half as good as they usually do.