Management Don Sweeney III

[CharasLazyWrister]

I would have gone 10.5 and moved Backes next year. You would probably have to give up a second or good prospect to get somebody to take his contract but it would have been worth it.

I'm good paying whatever it takes to improve the team, bet Bergeron and Marchand are too.

These persistent “just move Backes to open up more cap space” posts are beyond naive.

All we do is bitch about how useless of a player he is, especially considering his contract. Yet there’s some GM who is going to take him if we toss in a second round pick.

It’s a preposterous notion.

Even if a team will somehow absorb that contract, it would never be 100%.

 

[BAD BOY]

Coyle has already been better in two games in terms of possession than the entire group of 3Cs they've ran out there this year

boy would Donny shut his critics if he wins a cup with coyle scoring with the winning goal and then selecting another Charlie mcavoy type in this year draft. one can dream .

That would be great. I’ll settle for the cup though.
Who they draft is a crapshoot anyway. But I get your point .

 

[BAD BOY]

These persistent “just move Backes to open up more cap space” posts are beyond naive.

All we do is ***** about how useless of a player he is, especially considering his contract. Yet there’s some GM who is going to take him if we toss in a second round pick.

It’s a preposterous notion.

Lol .

 

[Estlin]

IF the only way to match the TB and TO rosters is to get creative, then he needs to do it. It's gonna take bigger, bolder moves IMO.

I would not be surprised to see one bold move, done in the off season: trading Krug. He'd fetch a nice package from some team.

Why hang onto to Chara?

The only way I'd keep him if he's signs a very team friendly contract and is willing to accept a lesser role. With Lauzon and Vaakanainen waiting in the wings, there's no reason to plan the future around big Z unless he accepts a sustainial pay decrease and ice time.

Backes is going to be nearly impossible to move without giving up another asset. They do have a lot more options like moving Krejci before ts too late and Krug as well. Anyways it should be a very interesting off-season for the Cup Champs!

I'm of a mind to let him walk after this season is done, but it also feels as if he will be back. I think that it was Alicat who mentioned in another threat recently that Chara, should he return next season, would end up playing 1,000 games as a Bruin at some point. It would not surprise me to see the organization value sentimentality over judgement when it comes to Zdeno and sign him to another one-year contract so that he reaches that milestone. If that happens, then I sure hope he takes far less money than he's earning now.

In any event, things are coming to a head with the LHD surplus. Assuming Chara returns, there is still Krug, Grzelcyk and Moore, and, as you mention, Vaak and Lauzon appear to be NHL-ready. Zboril could even have a superior training camp next season. Something will have to give.

 

[prizminferno]

Trading Krug is not a bold move, it's a necessity. They have plenty of capable PP replacements and a plethora of guys ready to play bottom pair minutes, too.

 

[RoccoF14]

You don't trade Krug for the sake of trading Krug.

All depends on what we are getting back.

Hell, you could make that statement for every player on this squad with the exception of #37 and #88.

 

[prizminferno]

They need the cap space and they aren't gonna resign him after next year and there are plenty of suitable replacements.

 

[Chief Nine]

They need the cap space and they aren't gonna resign him after next year and there are plenty of suitable replacements.

Not really. Defensemen who create like Krug don't exactly grow on trees, then there's the chemistry issue. You don't bust up a team that has a player like Krug in the room. He's a lot more valuable than a lot of people here think

 

[JRull86]

Trading Krug is not a bold move, it's a necessity. They have plenty of capable PP replacements and a plethora of guys ready to play bottom pair minutes, too.

No they really don't.

Gryz, the guy everyone loves to slot in for Krug in this argument, is not that type of player. McAvoy could be closer to that, but he's still got a way to go (perfect 2nd unit PP guy though).

Sometimes you keep assets you probably are going to let walk at the end of the year, because you have a good team and are contenders. You don't need to get value back for every impending UFA on your team.

 

[RoccoF14]

Not really. Defensemen who create like Krug don't exactly grow on trees, then there's the chemistry issue. You don't bust up a team that has a player like Krug in the room. He's a lot more valuable than a lot of people here think

...and he's already $5.25mil vs the Cap.

I don't see that going much higher. If we can get a Top 6 RW over the summer, then I'd be OK with packaging him in a deal but I'm not looking to dump him simply because his contract is expiring.

 

[RoccoF14]

.......Sometimes you keep assets you probably are going to let walk at the end of the year, because you have a good team and are contenders. You don't need to get value back for every impending UFA on your team.

Exactly.

As a fan, I got a lot of respect for what Columbus did this season at the TDL. If Boston doesn't come out of the East, I hope its them.

 

[Chief Nine]

...and he's already $5.25mil vs the Cap.

I don't see that going much higher. If we can get a Top 6 RW over the summer, then I'd be OK with packaging him in a deal but I'm not looking to dump him simply because his contract is expiring.

Well time will tell and that's Sweeney and his team's job to figure out the cap and Krug's monetary and hockey value. I just laugh a bit when posters cavalierly say "eh we'll just trade Krug and replace his production with others". If it was that easy, every team would just plug new guys in to replace the ones who are getting too expensive

 

[prizminferno]

Too many Krug honks to have real discussion about his value I guess

 

[Rubber Biscuit]

Sometimes you keep assets you probably are going to let walk at the end of the year, because you have a good team and are contenders. You don't need to get value back for every impending UFA on your team.

Amen. If you feel you're a contender and you're truly going for it, you take the risk with your UFAs. That's what they should have done with Boychuk

 

[Rubber Biscuit]

Too many Krug honks to have real discussion about his value I guess

Seems like you don't have much interest in a "real discussion" if you're already writing off the people that disagree with you as "honks"

 

[bp13]

Sweeney hasn’t had much success closing big deals. I’ll say this however, aside from the rumblings that Vegas gave up a defensive prospect Boston couldn’t match (unless you’re okay giving up McAvoy), how much were you willing to pay Stone, assuming Sweeney had made the trade?

I read somewhere that Vegas has no state tax, so the equivalent contract here in Boston I would assume is 12m per or close to it. I would not be okay paying Stone DOUBLE what we pay Bergeron or Marchand or Pastrnak.

Why? Why would you care how much a player makes in comparison to another if it made your team better? If a GM isn't going to use the money saved by a fan favorite taking a hometown discount to spend on improving the team, then what's the benefit? That whole Bergeron/Marchand ceiling reads so much like Sinden's Bourque salary cap it's gross. It's an excuse not to spend on big-money players. It's a slap in the face to fans, so how people can actually endorse it baffles me.

And I'd bet my house on this...I'm certain that both Marchand and Bergeron would be a hell of a lot happier seeing Sweeney pay $10m+/year for Mark Stone right now than the $6M/year he gave David Backes. These guys want to win. Not sure why as fans we give a damn about their financial egos.

 

[prizminferno]

if you're going to pay McAvoy 7+ he needs to be QBing a PP unit, and Grz can be 80% of Krug at 40% the cap hit. they have no cap space, Krug is the guy that has some value.

 

[The don godfather]

Simple keep krug trade grez . No way you trade krug. He's incredible on powerplay . No way you trade this guy. No way.

 

[Chief Nine]

Too many Krug honks to have real discussion about his value I guess

Lol. So you can't state your opinion because of "Krug honks"?


OK then

 

[RoccoF14]

Why? Why would you care how much a player makes in comparison to another if it made your team better? If a GM isn't going to use the money saved by a fan favorite taking a hometown discount to spend on improving the team, then what's the benefit? That whole Bergeron/Marchand ceiling reads so much like Sinden's Bourque salary cap it's gross. It's an excuse not to spend on big-money players. It's a slap in the face to fans, so how people can actually endorse it baffles me.

And I'd bet my house on this...I'm certain that both Marchand and Bergeron would be a hell of a lot happier seeing Sweeney pay $10m+/year for Mark Stone right now than the $6M/year he gave David Backes. These guys want to win. Not sure why as fans we give a damn about their financial egos.

Because in the Salary Cap age, anything over $10mil for a winger (and I don't care WHO it is...) is insanity.

but that's just me.....

 

[bp13]

Sometimes you keep assets you probably are going to let walk at the end of the year, because you have a good team and are contenders. You don't need to get value back for every impending UFA on your team.

So now this is a good point. Sometimes you DO consider your own players rentals and keep them because you're a contender. But do you also simultaneously make a concerted effort to match competitors rosters, or do you play small ball, hoping to pull off an upset, but still call yourself contenders?

Teeing this question up a year in advance. I could see them dealing Krug, and I'd be fine with it, but if they plan to keep him in the name of a Cup run, they better damn well make a real effort in the meantime to bolster the roster. This was the issue I had with this season. It seems clear to me they have some future date in mind or else they wouldn't have been so cavalier/apathetic this past offseason. If they do the same thing this summer, I'll expect them to trade Krug this summer or at some point during the season.

 

[chizzler]

There was moaning, IMO, for several good reasons:

- The Bruins were positioned as well as one could possibly ask for. Healthy roster, top 5-ish NHL team, cap space, picks, prospects to offer, needs clearly defined
- The abundance of talent available at the deadline, and moved, was much, much better than any average year.

In the end, I like the moves they made in a vacuum, but in terms of putting them at a position they need to be they simply weren't enough IMO. Sweeney created clear holes, starting by signing Backes a few years ago, at 3C and 2RW. He did nothing to address them over the summer, presumably counting on another miracle year of prospect development. He didn't get it, clearly. So in the end he made a nice hockey move for Coyle and the MoJo add I also like, but they needed a bona fide top 6 stud to compete well with TB, Was, etc. He fell short. And sure, for those who are pinning all their hopes on some mythical future date where it all comes together, he managed to keep every single prospect (prospects that apparently weren't enough to lure top talent like Stone). So sure...the future still looks bright-"ish", but is there ever a plan to actually get the roster up to elite level or are we just gonna start planning parades for 1st round victories?

I hate to tell you there is know one out there that you cannot could acquire to match Tampa Bay. It’s foolish to think so. They are twenty points ahead of this team. This team is a good team. It just has tough fans that want to win badly. You can’t deplete the system and not have anything left if it doesn’t work out. It would be reclous. And no way the owners want that. They already went through seasons where the garden wasn’t full. They also couldn’t match Vegas prospects.

 

[veganbruin]

if you're going to pay McAvoy 7+ he needs to be QBing a PP unit, and Grz can be 80% of Krug at 40% the cap hit. they have no cap space, Krug is the guy that has some value.

I agree here. It’s just the way you need to do business in the salary cap era. The Bruins didn’t do this a few years ago and not only made one of the worst trades in team history but also set the franchise back significantly.

 

[Oates2Neely]

Why? Why would you care how much a player makes in comparison to another if it made your team better? If a GM isn't going to use the money saved by a fan favorite taking a hometown discount to spend on improving the team, then what's the benefit? That whole Bergeron/Marchand ceiling reads so much like Sinden's Bourque salary cap it's gross. It's an excuse not to spend on big-money players. It's a slap in the face to fans, so how people can actually endorse it baffles me.

And I'd bet my house on this...I'm certain that both Marchand and Bergeron would be a hell of a lot happier seeing Sweeney pay $10m+/year for Mark Stone right now than the $6M/year he gave David Backes. These guys want to win. Not sure why as fans we give a damn about their financial egos.

I care because McAvoy will need a raise soon, as will Carlo. 12.5m for Stone would eliminate the opportunity to resign key RFA’s.

Stone is a winger. I’d rather spend coin on centers and dmen. 12.5m for a winger is asinine imo.

You can’t fit Stone at 12.5m without consequences. And nobody is taking on Backes.

This is a cap world.

 

[chizzler]

@Fenway mentioned somewhere (can't find it now) that this management team isn't profit driven. I think it was in response to someone saying we were stuck on the Sinden treadmill of being good but never willing to take that next step into elite, and Fenway said the big difference was that this management team wasn't focused on profit margins...

The comment stuck in my craw a bit because under Sweeney, we've never actually spent to the cap. I know it drives @Mr. Make-Believe nuts that we leave unused cap space every year. We let the winningest coach in Bruins history sign with our arch-rival so we wouldn't have to pay the last two years on his contract, a contract that was on par with what 3rd/4th liners make in the NHL. People keep talking about the Bergeron/Marchand salary cap, (like the Ray Bourque salary cap during the Sinden-era). And this last deal for Johansson, why give up hockey assets to get NJ to retain 40% of Johansson's contract? We have a dump truck's worth of cap space. I think we could have got Johansson for a 3rd at full value instead of a 2nd and a 5th. We could have added 5 Johansson's.

All of which begs the question, are the Bruins back to being a budget team?

Garbage. They spend. They need to have space in case of injuries and bonuses. Remember the Ignla fiasco. It was due to cap space. We lost 55 because of it.