Just dropped in to say that, not a fan of the current decisions being made. Sweeney did an okay job stocking up at the McDavid draft. Some real questionable decisions, like not picking up Barzal. Also I'm not liking how the Zboril development is going. I don't think he got a fair chance at camp last year.
About those trade deadlines.
The general rule should be this: you deal away at the deadline pieces of your club that are not going to fit. You do not deal away your future. You do not mortgage a club's future for a 1 in 16 chance of a Stanley Cup. It just doesn't work most of the time.
I would rather be in the tournament, year after year, with a healthy club then get a chance at a good year followed by a step back. I feel that Sweeney is acting with some desperation as the core gets into their middle 30s. And I think we all need to come to grips with the fact that some of these guys are not going to be retiring as a Boston Bruin. Not because we don't like them, not because they suck, but for the sake of the health of the club.
You cannot have a top-heavy 35+ club. And your choices are, you either shed a few tears now by saying goodbye and get a couple first rounders that will help replenish what was lost, or you go through some dark times like pretty much all of 2000.
Yes, I realize that some people just cannot let go of a guy like Bergeron, although trading him would ensure the health of our club for well over a decade. So looking at another guy, like a Krejci, might be the right person if you could possibly unload that contract. And I might even eat some of those dollars if it turned into a viable replacement for the future. Bergeron could retire a Boston Bruin, and we could be inundated with flashbacks and 2011 replays until they hang up his jersey.
The NTC arrangement has to stop. Core only. That means five or six guys only. Third and fourth line, heck no! Nobody in the bottom six should have a NTC.
There needs to be some organizational development in the coaching department. I'm on board with Cassidy, although I started to see some Julien-esque favoritism towards the end of the year with the veterans. I want to see some dedicated skating coaches become part of the development and training camps. And by that, I mean on the bench or on the ninth level. I see a lot of veterans and players who think they are coaches now, but there are a lot of great athletes out there where we need help the most, and that is skating.
Also, we need to do something about losing in the shootout. Whether that's a shootout training regimen or bringing in a fourth liner that has a good shot, need to do something.
Nobody is more excited than I to see Riley Nash/Schaller/Kuraly go somewhere else.
And there are my GM updates prior to the draft. I will probably stop in after the draft to give my analysis of our picks. I hope you enjoyed the Stanley Cup tournament, I know I did despite being upset about our GM not knowing how to manage the trade deadline.
