Sportsnet Elliotte Friedman's " 32 Thoughts " ( June 2 - 2022 )
- Thread starter BostonBob
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BostonBob
4 Ever The Greatest
Here's this week's column: www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/32-thoughts-nhl-create-salary-cap-exceptions/
TCB
Registered User
Which one of these Ducks will be a Bruin come playoff time ??
18. The Ducks are 2-1 and could be a huge power broker as this season develops. Ryan Getzlaf, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson and Rickard Rakell all unrestricted. No sense extensions are close in any case. All good players who could help a team.
My guess Lindholm or Manson.
Lindholm would be best imo but I think the whole
league is gonna be bidding on these guys, price could be high.
Unless injury LD seems like the biggest problem area as of right now.
PlayMakers
Moderator
I'm thinking Manson.
The left side is STACKED. Even the depth guys on the left side are solid.
The right side is thin past Carlo and Carlo has had trouble staying healthy in the playoffs. So my focus would be on adding a 3RD who has the skillset and experience to slot into Carlo's spot without the D falling apart.
I could see Rakell in the mix too, depending on how Smith does.
The right side is actually the issue, not the left side imo. One injury to either McAvoy and Carlo and the wheels fall off.
TCB
Registered User
Do you know how many teams in the NHL would love to have the bruins right side defense, when healthy arguably there's none better. Depth is a question if one go's down, but this right side has two all-star defenseman when healthy, and Clifton is perfect 5 - 6.
The left side is where they could use a horse, a few years back, I wanted McDonaugh, imagine this team with him, I bet there would be another cup banner in the rafters. Grizz and Reilly are top 4 NHL defenseman but come playoff time I don't want to see either of the being in my top pairing and on the ice protecting a one goal lead late in the game. Lindolhm would be ideal, really wanted Ekholm but he's re-signed.
TCB
Registered User
Manson would be awesome love his toughness and compete level, but still think they need to add a top Left side shutdown d-type more than anything and Cliffy does one whale of a job for the bruins, but depth on the right should be addressed but IMO quality needs to be added on the left-side.
TCB
Registered User
Yup, Im sure they will be, one good thing is Sweeney and Murray seem to have a pretty good rapport.
PlayMakers
Moderator
Not me. I think Gryz, Reilly and Forbort are all really good top4 defensemen. Reilly is a late bloomer, which is not uncommon for defensemen. He and Carlo have been one of the most dominant pairs in the NHL since they were put together. Gryz controls the play the whole time he's on the ice. Folks are seriously missing the boat on these guys. They were all the Dallas announcers could talk about.
Forbort had a great game too, and has always been a top4 guy who played against good competition and had strong defensive 5on5 numbers. If he and McAvoy can find a puck moving chemistry (and they had that against Dallas) that pair should also be really strong.
IMO, they need a RD like Josh Manson who is tough to play against, can kill penalties (on the left or the right) and slide up the lineup if injuries occur. That would be one heckuva balanced and talented back6.
Healthy is the key word. When one of either McAvoy or Carlo goes down the right side is in trouble. Get another guy like Manson on the right side and when the inevitable injuries occur he’ll be good enough to handle the minutes until McAvoy/Carlo comes back.
Right side depth: Clifton, and Lyle…? (Weak)
Left side depth: Zboril, Moore, Vaak, Achan.
TCB
Registered User
I would take Manson but a true top 2 left side imo is a much greater need and those 4 Left-side d-man depth isn't strong at all and Moore the best of them can play both sides. On top of that McAvoy and Carlo are the Bruins best two defenseman so no matter how you spin it, your not going to convince me the Bruins need help on the right-side more than the left, as there's more quantity on the left but not nearly the quality and that's what counts.
Problem is Manson going to cost nearly as much as top left-side d-man and if Im trading some good assets away, its going to be for a top left-side d-man, when I already have McAvoy and Carlo anchoring my top 4, and then Sweeney can find a Reilly type of deal to add some more depth on the right-side.
TCB
Registered User
Whats that got to do with what I wrote,
Nothing at all.Go back and re-read it a few times and hopefully you'll get my point, if not Im done. Lol
I will break it down for u though just in case. Reilly wouldn't be a top 4 on the bruins right-side and if Sweeney can find a player as good as Reilly for a 3rd pick who can add depth on the right side, as well as landing that true top 2 left-side defenseman, thats would be plan A as far as the defense go's IMO.
Noooo...he s not a regular in a contender team, he s scared of physical play, if Bruins want to be Champion they have to adresse the toughness thing, their best players are gonna be abused and hurt à la Carlo, espacialy the D, they are soft, they need some grit, a Manson , a Marcus Foligno, someone who can change game momentum when needed, and bring respect and protect against intimidation , Carl, Reilly, Grezlyck are scared as hell of tough games, 3 D like that is too much...
PlayMakers
Moderator
PlayMakers
Moderator
MarchysNoseKnows
Big Hat No Cattle
- Feb 14, 2018
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While I may disagree on the precise adjective, I’m with you. I think upgrading over Connor Clifton isn’t that tall a task - and we’ll probably need Clifton in the playoffs too.
UncleRico
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- May 8, 2017
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Do you think any of our LHD would beat out any of Tampa’s LHD for a roster spot if they were all on the same team?
If I am trading significant assets in a deadline deal, I would rather invest in a long term need player, and that guy is Lindholm. Of course this assumes you can resign him. That gives you a elite top pairing for the next 6 years.
Manson is a nice player, but to me more of a short term rental guy. I just can't see investing long term in a 15 minute a game 3rd pairing defenseman, at over 4 million annually
Manson is a nice player, but to me more of a short term rental guy. I just can't see investing long term in a 15 minute a game 3rd pairing defenseman, at over 4 million annually
In a word, no. But then on the flip side on the right you'd have McAvoy and Carlo in your team ahead of Rutta and Cernak every day of the week, and Gryz and Reilly would also get games in Tampa if they were RDs.
And I think that's the thing for the Bruins - they have a very strong top 2 RDs, but after that Clifton is ok and then nothing except promising but completely untried Lyle. Whereas the left is comparatively weaker at the top, but has better depth with Zboril, Moore and Vaak. So it just depends which need you want to address the most - giving the team better right depth, or bringing in some more top tier talent for the left. The first is obviously cheaper and easier than the second, but can Boston challenge for a Cup with the top 3 LD as it is? Debatable, clearly!
