Sweeney struck out with Plan A and Plan B - is there a Plan C?
Shinzawa: With Jaroslav Halak, John Moore signings, Bruins...
The Bruins improved on Sunday.
Jaroslav Halak, signed to a two-year, $5.5 million contract, should be a better backup than Anton Khudobin. In fact, Halak will be Tuukka Rask’s most significant threat for playing time since Tim Thomas exited in 2012. Halak is more experienced than Khudobin, Jonas Gustavsson, Niklas Svedberg, and Chad Johnson, previous backups who posed little danger of swiping any of Rask’s starts.
John Moore, signed to a five-year, $13.75 million deal, is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-shot defenseman. The 27-year-old will be a sturdier left-side presence than Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk when brawnier forwards come knocking.
Depth signings Chris Wagner (two years, $2.5 million) and Joakim Nordstrom (two years, $2 million) should be adequate replacements for, if not improvements upon, Riley Nash and Tim Schaller, especially on the penalty kill.
No moves, however, are made in isolation.
The Bruins, like their other Atlantic Division rivals, will have to operate differently in 2018-19 because of the thunderclaps the Maple Leafs initiated. Toronto gladly invested seven years and $77 million in John Tavares to form a deadly 1-2 combination between the ex-Islander and Auston Matthews.
The pain is compounded for the Bruins, whose pitch for Tavares fell short just as Toronto’s bid hit the mark.
Shinzawa: With Jaroslav Halak, John Moore signings, Bruins...
The Bruins improved on Sunday.
Jaroslav Halak, signed to a two-year, $5.5 million contract, should be a better backup than Anton Khudobin. In fact, Halak will be Tuukka Rask’s most significant threat for playing time since Tim Thomas exited in 2012. Halak is more experienced than Khudobin, Jonas Gustavsson, Niklas Svedberg, and Chad Johnson, previous backups who posed little danger of swiping any of Rask’s starts.
John Moore, signed to a five-year, $13.75 million deal, is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-shot defenseman. The 27-year-old will be a sturdier left-side presence than Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk when brawnier forwards come knocking.
Depth signings Chris Wagner (two years, $2.5 million) and Joakim Nordstrom (two years, $2 million) should be adequate replacements for, if not improvements upon, Riley Nash and Tim Schaller, especially on the penalty kill.
No moves, however, are made in isolation.
The Bruins, like their other Atlantic Division rivals, will have to operate differently in 2018-19 because of the thunderclaps the Maple Leafs initiated. Toronto gladly invested seven years and $77 million in John Tavares to form a deadly 1-2 combination between the ex-Islander and Auston Matthews.
The pain is compounded for the Bruins, whose pitch for Tavares fell short just as Toronto’s bid hit the mark.
