Boston Bruins Grading Sweeney and the Bruins on their deadline moves

[BradPark22]

Stop renting players on first round picks, especially when it's obvious to everybody in the room the Bruins are not the favorites to win. There's a lot of rookies who will experience their first playoff run this year. Losing Lindgren is a huge risk, in my opinion. Effectively, we got Iginla v2.

My only solace is knowing that Sweeney reaches wildly with the first round pick anyways, so more than likely we probably lost out on 60th overall with that part of the deal.

Lol is this your first trade deadline ? Look at the trades yesterday for top roster talent. A 1st round pick is always part of the deal , I have no problem trading a end of the first round pick for a shot at adding a player who can help make a run at a cup.

 

[mjhfb]

Yes.

It doesn’t tell you something that the most BUF could get for Kane was that paltry haul? The only way a team was going to take a chance on Kane was at a hugely discounted price.

Most teams want a prospect, not a project.

 

[JRull86]

Was torn between B+/A-

I ended up going with A-

Sweeney for the first time as GM made an impact midseason trade. I think Nash will really work in this lineup. Regardless of what Pitt, TB, etc did, I'm glad he went for it.

1st, 7th, Lindgren and Spooner to acquire Nash and ditch dead weight in Beleskey, saving some cap room is a solid trade. Value is fair for both sides IMO.

Turned Vatrano into a 3rd. Total win.

AHL defenseman and a 3rd for a depth D/bottom pairing guy. Slight overpay, but good trade. Last years playoffs showed us all how important having defensive depth is. No more Tommy Cross types playing in a playoff game.

Wingles for a conditional 5th is an underrated solid pickup as well.

Gionta for free for depth is whatever. Good depth piece that hopefully won't play all that much.

All in all, upgraded the roster significantly with Nash, and some depth at D and F, and only lost one roster player of significance, and frankly Spooner is such a wild card I don't even care.

In:
Rick Nash
Tommy Wingles
Nick Holden
Brian Gionta
3rd round pick (FLA)

Out:
Ryan Spooner
Matt Beleskey
Rob O'Gara
Frank Vatrano
Ryan Lindgren
1st round pick
3rd round pick
5th round pick (cond.)
7th round pick

I can honestly say this might be Sweeney's best NHL work.

 

[flooredaccord]

For arguments sake, say the B’s had been able to make the deal without Spooner. Where was he going to play with Nash on board?

It appears that the C ship has sailed for Spooner, so 3rd line center, bumping Nash, was not likely.

The B’s also don’t seem to want to play Backes at C, so a 43-42-51 combo was not happening.

Doesn’t look like the B’s would have bumped DeBrusk off DK’s left, where he has been all year?

Spooner on the 4th line? They are all defensively responsible and a couple of them are pretty heavy on the puck. Not a good fit there.

Once the B’s got Nash, Spooner was gone. If it wasn’t in that deal, it would have been in a separate one.

I understand that, just wish there was no retention on belesky if they gave up Spooner

 

[hambone1818]

My complaint is comparing against market value returns, I think they overpaid for Nash. Am I up in arms over it? Hell no, but I'd feel better if that 1st were a 2nd, or that 1st were conditional. Seeing some of the other deals I just have a hard time squaring what the B's gave up for Nash.

BUT, I think net-net they're in a better spot today, shoring up their holes and depth beautifully, without giving much up.

 

[VanIsle]

Going with an A.

He did what I wanted the Bruins to do all these years, get a top line player instead of giving them away.

Everything he gave away I am fine with except the #1 pick, but I over-rate the late ones.

In say the last 20 years here are the Bruins late picks, out of 9 guys Pastrnak is the only one that is not really replaceable.

1999 Boynton 21st (role player)
2000 Samuelsson 27th (bust)
2001 Morrisonn 19th (role player)
2001 Toivonen 29th (bust)
2003 Stuart 21st (role player)
2005 Lashoff 22nd (bust)
2009 Caron 25th (role player)
2012 Subban 24th (to be determined)
2014 Pastrnak 25th (one of the top player from draft)

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

I gave don an A. His best trade deadline as a gm. I will ask this question though. If ny wanted a first a second, zboril, frederic and heinen for mcdonagh and Miller would you pull the trigger?

That’s the closest comp to tampas package I could think of. I’d certainly think about it, Miller is similar to heinen so that’s a wash although he’s due for a raise. Zboril is similar to hajek to me and Fredric the same with howden. They’d probably have to make the money work though

obviously that's not the question because theres a ton of cap adjustment necessary on our part to make that package work.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Going with an A.

He did what I wanted the Bruins to do all these years, get a top line player instead of giving them away.

Everything he gave away I am fine with except the #1 pick, but I over-rate the late ones.

In say the last 20 years here are the Bruins late picks, out of 9 guys Pastrnak is the only one that is not really replaceable.

1999 Boynton 21st (role player)
2000 Samuelsson 27th (bust)
2001 Morrisonn 19th (role player)
2001 Toivonen 29th (bust)
2003 Stuart 21st (role player)
2005 Lashoff 22nd (bust)
2009 Caron 25th (role player)
2012 Subban 24th (to be determined)
2014 Pastrnak 25th (one of the top player from draft)

always like to see these things spelt out so people can get a more accurate handle on the value of draft picks. draft picks are considered some sort of miracle fix

I mean look at Toronto for years... they suck... and I hear a lot of their fans say if only we had some top 5 picks we wouldn't suck

but they had phil kessel and dion phaneuf... top 5 picks... and they still sucked

you don't automatically get good just because you have a couple top picks. you mostly get good when you have depth. picks help your depth. so do ufa signings. so do trades. so does having a strong development system.

getting depth by whatever means necessary is actually better than making bad draft picks that don't help... but making good draft picks equals getting more depth... so draft picks can be good

but as long as you are using your draft pick to give you depth... its a good draft pick

these ones we traded away this week... give us depth... its a good thing

 

[Dellstrom]

Solid B+. Minor overpayment on Nash but shedding half of Beleskey's salary makes that bearable. Have to give him some major props for going for one of the biggest prizes, too.

Very happy with the Vatrano and Wingels deals. Maybe a round less given up for Holden, but really no big deal.

Got a legitimate top-6 scorer, added some serious depth. We're a better team today than yesterday and the only thing I'm even remotely sad to lose is Lindgren.

 

[BigBear83]

Yes.

It doesn’t tell you something that the most BUF could get for Kane was that paltry haul? The only way a team was going to take a chance on Kane was at a hugely discounted price.

oh i completely agree. but im saying i would have rather paid that discounted price.. i know kane is a headcase.. but seeing himself go for lesser deal, knowing he's an upcoming FA and knowing what people say about him.. i feel like hes going to play really well down the stretch. this could be his last chance to bring in some serious money. at some point we all grow up.

 

[Bruinfanatic]

Another centerman might have been a plan.

 

[BMC]

I'm going with a B+. I have never been a fan of trading for UFA rentals no matter how good they are. OTOH I am glad Spooner is gone so in this one instance it was worth doing.

If Sweeney can re-sign Nash I'll give him an A. I think he's the big winger DK has been missing since Horton & Lucic left town.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

I understand that, just wish there was no retention on belesky if they gave up Spooner

Hoping the Rangers buy out Beleskey and then the hit is minimal.

 

[Bruinfanatic]

I'm going with a B+. I have never been a fan of trading for UFA rentals no matter how good they are. OTOH I am glad Spooner is gone so in this one instance it was worth doing.

If Sweeney can re-sign Nash I'll give him an A. I think he's the big winger DK has been missing since Horton & Lucic left town.

Depends on the circumstances,never had an issue when they went after Iginla,and than ended up with Jagr,the team was definitely a Stanley Cup Contending team.Who knows what this team is.

 

[Bruin1970]

A-. I think they could have pushed for McD... I don't think McD is as great as everyone else does, however Tampa fleeced them. Why did the Rangers give them a good, young roster player...LOL. If Nash signs after this year with good terms, it turns into a solid A+. That 2RW is a need that we have. I'm very happy overall. I don't think it puts them into the Eastern finals, but I think doing so would have been too costly. Tough call with this group. Are they an aging core and elite goalie, with a limited timeframe, or are they an up and coming young team? They are really both. Sweeny struck a nice balance. He somehow held onto DeBrusk, Senyshyn, Zboril....very impressive.

 

[KnightofBoston]

This is the most positive I've seen the board in i don't know how long

Maybe November 2012

 

[UConn126]

A-. Sweeney added scoring, size, toughness, and depth, and we didn't give up too much. Spooner was turning into quite the nice player for us, but I think it's clear he was gone after this season anyway and I think Nash will be the better player for this team once playoffs come around.

We also didn't give up any of our top prospects. In the annual summer poll, Lindgren ranked 14. We are loaded with prospects, which softens the blow of losing our 1st rounder, too.

For an A, I would've liked to see a 3rd line C upgrade, and for an A+, Nash+McDonagh from the Rags... but that's just getting greedy.

 

[Nothingbutglass]

A-. I think they could have pushed for McD... I don't think McD is as great as everyone else does, however Tampa fleeced them. Why did the Rangers give them a good, young roster player...LOL. If Nash signs after this year with good terms, it turns into a solid A+. That 2RW is a need that we have. I'm very happy overall. I don't think it puts them into the Eastern finals, but I think doing so would have been too costly. Tough call with this group. Are they an aging core and elite goalie, with a limited timeframe, or are they an up and coming young team? They are really both. Sweeny struck a nice balance. He somehow held onto DeBrusk, Senyshyn, Zboril....very impressive.

I dont think Rangers got fleeced at all. They got five pieces for McD. I wouldnt have given up the comparable package from the Bruins. I dont really want Nash going forward if he wants serious money either. We already have a good chunk of cap already tied up in 30+ vets on longish contracts

 

[BigGoalBrad]

B

I never thought we'd see Nash on the Bruins.

We kinda overpaid though and I hate the Holden and Gionta moves. But we kinda had to cash in some assets for future help.

 

[GordonHowe]

Really good article on Nash from about a month ago. Addresses some of the “impressions” you bring up:

Rick Nash Offers A Lot To An NHL Contender – Gotham Sports Network

Thanks. Will check.

 

[Tampbear]

I gave him a C-, Nash is an upgrade over Spooner, but I think he isn't as much as is being made out and we exchanged speed for size which could work out for us, but I don't think it is what needed to be upgraded. I think this team would look so much better if he had upgraded 3C instead of 2 RW. I also take issue with the idea of finding someone to work with Krejci because there is no guarantee anyone will work great with him and Spooner and Debrusk definitely had some chemistry. Some of this I'll put on Cassidy because I don't agree with his lines and think we have been having success because of the overall talent of the team not because his lines have been working so well. Heinen can create with anyone and his success I think has resulted in too much faith in Nash as a scoring center. I hope I'm wrong and the Bs take a cup home this year but I don't think the trade deadline dealt with the holes that needed to be filled.

 

[Hali33]

Nash didn’t live up to the kind of player you sign to big money and term. But that’s not our problem, we’re paying out the final months of it at half price. I think people let that contract sour the opinion of him and his value to the team.

We need some sort of threat other than our first line. And after them, he’s your top goal scorer and by a large margin and that’s what he did on a ****ty team. Unless he bombs it should be pretty helpful to get that line going.