Boston Globe KPD: The Bruins’ dismal 10-game stretch underscores the need for help at the trade deadline. But will that be enough?

[Gee Wally]

These stories don't surprise me. I've always felt that KPD is a decent person.

Perhaps I should have noted that.

However, as a columnist DuPont's perspective is often cynical and joyless.

His flippant denigration of players over the years, who are human beings, is, or should be, beneath him.

This is the stuff that turns me off. KPD certainly knows his hockey.

totally understand.

thats why I have been able to separate the writer from the individual. Not asking anyone else to. Just saying my personal experience.

 

[UncleRico]

I’m asking what you thought as a fan that closely follows the team. Vegas only has one goal which is to incent enough people on both sides to hedge their bets for them. What they project and what a team really is aren’t the same because they’re just trying to get people to balance it out for them.

I believe in the preseason poll I guessed roughly a 6 seed. I’ve said my peace plenty about how I feel with this team in the playoffs, but they are built for the regular season with their two elite goalie system.

I think they’ve performed a better than expected. But no way was this team considered an underdog where I’d be happy with just a first round win.

 

[LSCII]

I believe in the preseason poll I guessed roughly a 6 seed. I’ve said my peace plenty about how I feel with this team in the playoffs, but they are built for the regular season with their two elite goalie system.

I think they’ve performed a better than expected. But no way was this team considered an underdog where I’d be happy with just a first round win.

But you say they're not built for the playoffs, yet your expectation is more than a round? That's contradictory. I said all along I thought they'd be a fringe playoff team because of the flawed roster. They've shown me that they're more than an 8 seed, but also how the regular season and the post season are basically two very different entities. I expect them to get bounced round one because of them not having enough scoring depth and being far too soft. You shut down Pasta and this team has very little offense and becomes incredibly one dimensional.

 

[UncleRico]

But you say they're not built for the playoffs, yet your expectation is more than a round? That's contradictory. I said all along I thought they'd be a fringe playoff team because of the flawed roster. They've shown me that they're more than an 8 seed, but also how the regular season and the post season are basically two very different entities. I expect them to get bounced round one because of them not having enough scoring depth and being far too soft.

I would say it’s subjective on who they play. Let’s say they draw Detroit round 1 and Toronto round 2. I’d give them a much better chance of getting to the ECF than if they were to draw the lightning and then florida panthers

 

[Eddie Munson]

I would say it’s subjective on who they play. Let’s say they draw Detroit round 1 and Toronto round 2. I’d give them a much better chance of getting to the ECF than if they were to draw the lightning and then florida panthers

Advanced stats tell us it's all goaltending. If Swayman or Ullmark are hot.... who knows. But if they (the netminders) play even average. Then this team most nights will not out possess, out shoot, out chance, and most importantly outscore most every playoff team.

Corsi % - 23rd
Fenwick % - 24th
Scoring Chances (For Vs Against) % - 22nd
Goals For Vs Against % - 3rd
Expected Goals For Vs Against % - 15th
Scoring Chances For Vs. Against % - 18th
Scoring Chances Goals For Vs Against % - 3rd
High Danger Chances Goals For Vs Against % - 15th

I can keep going but I honestly am boring myself with these stats. But they certainly match what the eyes see.

Regardless of who they play, they won't be a sweep but I se them getting bounced 4-2 or 4-3 first round if Swayman/Ullmark don't steal minimally 2+ games.

 

[bigbadbruins1]

I consider this season a win, considering the issues we have. We don't have draft capital to trade, and if we make the playoffs we give up a low draft pick for what was last year. Cap crunch from the Bergy and Krejci bonus carry over will be gone after this season so we will have another approximately 5m in cap space that is locked up this year.

The fact they have been as good as they have been is great, but also frustrating. When I think of what I want, I don't think the team has the assets or is constructed to get to the cup and win. I'd rather them keep assets and go hard next year with free agency.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Advanced stats tell us it's all goaltending. If Swayman or Ullmark are hot.... who knows. But if they (the netminders) play even average. Then this team most nights will not out possess, out shoot, out chance, and most importantly outscore most every playoff team.

Corsi % - 23rd
Fenwick % - 24th
Scoring Chances (For Vs Against) % - 22nd
Goals For Vs Against % - 3rd
Expected Goals For Vs Against % - 15th
Scoring Chances For Vs. Against % - 18th
Scoring Chances Goals For Vs Against % - 3rd
High Danger Chances Goals For Vs Against % - 15th

I can keep going but I honestly am boring myself with these stats. But they certainly match what the eyes see.

Regardless of who they play, they won't be a sweep but I se them getting bounced 4-2 or 4-3 first round if Swayman/Ullmark don't steal minimally 2+ games.

And how did those “advanced” stats work out last year?

 

[Over the volcano]

I consider this season a win, considering the issues we have. We don't have draft capital to trade, and if we make the playoffs we give up a low draft pick for what was last year. Cap crunch from the Bergy and Krejci bonus carry over will be gone after this season so we will have another approximately 5m in cap space that is locked up this year.

The fact they have been as good as they have been is great, but also frustrating. When I think of what I want, I don't think the team has the assets or is constructed to get to the cup and win. I'd rather them keep assets and go hard next year with free agency.

They've been able to scrape their way to the top of the league with a patchwork group of forwards, constant juggling of lines, good coaching and good goal tending. On paper they aren't anywhere near as good as their record. They know how to bank pts but lack a lot kind of identity they can impose on the game (aside from superstar talents like Pastrnak and Marchand).

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the expiring contracts moved for younger NHL talent, some size and some sandpaper. But they aren't going to bail on the season for picks because giving up creates a culture of giving up.

 

[GordonHowe]

The hardcore fan naturally has an antagonistic relationship with sportswriters because we all think we could do the exact same thing (why else do we post on message boards?). And to get hits and page views the sportswriter has to make some outlandish or provocative claims that the majority recoils at.

I'm sure KPD and Dan Shaughnessy don't believe a good portion of what they write, and if they were just dudes at the bar talking sports we'd have good conversations with them. You just have to separate the character they play as a media personality from the human being behind them. Felger is probably this market's biggest example of a guy who is clearly playing a role and leaning into a character, who is definitely not the guy he is at home with his family and friends.

I've heard that Felger is a decent fellow away from the mic. Even so, I don't listen to his show because the shtick is not for me.

I could listen to Bob Ryan all day, and I'm not a basketball fan.

Why? Because he's knowledgeable about all four pro sports, and his passion remains undimmed, infectious and obvious.

Ryan may not be to everyone's liking, but he's never mailed it in. He cares.

He also has a soft spot for hockey and the Bruins.

I've always liked him.

 

[KrejciMVP]

I’ve picked them last 4 years on Bruins HF point total to finish anywhere from 7-25 points below what they got

I have them at 98 this season

I posted last week they probably aren’t winning a round

I’ve repeatedly said they are a good B at times B+ team

if I was realistic I’d have respected them more

Was more responding to the game has changed. The teams built for playoff hockey survive the grueling playoffs most often

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

I have nothing but mad respect for Kevin.
He's in the HHOF for a reason.
He's praised and critiqued the Bruins' players and organization when it's been warranted.
Some fans have an unhealthy parasocial relationship to teams/players and take team/player critique as personal... not good.

100% Randy.

Not only has he called out Bruins when warranted - he's also just a pretty damn good sports writer.

Doesn't deserve the flack he gets around here. Unlike a couple.

 

[Number8]

Glad to hear the kind stories about KPD. Kudos to him for the personal kindness to others. We need a lot more of that in the world today.

 

[Gordoff]

It's not "apparently"

They are.

They're easy to play against because teams know you can go truck guys all over the ice and you won't get it back in any sort of fashion. We've been seeing this for a while now, people want to bury their heads in the sand and act like it doesn't exist, but it does.

Dom mentions this and other interesting info in this video.
A lot of great stuff here:

 

[Alan Ryan]

Glad to hear the kind stories about KPD. Kudos to him for the personal kindness to others. We need a lot more of that in the world today.

A number of years ago KPD wrote a wonderful story called Black Ice. It was about the pure joy of finding a pond just frozen with black ice and the amazing skating experience it provides.

The story brought back memories of skating alone on black ice on Scotts Pond in Lincoln, RI, where I grew up and learned to skate. I could fire a puck and chase it for what seemed like miles. With nobody around all I could hear was the sound of my skates carving the ice.

I lost track of the story and sent KPD a message about it. After a while he replied and spent time in his archives to find it for me. Our exchange about black ice was pleasant and personal.

 

[DKH]

Cam was in Seattle and was sitting with Fluto before or during morning skate

They want a bit more grit on D but overall are stuck between a rock and a hard place

Forecasting the rest of the season - nothing coming or going significantly unless it’s Hanifin (and sounds like he’s going somewhere else) and DeBrusk I think stays as his trade value is negated without an extension and makes no sense for him to do that

Playoffs are a coin flip probably every round if they are not the top seed in East

Unless they are winning the Cup when playoffs start don’t string us along past round 2

 

[Ozzy Osbourne]

Major Sweeney's trades involving the draft picks going back to 2018:

Bertuzzi for 1st and 4th
Orlov and Hathaway for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, Smith
Lindholm for 1st, 2nd, 2nd, Vaak, Moore
3rd for Vladar
Hall and Lazar for 2nd, Bjork
Mike Reilly for 3rd
Kase for 1st, Andersson, Backes
Marcus Johansson for 2nd, 4th
Coyle for 4th, Donato
Kampfer, 4th, 7th for McQuaid
Wingels for 4th
Rick Nash for 1st, 7th, Lindgren, Spooner, Beleskey
3rd for Vatrano

Coyle and Lindholm are the only regular Bruins on the roster.
Five 1st round and five 2nd round picks are gone.

When you see this you have to wonder how he’s still employed.

 

[bruins19]

Here ya go, Mr. Smith:

People, in a word, duck!

A month ago, as they departed for the break after a convincing 6-2 matinee win in Philly, things were great. The Bruins stood 12-2-3 (.794) since the much-need Christmas break and a handful of their forwards were on fire.
David Pastrnak hit the break with 33 goals. Ten games later, he has 35.

Jake DeBrusk was 8-6–14 in 16 games prior to the break. He has two points
since, both of those coming in Wednesday night’s OT win in Edmonton, where the Bruins squandered a 4-1 lead. DeBrusk, without a contract beyond this season, is now the No. 1 candidate to be dealt prior to March 8.
Brad Marchand, a sizzling 11-8–19 in that 17-game stretch, has collected 2-3–5 over the last 10 games. One goal was shorthanded, the other at even strength, which means he is 0-for-10 on the advantage. The captain has scored one power-play goal since Jan. 8.

Charlie Coyle, without a goal on the recent 7-game homestand flop, scored a pair Thursday night in Calgary. He was cooking at a career-best 8-13–21 in those 17 games leading up to the break. Now he’s 2-4—6 in the last 10.
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The Neely-Sweeney “needs’ list as of this morning runs deep.

▪ With Hampus Lindholm expected out for a protracted stretch, back-end help has to be priority. That said, it was a priority before Lindholm went down Monday with his knee injury.

As much as they will miss his skill, the Bruins already had not replaced the back-end moxie factor that exited the lineup when Connor Clifton departed as a UFA to Buffalo. Parker Wotherspoon has added a smidgen of that here and there, but much more is needed.

▪ Relief on the penalty kill. Both Coyle and Marchand receive ample time on the PK and PP units. It looks like time-on-ice has caught up with both of those thirty-somethings. Montgomery has to draw from others to ease their burden, or Sweeney and Neely have to find one or two PK drones in the trade market. Playing both of those guys to exhaustion is not the cure.

▪ Goal scoring. Remember the days when “Get us a sniper, Harry!” was the cure to all Bruins’ needs? Decades later, especially after these last 10 games, it stlll resonates. It’s just not that easy.

Rick Nash and Tyler Bertuzzi were top-six deadline acquisitions made in that spirit, and the results were, let us say, mixed at best. Don’t be looking for that guy now.

More realistically, they’ll move DeBrusk for a guy whose size and game (read: drool factor) can plug into the top six and buy (read: muscle up) some space for the likes of Marchand, Coyle, Pastrnak, and the where-did-he-go? Pavel Zacha.
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Side note here: A Canucks strategy was to pummel Pastrnak, early and often. The star Czech winger took two stiff hits early from 6-foot-6 Nikita Zadorov and then Noah Juulsen, both in the opening 10 minutes. Pastrnak finished 0-0–0, but kept firing, landing six of his nine shots.

Hammering Pasta will be high on every opponent’s list the rest of the way, for these next 23 games …and beyond, however long that ends up being.

“We played a desperate team that were on their toes and physical,” underscored Montgomery at the end of Saturday’s sputtering. “I think that’s why were in our end a lot.”

One team desperate, and the other team right now on its way to Palookaville.

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Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at [email protected].
Show comments

Hey, KPD: I can't abide your noxious, cutesy prose for more than a few minutes before I have to run outside for some fresh air. You are a good writer when you want to be. Unfortunately, 90% of the time that isn't the case.

Like your pal CHB, you're a hack. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor. Retire.

Which you should have done 20 years ago.

Thanks for posting the rest of the article. I am not a KPD fan, mostly for the reasons that were in the article comment. That said, in this particular case, he isn’t wrong.

 

[GordonHowe]

Dom mentions this and other interesting info in this video.
A lot of great stuff here:

Thanks for posting, will check.

 

[LSCII]

They've been able to scrape their way to the top of the league with a patchwork group of forwards, constant juggling of lines, good coaching and good goal tending. On paper they aren't anywhere near as good as their record. They know how to bank pts but lack a lot kind of identity they can impose on the game (aside from superstar talents like Pastrnak and Marchand).

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the expiring contracts moved for younger NHL talent, some size and some sandpaper. But they aren't going to bail on the season for picks because giving up creates a culture of giving up.

That's the issue, right? They've done a lot with smoke and mirrors and most reasonable fans realize the roster doesn't match the record and that does not bode well for the playoffs. Like you said, they've banked a lot of points, but when you dig into it, you see a disproportional amount come from the loser point from just getting to OT. Another sign that this team isn't built for or long for the a deep playoff run. I didn't think this was going to be their year based on the holes they had in the roster, so I've enjoyed the regular season a lot. Whatever they do in the playoffs will be gravy.

 

[Eddie Munson]

And how did those “advanced” stats work out last year?

Again, you can look at them and take what you will from them.

In the playoffs the Bruins had a decent (below what they averaged for the regular season) advanced stats. Better than Florida. And the difference in that series was very much Boston goaltending being below average.

Advanced stats aren't some guarantor of anything, but they do at least give you a peak into what a team does well/doesn't do well and what it would take to overcome those deficiencies. So what Florida did to us last year (clutch goaltending and timely scoring while being out chanced) is basically the template for how Boston would have to play to succeed this post season.

I could see us getting clutch goaltending. I think the timely scoring will be our downfall.

 

[Over the volcano]

That's the issue, right? They've done a lot with smoke and mirrors and most reasonable fans realize the roster doesn't match the record and that does not bode well for the playoffs. Like you said, they've banked a lot of points, but when you dig into it, you see a disproportional amount come from the loser point from just getting to OT. Another sign that this team isn't built for or long for the a deep playoff run. I didn't think this was going to be their year based on the holes they had in the roster, so I've enjoyed the regular season a lot. Whatever they do in the playoffs will be gravy.

I really don't know how it'll translate to playoff hockey. I mean they struggle 3v3 and in shootouts so that wont be a problem in the post season. But giving up late leads sure will. The morning bru podcast hit on their struggles 6v5 a bit. Shuffling lines every 15 min aint going to help either. Don't know how their hybrid d zone coverage will hold up either, it failed against FLA last year and has looked confused against pressure this year.

But they are built to hang in 5v5 using every tool in their box, that's an exciting enough way to enter the playoffs if we don't get hopes up too high.

 

[Kate08]

I remember way back when I first joined, my (now) husband didn't really get why I was active on a hockey forum. My response was he didn't have a desk job and therefore didn't need ways to waste time online (ha).

One time I showed him a back and forth I had with KPD and said that another reason I liked being a member is how many people can say they were shooting the shit about their favorite hockey team with a HoF writer?

At that time, there was a lot more civil discourse and thoughtful conversation. Less mud-slinging. Of sure, it was still a shitshow at time, but a less angry and personal shitshow. I think it's a shame that guys like KPD and Dale don't contribute here anymore. It's a loss for the community.

 

[Number8]

A number of years ago KPD wrote a wonderful story called Black Ice. It was about the pure joy of finding a pond just frozen with black ice and the amazing skating experience it provides.

The story brought back memories of skating alone on black ice on Scotts Pond in Lincoln, RI, where I grew up and learned to skate. I could fire a puck and chase it for what seemed like miles. With nobody around all I could hear was the sound of my skates carving the ice.

I lost track of the story and sent KPD a message about it. After a while he replied and spent time in his archives to find it for me. Our exchange about black ice was pleasant and personal.

Nice story. Puts me back to the days of skating on the Norton Reservoir. Happy times.

 

[elMatador]

When you see this you have to wonder how he’s still employed.

The real killer was the repeated signing of UFAs who had no business in the top 6 F/top 4 D to stupidly long, overpaid contracts. Some of them with NTC/NMC as the cherry on top.

Beleskey $3.8m for 5 years with NTC, M-NTC
was a cap dump in a package deal with 1st

Backes $6m for 5 years with NMC, M-NTC
was a cap dump in a package deal with 1st

Moore $2.75m for 5 years
was a cap dump in a package deal with 1st, 2nd, 2nd

Smith $3.1m for 3 years
was a cap dump in a package deal with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th

Reilly $3m for 3 years,
no picks left, had to be bought out

Grzelcyk $3.687m for 4 years

Forbort $3m for 3 years with M-NTC