Some Bruins Info From Elliotte Friedman

[BostonBob]

A few Bruin tidbits from Friedman's " 30 Thoughts " column today on the Sportsnet site:


16. With Dougie Hamilton as Boston’s number-one priority and a tight cap situation, a couple sources said this week the Bruins informed UFA-to-be Carl Soderberg that he was unlikely to be re-signed. Teams are always looking for centres, and here’s an interesting stat: Soderbergh had 36 even-strength points. That’s tied with Claude Giroux, Hornqvist, Kessel and Jason Spezza, among others.


17. Don Sweeney would not comment on the Soderberg story, but I did chat with him a little over a week ago. He had some interesting comments on becoming Boston’s GM, as he was considered the likely choice going in.

“People who say, ‘You’re the sentimental favourite, you deserve this?’ That doesn’t exist. The seat is warm when you get the job and it only gets hotter.â€


18. Sweeney’s been pretty open about the substance of his conversations with Claude Julien, who was retained for next season.

“I have a lot of respect for Claude, and admire his principles, structure, and accountability. … I know we have to change and evolve, play a little more aggressively. Teams took advantage of us sitting back. You have to exercise your will.â€

They were also willing to discuss personnel, although Sweeney added, “We had 96 points here, we don’t need to be stripped down.â€

I was talking about that with another exec, and he said the dangerous thing for Boston is if Julien becomes the scapegoat should things go wrong early next season.

“Then you’ve wasted your training camp and year,†he said. “Now that they’ve kept him, they should commit to him.â€


19. Sweeney on Milan Lucic: “He is a foundational player. … He was up and down like the rest of our team, didn’t recover from our dips as we normally did.â€

The GM also pointed out David Krejci’s injuries added to his inconsistency. As the Bruins talk about getting back to their identity, no one fits it better than Lucic, who has one year remaining on his contract. Sweeney would not discuss that, but it will be a fascinating decision. The safe play is to see what he brings next season, but any good agent will tell you the numbers never go down.



Full story here: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-nhl-to-ban-shot-blocking-techniques/?shawct=1

Click to read more...

 

[DKH]

Thanks great stuff - sure points to 17 and 46 starting season here

 

[kytem2]

Why does Sweeney think 96 points is good ? To me, that is a red flag on this guy.

Back when he played, this would be like finishing with 70-75 points.

 

[ORR2Sanderson2ORR]

Thanks great stuff - sure points to 17 and 46 starting season here

I'm not so sure about that a shrewd GM, what I'm hoping Sweeney is, isn't going to tip his hand one way or the other and he diffidently isn't going to ridicule or batter players if he 's willing to deal them.

 

[DKH]

Why does Sweeney think 96 points is good ? To me, that is a red flag on this guy.

Back when he played, this would be like finishing with 70-75 points.

I took it that at 96 points they don't need to blow everything up- but I'm learning especially the past few days I see pretty much everything differently from most when it comes to the players and this team.

 

[DKH]

I'm not so sure about that a shrewd GM, what I'm hoping Sweeney is, isn't going to tip his hand one way or the other and he diffidently isn't going to ridicule or batter players if he 's willing to deal them.

this place would not approve of Jesus Christ to GM the Bruins

 

[What The Puck]

this place would not approve of Jesus Christ to GM the Bruins

Now why didn't I get an interview?

 

[ap3lovr]

Why does Sweeney think 96 points is good ? To me, that is a red flag on this guy.

Back when he played, this would be like finishing with 70-75 points.

96 points would have been great if we didn't have the leafs and sabres in our division artificially propping those numbers up. The tank was strong with those two teams. To the point I would say every team in our division was given a +4 in points. I think we were a 92 point team in a normal competitive year.

We need a major overhaul of the bottom 3, and a minor tweak to the top 6. The D should be ok, Morrow is ready to fill in. I don't think we should overspend for a top pairing D-man until the trade deadline if we are in it.

 

[BostonBob]

this place would not approve of Jesus Christ to GM the Bruins

Well apparently JC is a Bruins fan:

 

[dafoomie]

Well apparently JC is a Bruins fan:

 

[BostonBob]

Remember that old saying: Jesus saves but Esposito scored on the rebound.

 

[Lobster57]

Remember that old saying: Jesus saves but Esposito scored on the rebound.

 

[smithformeragent]

I will not be shedding any tears if Soderberg is gone.

 

[Shaun]

that is right near my house

 

[Spanky185]

Point 18 is precisely why Julien should have been shown out. If things go south he's gone, which is why the "short leash" scenario was the worst for the bruins to choose.

 

[13Hockey]

Why does Sweeney think 96 points is good ? To me, that is a red flag on this guy.

Back when he played, this would be like finishing with 70-75 points.

cause 96 points is GOOD in this era it is usually good for a 4-7 seed in the conference this was the first time in the history of hockey 96 points didn't make the playoffs

and usually teams that finish between 4-7 in a conference don't blow up there entire roster they have plenty of talent a few tweaks and a little bit of puck luck and health to there star players and next year they should be a 100 point team again

If they had 96 points in 2013-14 they would have been a 5th seed this was a very flukey year due to Connor McDAvid being in the draft

 

[iReckless]

Carl Soderberg has a lot of talent, I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to a west coast team and puts up high numbers. Even last year he was one assist shy of Bergeron and Hamilton (club leaders last year). All this playing on the third line.

 

[kytem2]

cause 96 points is GOOD in this era it is usually good for a 4-7 seed in the conference this was the first time in the history of hockey 96 points didn't make the playoffs

and usually teams that finish between 4-7 in a conference don't blow up there entire roster they have plenty of talent a few tweaks and a little bit of puck luck and health to there star players and next year they should be a 100 point team again

If they had 96 points in 2013-14 they would have been a 5th seed this was a very flukey year due to Connor McDAvid being in the draft

96 points is not good, it is average at best. The Bruins finished 9th in the East. They also would have finished 9th if they were in the West.

96 points used to be the exact equivalent of a 96-66 season in baseball, which is a great season.
Now, 96 points means nothing because of the NHL's asinine point awarding system.

Saying that the team does not need to have a major improvement because it had 96 points is ridiculous.

 

[BruinDust]

I will not be shedding any tears if Soderberg is gone.

Me either.

Some team is going to overpay big time for this guy on July 1st due to the lack of available centers. I'm glad it won't be the Bruins.

 

[JOKER 192]

Now why didn't I get an interview?

ya why?

 

[JOKER 192]

that is right near my house

Have you considered moving?

 

[SoldiersOfFilth]

I live in Seattle and am planning a Vancouver trip soon. If I happen to see a Jesus Saves sign... I'm adding "Marchand scores on the rebound!" and maybe something about beating them for the Cup haha

 

[GloryDaze4877]

I will not be shedding any tears if Soderberg is gone.

See my post in the Soderberg thread.

I completely get why the B's may not be able to bring him back (Chia's man-crush on Kelly is Exhibit A), but this type of post makes me wonder exactly how you rate your players? Over the past two seasons there is not another Bruin that comes close to giving the B's the value they got from Soderberg. Nevermind Boston, he was probably one of the best value players in the NHL with 94 pts in two years for a little over $2m.

You should be shedding some tears because the B's need more players like that and less like the ones that have produced less than Soderberg, but have been paid as much as 4.5 times the money (Loui). If they could get him back for less than $3m and dump Kelly, I would be all over that. It's unlikely because someone (EDM?) will probably overpay to get him.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

cause 96 points is GOOD in this era it is usually good for a 4-7 seed in the conference this was the first time in the history of hockey 96 points didn't make the playoffs

and usually teams that finish between 4-7 in a conference don't blow up there entire roster they have plenty of talent a few tweaks and a little bit of puck luck and health to there star players and next year they should be a 100 point team again

If they had 96 points in 2013-14 they would have been a 5th seed this was a very flukey year due to Connor McDAvid being in the draft

Hold on a second. You say that 96 points would have been good enough to make a playoff spot in a normal year - so it's a decent final result. But you're only accounting for higher results for everyone else. Wouldn't that same rationale apply to the Bruins record re: point inflation? If this was one of the "usual" years, wouldn't you also have to expect the Bruins record be worse right along with all the other teams?

 

[BNHL]

96 points is not good, it is average at best. The Bruins finished 9th in the East. They also would have finished 9th if they were in the West.

96 points used to be the exact equivalent of a 96-66 season in baseball, which is a great season.
Now, 96 points means nothing because of the NHL's asinine point awarding system.

Saying that the team does not need to have a major improvement because it had 96 points is ridiculous.

Tampa had 108 and Chicago 102,a healthy Bruins team with all it's issues would have had 102.