Unpopular opinion?
I don't think the Bruins are a cinch for the playoffs. And I'd be willing to make a small wager (as of today) that the Leafs will get further in the playoffs this year than the Bs.
I love the contracts our RFAS got. I think Sweeney did great work with them and they position well when some cap space opens up in a couple of years. Solid A+ for those.
Solid F for the job he did in "improving" the team otherwise. Nothing for healthy turnover. Not one significant addition. Couldn't (or wouldn't) move the cap anchor that is David Backes. And continued his annual barrel-bottom shopping for fourth- liners, also-rans and AHL fodder.
If the Bruins are in the Cup conversation, like in a serious consensus, then they are indeed over-hyped.
The Bruins have to be in the Cup conversation - they came within a game of winning the thing last season and have 95% the same list, so how can they not be? They have to be in the mix as a contender. However having said that I think the range of possibilities for the Bs in terms of how their season pans out is wider than it is for some others. I can see them finishing top 2 in their division and top 3-4 in the league, but I also think it's quite feasible that they miss the playoffs altogether.
Just looking purely in the east, Tampa, the Caps and the Leafs are 99% certain to make it to the postseason. They simply have too much talent, young enough lists and solid coaching not to. Conversely the Bruins don't have the same amount of top-level talent as those teams, they have a heavy reliance on a number of guys who are 30+ and more prone to injury, and they have the added fatigue of a long postseason. To me that puts them in a category with probably the Islanders and Penguins as teams who should make it and could give the playoffs a major shake, but aren't guaranteed if injuries or other factors go against them. Then you have the likes of Carolina, Columbus, Buffalo, Florida and Montreal who to one degree or another all have a chance of making it, should they get their act together and things go their way.
For the Bs we know the 1st and 4th lines, our entire D and our goalies will almost certainly deliver as long as they stay fit. I think there are 3 other factors that are more uncertain, but which they have to get right or have some luck in, that will ultimately determine whether or not they make the playoffs - keeping the veterans healthy at least most of the time, getting good production out of at least one of the 2nd and 3rd lines, and making at least one or two smart trades again before the deadline. Tick those 3 boxes, and they should get there. Miss one and it starts to get hard, miss two or more and it could be all over by early April.
Just on the lack of movement in the off-season, it's pretty clear that the Bs management have for some time refused to countenance going 'all in' for immediate Cup success, and they really value the integrity of the playing group and keeping it as stable and cohesive as possible. They won't shake things up just in the expectation that it
might make an improvement, and they won't mortgage the team's future in any significant way in chasing current glory. Obviously the no. 1 goal is more Cups, but not at any cost - it seems to me that there is a really high premium placed on keeping Boston constantly in the playoff mix for the foreseeable future by making sure that the good prospects are retained and we don't splash too much cash at the expense of the team's future depth and flexibility.
I guess I have mixed feelings on it - yeah you could say that if we'd pushed harder or been willing to give up more last year in our trading we could have the landed the 2RW or whatever we needed and have another Cup by now. But we could also still have lost plus have ended up with more bad Backes-type deals and a diminished prospect pool or squad depth, which would hurt both short and potentially medium-long term. It's a real balancing act.
