Line Combos: What does our D look like with Meszaros?

[Gold Black and Blue]

Playing Krug anything more than #6 D minutes when not on the PP is a recipe for disaster. Playing against top two lines, getting dominated in front of the net, no thank you.

I completely agree with you. In the playoffs - he should be 6 on the depth chart. Where would Hamilton and Bart be for you?

 

[Gold Black and Blue]

Active NHL Defensemen Points Leaders

I was just looking at some stats for Andrej Meszaros and came across this interesting site showing a bunch of stats for active NHL defensemen. Here is an interesting fact: Meszaros ranks 36th in goals for active defensemen - and out of the 35 before him - only 4 are older.

http://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/records/nhl-active-defensemen-all-time-goals-leaders.html

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

...

I have no idea what our defense looks like now.

I like Meszaros/Boychuk much better than Meszaros/Hamilton.
BUT
I also like Chara/Boychuk more than Chara/Hamilton. And that's the top pair. But I also think Dougie is a better fit there than on the second pair with either Mesz or Bartkowski.

I guess... I guess I would have to go:
Chara/Dougie
Meszaros/Boychuk
Krug/McQuaid

Bartkowski, Miller, Potter is pretty decent depth though.

I would compare to our traditional pairings:
Chara/Hamilton vs. Chara/Seidenberg
BAD: No Seidenberg and little experience to replace him.
GOOD (?): Hamilton is a little more mobile and will be a little more adept at clearing a zone with possession. But mainly, I don't think Chara would be as relied upon to eat the big minutes if he was paired with the sophomore. May keep him fresher for longer.

Meszaros/Boychuk vs. Ference/Boychuk
BAD: Missing Ference's ability to really step up and be a leader in the post-season.
GOOD (?): Still, I'd say that for on-ice ability, this pairing has the potential to be better than our old familiar. They're both going to have to keep it simple, but the physical tools have improved significantly.

Krug/McQuaid vs. well...
This is the same. With Krug with a little more experience. I like this pair much better than when Kaberle helped lead us to a Cup win.

 

[GloveSave1]

Krug will never ever not be in the line-up. He has a spot on the back pair. It is an absolute sure thing. He is the straw that stirs the PP.

 

[2KA]

I can't seem to figure out what I would most like to see with the D pairings.

If you want a shut down pair, Boychuk has to play with Chara.

This leaves Mez with either Dougie or Bart on the 2nd pair or maybe Dougie and Bart.
Which seems weak to me.

Anybody else with Chara does not allow for the shutdown pairing that we have grown accustomed to.

Krug will never sit so I think once Mcquaid is healthy they are the third pairing.

The top 4 seems messy to me. I think if I had the choice I would do this:

Chara - Hamilton
Mez - Boychuk
Krug - Mcquaid
Bart - Miller

Bart slides in if Mez sucks.

I don't think we have the luxury of playing Chara and Boychuk together. It just leaves too much inexperience in our bottom two pairings.

Here's to hoping Dougie can continue to develop and be a beast come playoff time.

 

[Trap Jesus]

I can't seem to figure out what I would most like to see with the D pairings.

If you want a shut down pair, Boychuk has to play with Chara.

This leaves Mez with either Dougie or Bart on the 2nd pair or maybe Dougie and Bart.
Which seems weak to me.

Anybody else with Chara does not allow for the shutdown pairing that we have grown accustomed to.

Krug will never sit so I think once Mcquaid is healthy they are the third pairing.

The top 4 seems messy to me. I think if I had the choice I would do this:

Chara - Hamilton
Mez - Boychuk
Krug - Mcquaid
Bart - Miller

Bart slides in if Mez sucks.

I don't think we have the luxury of playing Chara and Boychuk together. It just leaves too much inexperience in our bottom two pairings.

Here's to hoping Dougie can continue to develop and be a beast come playoff time.

Depends on the match-up. If we're playing a team like Tampa, I like the idea of Chara-Boychuk. If we're playing the Pens, I definitely don't.

 

[Lost Horizons]

they'll be

Chara-Mez
Hamilton-Boychuk
Kurg-Miller/McQuaid/Potter


Chara-Mez played together in ott which no doubt factored into the decision to get mez. Each pair has a stay at home and a rusher paired together. They'll sub bart in here and there for either Krug to Hamilton depending on the day and who's not playing well.

 

[A Healthy Kelly*]

Julien should sit Bartkowski, cause I don't like him and think he is bad.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

I was just looking at some stats for Andrej Meszaros and came across this interesting site showing a bunch of stats for active NHL defensemen. Here is an interesting fact: Meszaros ranks 36th in goals for active defensemen - and out of the 35 before him - only 4 are older.

http://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/records/nhl-active-defensemen-all-time-goals-leaders.html

Younger you mean?

Interesting though.

 

[World of Wardlow]

Julien should sit Bartkowski, cause I don't like him and think he is bad.

Why so much hate for Bart? I think he's played well given the circumstances this season. Krug is way more of a liability on D.

 

[Bergeron37]

I'd do

Chara - Dougie
Mez - Boychuk
Krug- Miller

 

[iiBruins17*]

Why so much hate for Bart? I think he's played well given the circumstances this season. Krug is way more of a liability on D.

Krug's offense is enough to keep him in the top six. There's no way Bartkowski should be in the top 4 and no way is he playing with Krug

 

[Bergeron37]

they'll be

Chara-Mez
Hamilton-Boychuk
Kurg-Miller/McQuaid/Potter


Chara-Mez played together in ott which no doubt factored into the decision to get mez. Each pair has a stay at home and a rusher paired together. They'll sub bart in here and there for either Krug to Hamilton depending on the day and who's not playing well.

Hamilton on the left side? I'd rather keep him on the right.

 

[amazingcrwns]

I'd do

Chara - Dougie
Mez - Boychuk
Krug- Miller

I agree with the top 4, but I'd consider Bart - Krug for the bottom pairing.

Z - Hamilton
Mez - Boychuk
Bart - Krug
(Miller)

I guess it'd depend on the matchup, and I'd use both lineups to keep guys rested.

*Ideally, that bottom pair would be Krug / McQuaid, but that's up in the air right now.

 

[Lost Horizons]

Hamilton on the left side? I'd rather keep him on the right.

I just put the names together with no consideration of who plays what side.

 

[A Healthy Kelly*]

Why so much hate for Bart? I think he's played well given the circumstances this season. Krug is way more of a liability on D.

I don't think he's a huge detriment, but his decision-making is suspect and like I've said before, he lacks poise and confidence in his own game. I don't dislike the player, I just see him as a late-blooming bottom pair guy who needs more games under his belt before he's given regular shifts in the playoffs.

Krug and Miller bring very discernible, effective qualities/styles of play (though different, obv), and they seem more confident in their abilities than Bartkowski does.

 

[TCL40]

Hamilton, Boychuk and Miller all suck at the left side.

If Mezsaros is paired with Chara then I think we see

Bart/Boychuk
Krug/Dougie

But being honest-I think Mezsaros isn't going to slot in on the right side-I think he plays left and we keep Dougie with Chara.

Mezsaros and Boychuk pair up and Krug Pairs up with Bart/Miller although it will likely be Mcquaid if he returns (Chia said they were shutting him down 3 weeks so I am not confident we see McQuaid until the playoffs). Also I kind of like Miller's game better than McQuaid's but Miller is still on the green side.

I hope if they pair Krug and Bart they have them play together soon just to see how that works out. Bart does have the size and skating ability to complement Krug but not sure I want to see him make bone headed decisions leaving Krug to fix them.

This team really hurts with no Seids but I don't think the kids are as bad as we judge them-especially compare to what some other teams have (I would take our kids over the Leafs defense).

 

[qc]

Statistics aside, I really loved the Krug-McQ pairing. I like Miller, don't get me wrong, but McQ complimented Krug's game perfectly in ES.

 

[bigbadbruins7]

I'd do

Chara - Dougie
Mez - Boychuk
Krug- Miller

This looks good to me. However, wouldn't mind seeing Bart in there as well over Mez if he doesn't mesh well

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

I just put the names together with no consideration of who plays what side.

lol way to go, coach.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

I'll be really surprised if Chara and Boychuk are not paired in the playoffs. Claude likes to roll his top pair for 30 minutes a night and really likes to match them up vs. top lines. There's no way he's going to put Dougie in that situation. Granted this means Mez and Dougie will have to get a lot of the 2nd line matchups, which in some cases is a scary proposition but that's just the way it is with Seids out. We simply don't have the luxury of a Ference/Boychuk 2nd pair this year.

That doesn't necessarily mean it will be a huge downgrade though. We'll just have to see how it pans out. Mez and Dougie are probably a significantly more mobile pair than Ference/Boychuk were and have more size to spare. If the Bruins can manage to beat forechecks with quick up then hopefully the bottom 4 guys won't have to spend as much time defending (see the 2013 Rangers series as the template).

Our success will ultimately depend more on Dougie than anyone else in the lineup. We know what Chara brings, and I believe that Boychuk will elevate his games to near-Seidenberg levels in the playoffs. The question is whether or not Dougie will step up to fill the #3 spot. It's a tough position to put the kid in, but at some point he is going to have to take the next step one way or another.

 

[Lost Horizons]

lol way to go, coach.

I just didn't feel like looking up who plays on what side. The coachs shouldn't be worrying about left hand shots playing on the left and right on the right or have two lefties or righties together and more worried about each pairs skills complementing each other. They're quick to put Chara and Seidneberg together, both lh shots, because they play well together. They should do the same throughout the d corps.

 

[Trap Jesus]

I just didn't feel like looking up who plays on what side. The coachs shouldn't be worrying about left hand shots playing on the left and right on the right or have two lefties or righties together and more worried about each pairs skills complementing each other. They're quick to put Chara and Seidneberg together, both lh shots, because they play well together. They should do the same throughout the d corps.

Everyone does this though. You want your D especially to be as comfortable as possible. Seids being so comfortable on either side doesn't mean everyone is.

The more I think about it, the more I think Meszaros with Chara is a bad idea. Not only is Mez not great defensively, but you're forcing either Boychuk or Hamilton to play on the third pairing, thus meaning Krug is going to be closer to 20 minutes a night. Not sure how I feel about that. It also means no Miller, which I don't like at all.

 

[TCL40]

I just didn't feel like looking up who plays on what side. The coachs shouldn't be worrying about left hand shots playing on the left and right on the right or have two lefties or righties together and more worried about each pairs skills complementing each other. They're quick to put Chara and Seidneberg together, both lh shots, because they play well together. They should do the same throughout the d corps.

A lot of Dmen are able to play either side-some prefer their off side (Seids actually prefers playing the right side).

Our right handed shots however mostly suck playing left side so coaches will take I to account how well a Dman plays on his off side.

I think one reason Chia wanted a left handed shot was because there was/is more need for a left shot Dman (Bruins already have 4 if McQuaid is healthy).

 

[captain stone]

Playing Krug anything more than #6 D minutes when not on the PP is a recipe for disaster. Playing against top two lines, getting dominated in front of the net, no thank you.

In a Seidenberg/Andrew MacDonald world, then I agree with you. Unfortunately, because Meszaros almost has to be paired with Chara, that leaves the #2 pairing Boychuk and either Krug or Bartkowski. Another RH shot like Hamilton is out of the question. So I'd rather give more minutes to Krug than to Bartkowski.