Speculation: Would you rather acquire top 4 dman or top 6 forward?

[BobbyAwe]

Is there really any question?

 

[Lord Ahriman]

Neither. Chychrun should be the real target. If Okposo and Yandle hit the open market then you go hard after them. Do not waste any asset.

 

[JoeIsAStud]

Neither. Chychrun should be the real target. If Okposo and Yandle hit the open market then you go hard after them. Do not waste any asset.

Yandle, really?

He might be worth pursuing as a FA, but it would be absurd to see this team give up multiple young assets for a 29 year old offensive defenseman who is a FA at the end of the season. Plus he doesn't really fill the Bruins need for someone who can be a #1 who controls the defensive end

 

[Lord Ahriman]

Yandle, really?

He might be worth pursuing as a FA, but it would be absurd to see this team give up multiple young assets for a 29 year old offensive defenseman who is a FA at the end of the season. Plus he doesn't really fill the Bruins need for someone who can be a #1 who controls the defensive end

Exactly what I was saying: if they hit the open market, otherwise do not waste assets.

 

[ashnathan]

Its clear to see that our priority is easily acquiring a top 2, not 4, top 2 defensemen.

 

[BB88]

Top pairing D is the only one that can help us enough, don't care how we get him though.

 

[Bad Puck Bounce]

Top pairing D is the only one that can help us enough, don't care how we get him though.

Through the draft like good teams are doing.

People point it out but it really is showing this season, the drafting in the late 00's for a few years really screwed this team over hard. Having almost nothing to show for those years and no first rounders is really bad.

Look at teams like Nashville, LA, Chicago, Anaheim, even Tampa, they all drafted their top defensemen and groomed them into being very good defensive cores.

You can make trades to help out like some teams have done but it's not often you see a young top 4 defenseman hit the trade block.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Lets see what Chara and Seids have left before we trade for a D. Probably just need a depth guy to replace Irwin and play some games in Prov and some for us as #7.

I mean its not like we have Wisnewski on the books Chara and Seidenberg will give us more than he'll give C Bus....

 

[Bad Puck Bounce]

Lets see what Chara and Seids have left before we trade for a D. Probably just need a depth guy to replace Irwin and play some games in Prov and some for us as #7.

I mean its not like we have Wisnewski on the books Chara and Seidenberg will give us more than he'll give C Bus....

I think you're missing something. Wisnewski is playing for Carolina and is out for a long time due to surgery.

I get what you're saying though.

 

[BigBadBruins63*]

Unless we get a team to Chiarelli us in a deal, i'd rather just stick to what we have, and get that nice high draft pick. Hope SJS sucks this season as well, and get two top 10 picks (the #1 OVR (Chrychun or Matthews and somewhere close enough to draft Max Jones).

 

[13Hockey]

We have 5 legit Top 6 NHL players in- Krejci, Bergeron, Eriksson, Marchand, Pasta....so we're 1 short up front But Spooner, Connolly, and Beleskey all good be Top 6 I'd wait it out and give them a shot before I make a trade

On D

Chara, Seids, and Krug are all top 4 NHL D

But than we have several Top 6 D in McQuaid, Morrow, Miller, Miller, Trotman

A top 4 D is definitely the first priority id say

 

[GloveSave1]

Man, that's an easy one. We don't have any top 4 dmen right now...

You can grind away at forward and limp by...

I really don't see how you live with a corp of 5-6 dmen.

When Chara and Seids come back you should play them together, and split McQuaid and Krug. We need a solid 3-4 to babysit McQuaid and the best we can dig up from inside to play with Krug on D pair 3.

 

[BB88]

Through the draft like good teams are doing.

People point it out but it really is showing this season, the drafting in the late 00's for a few years really screwed this team over hard. Having almost nothing to show for those years and no first rounders is really bad.

Look at teams like Nashville, LA, Chicago, Anaheim, even Tampa, they all drafted their top defensemen and groomed them into being very good defensive cores.

You can make trades to help out like some teams have done but it's not often you see a young top 4 defenseman hit the trade block.

Chychrun is my #1 hope and I hope we have a plan to go all in for him.

 

[Ice Nine]

Neither.

Roll with what you have, just mix up the combos a bit. Live with the growing pains and eschew the band aids.

Yes, again!

No band aids. Roll with the kids. Take the pain. Come back hard in a year.

 

[Kranium]

What kind of cap space are we talking about? According to generalfanager.com we have about 1.2m...wont get a top 4 dman for that kind of money. And we dont have any real assets to trade away either...or atleast not without loosing firepower up front.

 

[ODAAT]

meh, rather see what the team looks like when Z and Seids come back, still be a less than stellar D group but I`ve said it all along, I`d be patient with the kids and suffer the growing pains rather than make a silly move on a guy like a Yandle or whomever

Fans here kill me, scream for the the kids to get a chance, then they do, get blown out by a more veteran lineup and then act surprised...

 

[Latrappe]

Bruins need a top D-man and a finisher upfront. That's not the kind of commodity that you can acquire easily. Season is beginning so.... nobody wants to trade right now. Depth at D is an issue for about 2-3 years so it's time for Sweeney to do his homework and fix it unless.... the masterplan was to give Claude a mess at D in order to fire him after 15 games...

 

[ODAAT]

Bruins need a top D-man and a finisher upfront. That's not the kind of commodity that you can acquire easily. Season is beginning so.... nobody wants to trade right now. Depth at D is an issue for about 2-3 years so it's time for Sweeney to do his homework and fix it unless.... the masterplan was to give Claude a mess at D in order to fire him after 15 games...

just can`t see that being Sweeney`s approach here (give Claude junk to justify firing him). Bruin fans aren`t newbies, we all see the potential for an incredibly difficult year here.

If he fires Julien, it will be due to Julien not listening to him and reverting back to the style of system Sweeney no longer wishes to see. I saw the B`s trying to push the puck up ice and was actually rather encouraged by it, but I also saw a young D mishandle pucks and get severely overwhelmed and no coach can teach experience

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Man, that's an easy one. We don't have any top 4 dmen right now...

You can grind away at forward and limp by...

I really don't see how you live with a corp of 5-6 dmen.

When Chara and Seids come back you should play them together, and split McQuaid and Krug. We need a solid 3-4 to babysit McQuaid and the best we can dig up from inside to play with Krug on D pair 3.

I'm genuinely surprised there is anyone that still thinks using Krug as a bottom pairing defender is at all a smart move.

 

[81ragnaH]

Neither. Chychrun should be the real target. If Okposo and Yandle hit the open market then you go hard after them. Do not waste any asset.

This. To answer the question, i'd take D. Our forwards are not bad, they're balanced and 3 lines deep with some really good prospects on the way. Our D...not so much. We have lots of good kids on D, not all up in Boston right now. All we're missing is that blue chip future #1. Go for Chychrun and go hard. Maybe even over Matthews if you get the #1 overall.

 

[Fierce1]

We could certainly use both but we need a top four D more and it's not close. I didn't mind Krug and K Miller in game one and I can live with some young mistakes because they're trying to be creative but there is no cure for bad decisions and bad play from D'men that him been around long enough to know better.

 

[Latrappe]

just can`t see that being Sweeney`s approach here (give Claude junk to justify firing him). Bruin fans aren`t newbies, we all see the potential for an incredibly difficult year here.

If he fires Julien, it will be due to Julien not listening to him and reverting back to the style of system Sweeney no longer wishes to see. I saw the B`s trying to push the puck up ice and was actually rather encouraged by it, but I also saw a young D mishandle pucks and get severely overwhelmed and no coach can teach experience

I'm saying this for years but... until the Bruins understand that playing a more open style require more then cosmetic changes on their roster, it's not going to work. Last game was a clear cut example on how an unexperienced D get all giddy up by playing a more uptempo style without understanding that sound defense = puck possession. Now, changing the philosophy of the team require important changes at the NHL level and in the scouting dept. Simply put: Bruins doesn't have the personnel to afford a "new" system. As today, the Bruins have an AHL caliber defensive squad. Chara will help but if anyone expect McQuaid to play like Paul Coffee, they should buy a lottery ticket and hope for the best. Not sure the people,in here, will be pleased with tonight's result. It's not going to be pretty result...

 

[chizzler]

If anything, a young top 4 defenseman.

Yeah, I can see that. Most teams are willing to trade them........

 

[pgm16]

Gotta just grind the season out with what we have.....

 

[GloveSave1]

I'm genuinely surprised there is anyone that still thinks using Krug as a bottom pairing defender is at all a smart move.

He's still getting pushed around out there. I'm genuinely surprised when people think that's going to go away.

Both Krug and McQuaid have been shoehorned into a D pair 2 slot time and time again. It's time to stop slapping ourselves in the face. It's time to only half slap ourself in the face.

I really don't care which you send to D-pair 2, whichever fits best with the mythical rock solid on defense 3-4 defenseman we need.

I just put Krug down there because it's probably best if he's sheltered.

But you're right, his defensive awareness has improved. Now if he could just have a growth spurt at age 25 or whatever.

The Bruins could stand to become a tad more realist, and less dreamer.

Time to call it, Krug is a very nice specialist...who will always have a awesome home on D pair 3. Optimum fit. I wouldn't trade him for the world.