49 years of suck

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
14,461
Gallows Hill
He has the ability to score but lately it seems that he keeps trying cross-ice passes when he has open shots. They may not be the best shots but they are better than trying to get a pass though six players. And four of his goals this year are power play goals.
He's a young player trying to do to much.
 

Jordu

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2003
8,961
Brookline
The problem is that Krejci has chronic injuries. He can't be counted on. They need a young number 1 center and you only get that at the top of the draft.
They’re in the middle of a rebuild. What they don’t have is scoring depth, and in a year or two a few of these rookies could provide it. In the meantime, we get to watch them learn how to play at this level. Which can be frustrating.

They really miss Krejci. He’s the best play-maker on the team.
 

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
14,461
Gallows Hill
They’re in the middle of a rebuild. What they don’t have is scoring depth, and in a year or two a few of these rookies could provide it. In the meantime, we get to watch them learn how to play at this level. Which can be frustrating.

They really miss Krejci. He’s the best play-maker on the team.
They need more high end talent. They need to finish bottom 3 to get it.
 

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,047
306, row 14
They deserved better tonight. Same old story though, of the big line doesn't score they'll have a hard time winning. The Leafs are so insufferable.

He's not completely at fault, but Rask is a growing concern of mine. Sub .900 save percentage and the sample size is growing.
 

Jordu

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2003
8,961
Brookline
They deserved better tonight. Same old story though, of the big line doesn't score they'll have a hard time winning. The Leafs are so insufferable.

He's not completely at fault, but Rask is a growing concern of mine. Sub .900 save percentage and the sample size is growing.
61 shot attempts, 39 of them on goal. They’re doing the work. They’re just not scoring.

I’m less worried about Rask than I am about the five defenders in front of him, although I expect I’ll be worrying about Rask soon enough.
 

charlieoscar

Member
Sep 28, 2014
1,339
He always has the puck. You're going to turn it over when you have the puck as much as he does
The point I was trying to make is that is that instead of taking the shot he has been trying to make difficult passes. If the pass gets through and his teammate scores, then it's, "What a great pass." Otherwise it's a turnover. He could take the shot and maybe score or a teammate gets a tip-in or the rebound. As it stands, Pastrnak's even strength Fenwick% is 49.1%. If it is above 50% that means the team is controlling the puck better than 50% of the time he is on the ice. Admittedly, there are other players involved but since he ranks 20th in FF% among his teammates, I'd guess he is a contributing factor. Sorry, but I think he could be doing better than he is doing.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
He could be doing better, but he's a 21 year old who just got paid being asked to shoulder a pretty big load. Certainly appears to be a player trying to do too much...I'm not worried long term, and frankly that's really what counts. Bs aren't making a cup run this year, so whatever struggles Pasta gets out of the next year or two hopefully make him better in the long run.
 

gryoung

Member
SoSH Member
They’re in the middle of a rebuild. What they don’t have is scoring depth, and in a year or two a few of these rookies could provide it. In the meantime, we get to watch them learn how to play at this level. Which can be frustrating.

They really miss Krejci. He’s the best play-maker on the team.
I’m not all that surprised with what we’ve seen so far. This was always going to be a rebuilding year ......and next season also. Bringing in young players and phasing out older ones. Doing this while trying to remain competitive is difficult.


Making the playoffs would be terrific. We all know how much fun playoff hockey is around here. But seeing progress over the season really is the key for me.
 

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,047
306, row 14
I’m not sure where all this talk of a rebuilding year is coming from. They’re not rebuilding, they are trying to contend. They were a playoff team last year, and maybe with a little health against Ottawa, they make a deeper run. They brought back the same team, swapping out a few back end vets (Stafford, Moore, etc.) for rookies that hopefully have higher ceilings. They have Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, Chara, Krug....rebuilding teams don’t have an elite core like that. They think they can win.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
I'm not sure they think they can win the cup this year. But maybe they do.

Sure as shit can't until everyone is back healthy though.
 

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,047
306, row 14
I'm not sure they think they can win the cup this year. But maybe they do.

Sure as shit can't until everyone is back healthy though.
I think they can, given health. Tampa Bay looks like they’re a juggernaut, but other than that the East isn’t great. They’re analytics profile is solid again, a little luck health wise and improved play in some areas and I don’t think they’re huge underdogs against anyone outside of the Bolts.

I guess this is mostly semantics. It may not be a rebuild year, but I suppose a developmental year due to the influx of rookies would be a better description of where they’re at.
 

gryoung

Member
SoSH Member
I think they can, given health. Tampa Bay looks like they’re a juggernaut, but other than that the East isn’t great. They’re analytics profile is solid again, a little luck health wise and improved play in some areas and I don’t think they’re huge underdogs against anyone outside of the Bolts.

I guess this is mostly semantics. It may not be a rebuild year, but I suppose a developmental year due to the influx of rookies would be a better description of where they’re at.
Development year(s) is a better description of what’s going on. You can’t rebuild until you had something to rebuild towards .......

Anyone really believe the B’s management thought/thinks they can challenge for the cup this season? Really?

We’re at the front-end of a roster development process. They will, hopefully, be a serious contender for the Cup in a year or two.
 

veritas

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 13, 2009
3,151
Somerville, MA
I think this year is a short weird window for them where some kids are ready to be legitimate contributors and some of their older core is still close to their primes.

Krejci and Backes have torpedoed that plan a bit, but a lot of the young players are much more ready than I expected. If Krejci can hold on for another year, I think this team is a contender (top 10 nhl team with a non insignificant cup chance).

It's pretty clear that Krejci is on the back nine of his career. Tuukka and Chara are still good players, but no longer elite. Bergeron is older than he seems, and at 32 is very likely not going to be playing at a HOF level much longer.

They are going to have some serious problems with some of their albatross contracts in a couple of years when young guys will need to be paid.
 

Jordu

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2003
8,961
Brookline
I think they can, given health. Tampa Bay looks like they’re a juggernaut, but other than that the East isn’t great. They’re analytics profile is solid again, a little luck health wise and improved play in some areas and I don’t think they’re huge underdogs against anyone outside of the Bolts.

I guess this is mostly semantics. It may not be a rebuild year, but I suppose a developmental year due to the influx of rookies would be a better description of where they’re at.
That’s a good way to phrase it. I’m getting too caught up in the team that’s available now and forgetting what this team projected to be in September.

Not only do they miss Krejci, they miss Spooner. As much as we (me included) like to gripe about him, he was 6th on the team in points last season and 5th the season before that.

When they get Krejci and Spooner and Backes and McQuaid back, will this be a team capable of getting hot and piling up points? They could be.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
I think this year is a short weird window for them where some kids are ready to be legitimate contributors and some of their older core is still close to their primes.

Krejci and Backes have torpedoed that plan a bit, but a lot of the young players are much more ready than I expected. If Krejci can hold on for another year, I think this team is a contender (top 10 nhl team with a non insignificant cup chance).

It's pretty clear that Krejci is on the back nine of his career. Tuukka and Chara are still good players, but no longer elite. Bergeron is older than he seems, and at 32 is very likely not going to be playing at a HOF level much longer.

They are going to have some serious problems with some of their albatross contracts in a couple of years when young guys will need to be paid.
I don't really disagree with much except the bolded. Rask is 30, I'd be stunned if he in a decline phase right now. He had some really bad starts last season but was battling a groin injury all year. He's obviously not off to the best of starts, but I'm not ready to put him in the over the hill group along with a bunch of the rest of these guys.

I think Bergy can continue to mostly produce at this level for a few more years- he's got 'old player skills' so barring injury I don't see the precipitous decline. I've made my feelings clear on 46 and 42, and Z is a 1st ballot HOFer on a very reasonable contract, but he's 2 months younger than me, so he not an AS at this point.

It is pretty ugly to look to the 19-20 season and see over $17m tied up in Krejci, Backes, and Belesky..
 

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,047
306, row 14
Rask’s save percentage the last 3 years has been..915, .915 and .901 to start this year. We can chalk it up to playing with injury, overuse, and playing behind a porous defense in 2015, but the defense has steadily improved over the last 3 years and the sample size of below average to average play is growing. I’m concerned.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Has the defense really improved over the last few years?

Last year was an injury year as far as I'm concerned and this year is 11 games. It's also with a new system that is a bit more open at the back. I don't blame anyone for being concerned, but I'm not there yet.
 

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,047
306, row 14
Has the defense really improved over the last few years?

Last year was an injury year as far as I'm concerned and this year is 11 games. It's also with a new system that is a bit more open at the back. I don't blame anyone for being concerned, but I'm not there yet.
I think the defense is good. As a team last year at 5x5 they allowed the fewest scoring chances against and the 2nd fewest high danger chances against. The result was the 3rd worst 5x5 save percentage in the league, ahead of only Colorado and Carolina. That’s not all Rask- it includes Khudobin, McIntyre and Subban. It’s not good though. The penalty kill wasn’t an issue, they were 10th in scoring chances against and high danger chances against in volume despite the 4th most total TOI short handed. In 15/16 they were 18th in scoring chances against; 9th in high danger chances against at 5x5. The defense never was really as bad as it seemed at times.

I think it is something to keep an eye on.
 

TheRealness

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 8, 2006
11,694
The Dirty Shire
I think the defense is good. As a team last year at 5x5 they allowed the fewest scoring chances against and the 2nd fewest high danger chances against. The result was the 3rd worst 5x5 save percentage in the league, ahead of only Colorado and Carolina. That’s not all Rask- it includes Khudobin, McIntyre and Subban. It’s not good though. The penalty kill wasn’t an issue, they were 10th in scoring chances against and high danger chances against in volume despite the 4th most total TOI short handed. In 15/16 they were 18th in scoring chances against; 9th in high danger chances against at 5x5. The defense never was really as bad as it seemed at times.

I think it is something to keep an eye on.
I am much less concerned with the defense than I am with Rask. It seems he lets in at least one goal a game he should save, and looks downright apathetic at times. They have no other way to go, have little depth and are basically screwed if he continues to be an average NHL goalie.

While Haggs is a hack, I don't know that I disagree that Dobby should be getting more playing time. He's been better than Rask so far.

As for the team as a whole, they are playoff contenders with the potential to do more damage. They just can't stay healthy, which may end up tanking their whole season given how thin the margins are these days.
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,049
Alamogordo
I'm glad to know others are seeing the same thing I am in regards to Rask lately. I honestly almost considered starting a thread about whether they should start looking into potential trade partners, but thought better of it because, even with you guys seeing it, I still think it is probably a terrible idea. But, yeah.... he is not a top tier goaltender right now. It makes me wonder how much more of his success earlier in his career can actually be attributed to the system.

I'm not super savvy on cap stuff, but Cap Friendly has the Bruins with something like $57K in free cap space (or $500K with LTIR relief), and paying $7 million to a non-elite goaltender makes that hurt a bit.