Opening thoughts
- Thread starter lexrageorge
- Start date
Oh boy. Let's hope it remains "soreness" and Rask remains day to day. This feels ominous.
And the match up nightmare that is Montreal continues.... Players like Jimmy Hayes cannot, do not, nor should not play a role in games such as those.
McIntyre was sent down yesterday; Subban brought up today. I'm not sure why the switch. Khudobin ended up getting hurt in practice, so we'll see what the goaltending situation looks like tomorrow night.
Up front, looks like Hayes to 9 tomorrow. Heinen back with 46 and 42, Spooner between 39 and 20.
Up front, looks like Hayes to 9 tomorrow. Heinen back with 46 and 42, Spooner between 39 and 20.
Can't be any worse than pretending Hayes is a top-9 forward in the NHL. Problem is, Spooner's not the player to keep that line from getting pinned down in their own end.
Yeah, the 3rd line needs some help. The 5 lowest Bruins by posession thus far have been Spooner, Hayes, Nash, Beleskey and Czarnik. All 5 players that have shuttled through the 3rd line. Nash is playing too high, but he has been displaced due to the success of 59/28/55 on the 4th line. Nash kills penalties and is decent on draw so they're reluctant to take him out, but he provides little offense.
Czarnik had a 3 point weekend down in Providence. I'd like to give him another look-see as the 3C sometime soon. Spooner seems like the same old guy to me. Good on the power play, good with the puck on his stick in transition, but he never really has the puck. He can't really play wing because he's too soft along the boards, and his defense isn't strong enough to play C. Feels like his days are numbered in Boston.
Hayes. Yikes. Maybe it's because I'd like to see him succeed here, but I thought he *looked* good through the first few games. Then I look at the stats, and they are pretty much awful across the board for him. I'm not sure what the solution here is. He's nearing/may already be at the point where I'd put him on waivers to send him down. Maybe getting away from Boston is what he needs.
Czarnik had a 3 point weekend down in Providence. I'd like to give him another look-see as the 3C sometime soon. Spooner seems like the same old guy to me. Good on the power play, good with the puck on his stick in transition, but he never really has the puck. He can't really play wing because he's too soft along the boards, and his defense isn't strong enough to play C. Feels like his days are numbered in Boston.
Hayes. Yikes. Maybe it's because I'd like to see him succeed here, but I thought he *looked* good through the first few games. Then I look at the stats, and they are pretty much awful across the board for him. I'm not sure what the solution here is. He's nearing/may already be at the point where I'd put him on waivers to send him down. Maybe getting away from Boston is what he needs.
Last night was Jimmy Hayes' 23rd straight game without a point. Matt Beleskey's pointless streak is now at 11. I know the D and goaltending woes are glaring and need to be fixed, but the Bruins are getting zero secondary scoring. Marchand, Pastrnak and Bergeron can't do it all.
NHL Player Safety @NHLPlayerSafety 8m8 minutes ago
Boston’s David Pastrnak will have a hearing tomorrow for charging/ illegal check to the head on NY Rangers’ Dan Girardi.
Boston’s David Pastrnak will have a hearing tomorrow for charging/ illegal check to the head on NY Rangers’ Dan Girardi.
If they put Hayes on waivers would anyone claim him? Serious question. He only has one more year at $2.3 million so a low payroll team may take a flyer on him for nothing.
I'd try it. If he clears, send him to Providence. He doesn't kill penalties nor play on the power play. When he is not producing at even strength, he's useless. I don't see much harm in trying to get him down to the AHL, and perhaps more importantly out of Boston, to try and work through things.
They won both games Pasta missed on goals by Schaller and Moore. For everyone but Tuukka it is better to be lucky than good, I guess. Tuukka has stood on his head. I question whether they can win games like this all year but for right now this is a fun team to watch!
I'll gladly take the cap room for that stiff. So if someone wants him they can have him.
Yep. Rask's current .961 save percentage is unsustainable.
I'm more concerned about the offense than the defense at the moment. They've scored 20 goals in 9 games. I posted it in a game thread but the current goal breakdown is:
1st line: 11
2nd line: 1
3rd line: 0
4th line: 3
Defense: 2
PPG: 2 (2/35 so far)
SH: 1
Krug, Hayes, Beleskey, Heinen and Nash have yet to record a point. Hayes' streak is at 25 games, Beleskey 13. Right now, either the first line scores and Rask does the rest, or they lose.
The team wide numbers are mostly good. Small sample, but 52% possession so far, 59 attempts per 60 and 31 shots per 60 are in the top half of the league in all categories at even strength. I'm there's some bad luck plus injuries and constant lineup shuffling affecting the scoring, but it's something to keep an eye on. They can't keep sending Nash, Hayes and Beleskey over the boards as a unit though.
Claude cut their ice time down to ~60% of the fourth line's last night. With Pastrnak back in Tampa, one of them has to be sitting.
Yeah, Hayes or Heinen is my guess and then the survivor stays until Backes returns. Nash and Beleskey have special teams value.
That's a shame. I get it from an asset management standpoint - but Hayes is bordering on extended scratches followed a conditioning stint.
He was looking increasingly close to making an impact. Rather have him sharpening his game in Providence than watching from the 9th floor.
I know that McQuaid and KMiller get lumped together here, but there are some metrics that show KMiller to be at least marginally useful, which sort of matches my eye test. Is there any comparable measurement of McQuaid which shows him to have value? I cant find any and my eyes have *never* seen it. Even when he plays heavy (which I guess is supposed to be his strength), he seems to miss checks (and slam himself and only himself into a wall) more often than he connects. Is there anything there?
Nope, and there hasn't been for a while, going back to that franchise-altering Friday when he got signed. It was a bad move from day 1, and now this team is stuck in a position with all these bad D and not a hell of a lot of cap space.
I figured. And pre-emptively...I'm not suggesting that the Miller *contract* was a good one. Only that he's not the cipher that McQuaid is.
I put Hayes and Beleskey in the same boat. Contract aside, I think Beleskey (last year anyway) showed some use as a player.
Hayes seems little more than the forward version of McQuaid.
Yeah, McQuaid is unplayable. He doesn't have the mobility to keep up with the pace of the game. He got caught flat footed last night and that resulted in a penalty when the forward blew him. He also had 2 or 3 icing/turnovers where a won defensive draw would come back to him and then he'd wheel around the net and just fire the puck up along the wall in hopes someone would be able to corral it. Seems like there's been a lot of this stuff happening to him the past year and 5 games. He has never had the offensive chops to move the puck up ice, but I think his defensive game has sunk so much that he's become a liability out there.
I would use Morrow until Kevan Miller returns.
I would use Morrow until Kevan Miller returns.
We've spoken about waiving McQuaid or Hayes. To get more information on this, a search found:
It seems to be a better option than a buyout. We'd have each player for their contract duration but at a lower cap hit. About 3M total if both were in Providence. A trade would be preferable. Would they still be "available" to Las Vegas if they finish the season in Providence?
This is a new concept for me in US major league sports. Does that mean US or Canada "affiliated" minor league teams only?
Can a player veto a "loan." The Bruins can't just say, "Jimmy, we think you need playing time, so we're loaning you to Arstan Shumkar Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan," can they?
Updated goals list!
First line: 14
Second line: 1
Third line: 0
Fourth line: 3
Defense: 3
PPG: 3 (3-for-38...goal differential a man up is 0)
SHG: 1
Some of it is bad luck, but yikes. All of the healthy scratch trio (Spooner, Hayes and Beleskey) have yet to register a 5x5 point. Riley Nash got off the schneid on Saturday. Krejci has 1 5x5 point in 11 games. The 2nd line is running at ~60% possession, so hopefully the damn breaks soon and pucks start going in for them.
First line: 14
Second line: 1
Third line: 0
Fourth line: 3
Defense: 3
PPG: 3 (3-for-38...goal differential a man up is 0)
SHG: 1
Some of it is bad luck, but yikes. All of the healthy scratch trio (Spooner, Hayes and Beleskey) have yet to register a 5x5 point. Riley Nash got off the schneid on Saturday. Krejci has 1 5x5 point in 11 games. The 2nd line is running at ~60% possession, so hopefully the damn breaks soon and pucks start going in for them.