Bruins in 18-19

You have to ask yourself if acquiring Panarin and another center (because I don’t think Panarin by himself is enough given that hole there) let’s use Tyler Toffoli for example, is enough to have a punchers chance at Tampa.

They really are at a crossroads right now. They have a good core and some solid prospects, but they’re clearly behind Tampa in the east, and all of their prospects have back slid this year. Neely and Sweeney have some hard decisions to make.

 

Yeah, ultimately I think I would do it.

I do wonder if it may be a better play to see if that package could get them Mark Stone. He might be a *slightly* better fit since he is a RW. Breadman is freaking awesome but is a LW and would shove DeBrusk to RW, where I don’t think he has been quite as effective.

Marchand - Bergeron - Stone
DeBrusk - Krejci - Pastrnak

Vs.

Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
Panarin - Krejci - DeBrusk

They are both massive improvements.

 

The outcome of a hockey playoff series always has a level of randomness to it. The Bruins won the President's trophy in 2014 with 117 points and looked dominant doing so and lost in the 2nd round. The Finals that year had the 5th best team in the East playing the 6th best in the West.

It would be less than ideal for the Bruins to sit tight at the trading deadline and then watch Tampa get upset by the Habs or Penguins in the opening round, and then finding out that McDonagh, Gourde and Johnson were dealing with hidden injuries.

Panarin does also offer a longer term solution if they can convince him to resign.

 

This I agree with. Stone is a perfect fit. I also think he'd be a more reasonable sign (still $8mil but Panarin is going to want $10m +).

 

Stone might be the better player even now. Certainly has a significant size advantage and I think his two way game is considerably better.
Stone is also going to blow past all his career high rate stats this season. He might not cost much less than Panarin but unlike Panarin he should almost certainly be available at the deadline.

A consolation prize could be the other OTT connection Mike Hoffman. Not as good as Stone/Panarin but no slouch either. He has 1 more year on his contract at a reasonable 5.1 but FL is rumored to be in the hunt for both Bob and Panarin in the off-season so clearing cap space is a priority. I would expect you can land Hoffman for much less than Stone/Panarin, likely a tier 2 prospect + a 2nd rd pick.

 

I like the idea of Stone or Hoffman. Is the ownership up there still dead set against trading inside the division?

 

Hoffman is a good player but there’s a big difference between him and Panarin/Stone. The latter two are superstars, it would be like adding another Marchand/Pastrnak level talent. They'd have more than a puncher's chance vs Tampa. Hoffman would move the needle less than Rick Nash IMO. I don't even think he's an upgrade over DeBrusk, at least at 5v5.

I agree with cshea -- if the price is similar, I'd prefer Stone over Panarin. He's a natural RW and I think they'd have a better chance of signing him. Panarin is a righty but has played mostly on the left the past few years. I also think he's probably going to sign in Florida in the offseason.

 

Lee Stempniak is joining Providence and will play for them on a PTO. I guess he will probably be this years Brian Gionta. He’s been practicing with the Bruins all season.

 

Don't look now, but the Bruins have won 6 in a row, including 3 straight on a west coast road trip, with the last 4 coming without Pastrnak. The secondary scoring has improved. McAvoy is looking really, really good.

They still have issues holding a lead and they still need a 3rd line center and a wing to play with Krejci. Heinen has looked good since being reunited with 37 and 63, so center is looking like the biggest need. I would very much like to see them finish above Toronto and have home ice for that 1st round series. If they can stay healthy, this should be a fun rest of the season.

Edit: Without Pasta - thanks Tater.

 

Should be without Pastrnak, but otherwise, yeah. I agree completely. This could get really fun if the Bruins stay ahead of Toronto. The Leafs' next two games are at a very hot St Louis and then home against Washington. Hopefully they get beat.

 

The remainder of this month will be very tough. They are in Vegas tomorrow, St. Louis on Saturday, then have the lightning and sharks to end the month. Things get considerably softer after that. It will be interesting to see if this hot streak is a competition thing or not. It does seem like they have really stepped up. It's crazy, but they've taken points in 11 straight games and haven't lost in regulation in a full month (that BS rangers game where Rask was injured.)

 

How many teams have more points than the Bruins? 2
How many teams have fewer losses than the Bruins? 2

True, 4 teams are within 3 points of the B's, but they are all behind them, and the Bruins are only 1 point behind the Flames.

 

Fluto reporting Charlie turned down a contract extension last offseason and wants Ekblad money (7.5 mil annually).

 

Coyle starts in at 3C. Also wearing #13. For some reason him wearing #3 as a F always annoyed me.

Marchand - Bergeron - Heinen
DeBrusk - Krejci - Kuhlman
Nordstrom/Cehlarik - Coyle - Backes
Kuraly - Acciari - Wagner

Cassidy wasn’t sure if Cehlarik or Nordstrom would play tomorrow.

 

Pasta is skating on his own this morning. Without a stick but at least on the ice.

 

Unfortunately I missed the game tonight. Excited about the win and the way the new guys played. Can't read too much into a couple games (see Donato, Ryan), but it's great that both of them seemed to fit right in and weren't phased by the pressure.

Sounds like Johansson looked good on the left right wing? I think for the first time in Cassidy's tenure, he has a team with depth and flexibility where he can be tactically proactive instead of reactive (i.e. shuffling lines to attack other teams in certain ways instead of trying to cover up deficiencies in his own team). If Johansson on the DeBrusk-Krejci line is more than a flash in the pan, that could them roll something like this when healthy:

Marchand-Bergeron-Heinen
DeBrusk-Krejci-Johansson
Cehalrik-Coyle-Pastrnak
Nordy-Kuraly-Wagner

If the 4th line can continue to eat tons of D-zone draws versus high QoC (quality of competition), that Bruins' top 9 would cause a ton of matchup headaches for other teams. And they can easily shuffle those lines for a variety of situations.

 

I don't see any chance Pasta isn't with one of the top two lines. I'd guess they put him with Bergy for TOR because that line just kills the Leafs, and maybe with Krejci if they advance to try to spread things out against Tampa.

 

With the way MarJo and the Krejci line played, if that continues they will put Pasta back on the super line. The Krejci line was awesome last night. Bigger issue from yesterday was the 3rd line despite Coyle playing well. Nordstrom was not good and looked overmatched. When Pasta is back I am hopeful Heinen will help balance that line. In the interim I would like to see Cehlarik back up in place of Nordstrom.

 

Still trying to understand the demotion of Cehlarik on deadline day. I understand if it's a paper move to get him eligible for the AHL playoffs, but the B's are still one shy of the 23 man limit with Kuhlman sent down. It could've been an order of operations thing where Cehlarik had to be sent down by noon and Stempniak could only be sent down after he cleared (causing a >23 man roster), but I doubt it given the tweet timestamp for the Cehlarik / Kuhlman demotions is 4:34 PM on deadline day.

Reading the terms of the emergency recall, it may be that the Bruins are trying to trim the roster down such that they'd be able to use an emergency recall:

All it would take is a forward or goaltending injury to facilitate an emergency recall and not count against the limit of four - so in a sense, I can understand keeping the 13th forward in Providence given their next away game is March 10th. If they don't like what they see out of Nordström, they recall Cehlarik using one of the four recalls but get the emergency option to recall one of Kuhlman/JFK/Frederic taken out of their hands until there are two forward injuries.

 

How reliable is the tweet timestamp when it comes to determining the actual time the transaction happened? I would imagine the important time is when the team reports the transaction to the league office, not when it sends it out on its Twitter stream.

It could also be something as simple as the organization wanting Cehlarik to get as much playing time as possible, which he may not get during this crucial run, despite him having played well so far.

 

I think the Bruins have a few things that need to be sorted out in the final 19 regular season games.

First and foremost, they need to figure out who the 9th guy is in the top 9. We’ve got 8 clearly defined- 37,63,88,46,74,90,13 and 43. We’re not sure who that 9th guy is. Right now it is Backes. Can he keep up, or do they need to bring Cehlarik or some other Providence kid up? Try Stempniak?

Secondly, I’d try as many line combos as possible. I agree with Dummy Hoy that when we get to the Toronto series, Pastrnak will be back on the top line until Toronto proves they can handle / slow that line down to some extent. I’d like to see Heinen get some more time with Krejci and DeBrusk. They played together a bit early on in the season, with good results. 141 minutes at 5x5, 55% CF, 51% SCF, 62% HDCF, goals were 5-2. Maybe that line can finish a bit better with Heinen being rejuvenated. He’s had 8 points in 9 games on the top line so he should have some confidence. Heinen on the Krejci line would allow them to build a 3rd line with Johansson and Coyle. The question is the 3rd piece, which they have to figure out.

Cliff notes version: As of now, my ideal playoff top 9 would be:

Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
DeBrusk - Krejci - Heinen
Johansson - Coyle - XXX

 

I'd like to see

Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak/Heinen
Debrusk - Krej - Pastr/Mojo
Cehlarik - Coyle - Mojo/Heinen
Nordy - Kuraly - Wagner

Kuhlman - Accari- Backes (in case of emergency)

 

I don't get Nordstrom over Acciari. Almost all of the advanced stats have Acciari as the better player, which confirms what my eyes are telling me. Acciari is a far better physical presence, and has better possession stats than Nordstrom.

 

Nordstrom is not playing over Backes or Accardi in the playoffs if everyone is healthy. And I think Cassidy goes with Backes over Cehlarik.

I’d load up the first line against Toronto:

63-37-88
74-46-90
43-13-42
55-52-14

Then reassess based on health and matchups if you win that series.

 

https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bru...karson-kuhlman-on-emergency-basis/c-305290918

Cehlarik and Kuhlman back on emergency basis

 

Bergeron and Acciari aren’t practicing. They have Kuhlman in Bergy’s spot so I assume he is a placeholder and it’s a maintenance day for Bergy. Acciari took the puck to the face, can’t remember if he returned to the game.

 

One of those 42's is a 14, right? Or is double-shifting Backes a way to get rid of him?

 

Fixed it thanks. Yeah he probably couldn’t handle a double shift at this stage of his career.

 

I do not believe he had a shift after that. It was in a spot that looked pretty bad (right on the jaw line). Wouldn’t be surprised to see he suffered a jaw/face fracture in addition to losing some chiclets.

 

Given the close race for home ice in the 1st round, it will be tough to experiment with line combinations. If it gets to the point where they have a big enough lead over Toronto, then yes try different combos together.

 

Cassidy said he thought teeth only.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/...or-thursday/xfpW6BBOJcGiUK9eC9gCgK/story.html

 

When healthy, Acciari has to be the linchpin for the fourth line. Add whomever you want, but he’s the key.

 

Some observations from last night's game, since it was my first chance to see the deadline acquisitions on the ice:

• Coyle has a little more wiggle and creativity than I thought he did
• Johansson seems to get to the right place on a consistent basis, but seems a little slow making decisions with the puck
• Nordstrom is not good
• Krejci is playing the best hockey I've seen him play in 5 years
• Even accounting for Chara, this might be the most mobile and dynamic set of defensemen the Bruins have had in the last 20 years

 

Adding on:

Nordstrom isn't very good. I'm guessing (hoping, actually) he'll be a depth reserve once the playoffs start.

Backes isn't very good either, but his fight seemed to set a tone early on.

If the B's defense can stay healthy (a big if), that's a Cup contending blue line corps IMO. Miller is their 7th guy; while not a speedster, he's still a competent defenseman for the bottom half of the pairings. Takes a lot of pressure off the forwards.

Still love the way Chara still somehow devours opposing forwards. And love the fact that Cassidy is able to limit him to 21 minutes in a game like last night's.

 

With the Bruins comfortably in the 2 or 3 spot in the east, I'd like to see them give everyone, including their stars some rest down the stretch. Chara/Bergeron/Krejci have seemed to frequently deal with nagging injuries towards the end of the last few seasons. They need to prioritize keeping them near 100%.

 

Any word on Carlo's wrist/forearm/hand?

 

I still have bad memories of late season collapses. With 18 games remaining, I'm OK if Cassidy decides to prioritize clinching a playoff spot, and then securing seeding.

 

I was just coming in here to post something along the lines of, "is this team peaking too early". I think the idea of giving guys a few select games off would be prudent.

 

Kuraly is in the protocol, so Cehlarik is back and will play tomorrow. He’ll go in on Coyle’s line and Nordstrom drops down to Acciari’s line.

 

He practiced today so he should be good to go.

 

For those of you who are out of the NESN market NHL Network is going to air the Bergeron at 1000 thing they did on Sunday at 1:00.

 

Chara wants none of your rest:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/...-winds-down/Vd3uG4qQ3v7s6lxHXtFbIO/story.html

 

Yeah - Chara is a different breed. I also don't put much stock in the timing of peaking. The 2013 team was dogshit going into the playoffs and went to the Cup final, the 2014 was a goddamn wagon through March and April and bowed out in the 2nd round. I think it's all irrelevant once the playoffs hit.

That said - I think home ice against Toronto matters. They struggle big time in Boston, I want Game 7 at home again if at all possible. Lot of demons there for them.

 

Agree 100% I think it's important to play at home as much as possible this season.

 

Yea I hope they get the 2 seed and that Pittsburgh gets the 2nd wild card. They’ve played pretty badly this year, but has the firepower and pedigree that if they put it together they can give Tampa a series.

 

Chelios was a regular NHL defenseman at age 46. Chara ought to be able to get there.

 

This is getting some run today. Backes and Cassidy had a sit down meeting before the game in Vegas to discuss Backes’ role and and place on the team. Backes apparently has decided to go the enforcer route. He has had 3 fights in 6 games since the meeting.



Appreciate Backes trying to do what he can, but I hope they sit him down and tell him he doesn’t need to do this every night.

 

Anthony Stewart sums it up well

 

David Backes's sudden shift to enforcer is a troubling development.