I'm going to cheat and bump this thread now, since they did end up collapsing on the final road trip (seriously, not one point?), allowing the league's great Cinderella story to be told. I'm also going to change my own premise and say I'm a main advisor to Cam and Charlie, because declaring the individual poster the GM presumed no chance of Chiarelli staying, and to take that option off the table is unfair.
That said, here's how I'd handle the next four months, hoping to lay the foundation for a better three to four years:
-The exit interviews are going to be important to the future of the management staff, from coach to GM. Apathy or organized anger by the players will make me question Julien's future in Boston. As of today, I'd probably keep everyone around, but with two things in mind:
-Chiarelli's getting a shopping list, and he's to stick to it. If that's too much for him, we'll get the guy who can do it.
-Provided Chiarelli survives, Julien is on a fairly short leash next year. Another inconsistent season with the Chara window slamming shot won't be tolerated.
That said, if the exit interviews go sour, I'm not married to these two. At all.
-For personnel moves, there's going to be a little bloodletting here. Not a gutting as some might want, but some of the flotsam at the edges of the roster that won't ever be more than role players are about to be given the boot.
The philosophy is the blue line has been the biggest letdown of 2014-15. What was once a deep, cohesive unit that wasn't very fast but moved the puck well saw their former top pair age in dog years due to knee injuries, one of their two up-and-coming defensemen having a bit of an inconsistent season, and a really good top-4 player get sacrificed to the Cap God, Matthew Wuest. Torey Krug was their best all-around defenseman, and as much as Krug is an important part of the team, he shouldn't have to be that at this age. Compounding the defense's struggles was the inability to fix it due to a cap penalty for the Iginla year, a stagnant cap (pro-tip: if it's tied to the Canadian dollar, it's not getting better any time soon), and heavy investment in relatively fungible guys. The cherry on top was extending Reilly Smith at a point in the season that you could've gambled, waited, and perhaps signed him to a more team-friendly deal than 2 years/$3.4M AAV. That may be what he's worth, but there was no reason to do that when they did. With that said...
-Paille and Campbell are gone. Completely. We all railed against Julien's decision to constantly defer to those two on the fourth line when it could've been an opportunity to try their younger, faster players against NHL competition. Hell, had Krejci not spent half the year injured, maybe Spooner's 90% on the road to a bust. That decision, whether Julien stays or not, needs to be ripped from his hands like yesterday.
-I'd agressively shop Lucic. He's due a raise after 2015-16, and I don't want to gamble on him figuring it all out on a $7M+ AAV contract into the next decade. He has value to someone in the NHL, let them pay him while he can still bring value.
-Smith and Eriksson are out there for the right price. While they'll probably go down as the greatest returns for Tyler Seguin, that doesn't exclude them from being traded to validate the trade. I think both still have value to the Bruins, but if someone values them more, move them on.
-Kelly's a funny case for me. He does a lot well, but he's not particularly flashy about it. He might be worth his contract, but not more than it. If they can clear a decent amount of cap space and keep him, I would. However, if his contract is the one stumbling block to revamping this team the way I want, I try to find something that works for everyone.
-Soderberg's getting squeezed by me. Teams finally figured him out a bit this year, and the chemistry with Eriksson wasn't enough to overcome it. Set a value, stick to it, and if someone values him more, let him walk.
-As much as I love what he's done for the team, Seidenberg is just too big a gamble for me to take. This might be the worst trade to make, as it'll almost certainly involve losing a decent prospect or player to keep from eating an albatross in return, but he's not likely to be a big part of this team for long anyway.
-Even more out-there is the idea that I see how the league values Chara. I know, he's the captain of the team and has been downright vital to their renaissance, but right now, he's signed until he's 40, and at a big number. While I'm willing to move Seidenberg at all costs, I want to see if Chara can rebound, but not if a team throws the farm (or the relative equivalent) to take him. Besides, sooner or later, Bergeron's wearing the C in Boston, and there's little question of that.
-Miller and McQuaid are the same kind of fungible garbage that somehow got top-4 minutes for this team. If they're coming back, they need to be made superfluous. No defenseman that comes into Boston should be below those two on the depth chart.
-Rask isn't going anywhere. Barring Godfather offers, neither are Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Spooner, Pastrnak, Dougie, nor Krug.
-One of Subban or MacIntyre are going to be big trade chips this summer. My hope is it's Subban; the family name has enough cache in the league to probably get an overpay out of some desperate team (read: Edmonton).
-For draft strategy, in Gretzky we trust, as 2014 is already looking to be a better draft class than most of the previous 8. If there's a focus to be had, it's on finding some depth at defense in the organization. They're okay at forward, and stacked in goal, but Joe Morrow, David Warsofsky, and Matt Grzelcyk are the depth below the NHL level on this team. I would want more to look at.
With that, the expectation going into 2015-16 is going to be lower. That's fine for me, as I want to see a bit more of the cheap, young talent carry this team now that people like Krejci, Bergeron, and Rask aren't that young and certainly aren't cheap. If they can get meaningful contributions from the youth, they could be competitive for a playoff spot in an increasingly tough division next year, and racing with the up-and-comers beyond that. The one thing I'd avoid is a huge overreaction to a slightly disappointing year by cleaning house willy-nilly and making problems where there were none.
