Will there be any better UFAs than Chara and/or Redden next offseason? I tend to doubt it (it's virtually impossible if you're looking for a #1 D). Both guys are only 28-29, so I wouldn't hesitate to try and lock them up long-term this offseason. Even if the plan is to rebuild in 06-07 and comeback hard in 07-08, it'd help to have one of those guys in the fold.

I'd go as far as to speculate that it would be tough to miss the playoffs with a D corps involving B. Stuart, Redden/Chara, Boynton, M. Stuart, Jurcina, Alberts in front of a Thomas/Hannu tandem.

But are you concerned with "making the playoffs" or going somewhere in the playoffs. The timing is wrong to go after these guys, who are probably overrated because they play for a powerhouse team, anyway.

If Chara is the better of the two, then the best the Bruins can probably hope for is to sign Redden to a max deal, as Chara will get his max deal elsewhere...

There will always be free agents to sign.

The Globe says the contract is 3 years at around $1.1 million per, which is pretty good money for a 32 year old goalie with 28 NHL appearances to his credit. I think this is the classic case of a contract that is a good deal for both sides; a good deal for Thomas because he makes real money for the first time in his career and has a 3 year comittment from an NHL team, and a good deal for the Bruins who have locked up a guy playing out of his mind for the next three years to a contract that won't submarine the team if Thomas suddenly turns into a pumpkin.

All the other goalies you mentioned have substantially longer track records in the NHL and most of them are quite a bit younger than Thomas. I must disagree with your assessment that Thomas took a big discount, and should point out that you can tell an agent is lying when his lips are moving.

I am of course concerned with Cups, as are we all. I just don't see how the timing is wrong to go after them, since they're young and they're going to be in the prime of their careers for the next 3-6 years.

I don't see how either is overrated, but that's just one person's opinion.

Where's the downside of chasing them? The cap space? The risk they'd go down in flames? I think this is different than chasing after a gimpy Alex Zhamnov or an aging Glen Murray. These guys are still in their 20s and are Norris candidates.

That said...they probably wouldn't want to play for the Bruins in their current management and talent state. In that respect, the timing is indeed a bit off. Just a bit.

All the older goalies clearly have better track records: CuJo, Hasek, Roloson. But at this point in their career--does it really matter? CuJo is having a pretty poor season, and he's pushing 40. Hasek is 41. Roloson will be 37 early next hockey season, and is also having a down year. Thomas has little NHL experience, but he was the best goalie in the AHL in 03-04 (better than Hannu T.) and has had nothing but success wherever he's been for the last several seasons.

I'll concede Gerber and Legace are better options. But the field is pretty thin, and the demand will be pretty high. This is a league where Sean Burke pulled 1.6M out of the TB Lightning. I think Thomas would've scored a bit more than a 1M/yr deal here or somewhere.

Unless he tanks from now to season's end. He's also got something of a "bad publicity" issue going for him - goalie-starved teams like Vancouver and Edmonton would have to answer the question of why they didn't grab him for free when they had the chance.

All of that said, you are right - he could have done better on the open market. But that is pretty much always true. Even if 28 of the other 29 teams thought Thomas was nothing more thna a lucky stiff, all it would take is that one team to bid up his price.

In case anyone missed it, the Bruins didn't make it 3 in a row; Rangers won 5-2.

And the Bruins looked like pathetic crap, especially Brian Leetch who confessed to being "in a fog" the whole game. Not that we needed him to tell us after watching the game...

In other (bad) news, our playoff competitors won last night - Montreal, Florida, Atlanta.

A loss to Atlanta tonight will finally stick the fork in the Bruins.

I am goddamn sick of watching Leetch and Gill blow hockey games while some talented but young defensemen sit and watch.

Here is a wild thought, BTW: How badly do the Penguins want to dump Sergei Gonchar's salary? Would they give us Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin (#2 pick behind Ovechkin in 2004) for Alexei Zhamnov or Glen Murray?

Gonchar is owed $20 million over the next 4 years. Zhamnov is owed $8 million over two, and Murray is owed $12.5 million over three. Malkin is a future star. Players like that aren't usually traded, but, again - Gonchar is a pretty big salary and cap hit, and the Penguins already have Crosby.

EJ, I waived Leetch in my fantasy league last week, because I was just so sick of having him around, I only wish the Bruins would do the same.

I don't think Pitt would do that deal, but I'll tell you, given the cap space the B's have I would give them the B's #1 pick for Gonchar and Malkin. malkin is just much better than what is expected to be available at #7. If they'd take one ofour contracts as well all the better

Can the Bruins fit Gonchar without dumping contracts? I guess if they buy out Zhamnov. I think Pittsburgh would be a nice fit for Murray, but not at his contract.

I see Gonchar as an overrated and overpaid guy who could nevertheless contribute to the Bruins.

So if anyone's watching the game tonight, I'll be in the first row at center ice - by the penalty boxes (Sect 12). I'll smile pretty for you.

By my best guess even if they don't dump Zhamnov they have around 15-20 million to play with. Obviously some of that will go in raises to the guys they have. But they should still have a good 15 million to play with, but need to fill 7 spots or so

Alberts 1 mil
Bergy 1.5 mil
Boyes 1.5 mil
Boynton 2 mil
Jurcina 1 mil
Fitz 500k
Lankfeld 500k
Leahy 500k
murray 4 mil
Rasoner 1 mil
Stazny 800k
Stuart 2.3 mil
Sturm 2.3 mil
Thomas 1 mil
Toivonen 1.5 mil
Zhamnov 4 mil

That's around 29 mil right there. Maybe some of the young guys get bigger raises

But that is a good 13 mil or so under the cap even if they keep Zhamnov and Murray

I doubt Pittsburgh want to deal Malkin for anyone not named Bergeron and even that may not be enough. Pittsburgh is a couple years away from being competitive, and I doubt their desire to shave a few years off their albatross' contract is worth giving up on what may be the best prospect in the NHL.



McEachern is on the books for 1M next season, Providence, retired, or whatnot--doesn't matter. Toivenon is, according to a NEHJ contributor on HF boards, in his last year of his entry level deal, so he'll stay around 818k or so. I believe Primeau is also on the books for one more season too, at/near 1.1M.

I think you're using guys like Reasoner and Fitz as salary placeholders, as I believe they're free to walk after the season.

it was a rough guess, but reasonable accurate (+/- a couple mil). Yeah some of the 4th liners are placeholder guys, if it isn't Fitz, and Leahy it will be 2 other guys who make the same money.

In terms of Reasoner, personally I think the bruins can keep him pretty cheap (1 mil annually). he is a pretty decent player for that price, and I want to keep him. The guy isn't a star, but can skate on any of the last 3 lines and not kill you. no you don't want him as an everyday second liner, but as a 4th liner who can fill up to a second line during an injury, he is solid.

Ya know, Thomas deserved his extension because he's been playing his ass off, but the amount of 5-hole shootout goals he gives up is absofuckinglutely unfuckingreal. It's disgusting and something he needs to work on for next season.

They get a point after choking away 2 late leads (including giving up a game-tying goal with 1:08 left in the game after surviving an Atlanta PP), don't score in OT, tie the SO on the last skater (Murray) of the first round, then Slater gets the winner with (thus the mention above) a 5-hole score, the second Thomas gave up in the SO. Brad Stuart tried to rifle the tying one home but way overshot the net.

Game over. Season probably over too. All but academic now.

Season's been over for a while. Here are the standings to pay attention to now. Of course, given the ways the Bruins tend to draft, they may trade down from 6th overall. I don't mean that negatively either.

Toronto (14) 70
Phoenix (13) 68
NY Islanders (14) 68
Florida (14) 67
Boston (12) 66
Columbus (13) 55
Washington (15) 52
Chicago (15) 51
St. Louis (15) 51
Pittsburgh (13) 46

The question is , erfus, is who will be making the B's pick? I would be surprised if O'Connell and Sullivan are around a week after the season ends.

Fun game last night, until the last few minutes. Seats were unreal. Just a completely different perspective. Crowd was dead. Plenty of good seats still available. Apparently there was some kind of "speed dating" thing before the game. Was talking to the security guard about it and she was a little bummed she wasn't up there to see it. I'm sure there were some quality people watching opportunities.
People 3 rows behind us were ejected for being drunk... and underage... and obvious about it. Duh. Freaking idiots.

The Bruins' Director of Amateur Scouting is the one absolute star on the Bruins' management team. He is the man behind the drafting of Shaone Morrisonn, Hannu Toivonen, Andrew Alberts (6th round!), Milan Jurcina (8th round!), Patrice Bergeron (2nd round!), and Mark Stuart. He also would have had heavy input on MOC's decision to trade for Brad Boyes.

He's picked up a few good prospects in the last two drafts, too: the K boys (Petr Kalus, David Krejci, Martin Karsums), Matt Lashoff, Jon Sigalet...

Bradley practically specializes is drafting guys no one has ever heard of who go on to be impact players - see Bergeron, Patrice.

A decade ago, he was a scout in the Bruins organization, and he vociferously opposed the Bruins' brass as they planned to draft Johnathan Aitken with the 8th pick in the first round. Aitken was very highly rated by Central Scouting, but Bradley argued that the B's should spend the pick on an unknown kid named Derek Morris.

He lost the argument, but he is now the guy who makes those calls for the Bruins.

It's obvious to me that MOC has gotta go. Is Bradley a reasonable alternative to replace him?

I find myself wishing that the salary cap had happened years ago. Or that Harry Sinden was 20 years younger. With a level playing field and a guy as smart as Harry in control we might have won a few more Stanley Cups since 1972.

I doubt he's going anywhere. Jeff Gorton apparently has a hand in things around the farm and the prospectdom as well. I don't know if either has the communications, connections, or financial background to be the GM, but they've done a good job w/ the farm system given the dearth of high draft picks, especially in the last couple of drafts. Krejci, Karsums, Kalus and Lashoff all look like steals at this point. I'd have still preferred a forward like Parise or Eric Fehr over Mark Stuart, but that's more hindsight than anything else.

I'm convinced at this point that MOC won't be back. I know there are connected folks that aren't, but I just don't see an alternative. Even for one as disconnected and thick-skulled as Jeremy Jacobs, it is clear that something must be changed for the organization to win again (and make more money).

I hope you are right, but I am skeptical. To outward appearances, at least, MOC seems to be proceeding as if the job is his. So who knows?

Bradley may not be ready to be GM, but I agree with Kirk L. (wish he would post here - he is a member) that he should be promoted. Kirk argues that Bradley should be in charge of ALL scouting, not just amateur scouting. At present, it is sort of odd to see the Bruins doing such an excellent job with amateur scouting while their pro scouting has been disastrously bad.

I think he's working on getting his account activated, based on the brief back and forth we had over at HF boards. I asked BigMike to assist, so I'm sure it's done at this point.

Sadly, I agree with you. The question becomes, can Malkin be had? I am not aware of his current status, and have only heard bits and pieces of reasons why he is still staying in Russia, but maybe there's more to it? If there were a real problem getting Malkin to come to the U.S. (maybe adding in the fact that Pittsburgh hasn't been the model of financial security) and the B's were looking to take Gonchar off their hands and they threw in the second round pick they got for Sammy (I believe it was a 2nd, right?) to make it:

B's Give:
1st Round pick
2nd Round pick (From Edmonton)

Pittsburgh Gives:
D Gonchar
W Malkin

I would probably go as far as to include the B's 2nd rounder if it were required. Maybe even make a 1 1st 1 2nd and Murray for Gonchar and Malkin. If Pittsburgh is staring at a young player they are having trouble getting to this country and an overpaid overrated defenseman hooked to a (for the current NHL) long contract, the B's might be able to make an offer that is simply too attractive.

This is all probably wishful thinking and I'm sure this is a move that MOC et al would not make. For everyone who's saying that there's a FO clearout at the end of the year, I have one thing to say: From your lips to God's ears.

There wasn't any problem getting Malkin to the United States, he remains Pittsburgh property and is keen to play for them. He simply chose to remain in Russia this year because of his allegiance to his club team. There's little-to-no-chance he'll be dealt (he's considered the best player in the world not playing in the NHL)

Bruins sign PJ Axelsson to a 3 year extension!

Good. Good player, good move to lock him up.

I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I think that depends on the financials. I don't think anyone as offensively limited as PJ is worth more than, oh, say 1.9M/yr. His durability is on the downswing as he gets older, and at age 31 he isn't getting any younger.

I'm not saying I wouldn't have tried to re-sign him. He's a very good checking forward and a key PK guy. But I think he's more replaceable than a lot of folks believe.

I like replying to myself and then disagreeing. It's great...Reportedly, it's a 5.55M deal over 3 yrs (average is 1.85M). No complaints here about that, so just ignore my previous whining.

Bargain at that price. Love the move. He was the one guy I absolutely wanted to keep out of FA.

I actually let out a whoohoo here at work when I read the headline about this over at HFBoards

The Bruins need to take a page from the Patriots' book and start building a TEAM instead of a new collection of second tier UFAs every season. And part of that is rewarding the guys who play the way Bruins are supposed to play. Guys like Tim Thomas and PJ Axelsson.

I am still skeptical about management, and I still hope MOC is canned at season's end, but these two signings are a step in the right direction.

Mine was a "YES!" reading the ESPN2 updates during the Sox game to day, but same idea - just real glad to have him back for 3 more years.

I love PJ. He's a team player and a hard worker, exactly what we want on this team. I'm delighted to have him around for another three years.

This might be the highlight of the Bruins' season.

Sad, but maybe true.

Kirk's Call

New news: According to someone at HFBoards, the Bruins have signed 2005 first round pick Matt Lashoff to a 3 year deal. (This was expected, but it is good to see it happen.)

It is good to see, though he's probably ticketed for Providence next year. He's probably better than Tanabe right now.

2005-06 Kitchener Rangers OHL 56 GP 7-40-47 146 PIMs

I wonder if Gorton is working on the K-kids as well. Providence (or Boston, ya never know) could be stuffed with very interesting prospects next season. Quite a refreshing change of pace from this season, where they're mostly minor league vets and longshot prospects like Redenbach, Walter, and Sigalet.

Why do you consider Sigalet a longshot prospect? He's stepped into the AHL at 19 and had a solid year. His numbers are not a whole lot different from Lashoff's and he's doing it at a much higher level.

As for the K-kids - I really liked what I saw of Kalus at rookie camp. He can skate and plays with an edge. Karsums didn't play in rookie camp because of his ankle, but he is reputed to be a similar type of player. I'd like both fo them signed, and in Boston next eyar, even as 4th liners. Krejci could probably use a year in Providence - he's more of a strictly offensive guy.

Jonathan Sigalet? He's having a good offensive year in Providence, but my understanding is that isn't where he must improve. I'm encouraged, but he's a 4th round pick that has a way to go before he's NHL ready. Mentioning him in the same sentence as Tyler Redenbach may have been harsh, but I don't think he's in the same tier of prospect as Stuart or the K-kids.

http://www.hockeyjournal.com/bruins/Bruins...tJonSigalet.htm

At least one of Karsums, Krejci, or Kalus has a shot at making the Boston roster next fall, unless the new regime goes UFA-crazy. Seems like it's easier for a forward to make that transition to the NHL game (less responsibility). I haven't seen Karsums play yet, and from all reports he's a good guy to watch. It sounds like Krejci needs to fill out a bit to survive in the NHL, but he has the summer to work out and we know the Bs desperately need some creativity up front.

You know things are bad when the Bruins play and there wasn't a single post in this thread from 2 hours before the game to 2 hours after the game.

They looked like an AHL team at best tonight. The Devils out worked, out hustled and out checked the lowly B's.

I am biased because I always hated Ken Danyko but, man, his jersey retirement ceremony was WAY over the top. It was like Cirque De Soleil in there with the pomp and circumstance. I was waiting for Jim Korn and Joe Cirella to come out from behind a curtain as surprise guests.

C'mon! Bruins made SportsCenter's Top 10! Of course it was today when they do Week's Weakest, and it was the goal Thomas gave up last night from the red line that trickled through him.

I fear TT may be the newest in a string of goalies for the B's who play well when they are playing for their careers, but now that he has job security he's gonna be the new Blaine Lacher. Is that a guaranteed contract they gave him?

That's an over the top reaction to one bad goal. And Lacher went into the tank without ever getting the job security of a big contract.

Thomas is a hard working, lunch pail guy who is the reason for whatever slim shread of success the Bruins have had this year...

Something's gotta give tonight.....the Bruins are on a bad streak and Buffalo has lost 4 in a row.

I'll be at the game tonight. (cue Nancy Kerrigan..."Why? WHY????")

I think we've learned that Thomas is a streaky goalie, and he either has it or not. I wouldn't hold that bad goal against him, as he was coming in cold relief of another uninspiring Razor performance.

Raycroft will just about have to be dealt this offseason for pennies on the dollar. What's the expectation? 4th round draft pick or so? What a lost season for the kid, and his body language looks like he just wants out of Boston.

Not a reaction to one bad goal at all, but a reaction to the difference in the outcomes of his starts from his first 2 months here, when he was the 3rd guy up and only playing now and then due to injury, through the time when he became the #1 since it was obvious he was outplaying Raycroft, and then when it became obvious that he was going to be the #1 for quite some time, and the new contract came through, he got comfortable, and stopped being as sharp as he had been.

4 or more goals in 3 of the last 5 games isn't good. Thomas is no longer winning games by himself like he did in that first run. And he's not the reason they're losing (although 2 5 holes in the shootout the other night didn't help), but a good goalie is supposed to win games for you, not "not lose them".

I think Thomas will be fine next year when he returns to the role he should be playing, which is backup.

He seems like a character guy, and from most accounts, he and Hannu have a good relationship. Next year he'll start 1 out of 4 games or so and be just fine.

O'Connell to be fired - just saw this as I was watching golf. Sinden called a big press conference at the Garden for 6 PM. I'd have liked to see Sinden go down with him/them, but I'll gladly take the MOC firing alone.

CBS 4 says "major announcement" at 6 pm tonight.

Edit: Globe says Sinden called the PC so either he is resigning or he won't be going down w/ the ship.

See you later MOC

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=160065&hubname=