Bruins 2021 Season Thread

Salem's Lot

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RetractableRoof

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General question, are they allowed to practice in Boston? if the Bs are paused mode, can any of the younger kids be used in Providence? Just curious.
 

burstnbloom

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They can't open the facility until Wednesday and that is IF the close contacts and the rest of the team continue to post negative tests. It's hard to know what the rest of this week will look like for the Bruins but we'll have a lot more info on Tuesday.
 

cshea

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Sweeney has a PC this afternoon at 5:15, so we'll know more information about re-opening around then. The time coincides with when the NHL send out the updated COVID list. All 5 players (Pastrnak, Krejci, DeBrusk, Smith, Kuraly) were still on the list as of yesterday.

We'll see what Sweeney has to say but no new additions since Friday would seem to be good news and probably means they'll be able to practice Wednesday and then play on Thursday. Biggest problem from a team standpoint is if those 5 aren't off the list and they have to play Thursday without Pasta and the entire 2nd line.
 

cshea

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No changes to the Covid list. Sweeney says:

- Hired each player on the Covid list a car service to get them back to Boston from Buffalo.
- Doesn't really go into how this happened.
- They still hope to be able to practice on Wednesday but hurdles (test results) exist
- Plan is to still play Thursday if hurdles are cleared. May not have the players on the Covid list available. Also, they still plan oh having fans in the building for the next home game (whenever it is)
- On the bright side, the players who were not with the traveling party (the injured guys) have been able to continue using the facility for rehab. Several of them are getting closer to returning.
- Carlo is back on the ice.

They haven't added anyone to the list since Friday so that seems to bode well for resuming the season on Wednesday but we'll see how the next few days of testing goes.
 

cshea

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Today's updates from Butch:

- No changes to the Covid list.
- They do expect to practice tomorrow
- Kuraly is definitely out Thursday
- Rask expected to practice tomorrow/whenever the next one is and could play this week
- John Moore had surgery on an undisclosed injury. No timetable provided for his return
- Brandon Carlo, Zach Senyshyn and Jeremy Lauzon are skating
- Kevan Miller is skating but won't be ready for Thursday (don't know if this distinction means Carlo or Lauzon could play Thursday)
- Tinordi could play if he can practice tomorrow
- Frederic is feeling better but sounds unlikely to be available Thursday. "He has to practice with us"
- Kase has been skating. Calls it gravy if Kase gets back in since it's been so long. Sounds like he is progressing but will need a fair amount of practice time before putting him in.
 
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cshea

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We'll find out at 5 when the daily covid list is released. Presumably, since they're opening, nobody new will be on it. No idea if anyone will be coming off.

They ruled Kuraly out for tomorrow so I'd imagine he'll still be on it. No idea about the other 4.
 

BostonFanInCanesLand

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This is more promising. Now get out there, win, and score some 5v5 goals.

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
Ritchie-Krejci-Smith
Bjork-Coyle-Senyshyn/Kuhlman
Frederic-McKegg/Studnicka-Wagner

Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Zboril-Clifton
Tinordi-Kampfer
Lauzon-Carlo (non contact) Ahcan

Tuukka Rask, Jarred Tinordi, Zach Senyshyn, and Trent Frederic will participate in tomorrow's AM skate. They could all play tomorrow.

Jeremy Lauzon and Brandon Carlo will not be available.
View: https://twitter.com/FlutoShinzawa/status/1374861788764721156


View: https://twitter.com/FlutoShinzawa/status/1374876921612312577
 

burstnbloom

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Well last night was annoying. Pretty typical Bruins VS Islanders game this year. Bruins dominate for most of the game. Islanders win.

Anders Bjork and Charlie Coyle needs to be a thing. They outshot the isles 13-3 when playing together last night and had 2 goals. they also out chanced the isles 8-1 (and the isles scored on the 1 of course.) They played a lot against Barzal's line (6+minutes 5v5). I'd be interested to see what they can do with Smith back on the Right but that obviously means getting Krejci someone decent at RW.

We'll see I guess. I'm sure Bjork will end up in the press box again for no good reason. Is it obvious that I'm annoyed with his usage/deployment?
 

The Napkin

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Cassidy seems like he's in a good mood

Fluto Shinzawa
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Bruce Cassidy stops a drill. "Score some (expletive) goals by going to the (expletive) net! Quit looking for plays that aren't (expletive) there!"
 

joe dokes

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Pretty tough guy. This was probably not trauma and had been bothering him for a while. Like his shoulder a couple of years ago. Too bad. He was only occasionally a net positive, but he never was rage inducing to me and Ive read that he was a good presence on the team
 

LogansDad

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Pretty tough guy. This was probably not trauma and had been bothering him for a while. Like his shoulder a couple of years ago. Too bad. He was only occasionally a net positive, but he never was rage inducing to me and Ive read that he was a good presence on the team
Agreed. A healthy Moore was a good skater at least, and provided leadership on the ice. Hasn't had much of a chance to play healthy here, and being on the wrong side of 30 doesn't bode well for his chances the next two seasons.
 

Granite Sox

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Schmautz used to scare the crap out of me when he took a slap shot. They always rocketed above the shoulders, all the players used to cringe/duck, and I thought someone would get killed, only to hear the familiar *kink* as the puck smashed off the glass behind the net...
 

cshea

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It's a very small sample size, but they may have finally unlocked some depth scoring with Ritchie - Krejci - Smith. That trio has played 115 minutes and outscored teams 7-2 when they are on the ice. They have a 64% xGF, and are scoring 3.65 goals per 60 which puts them in the ballbark with the top line (4.18 GF/60).

I know they envisioned Smith playing with Coyle, but Smith seems like an ideal fit for Krejci. Righty, volume shooter. So far, so good. Getting this line figured out would go a long way towards emerging from the goal scoring woes. Then, hopefully they get healthy and they can try DeBrusk and Kase with Coyle. Or at least DeBrusk if Kase can't make it back.
 

TFP

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Honestly, I wouldn't mind leaving Bjork with Coyle at this point. Bjork has borderline been their best forward the past few games and those two seem to have found some chemistry. Add DeBrusk there and it's a solid line.

I'm not counting from anything from Kase at this point, unfortunately.
 

ColdSoxPack

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Schmautz used to scare the crap out of me when he took a slap shot. They always rocketed above the shoulders, all the players used to cringe/duck, and I thought someone would get killed, only to hear the familiar *kink* as the puck smashed off the glass behind the net...
The Bruins held training a couple of years in Fitchburg during the Don Cherry years. The place was quite the dump. After Don gave his mid-ice speech to the team, Gilles Gilbert headed to my end of the ice to take the net. During his entire skate to the net, Bobby Schmautz followed Gilbert down the ice and slapped him in the facemask with the blade of his stick, multiple times, just hard enough to get his attention. Schmautzy thought it was pretty funny.

Bonus fun fact: Standing behind the glass at the other end of the rink was Derek Sanderson, trying to catch on with a team at the end of his career, smoking a cigarette with his hand in a cast which he had broken the night before punching someone out at the Cinema Lounge. I think he was gone the next day.

Second fun fact: On Don Cherry's weekly podcast he talks about Schmautz all the time. The whole Cherry family was close with the Schmautz family since their days in Rochester together.
 

burstnbloom

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Bjork has been good with Coyle but Debrusk and Coyle definitely FEEL like they should fit well together. If only one of those two guys was a RW. They both play much worse on their off wing.
 

McDrew

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Good article from Fluto in the Athletic today about Carlo's recovery from the concussion he got from Wilson's hit.

Fluto also has a series of tweets you should go look at about the lines/players returning from injury
 

cshea

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Rask is traveling to Philly with the team but will not play tonight. A Thursday or Saturday return seems possible.

They'll have to figure out the net tonight. They didn't completely rule out Halak since he could come back as a false positive but the logistics of getting him cleared and in the net are difficult. It is not ideal to play a goalie on both ends of a back to back but I don't think they have much choice. I'm excited by Swayman's potential, but he's only played 9 games in the AHL. I'd worry about throwing him in the net, having him get shelled, and destroying his confidence. It's a tough spot for Vladar too, but he's more experienced and thus far has handled himself quite well.
 

burstnbloom

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Looks like Swayman is in tonight. I'm very excited to see him as he's the consensus better player between him and Vladar and has legit #1 goalie upside. He has been outstanding in Providence this year with a 1.89 GAA and .933 Sv% after being one of the best goalies in college hockey the last few years.
 

TheRealness

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Looks like Swayman is in tonight. I'm very excited to see him as he's the consensus better player between him and Vladar and has legit #1 goalie upside. He has been outstanding in Providence this year with a 1.89 GAA and .933 Sv% after being one of the best goalies in college hockey the last few years.
Good. I was hoping to get a look at Swayman one of these games if Halak was out.

I like Vladar, but he isn't very smooth, and his motion isn't "quiet". He often over slides or plays himself out of position, and doesn't have remotely the same level of control someone like Rask does. He just doesn't seem like a long term answer for them, but maybe as he gets more comfortable his motion will be more calm and fluid. Tough to say. He's like a 6'6" Tim Thomas with less instincts.
 

burstnbloom

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Ya you can dream on Vladars frame and from what I've read, he's really refined himself in the A. He's definitely a good goaltender and an NHL player, but I'm with you @TheRealness, he doesn't seem like the guy going forward. A backup to a better player? Maybe. Hopefully that is Swayman. If Rask is coming back and Swayman is ready, that is huge for the Bruins going forward.
 

The B’s Knees

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Looking back again at the 2015 draft.
I think we all agree that Sweeney and company crapped the bed with the 1st rounders, but did OK with the 2nd and 3rd rounders - Carlo, Vladar and Lauzon.

One thing that flies under the radar from that draft is the swap of 5th round picks between the B's and Wild.
We sent our 2015 5th round pick to Minnesota for their 2016 5th rounder.
With that pick, Minnesota selected... Kirill Kaprizov, the odds on favorite to be Rookie of the Year.

Not saying the B's would have selected him, but just another gut punch reminder of the 2015 draft.
 

Salem's Lot

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Looking back again at the 2015 draft.
I think we all agree that Sweeney and company crapped the bed with the 1st rounders, but did OK with the 2nd and 3rd rounders - Carlo, Vladar and Lauzon.

One thing that flies under the radar from that draft is the swap of 5th round picks between the B's and Wild.
We sent our 2015 5th round pick to Minnesota for their 2016 5th rounder.
With that pick, Minnesota selected... Kirill Kaprizov, the odds on favorite to be Rookie of the Year.

Not saying the B's would have selected him, but just another gut punch reminder of the 2015 draft.
Vladar was the Bruins 3rd round pick. The 2nd round picks were Carlo, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Lauzon. Out of all the things they screwed up in that draft, not hitting on a lottery ticket in the 5th round isn’t one of them.
 

cornwalls@6

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It’s been such a boost to have Miller back the last couple of games. I think I’ve underrated the importance of his toughness, heavy game, and leadership to the blue line group prior to his injury. One of the nagging what if’s for me about the 2019 finals was his absence. Holding my breath that the knee somehow holds up for the stretch run and playoffs. They seem like a different team with him out there.
 

tonyandpals

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If anyone wants to go to the game Sunday night, PM me. Socially distant tickets available for Chara's return w/ fans.
 

Haunted

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So with the new additions, we seem to have a pretty solid top 6.

Are just kind of assuming that Kase is not coming back at any point? I know his production left something to be desired but him on a line with DeBrusk and either Krejci or Coyle in the middle seems like a pretty damn good third line.
 

burstnbloom

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I cant imagine they expect him back. Id love to see him come back and play with Debrusk and Coyle and move Ritchie to the fourth with Lazar and Kuraly. That's a really strong forward group if people are healthy and playing to their potential
 

cshea

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We'll have to see where all the pieces fit, but I think we're looking at something like this:

Marchand - Bergeron - Smith
Hall - Krejci - Pastrnak
Ritchie - Coyle - DeBrusk
Frederic - Lazar - Wagner
Kuraly, Kuhlman

Grzelyck - McAvoy
Reilly - Carlo
Lauzon/Zboril - Miller/Clifton

I think to start, I'd leave Smith with Bergy and Marchand. That line has been working recently and Smith hasn't looked out of place. Pasta's slumped but I think would be a great fit with Hall. Hall leads the league in high danger passes, Pasta seems like an ideal guy to be on the receiving end and pulling the trigger. Probably can't go wrong either way, but I'm intrigued by Hall and Pasta together. Next up is sorting out the bottom-6. Sweeney said he'll leave it up to Butch but thinks DeBrusk gets kicked over to the right at least to start. Then they have about a billion guys they could plug on the 4th line, just have to find the right combination.

On defense, I think Reilly lets them pair Grz and McAvoy together when both are healthy. That duo has been dominant when paired together. Reilly could be a good transition, puck mover to put with Carlo. That leaves sorting out who plays on the bottom pairing. Ideally Miller, but his knee could explode at any moment. I think at this point I have Zboril ahead of Lauzon but now that's a real competition. Just hope they get healthy back here and we see it. It sounds like McAvoy will return tomorrow night, which is great. Grz is day-to-day so hopefully he's not out too long. That leaves Carlo who last I heard was still week-to-week.
 

joe dokes

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We'll have to see where all the pieces fit, but I think we're looking at something like this:

Marchand - Bergeron - Smith
Hall - Krejci - Pastrnak
Ritchie - Coyle - DeBrusk
Frederic - Lazar - Wagner
Kuraly, Kuhlman

Grzelyck - McAvoy
Reilly - Carlo
Lauzon/Zboril - Miller/Clifton

I think to start, I'd leave Smith with Bergy and Marchand. That line has been working recently and Smith hasn't looked out of place. Pasta's slumped but I think would be a great fit with Hall. Hall leads the league in high danger passes, Pasta seems like an ideal guy to be on the receiving end and pulling the trigger. Probably can't go wrong either way, but I'm intrigued by Hall and Pasta together. Next up is sorting out the bottom-6. Sweeney said he'll leave it up to Butch but thinks DeBrusk gets kicked over to the right at least to start. Then they have about a billion guys they could plug on the 4th line, just have to find the right combination.
I agree about Smith, bit I'm pretty sure i read somewhere in the flood of ink today that Krecji was getting Hall, but not Pastr going forward.
 

Maximus

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We'll have to see where all the pieces fit, but I think we're looking at something like this:

Marchand - Bergeron - Smith
Hall - Krejci - Pastrnak
Ritchie - Coyle - DeBrusk
Frederic - Lazar - Wagner
Kuraly, Kuhlman

Grzelyck - McAvoy
Reilly - Carlo
Lauzon/Zboril - Miller/Clifton

I think to start, I'd leave Smith with Bergy and Marchand. That line has been working recently and Smith hasn't looked out of place. Pasta's slumped but I think would be a great fit with Hall. Hall leads the league in high danger passes, Pasta seems like an ideal guy to be on the receiving end and pulling the trigger. Probably can't go wrong either way, but I'm intrigued by Hall and Pasta together. Next up is sorting out the bottom-6. Sweeney said he'll leave it up to Butch but thinks DeBrusk gets kicked over to the right at least to start. Then they have about a billion guys they could plug on the 4th line, just have to find the right combination.

On defense, I think Reilly lets them pair Grz and McAvoy together when both are healthy. That duo has been dominant when paired together. Reilly could be a good transition, puck mover to put with Carlo. That leaves sorting out who plays on the bottom pairing. Ideally Miller, but his knee could explode at any moment. I think at this point I have Zboril ahead of Lauzon but now that's a real competition. Just hope they get healthy back here and we see it. It sounds like McAvoy will return tomorrow night, which is great. Grz is day-to-day so hopefully he's not out too long. That leaves Carlo who last I heard was still week-to-week.
+2

I'd keep Smith with Bergy and Marshy for now but it looks like Pasta is going back to to Bergy's line. I'd like to see Pasta and Hall on Krejci's line too.

Zboril and Lauzon need to be better going forward.
 

joe dokes

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+2

I'd keep Smith with Bergy and Marshy for now but it looks like Pasta is going back to to Bergy's line. I'd like to see Pasta and Hall on Krejci's line too.

Zboril and Lauzon need to be better going forward.
Not surprising given their experience, but Lauzon and Zboril really looked lost without mcavoy and Miller, where they started their seasons.
 

burstnbloom

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Not surprising given their experience, but Lauzon and Zboril really looked lost without mcavoy and Miller, where they started their seasons.
Both show flashes and then lapses. It is to be expected in a young D's first 100 games or so. They were fine when the team was healthy bc Butch could shelter them a bit (or play them with Chuck Norris) but when they are the best D on the ice, it really shows. I think they both have middle pair futures in the NHL, which is exciting, but it takes time.
 

joe dokes

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Both show flashes and then lapses. It is to be expected in a young D's first 100 games or so. They were fine when the team was healthy bc Butch could shelter them a bit (or play them with Chuck Norris) but when they are the best D on the ice, it really shows. I think they both have middle pair futures in the NHL, which is exciting, but it takes time.
Right. And in hindsight, I can't really fault Cassidy for putting McAvoy and Gryz together.