2022-23 Bruins Season

joe dokes

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I just hope they use this opportunity to see if Lysell can help this years team instead of just plugging in Wagner.
Totally agree. I actually like Wagner, but they have enough Wagnerian players and Debrusk wasn't one of them. I understand there are short term roster issues to iron out, but it seems like Pasta (who as others have pointed out was stalling a bit with 46 and 18) can move to Bergeron's wing. Zacha with Hall. Could Lysell work with Coyle and Frederic?
 

MiracleOfO2704

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I’d go for a fairly radical solution if it’s Lysell.

Marchand-Bergeron-Lysell
Hall-Krejci-Pastrnak
Zacha-Coyle-Smith/Frederic
Foligno-Nosek-Frederic/Smith

It gives Lysell two very good defensive forwards to let him grow, as well as two players that could use the kind of jump he can create. The mitigating factor in its favor is that Monty shuffles lines enough that he could be managed in close-and-late scenarios.
 

Salem's Lot

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I’d go for a fairly radical solution if it’s Lysell.

Marchand-Bergeron-Lysell
Hall-Krejci-Pastrnak
Zacha-Coyle-Smith/Frederic
Foligno-Nosek-Frederic/Smith

It gives Lysell two very good defensive forwards to let him grow, as well as two players that could use the kind of jump he can create. The mitigating factor in its favor is that Monty shuffles lines enough that he could be managed in close-and-late scenarios.
I don’t think it’s radical at all. It would probably be very beneficial to have Lysell learn the game at this level playing with Bergeron and Marchand.
 

joe dokes

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I don’t think it’s radical at all. It would probably be very beneficial to have Lysell learn the game at this level playing with Bergeron and Marchand.
One thing I'm certain of: I didn't realize it in real time during Cassidy's run, but plugging in someone like that is right in Montgomery's wheelhouse.
I think Cassidy's default would've been 4th line to protect the player. Not indefensible, but Montgomery seems more comfortable with taking the lineup risks.
 

cshea

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Eh, I don't think that's really accurate. They never have really used the 4th line as a kid line. It's not a sheltered line where they can protect players. They don't get many minutes but both Cassidy and Montgomery use it against the top line for the other team. Basically play them to a draw so our big guns can feast against the other teams depth lines. The 4th line is usually composed of the veteran grinders. Nordstrom, Kuraly, Riley Nash, Nosek, Wagner, Foligno, etc. The only rookie Montgomery has had is Lauko and he was a 4th liner who barely played, and he has the grit/speed that they value down there.

They just haven't had any top 6 worthy prospects in a long time. A lot of the rookies they call up are generally bottom 6 guys anyway. Most recently is Lauko. Last season, Steen. When they do call a prospect up they think can be a productive, top 6/9 player they typically do try to put them higher in the lineup. DeBrusk is really the last one and he came right in on the 2nd/3rd line. They tried Donato on the Krejci line when he signed but it just didn't work out and eventually he faded back and was traded. Heinen and Bjork are other examples with varying outcomes (Heinen good; Bjork bad). Circumstances are different but defensively McAvoy and Carlo were given top 2-4 spots immediately. They let Krug and Chara go so they could give unproven Zboril and Lauzon ice time.
 
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cshea

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In terms of timing, the Bruins have 14 games between now and 2/1. Then they have 10 days off for the ASB and bye and resume play on 2/11. That's about 6-weeks so seems like a good spot to get Jake back.
 

PedroSpecialK

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None afaik, they don't bank the difference between DeBrusk and Wagner's cap hits or anything like that
 

cshea

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It actually hurts their cap outlook. They can't bank space while in LTIR. They had just started to bank space after waiving Smith by papering him down to the AHL on off days. That will have no impact now.

They have $2.875 million in cap space right now after the DeBrusk LTIR and the Wagner recall. They have a free roster spot, so I would think either Reilly or Stralman rejoins them since there's room and there's no benefit to leaving them in the AHL. They can be waived and go back down when it's time to activate DeBrusk. They never made Stralman report to Providence and he's been working out on his own at Warrior so it wouldn't surprise me to see him come back.
 

Chainsaw318

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Coming into Ducks game, I was going to joke that the B’s were approaching a 2:1 Goals for to Goals Allowed ratio. They were at 149:87.

Now at 156:88, they could actually get there. Their goal differential is +68.

They have allowed 88 goal in 40 games, next closest team, Winnipeg, has allowed 15 more in the same number of games.

They are 13-4-1 on the road. That would be tied for 5 in wins or slightly behind WAS in overall record, if that were their Home record.

I’m no expert, but I think this team may be good?
 

jezza1918

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I just go look at the standings every day for giggles. I'm not even joking. It's so much fun
Agreed. The standings make me chuckle...Ullmark's stats make me legit laugh out loud. I doubt he gets to Holtby/Brodeur's record of 48 wins in a season. But what's the record for winning percentage from a goalie? I can't seem to find that on the NHL website.
 

joe dokes

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Agreed. The standings make me chuckle...Ullmark's stats make me legit laugh out loud. I doubt he gets to Holtby/Brodeur's record of 48 wins in a season. But what's the record for winning percentage from a goalie? I can't seem to find that on the NHL website.
I'm not entirely sure of this site's reliability. It seems more of an aggregator than a true stat site, but if accurate, Ullmark is really close.

Which NHL Goalies Have The Best Winning Percentage In One Season | StatMuse
 

tonyandpals

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It's astonishing. They just keep winning. Every game.
Son was mad this morning when I said, do you want to watch the highlights of the Bs win with me? Said I spoiled it...I am like, come on it was 2-1 against the Ducks before you went to bed. What did you THINK happened? It really is comical at this point.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Son was mad this morning when I said, do you want to watch the highlights of the Bs win with me? Said I spoiled it...I am like, come on it was 2-1 against the Ducks before you went to bed. What did you THINK happened? It really is comical at this point.
What gets me more than those games are things like the Winter Classic where I saw it was 1-0 going into the 3rd and was completely unfazed to see they won. Of course they did.
 

BaseballJones

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All this winning has me both giddy and nervous. They're just dominating the NHL every which way.

Offense
#2 in the NHL in goals per game (3.85)
#1 in the NHL in points (413) - so lots of assists on their goals, implies great team play
#3 in the NHL in power play success (28.2%)
#4 in the NHL in shooting percentage (11.2%)

Defense
#1 in the NHL in penalty kill (85.5%)
#1 in the NHL in goals against per game (2.13)
#1 in the NHL in save percentage (.928)

About the only thing they struggle with is penalties. They've got the 7th most penalty minutes in the league. They're literally GREAT at everything else. Creating scoring chances. Putting the puck in the net. Scoring on the power play. Defending the power play. Goaltending. Passing. Individual skill. Only one true superstar on offense (Pastrnak) but a bunch of really good scorers who are all finding the back of the net with regularity. Getting scoring from every line. Defense has been unreal. The works.

So that's got me all giddy. BUT....we all know how the NHL playoffs can go. It's like I'm kind of just waiting for the other shoe to drop and them to suddenly not find the net when it counts the most. I won't worry about it too much right now but they're playing at a level that seems unsustainable over the course of a full season plus playoffs.
 

Red Right Ankle

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The wild thing is that the Eastern Conference leaders are all legit: - +10 or more goal differentials across the board. In fact, you have to go down to Florida (11th in points, -8 differential) to get to a team that has a differential that is not +10 or greater, so even some teams that would miss the playoffs are strong.

It's a strong conference and the Bs are wrecking it to the tune of an .812 winning %. The only "low light" is that 5 of their 8 losses of any type have been against division opponents. Note that they still have a .636 points % against the Atlantic which would be good for 6th in the conference.
 
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Spelunker

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Same feeling here. Play this well for this kind of stretch and any less than a Cup is going to be a disappointment.
Right. Any time a team is running this roughshod over the league I have 2001 Mariners and 2008 Scottish Game flopsweats.

But I'm going to try and enjoy it for what it is, and hope that at least one of the Causeway gang brings home a banner.
 

cshea

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The shooting and save percentages are definitely going to regress. Their PDO at 5x5 and all strenthgs are both above 103 which is impossible to sustain.

They aren't a house of cards bult on unsustainable percentages though. They are elite at both chance generation and chance surpression. Just gotta keep doing that and they'll be fine even if they run into some bad luck shooting/save percentage wise. The main problem is there's no magic elixor to changing puck luck. If bad puck luck rears it's head in a 7-game series there's not much you can do to change it. That's why the playoffs are often chaotic and unpredictable.

There's no rhyme or reason but in the NHL the regular season juggernauts haven't had great playoff success for whatever reason. Since the loser point was introduced, there have been 4 120+ point regular season teams in the NHL. Only 1 of those teams has advanced out of the first round (and were promptly swept in round 2).

05/06 Red Wings: 124 points, lost in the first round to the Oilers
09/10 Capitals: 121 points, lost in the first round to the Canadiens (the Jaro Halak year)
18/19 Lightning: 128 points, swept in the first round by the Blue Jackets
20/22 Panthers: 122 points, beat the Capitals in round 1, swept by the Lightning in round 2

Of course there's plenty of examples of 110-119 point teams who have won Cups. I don't think this is a predictor of anything, just kind of a note on how unpredictable the playoffs are. I'm just going to enjoy this incredible ride, no matter where it finishes.
 

Salem's Lot

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Regular season hockey is so different that playoff hockey. I’m just enjoying the regular season success for what it is at this point. We won’t know what kind of a playoff team that they are until they get there.
 

FL4WL3SS

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All this winning has me both giddy and nervous. They're just dominating the NHL every which way.

Offense
#2 in the NHL in goals per game (3.85)
#1 in the NHL in points (413) - so lots of assists on their goals, implies great team play
#3 in the NHL in power play success (28.2%)
#4 in the NHL in shooting percentage (11.2%)

Defense
#1 in the NHL in penalty kill (85.5%)
#1 in the NHL in goals against per game (2.13)
#1 in the NHL in save percentage (.928)

About the only thing they struggle with is penalties. They've got the 7th most penalty minutes in the league. They're literally GREAT at everything else. Creating scoring chances. Putting the puck in the net. Scoring on the power play. Defending the power play. Goaltending. Passing. Individual skill. Only one true superstar on offense (Pastrnak) but a bunch of really good scorers who are all finding the back of the net with regularity. Getting scoring from every line. Defense has been unreal. The works.

So that's got me all giddy. BUT....we all know how the NHL playoffs can go. It's like I'm kind of just waiting for the other shoe to drop and them to suddenly not find the net when it counts the most. I won't worry about it too much right now but they're playing at a level that seems unsustainable over the course of a full season plus playoffs.
The only thing stopping this team is injuries. Maybe for once we'll be on the good side of the injury luck equation.

I actually think there's a good chance we are. It's not surprising that the team had bad injury luck under two defensively demanding coaches (Julien and Cassidy). This year feels different and less demanding. We'll see
 

jcaz

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Quick tally to put this season's performance to date in perspective. Here are the league leaders in points as of January 9 for the last 10 years. The Bruins are best at 1.70 points per game; next best is the 15-16 Capitals at 1.59.

59876
 

LogansDad

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I love how obvious it is that every player on this team is encouraged to take chances to try to make something happen, and then don't get benched the second it goes awry. From forwards flying up ice the moment the team even looks like they might get possession in the defensive zone, to defensemen pinching and forcing play on 50-50 pucks in the offensive zone, and everything in between. I think I would call it something like "aggressively responsible", and more often than not, when it doesn't go right, one of the supporting players is already there to make up for their aggression.

There was a point around the first ad break in the 2nd period last night where it didn't really seem like the Bruins were attacking that hard, but the Ducks simply couldn't get possession of the puck to clear it, and when they did a Bruin was right on him to either separate him from the puck or to cleanly pick off whatever pass they tried to make. It was like they were playing against a high school team and just toying with them, and it lasted for at least a minute and a half. I know the Ducks are bad, but they are still an NHL team, and you shouldn't be able to do that against them.
 

NYCSox

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The shooting and save percentages are definitely going to regress. Their PDO at 5x5 and all strenthgs are both above 103 which is impossible to sustain.

They aren't a house of cards bult on unsustainable percentages though. They are elite at both chance generation and chance surpression. Just gotta keep doing that and they'll be fine even if they run into some bad luck shooting/save percentage wise. The main problem is there's no magic elixor to changing puck luck. If bad puck luck rears it's head in a 7-game series there's not much you can do to change it. That's why the playoffs are often chaotic and unpredictable.

There's no rhyme or reason but in the NHL the regular season juggernauts haven't had great playoff success for whatever reason. Since the loser point was introduced, there have been 4 120+ point regular season teams in the NHL. Only 1 of those teams has advanced out of the first round (and were promptly swept in round 2).

05/06 Red Wings: 124 points, lost in the first round to the Oilers
09/10 Capitals: 121 points, lost in the first round to the Canadiens (the Jaro Halak year)
18/19 Lightning: 128 points, swept in the first round by the Blue Jackets
20/22 Panthers: 122 points, beat the Capitals in round 1, swept by the Lightning in round 2

Of course there's plenty of examples of 110-119 point teams who have won Cups. I don't think this is a predictor of anything, just kind of a note on how unpredictable the playoffs are. I'm just going to enjoy this incredible ride, no matter where it finishes.
There have been 11 seasons of 120+ points. Four for the Canadiens and they won a Cup each time. Everyone else is 0-7.

Edit: Does Scotty Bowman want a consulting gig with the Bruins for the rest of this season? :)
 
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PedroSpecialK

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Montgomery's emphasis on movement is really remarkable to watch in practice, and I think a lot of it comes from instruction to the players to minimize their hard stops / always use their skating momentum to help their next phase of play.

Forwards are almost always in position to track back and cover defensive pinches since, when they make zone entry, they're instructed to keep moving and build speed even in-zone. Contrast that with net-front fly-bys being against the ethos of Cassidy's system (not a wrong thing to instruct per se, but certainly not as effective for this group and system) and you have two ways of playing the game that make last year's team vs. this year's team look like they were playing in different eras.
 

cshea

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There have been 11 seasons of 120+ points. Four for the Canadiens and they won a Cup each time. Everyone else is 0-7.

Edit: Does Scotty Bowman want a consulting gig with the Bruins for the rest of this season? :)
My mistake, I was just looking at the recent era. I also should've noted that the 12/13 Blackhawks were on a 131 point 82 game pace in the lockout shortened season and we know how that one ended.
 

NYCSox

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My mistake, I was just looking at the recent era. I also should've noted that the 12/13 Blackhawks were on a 131 point 82 game pace in the lockout shortened season and we know how that one ended.
So more evidence to get Scotty on board. :)
 

Marciano490

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Wow, some real pre-2004 good old fashioned New England sports fatalism going on.

We’re Boston. We win a championship like every other year this century. Plus, it’s a stocked team of veterans who came together for a last hurrah. Yeah, anything can happen, but I’m just enjoying the shit out of this.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Did you mean to say stacked and not stocked? Coming into the season I don't think anyone would have classified this team as stacked. The team chemistry and coaching have been phenomenal. The "fatalism" is somewhat justified in that this came out of nowhere, we're in suspended disbelief at this point.
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
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Did you mean to say stacked and not stocked? Coming into the season I don't think anyone would have classified this team as stacked. The team chemistry and coaching have been phenomenal. The "fatalism" is somewhat justified in that this came out of nowhere, we're in suspended disbelief at this point.
And we also remember what happened to the 2009 and 2014 juggernauts.
 

wiffleballhero

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I'm not fatalistic at all. I am watching this season with a sense that this is something joyously historic we are getting to see. On the other hand, hockey is notoriously not the same in the playoffs and the President's Trophy winner is hardly a lock to win the cup. For me it has more become a situation where I am enjoying the regular season like I might with a dynasty Pats team that would go14-2: fun, but the regular season is a bit of a preamble.
 

BaseballJones

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And we also remember what happened to the 2009 and 2014 juggernauts.
Yeah, I mean, it's been AMAZING to see our teams win so much the past 20 years, but we've also seen some GREAT teams NOT win it all. 2003 Red Sox, 2010 Celtics (ok they weren't really a GREAT team, but they should have won the finals), 2009 Bruins, 2014 Bruins, 2007 Patriots, 2010 Patriots, 2017 Patriots. So it's not crazy to think, is this too good to be true?
 

cshea

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Hockey is just an extremely random game. There's a lot of bounces and deflection in each and every game. That's why there's more variance on who wins in the playoffs. The conference final's are rarely 1-2 in each conferece and the President's Trophy is not guarantee of playoff success. As I said above, all teams can really do is put in place a good process where you generate more shots and chances than you give up. After that, a lot is left up to lady luck. Doing the former will lead to good regular season results when played out over 82 games but when you get into a playoff series sometimes the bounces go agaisnt you and there's no way out.
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
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Hockey is just an extremely random game. There's a lot of bounces and deflection in each and every game. That's why there's more variance on who wins in the playoffs. The conference final's are rarely 1-2 in each conferece and the President's Trophy is not guarantee of playoff success. As I said above, all teams can really do is put in place a good process where you generate more shots and chances than you give up. After that, a lot is left up to lady luck. Doing the former will lead to good regular season results when played out over 82 games but when you get into a playoff series sometimes the bounces go agaisnt you and there's no way out.
And useless turds like Dale Weise. :mad:
 

Zososoxfan

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Montgomery's emphasis on movement is really remarkable to watch in practice, and I think a lot of it comes from instruction to the players to minimize their hard stops / always use their skating momentum to help their next phase of play.

Forwards are almost always in position to track back and cover defensive pinches since, when they make zone entry, they're instructed to keep moving and build speed even in-zone. Contrast that with net-front fly-bys being against the ethos of Cassidy's system (not a wrong thing to instruct per se, but certainly not as effective for this group and system) and you have two ways of playing the game that make last year's team vs. this year's team look like they were playing in different eras.
Super interesting post. Re the bolded, if I understand your comment correctly, Cassidy's system favors forwards to setup shop in front of the opposing goalie whereas Monty's is to merely buzz the low slot in order to keep momentum and promote movement. But just going from faulty memory, I feel like Butch's teams really didn't post up in the low slot much, at least not in the playoffs. I remember this because I almost certainly griped about it.

Moreover, any thoughts on how the two philosophies might compare in playoff hockey?
 

cshea

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Super interesting post. Re the bolded, if I understand your comment correctly, Cassidy's system favors forwards to setup shop in front of the opposing goalie whereas Monty's is to merely buzz the low slot in order to keep momentum and promote movement. But just going from faulty memory, I feel like Butch's teams really didn't post up in the low slot much, at least not in the playoffs. I remember this because I almost certainly griped about it.

Moreover, any thoughts on how the two philosophies might compare in playoff hockey?
Cassidy's offensive approach is quantity over quality, Montgomery is the opposite. Under Cassidy there was a lot of cycling and moving the puck from low to high, the D getting a shot through and then the forwards getting to the "dirty area" for tips and rebounds. Montgomery encourages more creativity and doesn't want them shooting just for the sake of shooting. Over the summer Fluto interviewed him and he basically said he didn't want them taking a shot unless it had a greater than 5% change of going in. I think stylistically the most noticeable stuff is they don't go low to high as often and you'll see them try to create more off the rush than in years past. They don't have as meny extended, cycling shifts in the ozone. They do more off the rush.

This basically shows up in a lot of the stats. Last season at 5x5 the Bruins averaged 36.44 shots per 60 minutes, the 2nd highest mark in the league, but the were middling by scoring chances (12th) and high danger chances (15th). The shots were coming from futher away and less dangerous. This season they are shooting less, only 32.85 shots per 60 (still near the top-5th) but the scoring chances and high danger chances are up significantly and are also both 5th highest in the league. They are generating roughly 3 more scoring and high danger chances per 60 minutes than last year and overall they are 5th in both categories. Over the summer Montgomery said he didn't want a shot taken unless it had more than a 5% chance of going in.

I'm not sure there's really a right or wrong way or if one style is more conducive to playoff success. A lot of it depends on the personel and the opponent. The old school hockey men will tell you that grit and scoring dirty goals win playoff games. The Bolts and Avs of the past 3/4 years are more high octane, possession and chance generation teams and have had great success. Probably need a blend of both.
 

cshea

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Stralman has sufaced in Providence. He spent the past 6 weeks since being waived hanging around and skating/working out at Warrior.

View: https://twitter.com/MarkDivver/status/1612849877918289928?s=20&t=Z5f1vGNcXIFwztgTmkgO9Q


They have settled on the 6 D in Boston and Zboril can't crack the lineup (although Forbort is still bad but I've given up that battle) so I don't think Stralman is in any immediate plans. My guess is Reilly still probably goes at the deadline as salary filler and Stralman comes back and is the emergency 8th guy but we'll see. Obviously a lot of cap considerations at play.