2019-2020 Bruins

cshea

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My guess is we are still headed towards a buyout at the end of the year. They can’t do that if he’s hurt so they don’t want him playing. He also probably doesn’t want to ride the bus, and an injury impacts his future playing career. So it it kinda makes sense to shelve him.

He’s owed $3 million in salary next year which is the bugaboo. They could technically demand he report to Providence and if he doesn’t they could void the contract and clear the cap hit. Seems they aren’t being dicks to him. Maybe it still ends with some kind of mutual termination, but the buyout still seems the likeliest outcome.

They could still trade him but I don’t see that happening. If there was a trade option out there it probably would’ve already happened.
 

RedOctober3829

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My guess is we are still headed towards a buyout at the end of the year. They can’t do that if he’s hurt so they don’t want him playing. He also probably doesn’t want to ride the bus, and an injury impacts his future playing career. So it it kinda makes sense to shelve him.

He’s owed $3 million in salary next year which is the bugaboo. They could technically demand he report to Providence and if he doesn’t they could void the contract and clear the cap hit. Seems they aren’t being dicks to him. Maybe it still ends with some kind of mutual termination, but the buyout still seems the likeliest outcome.

They could still trade him but I don’t see that happening. If there was a trade option out there it probably would’ve already happened.
I would think that they won't make him go to Providence until after the trade deadline. Once the deadline passes, it may be a different story.
 

ColdSoxPack

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Very generous of the Bruins to let Backes not report since it costs them what they should be getting in cap relief, which they could use before the trade deadline. It's not like he is Patrice Bergeron in his sunset year. He is a hired hand who has not worked out.
 

joe dokes

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Very generous of the Bruins to let Backes not report since it costs them what they should be getting in cap relief, which they could use before the trade deadline. It's not like he is Patrice Bergeron in his sunset year. He is a hired hand who has not worked out.
By all accounts (whatever those accounts are worth is up to you) he is seen by teammates, coaches and management as more than just a "hired hand." Otherwise, they probably would not have been so generous.
 

kenneycb

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And treating an washed up guy like this instead of kicking him to the curb may not engender positive goodwill around the league but it won't engender negative goodwill.
 

cshea

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Joe McDonald has a B’s trade target list up at the Athletic:

View: https://twitter.com/joeymachockey/status/1224723249461911558?s=21


Mostly familiar names- Kreider, Toffoli, Palmieri are among the primary targets group.

An interesting name that has surfaced is Anaheim wing Ondrej Kase. 24 year old right shot RW, signed for $2.6 million cap hit this year and next. 6-15=21 in 46 games this year, scored 20 goals in 66 games 2 seasons ago. The analytics types have always been fond of him. Over the summer he was part of a package Anaheim was sending to Carolina to for Justin Faulk before Faulk invoked his NTC. I think he’d be an interesting guy to add. LeBrun did a separate piece where he proposed deals and he had Oscar Steen and a 3rd for Kase proposal in there, not sure how informed that take was, but that is something I’d do.
 

j44thor

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Unless the plan is to keep Miller on LITR all season (thought he was getting close) do the B's have the space to make any moves?
Capfriendly has them at 60K projected cap space with 3M in LITR but it is tied up in Miller/Clifton.
 

cshea

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Miller has been skating on his own for about 2 weeks. I’m not sure how close he is, they say they are going to take it slow. He’s gotten to this skating stage twice this season only to suffer setbacks so who really knows how this will play out. Clifton’s target is mid-February- he’s not on LTIR so his cap hit already counts.

They will still need to move some money out if they do things at the deadline. They can send Lauzon down and waive/demote Blidh if they choose to clear ~$1.4 million. I including Backes in a deal is a possibility similar to how they worked the Beleskey dump into the Rick Nash trade. Backes has the pesky NTC thigh. They do have a logjam on D if/when Miller comes back. I don’t think there is a ton they could do there to clear salary. They like their depth. I guess Moore could be moved but he’s got 3 more years left so that could be tricky. Miller’s got to have no value. I could see Lauzon being traded but he wouldn’t be a cap dump.

That leads me to this- I wonder if Heinen is a trade candidate. He’s been in the doghouse lately (2 straight healthy scratches), makes $2.8 million, and would be in line to be displaced by an incoming winger. He would have some trade value as a controllable asset.

They way I look at the forward group right now:

Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
DeBrusk - Krejci - Kuhlman
Bjork - Coyle - Heinen
Nordstrom - Kuraly - Wagner
Lindholm, Blidh

If they trade for Kreider/Toffoli/Palmieri or whatever right wing they land on, one of Bjork, Kuhlman or Heinen would be coming out of the lineup. Heinen would make some sense as trade bait. He has a cap hit that would help balance salary in a trade and they’re likely acquiring a player at his position. They could move Bjork, but they seem to like him a lot and he’s coming around offensively, 7 points in 10 games following a 7 game pointless streak. Heinen is better defensively, but both are guys who can play both wings and up and down the lineup (Bjork is less proven in this area). Factor in the contracts and I think of they moved someone off the roster, I think Heinen could be the guy.
 

RetractableRoof

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Thanks for the post, there's a lot of good info in there.

Assuming healthy (bad assumption?), who would you rather have in the lineup heading into the playoffs - Lauzon or Miller?
 

Salem's Lot

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Thanks for the post, there's a lot of good info in there.

Assuming healthy (bad assumption?), who would you rather have in the lineup heading into the playoffs - Lauzon or Miller?
All things being equal Miller. Lauzon has looked good so far but we don’t know how he’s going to react to playoff intensity. It can be overwhelming for a rookie defenseman. That being said, that’s assuming that Miller will ever get that knee healthy enough to play at the level that he can be one of the best 6 defenseman that they can dress for a playoff game. That’s a big assumption.
 

cshea

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Thanks for the post, there's a lot of good info in there.

Assuming healthy (bad assumption?), who would you rather have in the lineup heading into the playoffs - Lauzon or Miller?
Really hard to tell because Miller hasn’t played in a calendar year but I think all things being equal it’s be Miller.
 

LogansDad

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Agreed. A healthy and ready to play Miller is exactly what this team needs. Unfortunately, it's questionable whether they ever get that again.
 

RetractableRoof

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Continuing that direction of thought, we know how dinged up teams get during a deep playoff run.

Without concern for pairings, and taking the 5 defensemen (Chara, McAvoy, Krug, Carlo, Gryz) as a given (maybe I shouldn't?), who and in what order do you see the depth they have in house?

These are the guys I can recall that have taken shifts for the Bs this season:
Lauzon, Clifton, Miller, Moore, Kampfer, Vaakanainen, ???
 

Salem's Lot

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Continuing that direction of thought, we know how dinged up teams get during a deep playoff run.

Without concern for pairings, and taking the 5 defensemen (Chara, McAvoy, Krug, Carlo, Gryz) as a given (maybe I shouldn't?), who and in what order do you see the depth they have in house?

These are the guys I can recall that have taken shifts for the Bs this season:
Lauzon, Clifton, Miller, Moore, Kampfer, Vaakanainen, ???
One of those young defenseman can be packaged with Heinen and a 1st/2nd to get a decent RW I would think. They would need to move some money.
 

cshea

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Continuing that direction of thought, we know how dinged up teams get during a deep playoff run.

Without concern for pairings, and taking the 5 defensemen (Chara, McAvoy, Krug, Carlo, Gryz) as a given (maybe I shouldn't?), who and in what order do you see the depth they have in house?

These are the guys I can recall that have taken shifts for the Bs this season:
Lauzon, Clifton, Miller, Moore, Kampfer, Vaakanainen, ???
Those guys bring different skills to the table but in terms of picking a 6th D, they are all pretty equal in my opinion. It kinda depends on what kind of skills you’re looking for. Moore, Miller, Kamp would qualify as veterans. Clifton is young but has playoff experience. Lauzon and Vaak would obviously be making playoff debuts.

I’d put Miller, Lauzon in as more defensive defenseman types that you maybe prefer against a heavier team like Washington or Columbus. Vaakanainen, Moore, Kampfer would be more of transition D’s, maybe useful against the more skilled teams like Toronto or Tampa Bay. Clifton’s kind of a tweener. He does a little of both.
 

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kenneycb

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I don't know about you, but whenever I read "narrower armrest and non-padded seat base" I can't help but think improved comfort. That reads like a press release from Spirit Airlines.

Separately, what do I have to do to become a "seating consultant"?
 

tonyandpals

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I don't know about you, but whenever I read "narrower armrest and non-padded seat base" I can't help but think improved comfort. That reads like a press release from Spirit Airlines.

Separately, what do I have to do to become a "seating consultant"?
Another common phrase, "this seat has too much padding!"

I'm sure this all ends well.
 

cshea

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It is not very comfortable but they should’ve just left it as is.Their biggest mistake was the bad “suck it up” answer when the complaints started. If they had handled that more delicately then they’re in the clear. People have mostly shut up and have gotten used to it at this point. Now they are probably going to make it worse and field more complaints early next season and they are only doing something because they said they would do something. But there was a zero percent chance of them removing seats and going back to the way it was. So now we lose ass cushion and armrest space and our knees will still kill.
 

RedOctober3829

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Almost 2 weeks until the trade deadline. They need a right wing on the 2nd line. Kreider, Toffoli, Anderson, Palmeiri, Kase , and Thornton are among the targets. Do they need a defenseman like Brenden Dillon? Will Sweeney do something of significance to bring someone else or are in-house options like Trent Frederic, Jack Studnika, and Vaak a better fit?
 

CreedBratton

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Almost 2 weeks until the trade deadline. They need a right wing on the 2nd line. Kreider, Toffoli, Anderson, Palmeiri, Kase , and Thornton are among the targets. Do they need a defenseman like Brenden Dillon? Will Sweeney do something of significance to bring someone else or are in-house options like Trent Frederic, Jack Studnika, and Vaak a better fit?
Hoping for Kreider big time Toffoli be nice too tho.
 

cshea

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I don’t think they’ll get Kreider. He’s basically the best rental and given the B’s system, they’re likely to be outbid.

They’ll still do something. Palmieri is on the top of my list but I haven’t heard too much about his availability. I’d be fine with a Kase type too. Don’t see much of a fit with Dillon or any D, the B’s are plenty deep as is.
 

durandal1707

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Seems like the Bruins are playing a much improved 5v5 game lately, so I decided to dig into some numbers on Natural Stat Trick to see if there was anything to that. Indeed, there is:

Before Break (51 games): 50.6 CF%, 50.4 SCF%, 50.3 HDCF%
Since Break (5 games): 52.5 CF%, 59.9 SCF%, 64.8 HDCF%

SSS caveat and all, but the adjustments the team has made are paying huge dividends and look to be a recipe for success.

One of those adjustments has been sitting Heinen, as mentioned by cshea above. Heinen's 5v5 CF% is sitting at 48.37% (down around 4th liner numbers) while getting 60.69% offensive zone starts, according to NST. I've been a proponent of his, and while I think there are some valid excuses about how he's played up and down the lineup with many permutations of linemates (including a significant amount of time with noted anchor Brett Ritchie), he just doesn't seem to be good enough. It's odd, because to my eyes, he seems to protect the puck well and make high-percentage passes which you'd think would translate to good possession numbers, but it just hasn't translated to actual shot attempts.
 

stepson_and_toe

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Seems like the Bruins are playing a much improved 5v5 game lately
At the beginning of the season, I was pretty down on the team as it appeared to be just Pastrnak/Marchand and Rask/Halak but they seem to have found a fit for some of their younger talent and there is some balance to teh club.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Principal point of contact wasn't the head
Was already assessed a match penalty
Stepan returned to the game

Going by the Wheel of Justice, I'll say 3 games
 

The Napkin

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I don't know about you, but whenever I read "narrower armrest and non-padded seat base" I can't help but think improved comfort. That reads like a press release from Spirit Airlines.

Separately, what do I have to do to become a "seating consultant"?
You have to speak out of your ass instead of sitting on it
 

joe dokes

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Kulhman and Lauzon sent to Providence.

Lauzon, skating on the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk, was suspended two games after an illegal check to the head of Arizona’s Derek Stepan last Saturday.
He sat Sunday’s game and is not eligible to play for the Bruins until Saturday against the Red Wings. He could play for Providence on Friday against Wilkes-Barre.
Is that true? He can play for the affiliated AHL team while serving his NHL suspension? Whatever the merits of the suspension, that doesn;t seem right.
 

Salem's Lot

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Kulhman and Lauzon sent to Providence.



Is that true? He can play for the affiliated AHL team while serving his NHL suspension? Whatever the merits of the suspension, that doesn;t seem right.
Yes. I believe it works the other way as well, if you’re suspended in a minor league you can still play in the NHL if you’re called up. Sending him down until he can play in the NHL on Saturday helps on the cap regardless of whether he can play or not.
 

joe dokes

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Yes. I believe it works the other way as well, if you’re suspended in a minor league you can still play in the NHL if you’re called up. Sending him down until he can play in the NHL on Saturday helps on the cap regardless of whether he can play or not.
Thanks. It never occurred to me that it would work that way. Learn something new every day.
 

cshea

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It’s true, but he’ll still need to serve a game If/when they recall him. They can’t bury him and run the suspension out, he needs to be on the NHL roster to serve the games. This actually happened to the Bruins in reverse earlier this year. Kampfer picked up a 2 game suspension in Providence but was recalled by Boston before he served the two games. The ended up sending Kampfer down in a paper transaction between games to “serve”
his suspension.
 

cshea

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Anyways, Kuhlman is back today but not Lauzon. They’ve been banking cap space on off days by demoting and recalling Kuhlman and Lauzon.
 

cshea

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Clifton is back skating and practicing with the team.

I’m curious to see how they handle the game left on Lauzon’s suspension. My guess is they leave him down in Providence until after the deadline, especially with Clifton somewhat close to being ready. That would allow them to bank some cap space (albeit not much) but the flip side is the 4 call up rule from the deadline to the end of the year. Friggin DoPS. Still waiting word on Lawson Crouse!
 

cshea

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FWIW, Rangers writer on the Athletic had a Kreider suitors piece up there. Bruins make this list, perhaps as the favorite. He ends the blurb saying they’ll haggle, but a deal “could very well happen.”

View: https://twitter.com/rickcarpiniello/status/1227992899364761601?s=21


He says he hears that the Bruins 1st rounder might be difficult to pry free, ditto Studnicka and Beecher. Bjork and Heinen possibilities off the roster, and maybe DeBrusk in an “expanded” deal (I have to imagine that’d be some kind of whopper). Steen a possibility as a prospect.
 

RedOctober3829

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FWIW, Rangers writer on the Athletic had a Kreider suitors piece up there. Bruins make this list, perhaps as the favorite. He ends the blurb saying they’ll haggle, but a deal “could very well happen.”

View: https://twitter.com/rickcarpiniello/status/1227992899364761601?s=21


He says he hears that the Bruins 1st rounder might be difficult to pry free, ditto Studnicka and Beecher. Bjork and Heinen possibilities off the roster, and maybe DeBrusk in an “expanded” deal (I have to imagine that’d be some kind of whopper). Steen a possibility as a prospect.
In an expanded deal, would you do a deal involving Kreider and Tony DeAngelo? DeAngelo would a very nice add as an offensive defenseman and they'd gain some leverage in Krug negotiations this summer along with improving the team this year. DeAngelo is going to be an RFA this summer.
 

cshea

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In an expanded deal, would you do a deal involving Kreider and Tony DeAngelo? DeAngelo would a very nice add as an offensive defenseman and they'd gain some leverage in Krug negotiations this summer along with improving the team this year. DeAngelo is going to be an RFA this summer.
That’s a little too much surgery to the roster for my blood. They really just need a goal scoring right wing and maybe an extra winger/center. I wouldn’t be touching the defense. I can’t see any scenario where they trade DeBrusk before the deadline. They’d essentially need to get 2 wingers back in any sort of deal. From the Rangers that’d be Kreider and I guess Buchnevich? That doesn’t enthuse me.

Expanded deal to me means including Backes as a cap dump. Something like the Rick Nash trade from 2018.
 

Salem's Lot

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I could see them adding another 3rd pairing depth defenseman if they’re not comfortable with Vaakanainen playing a playoff game if they’re down 3 defenseman that are currently playing.