They were so desperate to get a pick in this year's draft that they traded Ullmark before getting Swayman signed, which promptly gave Swayman all the leverage in contract negotiations and led to the holdout. And that's led to the season being tanked.
I know, but they probably still get a first round pick + a decent young player and they wouldn’t have had to take a bad contract if they traded Swayman and kept Ullmark.
Maybe in hindsight, but I think in last year's playoffs it really looked like Swayman was the MAN.
I know, but they would only be committed to Ullmark for 1 year at $5 million on the cap if they kept him. And they wouldn’t have had to take on Korpisalo’s $3 million to get a 1st round pick.
Yep. And some of it (not all of it) is bad defense. Swayman has faced the 5th most shots in the league. He's getting peppered. The whole team is a mess right now.
This is reacting in hindsight. I don't think anyone in June was arguing they should trade Swayman and keep Ullmark.
I was advocating for trading Swayman in hopes of building a package for a first line forward back in May.
Watching it again, He kicked his foot out from behind, so not a slew foot, but still should have been a trip.
3 Stanley Cups makes Coach Q the most qualified head coach out there. The scandal makes him the least likely to be hired. as you suggest. Bruce Boudreau? He seems like a fun guy who swears a lot.
What is a slew foot then? Always been my understanding that using your skate to push someone's foot and skate forward so they fall backwards is a slew foot. Now, if you're arguing that was unintentional, I'm fine with that, but otherwise it looked just like a slew foot. I could be wrong though
I think by definition, it is probably a slew foot, but I also think it rarely gets called unless the offending player is also pushing the upper body back in some way. Per the NHL rule book (8.8):
Either way, that was pretty clearly a penalty, tripping at minimum, so for the ref to shout "What am I supposed to call there" at him is fucking hilarious.
Yeah I view that more as a trip. Slew foot in my view was always foot behind the skate and push backwards with the upper body. No idea if that's technical but feel like that's what I've always grown up on.
I am reminded of the Zac Rinaldo trade. The league is not returning to the goon days in any of our lifetimes, but yet the Bruins management stubbornly clings to the concept of slow, unskilled, yet "tough" players somehow being the missing ingredient.
Its like Neely is thinking, "lets squeak into the playoffs because *now* we have a team tough enough to beat Florida."
You might be right, but they should try something instead of just doing the same thing every game and expecting different results.
In fairness, I'm not sure what other options they had.
Agree with this. Not looking to bury Swayman. Just play Korpisalo 3-4 games in a row.
There is precedent for this, although not under Monty: a few years ago Rask was struggling early, so Cassidy played Dobby for most of a West Coast swing and Dobby played very well. Rask got a short break and came back playing better, and the Bruins got wins.
If that's the case they aren't firing this bum and we're stuck with him rest of the year. Which if that's the case they've given up on the season already and should be fired themselves
I'm sure some of it is rust-related. But since Swayman is likely human, the holdout and the contract may also have him pressing. And he doesn't have his older veteran buddy Ullmark to help him navigate it all, like he might have in the past. I think a few games riding the pine would be good for him.
Please do not make any trades to add. This team needs an infusion of talent and it needs to come from actually having some early round draft picks for a bit. Shuffle the deck chairs on Monty if it gets a dead cat bounce, but keep the picks.
