Bruins Prospect News and Notes

veritas

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4 goal night for Ryan Donato
I was actually at the game, 2 of them were empty netters. It was the first time I've seen him play, and he was pretty much as advertised. The most skilled player on the ice by a wide margin, but his skating didn't stand out at all. Really interested to see how his game translates to the NHL. Krejci, with a better shot and less of a playmaker is probably his upside, he plays a similar style game. But he could easily end up being a AAAA type player.

Wiley Sherman looked pretty good too. He's fucking huge and seemed composed with the puck. I didn't really see him hit anyone or shoot the puck. Allegedly his shot is legit.
 

j44thor

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Looks like he trained with EASports, the inside outside dangle followed by the cut across the crease. Every kid with a PS4 has scored that goal.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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My go-to circa NHL 94 was to cut behind the net close enough so that the tailing defender(s) got stuck in front of the net, so when the goalie slid over to cover the far-side on the wrap around, he was then blocked by the defender when I inevitably crossed back in front of the net. Wide open every time.
 

shaggydog2000

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My go-to circa NHL 94 was to cut behind the net close enough so that the tailing defender(s) got stuck in front of the net, so when the goalie slid over to cover the far-side on the wrap around, he was then blocked by the defender when I inevitably crossed back in front of the net. Wide open every time.
In 94 the goalies were too slow to go post to post, so I always took a player who was hard to get the puck away from (Neely, Pat Verbeek), skated to the corner behind the goal line, and then cut in front of the net and tucked it in on the far side. Unstoppable, even against Ed Belfour. So yeah, basically that move above.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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I used to try to time it to score as the organ crescendoed.

edit: The arena organ. Not my organ.
 

cshea

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So Trent Frederic. 2 goals last night, 2 goals tonight. 22 games- 14g 16a.

Maybe more than a 4th line grinder here?
 

cshea

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Pre-Deadline update:

CHL

Zachary Senyshyn- 48 games- 36-15=51
Jesse Gabrielle- 50 games- 26-22=48
Jakub Zboril- 39 games- 9-23=32
Jeremy Lauzon- 27 games- 4-16=20

NCAA

Anders Bjork- 31 games- 19-24=43
Charlie McAvoy- 31 games- 4-16=20
Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson- 32 games 12-16=28
Ryan Fitzgerald- 28 games- 8-18=26
Ryan Donato- 27 games- 16-14=30
Trent Frederic- 22 games 14-16=30
Cameron Hughes- 28 games- 7-22=29

PROVIDENCE

Danton Heinen- 41 games 10-18=28
Jake DeBrusk- 51 games 11-17=28
Sean Kuraly- 40 games 10-8=18
Matt Grzelyck- 47 games- 2-18-20
Malcolm Subban- 2.51 gaa / .916 save %

Some notes: Malcolm Subban has quietly turned it around down in Providence. I'm not sure he'll ever factor into the Bruins plans in Boston, but good to see him respond well after the tire fire first month or so between Providence and the half game in Boston. Maybe he's done enough to rebuild some value as a small trade chip.

The NCAA kids are mostly all doing awesome. Frederic's offensive production is obviously a huge surprise.

We're approaching signing season. Seems like McAvoy and JFK are locks to get signed after their season ends. Fitzgerald can turn UFA on 8/15 of this year if he chooses. Bjork and Donato can do so after next season, if they choose to return to college. This is the year the teams usually push the NCAA kids to sign. Seems like Bjork will be a priority. I haven't heard much about Donato. I figure either way, signing him shouldn't be too much trouble even if he does go back to Harvard. Too many connections, and the Bruins are pretty thin at center beyond the NHL level. I've haven't read anything that makes me believe Bjork will be a tough sign, so hopefully they'll get that done. Harvard, ND and BU are all having good seasons and could go deep into the tournament anyways. The championship game is scheduled for 4/8 which coincides with the Bruins final regular season game, so it's possible one or two of the kids aren't available until after the season anyways.
 

burstnbloom

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Frederic is giving us all a huge helping of crow. I've read a couple of reports that say he is the most effective member of his team and he plays with Luke Kunin, so that is quite a statement.
 

cshea

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The team did themselves no favors by agreeing with the bottom 6 upside analysis we got from the draft pundits. They should've just tossed out the Backes comparison and left it at that.
 

TheRealness

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The team did themselves no favors by agreeing with the bottom 6 upside analysis we got from the draft pundits. They should've just tossed out the Backes comparison and left it at that.
I agree with this. Frederick has turned out to be a much better player, and projects as a top 9.

I think Gabrielle's probably trending downward, but McAvoy, Frederic and pretty much all the NCAA guys are trending upward. Zboril has also seemingly been lighting up the scoreboard lately, so that is good to see as well. He might take longer than some defensive prospects, but he has a ton of talent and this is a great sign for him.
 

kenneycb

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That said, Gabrielle's a 4th rounder so if he becomes anything mildly useful, I would view that as a victory. Using 2010 as a random year and proxy, only about half those guys have ever made the show and all but one have less than 100 games. 2011 is similar but it also has Gaudreau, Tobias Rieder, and Pageau who have hit the 200+ game mark. That's a long-winded version of saying it's hit or miss.
 

TheRealness

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I wasn't saying he was a bust. Far from it, I just think comparably he's trending downward.

I view Gabrielle as a 3rd line winger with some nastiness and scoring touch. I'm a fan. I just think he's slumping a bit.
 

cshea

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Gabrielle scored at a 1.04 points per game clip last season. He's at .96 this year. I don't think the dip is too alarming. It's like a 5 point difference over the course of a season, which can probably be chalked up to puck luck. 2-3 big games down the stretch could nudge him ahead of last season and change the perception.
 

burstnbloom

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On HF there is a really good poster named Fonzarelli who watches a ton of whl games. He gave detailed reports on Carlo, Debrusk and Gabrielle last year and has continued this year with Gabrielle. He has said that Gabrielle has been asked to play a different role this year and is doing more at both ends of the rink. He also said he's had a few nagging injuries so hopefully those two things are contributing to the flatness.
 

cshea

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2 goals for Senyshyn today to put him over the 40 goal mark.

53 games, 41-19=60. Scored 45 in 66 games last year.
 

GeminiFish

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Big night for Charlie McAvoy and JFK last night in a 3-2 victory for BU over Northeastern. JFK has a goal and 2 assists, and McAvoy had 3 assists. Here are links to JFK's sweet PPG and a great backhand pass from McAvoy in the neutral zone that set of the tying goal.
 

cshea

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Frederic picked up some hardware today. Named to 2nd team all B1G. Also named the B1G freshman of the year.

Lindgren's season is obviously over. He's having surgery, expected to make a full recovery.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Kirk is reporting that JFK signing with the Bruins is a "done deal" as soon as BU's season ends.

https://scoutingpost.com/2017/03/15/bruins-prospect-update-31517-jfk-on-a-roll-whats-next-lindgren-done-koppanen-top-finland-jr-player-fitzy-update-too/

No word on McAvoy, Bjork or Fitzgerald yet. Kirk thinks they'll go hard at McAvoy and Bjork to get them signed. He's unsure on Fitzgerald who has the UFA route available.
Kirk updated his article to back away from that claim about JFK. Said signing is likely but not a done deal.
 

cshea

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NCAA and CHL season's are starting to wrap up.

BC's season ended in the Hockey East championship last night. Ryan Fitzgerald had a nice weekend with 3 goals in 2 games, finishing with 12-19-31 in 34 games. We'll see if the Bruins try to sign him now. He can go the UFA route and wait until 8/15 if he chooses.

Wisconsin is also finished. Trent Frederic's freshman year ends with 15-15=33 in 30 games. Cam Hughes ends with 7-25=32. They were the 2nd and 3rd leading scorers for Wisconsin.

Harvard, BU and Notre Dame all qualified for the NCAA tournament. The Bjork/McAvoy/Forsbacka-Karlsson watch begins- BU travels to Fargo to play North Dakota at 3PM EST Friday. Notre Dame plays Minnesota in New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure if Ryan Donato's a signing candidate this year, but Harvard is a 1 seed playing Providence in Providence next weekend. His regular season line- 20-18=38 in 33 games.

In the CHL...

Senyshyn had 1-2=3 in his final regular season game of the season. His final line is 59 games, 42-23=65. Same point total as a year ago, in 7 fewer games.
 

cshea

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Some rumblings that the Bruins have signed 2014 7th round pick Emil Johansson.


20 year old, 5'11'', played in the top league in Sweden this year. 49 games, 7-10=17.
 

Reggie Hammond

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The Bruins have a host of issues they are working through that go beyond the change from Clode to Bruce Cassidy as coach.
In no particular order:

- While at the time I was a fan of the David Backes free-agent acquisition, he looks completely cooked to me this year. Now if he came into the year tired after starting off in the World Cup, that's one thing, but he should have been able to get over the fatigue factor quickly. It's not like the US Team had a long run in that tournament. The problem for me with Backes is that he looks extremely slow for the pace at which the game is now played. And that wouldn't change even if he was playing center regularly, and not currently affixed at wing with 63 and 37. And at his age (32), it's not like he's going to get quicker moving forward over the next four years.

- Does anyone know, really, what happened to the type of game Matt Beleskey used to play with regularity when he was with the Ducks? I know three years ago he scored 19 goals and was an absolute wrecking ball in those playoffs (The series he had that year against Calgary was outstanding), but then he comes to Boston and he's a shell of his former self. And I understand he was hurt this year, so if that has dramatically impacted his ability to move quickly and pursue pucks, he gets a pass. But it's not as if he was a consistent force last year when he was healthy. (And I'm not one wishing he would "drop the gloves." As we all know that goes nowhere in today's NHL and has little value in today's game.)

- Jimmy Hayes still has another year left on his contract at $2.3M. In my lurking days on this board, I read with interest the comments of others so I won't say much about this. But it would be great if we could truly find out who made the evaluation of him as a player that said he was worth that extension, and then who had the final say in the front office with giving him that money. From where I sit there is no justification for that decision. And if it was based off of his one productive season in Florida, what does that say about the B's decision makers in the talent acquisition realm? Gawd.

- Is it just me, or is Ryan Spooner exceptionally soft, even in the kinder, gentler version of today's NHL where contact is minimized. He's fast, skilled, and an above-average playmaker for sure, but there are too many stretches in which he disappears from games. He also has a penchant from shying away from contact along the boards when it comes to digging out pucks. As far as we all know from what was reported in the past, Clode tried to address that last issue with him, but it really doesn't seem to have improved to any degree under Cassidy.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what can be done to get more out of him?

Thanks for letting me join your group.
 

kenneycb

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As if anyone needed another reason to root against BU, they're playing NoDak today at 3 on ESPN2. Notre Dame also plays tomorrow at 3:30 against the Gophers.
 

cshea

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B's may have some interest in Harvard forward Alex Kerfoot. 5th round pick by NJ in 2012, could go to UFA on 8/15. Hobey Baker nominee, 16-25=41 in 33 games played.

 
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cshea

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B's have signed Ryan Fitzgerald and made the Emil Johansson signing official. Both players headed to Providence, ELC's kick in next season.

 

TheRealness

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Glad they signed Fitzgerald. He helped their run to the HE finals and looked like their best player. I will be trying to keep track of the NCAA games today, especially BU, because I hate everything and the Bruins make me feel depressed.