I think Senyshyn will hit as a prospect, but that will depend on their patience with him. If they are patient, I have high hopes. If not, there is concern about a flame out.
DeBrusk played 91 games last season; Heinen 89. The AHL schedule is fairly vigorous, they have weekends where they play 3 games in 3 days. I think they should be able to handle it from a fatigue standpoint. They should be pretty well adjusted.I’m still concerned about them hitting a wall. This run has come during a soft spot in their schedule and they’re winning games they should, which is always good. But they have I think 9 games in 18 Days, so it will be interesting to see how they respond and if they try to cycle in some new people to keep the legs fresh. Thank god we don’t have to worry about the goalie situation.
As it stands now, the 1st round of 2015 is still a pretty big failure, although there's still some time for those guys to develop. Despite that, the Bruins have been very good overall at drafting and developing talent since 2014 (or even since 2012 when they drafted a #1 goalie, a solid 2nd pair defenseman, and also Matt Grzelcyk...).2014: Pastrnak, Donato, Heinen, Bjork
2015: Zboril, DeBrusk, Senyshyn, Carlo, Lauzon, JFK
This could go down as maybe the best back to back drafts since...
1979: Bourque, McCrimmon, Crowder, Krushelnyski
1980: Pederson, Fergus, Kasper
Sorry, that's absurd.As it stands now, the 1st round of 2015 is still a pretty big failure, although there's still some time for those guys to develop.
DeBrusk is an every day player on the 2nd line, while Senyshyn is prospering in Providence, on a similar growth curve as Heinen. That hardly qualifies as a "pretty big failure".As it stands now, the 1st round of 2015 is still a pretty big failure, although there's still some time for those guys to develop. Despite that, the Bruins have been very good overall at drafting and developing talent since 2014 (or even since 2012 when they drafted a #1 goalie, a solid 2nd pair defenseman, and also Matt Grzelcyk...).
Given how much depth they have right now, I really don't understand why they're not using a heavy rotation, esp on back to back games. If Vatrano isn't better than one of the bottom 6 on the second game of a back-to-back, he's not worth being on the team. All of their defensemen are either children, elderly, or injury prone. With Grz looking like an NHLer and McQuaid back, everyone should get a few healthy games off. I know that's not how hockey culture works, but eventually a team is going to try incorporating scheduled rest days for all players, and I think it's going to work.
But wait! Matt Barzal has a bunch of assists skating around the perimeter and getting it to Jordan Eberle or Tavares on the power play, playing for a team that doesn't ask him (or anyone else) to back check. So ergo, all of the guys we picked ahead of him are busts before they're 20. At least noted prospect experts like Joe Haggerty tell me that so it must be true!Sorry, that's absurd.
Meh. Consider the reason he was a surprise at 15: he’d played a lot of 4th line minutes with the Soo Greyhounds. That he only just started playing top-6 minutes in 2015-16 lends itself to keeping him in the OHL for his overage year. Besides, a CHL schedule is way more rigorous than NCAA, so it’s not like he’s going to have the shock of an 80+ game season going to Providence.Part of the problem is that Senyshyn was forced to play another year in the juniors last season, when he really should have been in the AHL from a development perspective.
I should have clarified: I'm fairly certain there wasn't much choice. Senyshyn wasn't ready for the NHL in 2016, and he didn't meet the age requirement for AHL.Meh. Consider the reason he was a surprise at 15: he’d played a lot of 4th line minutes with the Soo Greyhounds. That he only just started playing top-6 minutes in 2015-16 lends itself to keeping him in the OHL for his overage year. Besides, a CHL schedule is way more rigorous than NCAA, so it’s not like he’s going to have the shock of an 80+ game season going to Providence.
That last paragraph is my favorite part of the interview. They could build something really good here with this prospect pipeline if they're patient.Neely and Sweeney actually did media today. They wait until the Thursday before Christmas weekend to do it, but hey it is something.
On Zboril/Senyshyn- He’s happy with their progress in Providence. Zboril getting big minutes in Providence. Senyshyn coming on of late, they want him to work on rounding out his game instead of being a one trick pony PP specialist. He said ideally that when they call players up they want it to be for the long haul. Near the end of last season he sat down with DeBrusk and told him that they were very happy with his progress, had no doubts he could play for them for a game or 2, but they wanted him to be fully ready to come up to compete and win a job and last the season. That said, the development curves for players are different. Carlo and McAvoy jumped in; took DeBrusk and Heinen longer.
He also didn’t seem too enthused about cashing in some prospects for established veterans.
Not to nitpick, but he didn't play an overage year in the OHL - he would have been an overager if they had sent him back this year.Meh. Consider the reason he was a surprise at 15: he’d played a lot of 4th line minutes with the Soo Greyhounds. That he only just started playing top-6 minutes in 2015-16 lends itself to keeping him in the OHL for his overage year. Besides, a CHL schedule is way more rigorous than NCAA, so it’s not like he’s going to have the shock of an 80+ game season going to Providence.
"Excel?" IMO, the jury is still out on whether they will ultimately be better than DeBrusk.Regarding Connor and Barzal, it sucks to see players picked after the Bruins' crop excel, but that's going to happen in every draft. Connor in particular seemed to take a huge leap forward in the year following the draft, exceeding his USHL production rates as a (slightly overaged) freshman at Michigan before going pro.
Or at least to let them develop more so they have greater trade value if they do want to cash in.That last paragraph is my favorite part of the interview. They could build something really good here with this prospect pipeline if they're patient.
I remember, and I'm not saying that they won't ultimately be better than the guys the Bruins took. I just think the jury is still out. DeBrusk is just seeming to hit his stride in the NHL over the past dozen games or so, and Senyshyn is more of a toolsy project but already showing signs of improvement. There are a lot of good players who hadn't made any impact by 2.5 seasons after their draft year, Brad Marchand (3rd leading goal scorer and 9th in points in his draft year) for one obvious one.Agreed, early returns would’ve been a better term to use, but there was an immediate overreaction by fans (myself included)to condemn the B’s for taking neither of those guys
And still ridiculously premature."Below expected value for picks 13, 14, and 15" is probably more accurate.
I think it is crazy to judge a draft negatively based on where the players are less then 2.5 seasons after the draft.I don't think it's unfair to point out that they didn't do great with those picks when someone claims it's part of the best back to back drafts since Bourque/Pederson, which is an equally hyperbolic statement.
Could Barzal be a miss? Sure. But it is wrong to write about that as if it is a certainty. DeBrusk is just now establishing himself as an NHL player. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to judge him against guys who are moving a little faster - there's no iron law of prospect progression.For me, Barzal is the big miss.
Exactly. There is a lot of potential here. We can take as a given that not all of it will pan out. But what we have seen to date and what is in the pipeline looks promising, and it is just to early to know for sure how it all turns out.I think any talk of grading 2015’s draft now is a fools’ errand, and for two reasons:
-defence men tend to have funny development tracks. Dennis Seidenberg is a wonderful example, bouncing from franchise to franchise for a LONG time before pairing with Chara in Boston and hitting his stride.
-Senyshyn was a known project. As I said earlier, he was a young, raw kid on a deep Soo Greyhounds team, so his minutes were tough to come by. It’s also why I didn’t worry about him staying in the OHL last year despite his breakout 2015-16. It’d Be good for him to prove his track is upward, and it appears that it’s going that way in Providence as well.
Come back to us in 3 more years, and maybe we can start discussing where 2015 falls on the grading curve.
Jaw meet floor!It's the right move. Spooner has been a different person, let alone player this year, with his willingness to physically engage, and he deserves that spot. I love Bjork, but he could use time in the AHL to quiet his game down.
Not only is he not blocking anyone but he's a really good AHL player. It would be great if all the guys that won't play for the big club this year get the experience of a deep playoff run in the AHL. Agostino helps them do that.Why? He’s not blocking anyone.
I can't wait to see Donato centering those two in May.In a related story, Providence is loaded. They are in first place and now added Cehlarik and Bjork.
Top 6 is something like:
Agostino - JFK - Cehlarik
Beleskey - Czarnik -Bjork
Those 2 lines could probably hold their own in the NHL. Then they still have Senyshyn, Fitzgerald (injured) and the D prospects.
You know how much I don't like Spooner's game, but he seems to have grown a pair of balls over the summer. I am skeptical it will last, but he deserves the spot for now. He's much more willing to battle, which he never was prior, and he seems to have grown comfortable playing at either forward spot. I think he's been playing RW on Krejci's line, and has looked comfortable there.Jaw meet floor!
I see much the same thing. My Spooner ceiling has always been adequate (and often maddening) 3rd line center with above average offensive skills and little else. Which, to my eyes, is why he so often looked lost at wing. Maybe he's been told, or figured out, that he's not playing center anytime soon for the Bruins, not no way, not no how, and his play is a function of buying in since its permanent.You know how much I don't like Spooner's game, but he seems to have grown a pair of balls over the summer. I am skeptical it will last, but he deserves the spot for now. He's much more willing to battle, which he never was prior, and he seems to have grown comfortable playing at either forward spot. I think he's been playing RW on Krejci's line, and has looked comfortable there.
Really kind of stunning how quickly this whole rebuild thing came together.Those top 2 lines are borderline NHL lines right now.
His first goal was awesome.Trent Frederic with a hat trick for Team USA in the World Junior Bronze Medal game versus Czech Republic.