Bruins trade 3rd round pick for Andrej Meszaros

Red Right Ankle

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MoGator71 said:
I haven't seen a ton of Krug, but is he that bad defensively?
He's not good.  He's small and he hasn't developed the defensive positional sense or decision-making instincts yet to make up for his lack of size and leverage. He uses his speed well at times and, of course, he's excellent at breaking the puck out which is helpful defensively in that it cuts down on the amount of time that he actually has to play defense.  
 
Claude definitely doesn't have full faith in him - his O/D start percentage is about 62% which is the highest on the team this year.
 
edit:  that's 8% higher than what Meszaros had on the Flyers.  Although that might have more to do with philosophical differences between the coaching staffs or relative talent levels on D than anything else.  It looks like the Flyers' O/D start percentages are clustered much more heavily towards 50% than the Bruins'.
 
It's also 10% higher than the next highest defenseman's, Doug Hamilton.
 

TheRealness

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TheStoryofYourRedRightAnkle said:
He's not good.  He's small and he hasn't developed the defensive positional sense or decision-making instincts yet to make up for his lack of size and leverage. He uses his speed well at times and, of course, he's excellent at breaking the puck out which is helpful defensively in that it cuts down on the amount of time that he actually has to play defense.  
 
Claude definitely doesn't have full faith in him - his O/D start percentage is about 62% which is the highest on the team this year.
 
He likes to stick his nose into things and at least try to be physical, so there's that. He just isn't very good in his own end. 
 
But yeah, he's not horrible, and his offensive play means he deserves to skate every night. 
 

cshea

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They're going to have a decision to make on Krug. His offensive prowess will mean he commands a pretty good sized contract. The B's have to figure out if he's Marc-Andre Bergeron 2.0 or if he's capable of developing into a more well rounded defenseman.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Really? He's 22 and will be an RFA - I'm not sure there will be any team that make an offer to him that would force the B's to let him go. Let him develop for a few more years before wondering if he's MAB 2.0.
 

erfus

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The good thing about Krug is that all reports indicate he has the attitude and committment level to watch tapes of Don Sweeney all summer without skipping a workout.  I'm not worried about him.  His size will always be a limitation but I think his scrappiness will take him close enough to Andrew Ference territory in his own end for him to be adequate.  Given his offensive ability, adequate is more than fine. 
 

TheRealness

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erfus said:
The good thing about Krug is that all reports indicate he has the attitude and committment level to watch tapes of Don Sweeney all summer without skipping a workout.  I'm not worried about him.  His size will always be a limitation but I think his scrappiness will take him close enough to Andrew Ference territory in his own end for him to be adequate.  Given his offensive ability, adequate is more than fine. 
 
Yeah, this is why I'm not worried. He's a scrappy dude who isn't afraid to get physical (or fight). He'll be fine.
 

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I agree with you all that the kid definitely shows willing physically and on the work ethic front.  My evaluation is based purely on what he is now.
 

lexrageorge

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It's well known that D-men take longer to mature than most forwards.  So I don't believe we've seen all of Krug's upside when it comes to his play in the defensive zone.  He may never be the shut down guy that Seidenberg is, but it's still quite likely we will see improvement going forward.  There's no chance he leaves as an RFA.  
 

MoGator71

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TheStoryofYourRedRightAnkle said:
He's not good.  He's small and he hasn't developed the defensive positional sense or decision-making instincts yet to make up for his lack of size and leverage. He uses his speed well at times and, of course, he's excellent at breaking the puck out which is helpful defensively in that it cuts down on the amount of time that he actually has to play defense.  
 
Claude definitely doesn't have full faith in him - his O/D start percentage is about 62% which is the highest on the team this year.
 
edit:  that's 8% higher than what Meszaros had on the Flyers.  Although that might have more to do with philosophical differences between the coaching staffs or relative talent levels on D than anything else.  It looks like the Flyers' O/D start percentages are clustered much more heavily towards 50% than the Bruins'.
 
It's also 10% higher than the next highest defenseman's, Doug Hamilton.
 
Yea, Craig Berube doesn't really alter his d-rotation very much that way. He does with his forwards (Couturier's line gets a lot of d-zone starts, Schenn's line doesn't). Also there was a bit of a trust issue with Meszaros for the first few months of the season; he wasn't even getting PP time until pretty recently. It's been mostly Timonen and Voracek on the point on the first unit and Streit and another forward (Read or Couturier usually) on the 2nd. 
 

mcpickl

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TheStoryofYourRedRightAnkle said:
It's also possible that Mez might play in Krug's place if the team felt Krug's defensive liabilities were greater than his offensive contributions at some point.
I doubt Mezsaros would dress in Krugs spot, but one reason he's valuable as a pickup is his ability to play both sides.
 
Holding a lead late in a key game, Claude can avoid using Krug on defense by shortening his defense to five guys, if Mezsaros can earn Claudes' trust.
 
Chara and Bartkowski as his left D, Boychuck and Hamilton on right D, and Meszaros filling in on both sides.(I'm making Miller the scratch)
 
Could be really helpful in being able to use Krug as an offensive specialist.
 

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lexrageorge said:
Using a 3rd round pick to shore up an obvious roster hole for a Stanley Cup contending team is nowhere close to an overpay.  Granted, it's not the most exciting deal, but the available blue liners with expiring contracts all had holes in their game.  Meszaros was hardly the worst choice.  
It's likely going to be a second round pick, 3rd would be fine. Meszaros was a bottom pair guy for the Flyers and sometimes healthy scratch, and Philly isn't particularly great. Also he has a big injury history so he may not even help (though it's only a 3rd rounder then). If you're going to make such a minor move I just see it as too high a price is all.
 
This pretty much says what I think. Would rather have given a meaningless 5th round pick for Diaz: http://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/2014/3/6/5477120/evaluating-the-bruins-trade-deadline-who-is-andrej-meszaros
 

MasterShake15

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According to Fluto, the B's had a deal in place with Vancouver for Edler that was conditional upon the Canucks trading Kesler to the Penguins. When the Kesler deal fell through, so did the deal for Edler. 
 
Kesler was being traded for "Sutter, first and third round picks and a defensive prospect" . Edler would've likely cost either Spooner or Koko and Bartkowski. The Flyers ate half of Meszaros' cap hit so the B's could fit Edler under the cap after using LTIR on Seidenberg and McQuaid.
 

j44thor

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Interesting, think I would rather not have Edler if that meant Kesler in PIT.
 

SidelineCameras

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FL4WL3SS said:
I'm not a huge Edler fan, so I'm glad the deal fell through if it meant sending Spooner/Koko. I would rather of had Bieksa.
 
Both Charelli and Neely used the term "(we) laid the groundwork" to get a similar deal done in the summer, so I think you might still see Edler, or at least another attempt at Edler, sooner rather than later.
 
The article says that they would have had to LTRR McQuaid to fit Edler's salary, so the deal really becomes losing prospects/current players plus McQuaid's services for the season for Edler. If it's a numbers game, they might not have wanted to lose Bart + McQuaid off the team for Edler.
 
D corps would have been:
Chara/Edler
Boychuk/Hamilton
Krug/Miller
Potter
 

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SidelineCameras said:
 
Both Charelli and Neely used the term "(we) laid the groundwork" to get a similar deal done in the summer, so I think you might still see Edler, or at least another attempt at Edler, sooner rather than later.
 
The article says that they would have had to LTRR McQuaid to fit Edler's salary, so the deal really becomes losing prospects/current players plus McQuaid's services for the season for Edler. If it's a numbers game, they might not have wanted to lose Bart + McQuaid off the team for Edler.
 
D corps would have been:
Chara/Edler
Boychuk/Hamilton
Krug/Miller
Potter
 
In this scenario, they would have had Meszaros as well.
 

SidelineCameras

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FL4WL3SS said:
I don't think you would have seen Chara and Edler together.
 
I wasn't matching up lines, just listing players. Which was a waste of time because I was confused anyway:
 
The Four Peters said:
 
In this scenario, they would have had Meszaros as well.
 
Huh, misread the article. You're right. In that case, maybe the whole thing really did hinge only on Kesler to Pittsburgh. This could explain why the brass still claims the foundation is in place for this deal in the future.
 

cshea

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I can't envision a scenario where Mike Gillis remains in position to make a deal in the summer. The rumors floating (at least coming out of the PO'd Pittsburgh camp) around are that Vancouver ownership wouldn't let him deal Kesler, so they're already removing his authority on hockey decisions. If they clean house, then any "groundwork" from this deadline probably goes out the window when the new GM steps in.
 

MoGator71

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MasterShake15 said:
According to Fluto, the B's had a deal in place with Vancouver for Edler that was conditional upon the Canucks trading Kesler to the Penguins. When the Kesler deal fell through, so did the deal for Edler. 
 
Kesler was being traded for "Sutter, first and third round picks and a defensive prospect" . Edler would've likely cost either Spooner or Koko and Bartkowski. The Flyers ate half of Meszaros' cap hit so the B's could fit Edler under the cap after using LTIR on Seidenberg and McQuaid.
 
That's a pretty reasonable price for Edler. Vancouver fans keep trying to sell him to the Flyers but they expect both Schenns + 1st + something else in return which is kind of ridiculous with some of the health/decline issues surrounding Edler. Also Gillis is a clown, no reason he couldn't make the Edler deal independent of the Kesler deal; make the Boston deal now and move Kesler wherever at the draft or over the summer. It isn't that hard.
 
Not that it matters much one way or the other but it's too bad the Flyers ate some of Mez' cap hit. It's so rare that the Flyers actually have cap space, I was planning to run it up a flagpole and wave it around for a few months. Ah well, Homer will trade both Schenns, Voracek, and 3 1sts for the Sedin twins on draft day anyway. Poof, cap space gone. 
 

The Napkin

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Early returns after 2.1 games look to be encouraging. I find it interesting that he's paired with Miller tonight and (so for at least) doesn't seem to be suffering from not having not Chara.