Should the Bruins just accept a retool? | Poke the Bear

20 comments

1. Should the Bruins rebuild? Um, with what?

   Flawed, overpaid roster with their best core players that could bring back “Rebuild” level assets all having NTCs or NMCs

   The Bruins also have the NHL’s worst farm system with few real NHL prospects in it let alone actual Top 6 Forward or Top 4 Defensive talent.

   They can’t and or won’t move Marchand Pasta McAvoy, H. Lindholm, E. Lindholm or N. Zadorov. All of them make far too much, have too much term and all have full NTCs for years to come

   Those are the only players the Bruins would really get Rebuild level assets back for in any trades

   So that answers the question right there because trading their other better pieces like Coyle Zacha and Carlo really wouldn’t bring that much back in return, certainly not “rebuilding” level assets

   And why even talk about what Frederic, Geekie, Brazeau and the rest of the bottom of their roster would garnish in any trades if we’re talking about “rebuilding” level assets?

   So short sighted fans can scream “Rebuild”

   However, the Bruins not only lack the assets to do it, their core of roster players are simply too good for this team to fall off the cliff into “rebuild” territory and let’s face it, ownership isn’t even remotely close to being open to a rebuild right now either

   Thus talking “rebuild” is pointless because the Bruins are not positioned at any level; roster, draft capital, farm system, GM nor Ownership wise to institute a rebuild in the first place

   A re-tool?

   Maybe but that would mean moving on from Geekie Frederic Coyle Zacha and Carlo. Are they willing to do that? Who knows?

   Also, why is everyone acting like this current and lousy version of the Boston Bruins is much different than the one we saw last season?

   The Bruins have been in trouble for over a calendar year now

   From January through May of last year the Bruins were a .500 teams that played below .500 vs. the playoff teams, that also had one of the worst 5×5 offenses and power plays in the entire NHL

   This year, the Bruins are a .500 team overall that has played below. 500 vs playoff teams, that has one of the worst 5×5 offenses, power plays and penalty killing units in the entire NHL

   Thus for Monty’s last 6 months as coach last year and his first two months of coaching prior to being fired this year, his results were largely no different than what Joe Sacco has managed to produce, except under Montgomery the Bruins never lost 5 games in a row (not even 4 in a row)

   The Bruins are 6-13-1 overall vs teams within the current playoff structure which includes losing their last 4 straight to them

   Some of the Bruins Rotten Stats:

   28th in overall goal differential at a craptastic -24
   26th in total goals scored
   25th in 5×5 goals scored
   31st power play at a craptastic 12.4%
   25th penalty killing at a crappy 76%

   They are 1-5-1 in their last 6 which has included losses to dreadful NYR CLB & NYI yet, still no changes to the lineup either via bringing up Poitras, Lysell and or Merkulov or via trades by shipping out pending UFAs like Frederic,, Koepke, Wotherspoon and even Brazeau as he’s just a guy

   They could also easily look into moving their pending RFAs such as Geekie, Wahlstrom and Beecher although what would they really get back for any of those three players?

   They could and should make a big move by making an actual hockey trade where a core piece or two is moved. Whether that's to improve the team this year or to try and add picks and prospects, who cares, just do it

   That being said, again it would be difficult, if near impossible, to move Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, Zadorov, McAvoy and or Pasta

   Whose left to move in any hockey trades then?

   Again, Carlo, Zacha and Coyle all have limited NMCs but they could be moved as there are teams they can be moved to today and not one of them has too much term or money tied to their deal

   After that it’s two players a lot of Bruins fans won’t want to move in any deals but with a very flawed, overpaid, and limited talent at forward roster alongside also having the NHL’s worst farm system as well as limited draft capital…

   How else can the Bruins get better other than trading a few core pieces off of their current team without blowing it all up which they're not going to do any time soon?

   The answer is unless they really went nuclear and went into a 4-7+ year rebuild, the only way out for Boston right now would be to make a few roster level, good ole’ fashioned hockey trades

   Mason Lohrei has a ton of upside but he’s lousy defensively and he’s a long way from being any kind of sure thing in the future

   As for the next guy, the only way out of his contract is ASAP as his full NTC kicks in when the 2026-27 season begins, which means this current season, this off-season and next season are the only times Boston will be able to move Jeremy Swayman without him waiving a FULL NTC until the 2030-31 season when his full NTC moves to a limited NMC 10 team trade clause.

   That’s it.

   The only “real” Bruins trade chips are roster players and those are really just Swayman & Lohrei in terms of guys without NMCs or NTCs this season and guys with limited ones that should be easier to move such as Zacha, Coyle and Carlo

   Again, you can say move Frederic Geekie, Brazeau, Wahlstrom, Koepke Mclaughlin, Wotherspoon and or Osterle but none of those players will yield anything “talent” wise that would alter the Bruins trajectory or fix their offensive woes

   And again, they’re not moving Marchand, Pasta, McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Elias Lindholm or Nitkit Zadorov again because of the money they make, the term they have, their importance to the team and or their NMCs/NTCs

   The Farm System is absolute trash and they don’t have a 2nd round pick again this year.

   The Farm System is trash because Sweeney has drafted and developed poorly and he’s pissed a crap ton of their draft capital away either fixing bad UFA mistakes like Belesky, Backes, Zach Rinaldo, Jimmy Hayes and John Moore

   Or Sweeney has pissed their high draft capital away chasing his next 1st round playoff choke as the Bruins under him have only won ONE lousy 2nd round series in his 10 years as GM

   So to sum it up the Farm System is not getting Boston out of this low talent forward/scoring problem

   The Bruins limited draft capital is not getting Boston out of this (not to mention Sweeney is shite at drafting and developing anyway)

   They aren’t trading McAvoy, Marchand, Pasta either Lindholm or Nikita Zadorov for reasons mentioned already

   They also won’t’ get much of anything in terms of real talent, prospects or draft capital for Frederic, Geekie, Brazeau Wahlstrom, Kopke, Mclaughlin, Beecher, Wothersppon and or Osterle

   So Sweeney is literally down to only trying to these moves to improve significantly:

   Be willing to trade and find trade partners for Swayman, Lohrei, Zacha, Coyle and or Carlo

   That’s it

   Again, Swayman and Lohrei can be moved without restriction as neither has an NMC/NTC this year

   Zacha, Coyle and or Carlo all have limited NMC but can still be moved, none of three have much term left and none of the three have gross dollars tied to their current deals

   All this being said, I don’t expect Don Sweeney to move any of those guys though.

   Instead, he’s more likely to piss away another first round pick adding some burned out veteran to this flawed roster all in effort to do one thing and one thing on, save his job

   The Jacobs Family should also be sued for malpractice by this fanbase if Don Sweeney, after handing out $160M in contracts last offseason and who has built the NHL’s worst farm system and whose only managed to win ONE lousy 2nd round series in 10 years as GM, is allowed to piss away even more of this team’s future and or draft capital trying to save his own ass

2. Wears a Henie inside. Effin tool

3. Says the word “like” every sentence. Losers.

4. Oh you could sell me on a rebuild

5. They need to trade their best player (whoever) that is??? If that doesn’t get existing players’ attention, nothing will

6. You spent the whole time outlining all the Bruins problems and they were created by the GM, but then you say keep the GM. Unbelievable! Th last few years of them being good, your statement Evan, were with players drafted or acquired by previous GM's. Sweeney had one job, draft and develop replacements. He has failed completely in this. He needs ro be fired and not allowed to mess with this roaster any more going forward.

7. They have too many bad contracts they can’t get out of. I think the organization needs a Fresh set of Eyes to untangle this roster.

8. As long as Sweeney is gone is a part of it….Yeah sure.

9. They need to do what they did last time to turn things around, hire a GM and coach from outside the organization, this old boys club and next man up stuff is just BS and does not work. They may need to do a rebuild, but Sweeney and Neely are not the ones to get that done.

10. The Bruins are all set for many years to come as surely as they have many of their corpse (sic) players tied up at rates that (according to the paid pundits groveling for subscriptions,tips, and whatever else they're selling) might seem high now, but will appear as bargains later on..if the said players are not injury-ridden and/or don't feel like just riding it out. Note: they are not doing that now because…they also said they're not. Nah. They are all motivated and inspired which is why they show up to camp better than last year. Don't let the slow starts fool ya. And just because they had trouble completing their regular shift does not imply otherwise because…well because you;re a fanatic and the only one-sided thinking that is acceptable is that they demand and get more (for less) and you pay- just like in any other business. That's sports entertainment, folks. 😜

11. Trade away the players that you can, get draft picks……bring up the talented players from Providence, accept that this is going to take a while. Delaying this will just make it take longer….and please get rid of Sweeney.

12. The team is crumbling. Who is going to pay the price?

13. They dont seem to have a plan

14. Burn it down starting with Sweeney. Get rid of Coyle, Carlo, Marchy, McAvoy (unless he wakes up soon. He's been mediocre for 2 seasons) . This B's team has zero heart. All a bunch of floaters. Defence sucks and PP is brutal. Brazeau, Koepke, Kastelic and Korposolo are their only bright spots. Since cheering for the B's since 1957, this is one of the worst teams ever. The game against Oilers was like watching peewee hockey!!!

15. Trade Freddy, Carlo, vinni to buffalo for cozens and Byram

16. Bring back LOOOOOOCH to straighten out the dressing room gaeanteed

17. Fire Sweeney. How is that not the solution? C’mon guys…open your eyes

18. A retooling team has never won a cup, which should be the benchmark. Cost controlled players is a must in a salary cap world and you need to start over to acquire the number of picks needed at the right slots in the draft. ESPECIALLY if you need a 1C. When the Caps win a cup, then we’ll talk.

19. Pasta is the only untouchable…Marchand’s deficiencies as a captain are glaring…there is no true leader on this team…Miss #37 tremendously 😢

20. Retool, yes. Rebuild? Think Chicago Blackhawks hockey from some recent years and seasons still to come. No thank you.