Are Bruins Entering a BRIDGE YEAR | Pucks With Haggs

Are Bruins Entering a BRIDGE YEAR | Pucks With Haggs

Welcome to the Pucks with Hags podcast, a proud member of the CLNS media network. Make sure to hit the subscribe button to the Bruins Ringside YouTube channel and turn on notifications for when a new video drops on the channel. This show is also brought to you by Prize Pix, the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America. Download the Prize Pix app today and use the code CLNS and get $50 instantly when you play five bucks. That’s code CLNS on Prize Pix to get $50 instantly when you play $5. You don’t even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It’s guaranteed. Prize picks run your game. Uh this is the 208th episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast. Thank you as always for joining in, listening, interacting, commenting, leaving questions, all of that good stuff. I am your host, Joe Hagerty. You can find my work at joehagerty.substack.com. Subscribe and get yourself premium membership. Get all of my Bruins and NHL writing sent straight directly to your inbox. I also write columns three times a week for the Boston Sports Journal. also go to bostonportsjournal.com get a membership there. You can be a part of the weekly Q&A I do with the fans as well as writing those columns. So it’s a great place for all the Boston sports and uh to get insight and news and original content uh not aggregate, not anything like that, original stuff from people covering the teams over at bostonportsjournal.com. So definitely check that out as well. Um this is going to be a uh mailbag episode uh of the Pucks with Hags podcast. We’re going to answer some questions. It’s going to be a solo journey with me. Um, we’ll get back to the regular format next week. Uh, but this is, as I I think I’ve said before, from about July 15th until August 15th, it’s really like kind of the dead portion of the hockey schedule. It’s when all the NHL executives go to their cottages in Canada and by the lake and go fishing, go water skiing, go to the beach. um not a lot of business gets done uh over the next month in in the NHL and this is when you see websites will start to come out with like their all-time teams and their top 50 players of all time and they start going through the listicles um to try to come up with stuff. So, we’re just going to answer a few questions here. Uh not any news to speak of with the Boston Bruins. I think the schedule coming out, I guess, was the biggest piece of news. Um and you know, we can talk about that more next week. Uh maybe maybe we’ll have a or a podcast early in the week to talk about that. But you know uh the the bottom line stuff was they’re starting on the road against Washington uh and it’s a backtoback and then the next night they’re going to play at home against the Blackhawks for their home opener. I think it’s Wednesday Thursday if I remember correctly uh in the beginning of October. Uh they do have a Black Friday game against the Rangers uh matinea after Thanksgiving so that’s good. I think they play the Canadians four times, which is great. Um, some little sort of nuance stuff like that on the schedule. Uh, but for the most part, uh, fairly, uh, regular looking schedule for the Bruins. Uh, they tend to be a little light in the first half of the year and then a little heavy in the second half of the year. That seems to always be the way it works out for them. I know in the old days it used to be uh, because they had the circus coming to town, usually in the fall at some point, and they would go on the road for like two days. it’s not really the case anymore, but uh still sort of follows that same uh pathway just a little bit. Uh but we’ll get more into the schedule next week for sure. Um as that was the sort of most interesting thing uh to come out. But uh for this episode, I think we will just uh answer some questions. Um I’ve got some questions from Twitter. I’ve got some questions from uh my Facebook fan page. I’ve got some questions from the mail uh the Q&A I do uh over at Boston Sports Journal. So, let’s jump right in. This is from SJM1613. What is your guess as at to at this point for opening night line combos? And there’s a second part of the question. What is the likelihood that Corposalo or other pieces get moved to shore up the middle six or D, who might the targets be? Um, the first one, what is your guess at this point for opening night night line combos? Um, I would say you have to start like some of it’s going to be based on training camp, right? Um, some of it’s going to be based on the way things look at camp if everybody’s healthy. But I would suspect and I would guess that they would start with what ended well last year with Elias Lynholm centering Morgan Geeky and David Posternneck. Um, they looked really good the last month, six weeks of the season last year. Um, as Lindholm got healthy from that back injury that he had problems with at times, he looked much better. I would say from about I would say from uh the the um Four Nations tournament on, I thought he actually played really well. I know the numbers didn’t bear that out completely um at the beginning of when he came back from Four Nations, but I just eyeball uh test watching him play. I thought he was very good. Uh much better than he was the first half of the year from Four Nations on. uh afterward. So, um that would be my guess is to the top line. Why not stick with that? Try to load up on the top line. Have at least one line that is um going to be dangerous uh all the time. That’s going to be your big point producer that’s going to you’re going to be able to rely on um for heavy duty work at both ends. Uh both to play against other teams, good lines, and then also to to you know do damage offensively against other teams. uh good deep pairs and good lines. Second line, um I think I would start with uh Victor Arvdson. Um Pavl Zaka maybe, although you might have to move Pavle Zaka over. Well, no. I think you Pavo Zach on the left side, Victor Arbertson on the right, and then um and then um Middlestat, I guess, in at center to start, but I think you could also very easily just slide Zaka over to center with um Arvidson and then you would have uh either Blue Mel um as the winger there, uh the guy from the check who came from the Dallas Stars organization. I think he had like 39 goals in the American League last year. Has only gotten a couple of quick quick cups of coffee with the Stars. Uh but signed here in a one-way deal. So, you would expect that he’s going to get NHL looks. Uh plenty of them. And I think he’s got at least the credentials in the AHL to be a top six guy. So, I think he would get looks there as well. But I I would definitely look at putting Casey Middlestat with other skilled players. Um, pro I think Zaka, Arvdson, and Middlestat, some combo of those three. Although I don’t know how middle stat’s going to do on the wing. If you wanted to put Zaka in the middle, I think you need to look at that combo in some way because those would I I would estimate as your best offensive talents that you could put together on a second line that could be somewhat dangerous or somewhat productive. Um, I think you would have to look at that. I think Arvinson is going to play top six. Um, he should. Uh, I know he’s coming off a so- so so year with Edmonton. Two years ago, he had a back injury that limited him when LA, but like prior to that, extremely productive, a bunch of 20 goal seasons, had some 30 goal seasons, has put up points in the league. Uh, and last year, I think you could make the argument that, you know, it was the Edmonton team that he was on that was stacked with forwards that he had a hard time sort of getting his power play time, his minutes that he usually gets. And it was probably a struggle for him uh to try to produce as much as he usually does offensively just because it was so crowded. And that can happen when you got a lot of really good really good offensive players on a team. Um, but I I on a team like the Bruins where they need people to step up top six, I would fully expect that he’s going to produce and give you, you know, 20 20 to 25 goals, 40 to 55 points somewhere in there and will be a a fairly productive second line guy. I think if he gives you that, that’s what you’re hoping for and that’s what you really need uh to get out of a guy like that. Beyond that, I mean, I I I think it’s going to be like kind of a tossup and it depends on who’s playing well. I think Jano certainly will get third line looks and should get third line looks. I think uh Matt Potra is a guy that will be in the mix for the third line. Um, you know, I think there’s a number of other players uh that could be in the mix on the third line, but I think they’re also going to be in the mix in the fourth line. Sean Carali, John Beecher, uh, Castellic, um, uh, who’s Nadino, you know, like all these guys are gonna sort of be thrown into the mix and and see who comes. I would suspect that Carali is going to be your fourth line center. I would suspect uh and is too um maybe Isimont on the third line to start uh which you know but I think those guys I think whoever is performing best I think will be third line and then you’ll slide other guys down to the fourth line and it could depend on who the center is. Um if it’s Castellic or Carali as a third line center it’s going to be more of a checking line. Uh, I would guess if it’s uh Potra as a third line center, you might be looking for more or Fraser Minton, you might be looking for more of a little offensive upside or guys that can finish a little better playing with them. But like I I the criticism about the Bruins having three, you know, one first line and three third lines or three fourth lines. I I can see them having a legit second line based on the players that they have, but it is really indistinguishable in my opinion between third and fourth line. It’s going to depend on who really steps up. I I you would think it Jano would be a third liner, especially if he stays healthy and he can like, you know, score double digits. I think he’s a third line type player. Potra obviously has the talent to be a third line center in the league. And I think ultimately that’s where they’d like to see him sort of break in and and start to, you know, take a full-time job. Fraser Minton similar. I think he’s another guy that has the talent to be a third line center. uh and and the Bruins have often likened him uh in abilities and and how they view him as as a Charlie Coyle type, a guy that can win the zone faceoffs, a guy that plays good two-way hockey, a guy that will go to the hard areas and play difficult against other teams and plays a 200 foot game. Like, there’s a lot of things about Fraser Minton that you could see would would uh dovetail nicely with being a third line center. So, that’s a guy I think they’re going to take a long look at in camp, but it’s hard to forecast the third line because I think there’s so many unknowns about what could end up happening there based on the young players they have, based on the new faces they’re bringing in. And that’s sort of where the eyes are going to be, I think, on in training camp is particularly on the third line and trying to figure out who exactly is going to fit there, who’s going to end up on the fourth line and and how that’s all going to shake out to start the year. In some ways, it’s good that they have, you know, seven, eight candidates, maybe nine that that you could look at as legit candidates for those two lines because I think it’s going to be competitive. Uh, but in other ways, if you don’t have established guys there, you you’re, you know, you’re rolling the dice that some guys are going to step up and and really be good players for you. And there’s an element of that with the Bruins this year and the and the players that they’ve brought in. But I think there’s enough talent defensively, goalending, and in the top two lines. And if Steve spot really can come in and get that power play cranking, I think it’s going to be okay. I think they’re going to get enough goals while they sort out the third and fourth line. You know, I think that’s something that they can sort of deal with on the fly and figure it out as they’re going along and and they will find combinations that work. Um, you know, that’s why I’m not quite as down on this team as some people are. Um, as far as what they’re going to be this year and how they’re going to do. I think they’re going to be okay. I don’t think they’re going to be terrible. Um, I certainly don’t think they’re going to be giving up uh in games on the road and giving up nine 10 goals and and some of the stuff we saw last year where they were just basically, you know, waving the white flag and and and you know, punting uh in the middle of a game. You’re not going to see that with the team this year, I don’t think. I really don’t. With the changes that they made, the players they brought in and and you know, the mandate uh from management on uh being a harder out, I I don’t think you’re going to see that at all. So, um that’s my best guess at opening night combos, but we’ll see how um things develop and and how things happen with injuries. Uh what is the likelihood that Corposal or other pieces get moved to shore up the middle six or the D? Who might the targets be? I don’t think there’s any likelihood at all that Corposalo gets moved. I don’t think there’s a a market for him. I honestly don’t. Like I I in order to trade him in order to trade a guy with a $3 million cap hit that’s a backup goalie. He has to be good. Like he’s not coming off a good year. He had some okay moments. Um but the the final numbers were not great. And you’re not going to get somebody it’s going to be a straight salary dump if you try to move him somewhere else where you’re taking on the money and or you’re giving up draft picks to send him somewhere else. Like there is not a market for Corposalo. There really isn’t at this point and I don’t think there ever was. He needs to play better if you’re going to flip him. I understand that for like two years now, Bruins fans have been talking about trading Corposalo. You can’t trade him if he’s coming off either bad years like it was two years ago or so so years like last year. He needs to actually perform well in the job that he’s doing if he’s going to have a market and if he’s going to have value and if a team is going to trade for him and take on the contract that he has and not expect you to send a sweetener of a draft pick along with him. It’s basic NHL 101. It’s just being realistic. You’re not being realistic if you think there’s a market for a a backup goalie that’s coming off one bad year and one mediocre year. There’s just not. Like there’s too many other good goalies out there that can do the job. Um, and you don’t have to give up assets in order to bring them in. And you’re not going to have to pay them what you’re gonna have to pay Corpusal. Like that’s the bottom line. Like if you really think about it objectively, it doesn’t make sense that there’s a market for Corposalo. And that’s why there isn’t because there shouldn’t be. Um, so there’s no likelihood that Corposalo gets moved. The likelihood that another piece gets moved to shore up the middle six or the D, I don’t think so. Um I I I don’t think you can trade Middlestad either. Like he’s coming off a real bad stretch after he got traded for uh from Colorado to Boston. He’s now been traded a couple times. He’s he’s been on three teams in the last two years. Like I I don’t think you’re going to get anybody to take him unless same thing you’re taking on a lot of the salary and you’re um you’re you’re sending draft picks. Uh I think he’s one of those assets that just doesn’t have a lot of value right now. Uh, and other people players that you’re gonna trade like you’re gonna trade Paval Zaka? I don’t think so. Are you gonna trade um one of your D? I don’t think so. Um I I just don’t see an asset that you’re going to be able to move right now that makes sense. I I feel I honestly my honest opinion like I may even disagree with this a little bit, but I think the Bruins have put their plan in motion for what they want to do at the start of next year. They have 2 million in cap space. They have a full team uh going right now. I think they pretty much have everybody signed. Like everything’s taken care of. There’s not going to be any distractions. There’s not going to be any holdouts. There’s not going to be any drama like there was last year. And I think their hope is taking all that out of the equation, bringing in new coaches. That things are going to be better this year. Uh and and with the players that they brought in as well, like at least from a competitive standpoint. and uh the one loss record should be a little better at the very least and should be a lot better frankly and that they should compete for a wild card spot and the games will certainly be uh more competitive on a regular basis. Um, and I also think Dwise they they’re not there’s no need to I think shore up the D at this point. Like they’re going to roll with Lindholm and Makavoy and Zidorov and Yokaharu and Peak and Lorai and uh you know maybe Callahan as your seventh or um Jordan Harris as your seventh and and you know that’s what they’re going to roll with right now. I I think that’s what you’re looking at. um as long as people stay healthy and that actually should be a pretty good decor. I was very encouraged that they brought Yokoharu back because I liked him. I thought he was good, very solid and he looked really good with Zidorov. Um so now you might have the ability to go Makavoy, Lindholm, Zidorov, um Yokoharu as your top four and be really solid in your top four. Uh and then you’ve got pretty good bottom pairing guys as well in in Lowry and Peak. Um, and you got good depth, uh, if you’ve got Harrison Callahan as your, you know, your next wave, your seventh and eighth, uh, when you get injuries. So, I actually think there’s no need to shore up the decor right now. As long as Hampus Lynholm is healthy. As long as he’s healthy, I think they’re going to be okay. And I think that should be a strength of the team, and it should be like defense goalending building on out from there. Uh, and I think it’s very easy to see how that could happen and will happen. Um, just based on the personnel that they have and based on, you know, where their strengths lie. Uh, so I think that’s something uh, you definitely need to look at and, you know, I think that’s that’s kind of the way it’s going to be right now. Like, are they a top six forward short right now? um you know, if they’re sort of fooling around with with uh you know, Middlestat being on the second line or Zach being in the second line center or having sort of a mystery candidate as as your right wing on the second line um right now based on what you’re going to do. Sure, I think they are. Um but I think that’s something they can address at the trade deadline as they go on while giving players looks to see if anybody can seize it. Sort of like Morgan Geeki did last year. You know, I think you always want to allow a little room for a guy like Geeky to really explode and develop and turn into something um and show you that he can do a job uh and be something better than maybe what he was looked at or perceived to be when he got here. And I think he’s done that. And you got to allow room for other players to be able to do that, too. And then if they don’t, you make that read and you go in and you get somebody at the trade deadline. I think that’s a good way to do it. And I think that’s the way they’ve always done it. And it I think could drive fans nuts because it looks like at the beginning of the year you’re you’re short on the roster, but that’s something that they can fix as they’re going along. And I think they’ve shown that they can do that in the past. So, let’s let’s give a little time here and see how that develops. All right, let’s take a break. Speaking of giving time, uh let’s give time to our friends at Prize Pix. Prize Pix is the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America and the easiest, most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Join over 10 million users and get started today. 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Let’s also let people know that you are listening to the Pucks with Hags podcast on the CLNS network. And we ask that you subscribe to this podcast, like and leave a review. And for those watching the show on CLNS and enjoying all this hockey talk, go ahead and hit that like button and subscribe to the Bruins Ringside YouTube channel where you can find our show and a lot of other great Bruins content with fellow Bruins talkers like Connor Ryan and Evan Marinowski. There’s also the CLNS Media Network and Celtics All Access on CLNS, the NBA History Channel, Patriots Press Pass, and the Bruins Rankside YouTube channels as well. Also, please make sure to turn on your notifications so you know the instant a new Pucks with Hags podcast video drops on the interwebs. All right, uh let us move on to the next question and it’s going to be from Svenoli10. Uh this is also on the Boston Sports Journal Q&A. Uh, I heard on the radio that the Bruins are calling this a bridge year. Cripes, when we start using old Red Sox sayings, we are in trouble. It was also mentioned that the current roster is blocking younger players from coming up. I have to disagree. If you play well in camp, then you will probably get a shot. So, end goalie 10. Yeah, I listen, there is constant whining from a faction of the Bruins fan base that the Bruins prospects are getting blocked. And this goes back to like Ryan Spooner, Anders Buork, like go down the list. They talk about all these players, these young guys that aren’t getting a shot because they’re getting blocked by veteran players. And then these players go other places and they don’t really do anything and they’re not able to show that they can handle it and that they’re actual prospects. And that’s the problem is if you can play, you’re going to win a job. You know, you’re going to you’re going to end up pushing through and you’re going to get a spot. Now, there’s been a few players along the way that were in the Bruins system that didn’t end up popping here that became established NHL players elsewhere that they probably could have used like Frank Vetrano, um Ryan Donado. Those are a couple names that that come to mind that, you know, were to a degree blocked here or, you know, never fully got their opportunity to show what they could do here for reason, one reason or another. Um, and you could maybe make the argument with them there’s that that there was a little bit of that, but they also didn’t play well enough when they were here, I think, to really force that to happen, which is what you need. Uh, but for the most part, a lot of these players that you talk about getting blocked just aren’t good enough to win spots and don’t do it elsewhere. And that just tells you they’re not really prospects. They were, you know, they they were not bonafideed NHL players. Um and guys like Georgie Marlo and and Fabian Lysell are kind of in that um path right now where it’s you know put up our shutup time. You they have to win jobs. They have to take jobs away from veteran players. They have to overperform uh and really bring it in camp uh and at the beginning of the year uh to establish themselves. And I don’t think either one of those you both of those guys got, you know, fairly decent looks at the NHL level last year and were not able to really seize it. like they did okay. They had some moments uh but they were not able s to sustain it. And then Merkel was hurt in the AHL playoffs for the Pro Pro Providence Bruins. Lysel was not great at all. Uh he was scratched at at I think at least once, maybe twice in the AHL playoff run for the Providence Bruins. And he was invisible a lot of the time. He just didn’t notice him. Um and he wasn’t able to make plays like some of the other guys were. Like I I you know, I watched a bunch of those games. I was there. Uh Patra was excellent. Fraser Minton really did a good job. Um, you know, the veteran guys, uh, that really stepped up, a bunch of them, um, and did well. Guys like Fabian Lel didn’t, he was not a guy that I noticed, uh, much at all. And he was not a guy that was making plays. He was not a guy that responded well to the, you know, level of intensity going up. And I remember the last series they were going up against the Charlotte Checkers. That was a team that had a bunch of NHL guys on it. and you know, he didn’t really do much against that team. And you know, that’s part of it is you’ve got to dominate at the level below your level if you really want to be looked at as a guy that is a prospect or a guy that’s got a legit chance to make it in the NHL. Um, and some guys do that and other guys don’t. And then you’ve got guys like Dons Lock Lock Melis who came in at the end of the year from UMass and did really well um with Providence towards the end of the season. But then in the playoffs he looked like he was not ready for that uh step up in competition level and intensity level and all that stuff too and it looked like he had a little bit of a hard time and that’s when he left and went uh to the Latvian team in the World Championships which is probably a good move for him. But I think it it showed it it really illustrated like how difficult it is at the ramped up level of even the AHL for a lot of these guys uh to shine and to show what they can do. And they have to be able to do that at that level before you can expect them to do it at the NHL level. There’s a certain uh limit on excuse making for these young players if they’re not getting the job done. uh and are not like point per game players, guys that put up big goals. Like you you can go a few years and say, “Yes, it’s development. Yes, they’re figuring it out.” Like whatever. Like you can make excuses, injury excuses, whatever you want to do. But when they start to get in their third and fourth year in the AHL and they’re still not like dominant players, it’s time to re-evaluate whether that guy’s really a prospect or not. Like just flat out, no excuses. Just point blank. That’s the real talk. Like if you’re not dominating the AHL by your third or fourth year there, you’re not really an NHL prospect. You’re becoming a guy that other people are passing you. You’re being viewed differently by your organization. Uh there’s pessimism about whether are they ever going to make it. And you know, for whatever the reasons behind it, um there’s just not going to be, and this is for offensive players, there’s different ways to dominate hockey games, and it’s not just always about points and goals. But for a guy like Fabian Lysel, it’s going to be about points and goals. Like he’s expected to produce. Bottom line. Um, same thing with Merklov. So, you know, we’ll we’ll see what happens with them this year, but this is really like a crossroads year for them. I think it was Mark Diver we had on the podcast and he mentioned that he had heard that Marlo had asked for a trade last year because he was frustrated about like maybe the shots he was getting at the NHL level and sort of where he was at. Uh, but he did end up resigning with the Bruins and he’s here again this year. So, like it’s really put up our shutup time in training camp where, you know, there’s jobs that you’re going to be able to win and beat out a guy that’s signed for one year, $900,000 at the NHL level. Um, you’re going to be able to beat out guys that, you know, fellow young guys that are being uh looked at right now as potential uh, you know, players that will be on the NHL roster. So, it’s time for them to do it. And it’s I’m I’m done hearing excuses for these kind of players being blocked. Uh because I it’s not happening. Like if they’re better, they will win a job and they will be up there. The problem is they have not been better. And that’s the issue. You need to start looking at the prospects instead of saying that the Bruins are blocking the prospects. Now, as far as the bridge year goes, I am okay with the use of the term because I think in this it’s not a bridge year where they expect to be bad like they were last year, right? that that is not what the bridge year means here. I think what bridge year is and what they’re talking about is maybe an expectation this year that they’re not going to win the cup, which is okay, and more competing for the playoffs, trying to get in with a team that’s jelling together, introducing some young guys, sort of continuing to rebuild on the fly, like all of that stuff. So, I’m I’m okay with a conditional bridge year term if it’s talking about competing for a wild card, but knowing you’re not going to win the cup this year. Um, unless crazy like great things great break for you. Like, it would take a lot for the Bruins to turn into Stanley Cup contenders this year. I don’t see it. Like, they’ve obviously got some talented players. I think it’s more about like just building up from last year, building up in the divi in a really tough competitive division and maybe sneaking into the wild card that is going to be very competitive with Toronto, with Florida, with Tampa, with Ottawa, with Montreal, with all these teams Detroit is is trying to like build back up to. Um, and you know, one of these years Buffalo is going to surprise because they got a bunch of great young talent. you would expect at some point they’re going to at least put it together to the point where they could threaten to get in the playoffs. So, it’s going to be a really good division. It’s going to be really hard for them. Um, it’s more about, I think, seeing progress with how they’re playing with, uh, being competitive, with putting themselves back in the wildard discussion and being there for this year. And I think it’s, you know, a couple of year plan to build them back up to be Stanley Cup contenders. That’s where I think the bridgeear thing comes. Also, when talking about like the big free agent class that’s uh potentially there after this season, you know, Jack Eel, Conor McDavid, Capri off, uh Kyle Connor, like there’s a bunch of names. Um offense, uh forward and defense, they’re going to be potentially available. Um Harley from Dallas was another one that I saw on there. Like, there’s some really good players that could be available. And if it’s getting you to next year where you can land one of those big players and it sort of sets everybody else into a different spot in the lineup and it really like adds to your talent level to be able to like put you back in that conversation. Like I think that’s what they’re talking about. You know, it’s about like starting to build things back the right way this year, getting back on track, maybe getting to the playoffs, and then really adding when you have a chance to this summer, this next summer with a free agency crop right now looks like it’s going to be on steroids. Um, you know, that’s that I think is more realistic. I think that makes sense. And I think it’s also like that’s not fully adopting saying, “Oh, it’s going to be a bridge year. They’re going to suck.” I think that’s a immediately what fans think when you say bridge years. This team’s going to be terrible this year. They’re going nowhere. No. In the NHL, bridge year could mean, “Let’s get back into the playoffs after missing last year and being really, really bad.” and then, you know, we’ll continue to build towards maybe two years from now, thinking the Stanley Cup is is a legit, you know, aspiration and might be within reach. Um, or or like something you can start to shoot for. I think that’s kind of what the bridged year term is here, too, especially looking at the free agents that are available next year versus the free agent crop this year. That was not great. That was not a great class of free agents. And it was probably smart not to spend huge money on them this year uh and make sure you were spending money uh when it really counts or when you really think it’s you’re going to get value for it uh in next year’s free agency. All right, this is from Duncan Su Insuk. Uh does drafting Hagens address the offensive question sufficiently given he’s closer to being ready than the other potential prospects were? Will Sweeney and company shift their free agency focus to address that hole and lack of depth on the blue line? Um well, we know the free agency answer like not really. Like they brought in Yokaharu um to to address the hole on the blue line uh on the right side where they needed to bring in another player and I think that sufficiently addresses it for now. Um you know, I think they’ve got six good solid defenseman and they’re in good spots where they should be too, which is important. Um, you know, and really it could look even different, much different than and better than it does right now if if Lori really like takes a step forward this year. Uh, in a in his proper spot, maybe working with Steve spot on the power play and being a point guy, you know, you can start to see where things could really fall into place for him to have a very very good season in a nice bounceback year, especially motivated after being the, you know, having the worst plus minus mark in the NHL last year, too. I think the pieces are there and the and the the you know everything is there for him to have a really um big rebound year as well. And if that happens, I think their back end looks a lot different and looks really really good. Um and if Hamp Lynholm can stay healthy, I think that’s another question as well. But I think back end they’re kind of set for right now. The drafting of Hagens is interesting and I think it might um address some of the offensive questions, but I think it’s also going to be a few years down the line before he’s really going to be like a a offensive force potentially that you could build around. I think it might take him a year or two to get to that point. So, you’re talking about wanting things in place to not put too much pressure on him next year, uh assuming that he’s going to be ready next year, which I think everybody assumes. So, you know, you have um Middlestat in place for another year after this coming season. Um you know, you’ve got other players in place as well. Uh obviously, uh Lindholm is going to be there, Elias Lindholm and Geeky and Pasta. And it’s about sort of building that second line maybe or third line depending on where you want to put Hagens. uh to have players around him and maybe they’re already viewing him as a third line center to start and having a guy like uh Jano with him because it seems like that’s something they’re envisioning um at points uh is having him out there to give plenty of space to a guy like Hagens and to protect him a little bit. Um I think that’ll be interesting to see how that all plays out. But I think you do I think it does answer some offensive questions and it does take care of some things, but I think you also want extreme depth down the middle. And I think that’s where you talk about maybe next year getting like in an ideal world, they sign Jack Eel, he becomes number one center. Elias Lindholm slots down to number two center. Hagen starts as number three center um to let him get his feet wet in the NHL. And then as things develop, as a season or two goes by, you probably see Higgins go up to second line center, Elias Lynholm slide down to third line center where I think he a couple years from now he’s going to be a third line center. And then it becomes how long can Jack Eel be your 1C and how long is Hagens your 2C before they flip-flop and Hagens is ready to sort of take that on as well. Um, and I think that’s, you know, but that’s years down the road. That could be two, three, four years from now if all that comes into play. This is an extreme theoretical situation that I’m I’m throwing out there, but it kind of I think should give you a little bit of a look into how the Bruins could be projecting things over the next few years. Um, and how it could all work out for them. You know, if you’re talking a couple years from now, um, where Hagens is on an entry level, Elias Lynholm is an an expensive sign, no doubt. But if it balances off if Higgins is on an entry level and you’re paying him like eight or close to it and then you’re paying a guy like uh Eel 10 11 12 whatever it is and I think you start to see how it could come together how you could work with that and how that could build you back up to be like a legit contender. Um, like I said, theoretical, hypothetical, whatever you want to call it, but I, you know, I think that’s when you have a talent like Hagens coming in, I think you can start to sort of think in those terms and think about ways that you can build up your roster without putting too much pressure on him and too much expectation early and not turning it into a Connor Baddard situation where you’re expecting him to be the savior from day one and expecting him to come in and and really be this great player and he kind of wasn’t ready for it and still doesn’t seem like he’s quite quite ready for it um based on the talent level around him and based on him as a player as well. So I I think you also want to be careful about not throwing too much to a guy like that and not uh you know putting too much on his plate and too much expectation on his shoulders um before you you actually start to see what he can do at the NHL level. But this is all cart before the horse stuff because you’re going to need to see Hagens dominate at Boston College this coming season before you start to even put any of this in motion. So, these are alternative plans, but you could see where that could be like thought of as a possibility if Hagens blows people away at BC, is be is one of the best players in the country, dominates Hockey East, shows that he’s ready for the NHL next year or two years from now, I should say, next not this coming season, but the season after, then you can start to sort of formulate other plans and really start to build things uh around that as being uh a certainty rather than a possibility. But, I don’t think the Bruins are quite there yet. So, good question. Um, all right. Last question from J Muse45. I’d have offer sheetated, uh, Uh, the Rangers Uh, $6 million a year. Rangers are capped out. He’s perfect for second line with Hagens. Skill and physicality. Janoa can’t protect him. He’ll either be playing up too high or trying to fight multiple shifts later when they’ll just turtle turtle like Ul Samson. Okay. So, Koulie got 3.9 million per year from the Rangers. you would have paid him six. Um, you would have offer sheeted him six. I don’t like and he’s coming off one good year. He had 20 goals this past season. I think he had like 12 goals the year before, like 20 points. He really had a bit of a breakout year this past year. And you’re going to pay him more than Morgan Geeky, uh, who had 30 goals and 60 points or whatever it was last year. I am I would I’m I’m not bringing in a guy like that and paying him more than one of your players you just signed uh who you want to be happy and productive and u you know a guy that the Rangers deemed not worth more than 3.9 I would not be giving him six. That’s not the guy I would overpay. Um you know there’s some decent restricted free agents out there. There’s some guys even now that are still unsigned that, you know, that could be worth uh thinking about rearranging things for. Um, I think the one guy that is interesting, um, is, uh, Mason McTavish, uh, you hear his name potentially out there with the Ducks as a guy they’re not going to pay, as a guy they can’t afford, as a guy that’s been pretty productive and been a pretty decent player. That guy is interesting. That guy might be somebody Edworth. I’ I’d think if it comes at the right price, might be worth moving some things around, trading some assets, all that stuff. Might be worth thinking about. Um, but I also am just not sure the Bruins are going to are in a position to do that at this point and really start sort of getting into a position where they’re desperate to move players, move money, move whatever, and have to start giving up assets that they don’t want to because the desperation is there to make it happen. if something like that made sense and it fell into their laps or if it was minimal as far as the damage they would have to do to the roster to their treasury trove of prospects and draft picks and all that other stuff might be worth it. But like overpaying a guy like Kulie by a couple of million dollars a year is not it. I would I would not have done that. Um and the Bruins didn’t and you know uh didn’t overpay for an asset like that uh that’s coming off one good season. So uh that’s a good thing for them. All right. Uh, thank you very much for the questions everybody. Appreciate everybody listening. Uh, the this is the Pucks with Hags podcast, a proud member of the CLNS media network. Make sure to hit subscribe to the Bruins and Rinkside YouTube channel and turn on notifications for when a new video drops on the channel. The show is also brought to you by Prize Pix, the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America. Download the Prize Pix app today and use the code CLNS and get $50 instantly when you play five bucks. That’s code CLNS and prize pics to get $50 instantly when you play $5. You don’t even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It’s guaranteed. prize picks run your game. All right, thanks everybody else uh out there for listening. Thanks for the questions. We will see you next week with two episodes. For now, take it easy and I’ll see you at the ring. [Music]

Pucks with Haggs host Joe Haggerty answers your questions in this mailbag episode. He discusses the potential line combinations we could see on opening night, whether more trades will be made, the potential impact of James Hagens, and whether Bruins prospects are getting blocked.

0:00 ⏰EPISODE TIMELINE⏰
3:46 Opening night line combos?
12:40 Could Korpisalo or others be traded?
16:05 Do the Bruins need to shore up the defense?
18:50 PrizePicks
19:48 Subscribe to Bruins Rinkside on YouTube!
20:29 Are Bruins prospects getting blocked?
26:57 Is this a ‘bridge year’ for the Bruins?
30:35 Does drafting Hagens address offensive questions?
36:30 Should the Bruins have gone after Will Cuylle?
39:07 Thanks for watching

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