Are Bruins Headed in Right Direction | Bruins Beat?

Are Bruins Headed in Right Direction | Bruins Beat?

[Music] Bruins Beat is brought to you by Prize Pix and welcome to the Bruins Beat presented by Prize Pix. Go use that promo code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. And we’re presented by Game Time. Go use that promo code CLNS to get $20 off that first purchase. Terms apply. And don’t forget to subscribe to us over at Bruins Rankside on YouTube. We have podcasts coming all the time. Six a week. Bruins beat, poke the bear, and pucks with hags. Go do that. Great stuff over there. Live streams, interviews, scrums. Uh, and then if you don’t like looking at us, you just want to listen, make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast from. Apple Podcast, Spotify, Podbean, there are so many, but we’re everywhere. Uh, and if you don’t, if you’re a Patriots or Celtics fan, Patriots press pass, Celtics All Access, those are fully cooking. Uh, we’re recording this on September 11th and today, September 11th, Boston joins the 9/11 memorial and museum’s tribute in light. Born in New York as twin beams over lower Manhattan at dusk, landmarks across Boston, Cambridge will glow blue. From city hall, Fenway Park and the Predential Tower to the Zikum Bridge, the Hub on Causeway, Berkeley Performance Center, and more. The tribute now in its second year was spearheaded by our friends at Gupta Media here in Boston. Take a minute to step outside, look up, and remember the lives lost and all who were forever changed Boston remembers. I’m Evan Marinowski. It’s Pete Blackburn. Pete, hey, how are you? Great job covering all the bases there. That’s a lengthy intro and you nailed it. Hit everything. Hit everything. Well, as we always say, this whole show is on a teleprompter. So, like you have the script in front of you. You know exactly what to say next. So, just I can’t read, so this is going to be a difficult challenge for me. It’s hard. I can barely read, so I’m I’m not that far ahead of you. Um, you have prize picks too though, don’t you? We do. Yeah. Presenting sponsor of uh of our show, What Chaos. What Chaos. And uh that’s been cooking. And you’re a married man now. That’s the other big development this summer. You are fully married. So, congratulations. Yeah. Me and like every other youngish NHL player, I jumped on that bandwagon. They just like you look at your feed in the summer and it’s just a different player getting married every weekend. Yep. It’s the best. Yeah. And I’m starting at the age where friends are getting married, um, saving dates for next year, the year after, uh, bachelor parties and all those types of things. So, I’m like just like I look at that I feel like that age is like a car wash. You enter in, you’re in there for a long time and then you, you know, you’re pretty much done. I’m just entering in to that. What are you like 19 now? 15. There you go. 15. Yeah, my friends are advanced. I’m not. So, I’m I’m exiting that car wash. I was uh one of my uh one of the last ones of my uh friend group to actually uh actually get married. I think I got one or two more coming up and uh and then I think I’m I’m done. No new friends, no new weddings. Whenever I get married, I’m going to invite you just out of spite. Just like nope, we’re making him and you’re you’re going to we’re going to make you very involved in that just for saying that. You’re jumping right back into it, my friend. Brother, there’s two options on on an RSVP. You don’t get to make that decision for me. That’s true. You can say no. You can say no. We’re gonna we’re going to force you to be I’ll I’ll do it at your house or something. Uh make it really interesting. Um how are you feeling about the Bruins? What are the vibes right now for Pete Blackburn? Um I’m just like I’m just excited to see him back and I’m I’m excited to see what they are. Like it’s it’s hard to gauge the vibe uh you know the meter right now because there’s just so much uncertainty. What I’m hoping and like what I’m clinging on to right now is that it’s not going to be as bad as last year. And whether it’s good or it’s bad, it’s not going to be that bad. And you should get a sense of where this team is headed or where they are. And that’s going to be fun to find out. And it’s going to be interesting to find out. And so my expectations aren’t very high. Like this, they could be a bubble team and I would be unsurprised. they could make the playoffs and I’d be like, “Yeah, that kind of makes sense given like how many things went wrong for them last year and like they’ve still got some pillar pieces and if the health is there, Swayman’s better, they could be uh like a, you know, a fringe playoff team.” And the only way that I think I’m going to be disappointed is if they are both bad and uninteresting. And I don’t think it’s going to be the case. At least not to the degree that it was last year. We all survived last year. Yeah, barely. But barely. We did. Um, I agree more or less. I think when I look at them, I think their defining thing is going to be they’re not going to be anywhere as bad as people think they are, but they’re not going to be great either. Like, I think there’s or they’re not I don’t want to say they’re going to be they’re not even going to be really good at their best. Like, I think their ceiling is like a wild card team, but I think their floor their floor is not like Gavin McKenna. Like to me their floor is picking ninth next year. Let’s just say like if that’s it’s they are kind of the bottom part of the middle and that’s where I think they are. They’re not going to be as bad but they’re not going to be as good as some people think they are. And there are ways like there are ways for them to make the playoffs. There are there are opportunities and and and there are ways that they’re not going to suck but then there are also clear holes with them. I mean, I think five on five scoring is right up there. And that to me is number one. I I don’t think they have enough. I don’t think there were really options in the offseason to fix that in one off season. But still, I think that’s a huge thing. And I I don’t know outside of Post and you also have to wonder like is Morgan Geeki going to be the same guy he was last year? Who are your high octane offensive guys? So that’s that’s my biggest thing. I think that’s what’s holding them back. But then on the other end, like defensively, they should be much better. Swayman should be much better in net. That should be expected. And the power play should improve. They should not be 29th with a power with their power play. So I I fall somewhere in the middle. I think like if I’ve said this a bunch, I think they’re picking like 11th or 12th come the draft. Yeah. and and like I think you’re bang on with a lot of the things that you said there, but I also think that like therein lies the problem in in a way is that like the worst place to be is in the middle and like perpetually in the middle. And if you if you’re in the middle for a year or two, a few years, then that’s fine. Unfortunately, if you’re going to be, you know, if this is going to be a bridge year and they’re not going to be a very good team, part of me like almost wishes that they were so bad that like McKenna would be in play. And I I just realistically like a lot of things would have to go wrong for McKenna to be in play or they’d just have to really get lucky in the lottery for him to be in play, which like maybe that does happen. and it happened to the Islanders this year where they got really lucky and it happens to certain teams, but like most likely they will end up in the middle and you just don’t want to be stuck there and it’s kind of easy to be stuck there. Um, but yeah, I think that the scoring is is an issue. The where are you going to get the goals from? They did make some bets that I’m excited to kind of see how it plays out. like mate Blumel like I’m excited to see if that if his scoring in the AHL can translate to the NHL level and like I don’t I don’t think it’s a bad idea to make those bets that they’re making. Um and on top of that like the bottom six has a little bit more identity and a little bit more sandpaper to it. Do I like the price that they had to pay for it? Probably not specifically with Tanner Jano. But I like Tanner Jano as a player. I like what he profiles as as a bottom six player. I’m happy he’s a Bruin, but I just don’t like the price tag. And that’s it is what it is. We’re moving on. We’ve already processed that. And I just think seeing them be a little harder to play against, see them be a little bit nastier is going to provide a better product from an entertainment standpoint. And it’s going to make them not as, you know, not an automatic W for other teams on the calendar. And and I think that that’s a step in the right direction. It’s funny, one of my biggest criticisms of them last year was like, you’re missing a lot of veteran guys. You’re missing like the you’ve had a influx of veterans leave, be it free agency trades in the past bunch of years. And that 23 24 season, they overachieved and they had a lot of veterans on that roster who might have been seventh D or, you know, 13th forward type guys, but mattered. Their voices mattered in the room. And I know fans sometimes kind of laugh at that, but that stuff does make No, I I agree. And and I was going to say I think the I think the word you’re using is wrong. Like they had veterans. I just don’t think they had leadership or not enough leadership. And those two things are are very different. And when things got off the rail for the Bruins last year, off the rails, there there weren’t enough guys to grab the team and put them back on the rails. And to me, that was a huge problem. And I still think that that problem is exists with this team and it’s part of the reason they don’t have a captain. And I think that you saw from the the quotes that Don Sweeney gave earlier this week. He said if somebody emerges as a captain, they’ll be the captain. What that says to me, and it’s something that we already knew to a certain extent, is that this team doesn’t really have a defined leader right now. They have defined very good players. David Poshnock, one of the league’s best players. Charlie Makavoy, one of the league’s best defenseman. Are either one of those guys leaders, like pure leaders, enough to hand over the keys and the reigns to them and put the C on their chest? I I think the answer right now is no. And they have an opportunity to prove that right now this this season. And they got to seize it if they want to if they want to be the C. I that’s a very good point. I agree with you on that one because I I think you’re right. I think there’s a public perception that Posternok earned it because he was so good at the end of last season, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he was great in the room. I mean, he talked to media after and that’s terrific, but clearly internally they are not ready to give him the seat, nor are they ready to give Makavoy the C. And I agree with you from the sense of um they got they would go off the rails last year and they were missing guys like Shaten Kirk or Pat Maroon who could get guys back on and could kind of refocus the team and we don’t know if you know ACont Jano Corali we don’t know for sure a little more with Crowley because he’s been here but we don’t know for sure if those are the guys to do it. I give them credit though for trying to address that. Now, they did it and it cost a lot of money. So, I don’t know if it’s worth the full investment that they did, but I appreciate that they went in that direction. It was expensive. Now, I will push back on one thing. Usually, I would agree with you on the middle thing. Being stuck in the middle sucks because you see it in the NBA. You see it in any sport. You’re just always in it, but not really in it. With the Bruins, they they’ve always shown a penchant for wanting to make the playoffs and wanting to contend. Um, coming up here, you have you had a first this year, seventh overall pick. You have two firsts next year and two first the year after that. So, you know, those picks shouldn’t be top 10, but they’re still first round picks, and those are still valuable. You can make those picks, which is the influx of hopefully high-end talent that you desperately need, or you can package some of those picks and make trades because the cap is going up and you will have that space. So, I am okay with them spending a year in purgatory drafting 11th and then they have the Leafs pick if it’s 21st or 22nd. Like, I’m okay with that cuz that’s two more high-end guys. Typically, the higher you pick in the draft, the more NHL ready they are, so to speak. So, you hope that those guys are at the NHL level or in pro hockey in a year or two. Um, so that’s why I’m not super worried about them being in the middle. Now, the roster they have, like they’re missing a lot of high-end talent outside of Posterno, Makavoy, Swayman, so that I do worry about, but being in the middle for I don’t know, three to five years. I don’t I don’t see that being in the cards because they have those first round. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that’s fair. And and like what I was saying is is you can be in the middle. You don’t want to be stuck in the middle. And Correct. like the I think what you’re saying is correct. And I also think that when you look at this roster that they’re entering the season with, this is not like this is not going to be a long-term roster in a lot of different spots. Like this is not this is not the team that you’re like you’re locking yourself into, which is is also part of the reason this very much feels like a bridge year. And it’s okay to end up in the middle in a bridge year. Again, it’s it’s when you get stuck there that’s not not where you want to be. and they have an opportunity to not end up there, but they have to they have to tread carefully and they have to make the right moves as to make sure that they’re not there long term. Yeah. If you’re if you’re still drafting 11th in 2029 2030, that’s a problem. Bad. You got a problem. You got a bad problem cuz just as you said, if you stink, like even when they sucked last year, it was still like, “Oh, they’re going to get a high pick.” Mhm. Like, hm, haven’t had one of those around here in a while. And it’s like, all right, who’s going to emerge it? Like, Fabian Lel get some games the end of the year, you write the season off. It had been the first season that they’d had that way since ‘ 06 07. So, it’ been a long time. It’s all right. Well, kind of do. You start to pile those up. That’s not good. And I There is part of me though that does worry like can Elias Lindholm break out? To me, that’s a big one because if they if they to me like if if they are in in play for McKenna this year or if they really didn’t improve, I think him not breaking out, taking that next step, I would assume Elias would have had a bad year this year if they are back at the bottom of the league again. Yeah, I think that’s fair. I I also like that’s you you don’t want two years at the front of that contract to be disappointing. Like at that point, you’re kind of saying, “Well, [ __ ] now like we’re stuck with this.” And you had flashes of Lynholm last year where you’re like, “Oh, all right.” Like top six. He’s he’s not he’s not the number one center that they wanted. And and that to me is is pretty clear at this point. Like he’s a number one center maybe on this team, but it’s a product of them being thinned down the middle, but he he shouldn’t be a number one center on a really good contending team. And I think that’s where we’ve landed. What I will say is that last year’s instability I think manifested itself in a lot of different places and Elias Lindhomem was certainly one of those places and like you can kind of group Zidorov in there too as being a new arrival with Lindholm and obviously he had a tumultuous year as well but when I look at Zidorov I I look at the fact that Makavoy and Lynholm missed so much time and he was pushed into matchups and minutes that he really wasn’t equipped to handle and like frankly he wasn’t signed to handle. those those minutes. And so I’m willing to give both of those guys a fresh start this year and see what they can do with it. Um I have my reservations about both of them, but I I I also think they can both be very serviceable as long as they’re not miscast. Yeah. No, I agree. I want to get more into sort of where they’re at and kind of what track they are on. But first, this episode is brought to you by Prize Fix. You and I make decisions every day. 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That’s code CLNS. Get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup prize picks. It’s good to be right. Who doesn’t want to be right, Pete? Right. Who does Who doesn’t want to be right? Everybody wants to be right. It’s what we’re seeking in this life is just to be right all the time. So Prize Pick offers you that chance. Um we’ve touched on a good amount of things here. Um, Swayman’s an interesting one because he was below average last year, has a tumultuous training camp. It is drama. I remember this time last year it was starting to ramp up. Uh, and then it was sort of the whole month of September, every podcast, like if you go back to like Bruins ringside, I imagine what chaos is the same. You go back to that time September 24 and like every uh every graphic is just Jeremy Swayman and like is he going to resign? Where is he getting traded to? Um, he’s going to have a full training camp this year. New coach coming off a bad year last year. Like the ingredients should be there at least for him to have a bounceback year. Definitely. And I keep having to remind people of this uh over the summer is that I’m not going to make excuse for Jeremy Swimman. And I’m not going to say that like last year wasn’t bad. It certainly was. But if you recall, there was a two-month stretch from like December to February where he was one of the best goalenders in the league. He was like a 910 915 save percentage throughout that stretch. He was damn good. And when I when I think about that, like obviously that’s not good enough on a two-month sample at a full season, but what were the what is that sandwiched in between the front end? He’s coming out of training camp. the the contract negotiation, whoever you want to put the blame on there, put the blame on, but acknowledge that it wasn’t wasn’t normal for Jeremy Swayman. It was uh an absolute mess coming into the season and there was that instability and there was the instability with the team and Jim Montgomery and all the [ __ ] that was going on there. And then what happened after February? The team fell out of contention. They sold off a bunch of pieces and then they limp to the finish line uh to close out the season. So, like in a two-mon stretch where the Bruins were kind of, if at all, on solid ground, Jeremy Swayman was pretty good. Uh, and so that gives me faith in addition to the fact that I actually think that he’s a good goalender and with a little bit more stability and a little bit more uh normaly heading into this season and maybe hopefully fewer injuries on the blue line, he can once again be the goalender that they paid for. I think when you look at this, when you’re projecting, right, I always go back to Moneyball when Jonah Hill is like, you know, we need to score x amount of runs, give up x amount of runs against. If he’s just consistently good, I’m not even saying like best, you know, top three in the league. I’m saying just like fluctuating in the top 10, which is where he’s paid, which I think are his abilities. They’re a much better team. They’re a much better team. And as you said, he will have a healthy decor in front of him. The decor on this team is not bad. I mean again like you have healthy Hampas Lindel fully healthy Charlie Makavoy. What is Mason Lai this year? Nikita Zidorov Yoki Haru like Andrew Peak. You have a pretty solid group in front of in front of him and I think you know that makes a huge difference. You mentioned like another thing I mentioned the drama from um his contract stuff last year which when you look back like the comments from Neilie Hua girl was getting in on it which like you’re welcome for that. That’s my like crowning achievement of all time. Um I started that whole thing. Totally forgot about that. Someone mentioned that to me recently and I was like oh my god I like put that out of my brain. Um, you also had the coach on a lame you had a lame duck coach who was on a one-year deal or not a one-year deal but had one year left, hadn’t been renewed. So, just it was a it was a perfect storm of [ __ ] Yeah. And I’m not again just to go back to what you said, I’m not making excuses for Jeremy Swayman, but he should be better. And sort of like we talked about with Elias Lindelm where it’s like if he’s, you know, if he can just kind of cosplay as a number one center, if he can just hang as a number one center, you’re a completely different team. You’re a much better team. And that puts all the pieces in place where like, all right, you know, um, you can have a real third line. Pavo Zaka can be on your second line, you know, and like you can kind of guys fall where they should. You’re a better team. It’s same with Swayman. Swayman’s good in net. You’re cooking. Now, I will say, Pete, and this is a question I raised earlier this summer. What if he has a bad year? What if Jeremy Swimman has a bad year? Like, that’s not good. Certainly not good. You’re in a bad spot if that’s the case. Yeah, you’re in a pretty bad spot. Um, but the thing with the thing about goalending is like it it can change on a dime for better or for worse. And like even if he has a bad year this year, I’ll say I’ll be I’ll be a lot more worried. I’ll say that. like you won’t be able to write it off from the contract things, the instability. You’ll have seriously more concerns about Jeremy Swim, the goalender, and his ability to be a number one. But I I still don’t think that fully removes the possibility of him being the guy. Like, think about Sergey Babski. Sergey Babovski was an established twotime VZNA winning goalender when he signed that contract with the Florida Panthers and he was cheeks in his first few years in Florida and everybody was like this is one of the worst contracts in league history. This is going to kill this team. Now he has two Stanley Cups and throughout the course of those two runs, I guess three runs if you want to go back to uh the year prior where it was a little bit of lion but also Bob uh like he has been a dog and one of the biggest reasons why they have won the Stanley Cup. So like goalending is very very unpredictable, very very fickle, but like if if Jeremy Swayman has a bad year next year this year, uh like we we we may be talking about this team in the running for McKenna because you just can’t this is not a team good enough to survive bad goalending. No. And my theory with goalies is always, as you said, they fluctuate quite a bit. I would rather have a really good goalie year in and year out where one year might not be great, but the next year they could pop and they could be the difference and they could be carrying you through the playoffs and it’s so unpredictable that it’s in an eight-year stretch there should be at least four years in there where they are really freaking good. And I think that’s why like when people say, “Oh, you know, you can just plug in a rand, you know, random goalie and they can carry you to the the cup final or they can carry you to the playoffs or be nasty for you during the regular season.” Yeah, you can, but the chances that are so low, you can also go through many other guys who don’t do anything for you, who hurt you, who don’t give you any advantage at all. And I think that’s the thing with that Babski shows is like, yeah, those first couple years were bad. He was even that 2223 year when they um you know roundhouse kicked the Bruins out of the he didn’t get them in like Alex Lion got them in the playoffs. He was not good. And but again like I I agree with you on this. That’s why when I hear people say like oh just like Aiden Hill was always the example um a couple years ago like oh guy like Aiden Hill it’s like okay well you go find that guy right? You have fun finding that guy. That’s not the goalending the goalending discussion is very very interesting because I I do see both sides. I do see people who who want to allocate a very small percentage of the cap to a goalender and hope that you can end up with a guy like, you know, like Aiden Hill or like um you know, even even Logan Thompson when when uh the Capitals made a bet on Logan Thompson. Uh like you can find those guys. I’m not saying that you can’t, but it is a gamble. And you’ve seen teams like the Oilers, for as good as Steuart Skinner can be, the fact that the Oilers are paying so little for their goalending puts them in a position where they can lose games because of the goalending. And they have. And those games that they’ve lost because of goalending have been very costly at points. And so that’s the risk that you’re running. What you don’t the situation that you don’t want to be in if you’re the Bruins or any team paying a high price for goalending is to have that fluctuation be as big as it’s been or as it was for Jeremy Swayman last year. Like you look at at at the ceiling for Jeremy Swayman at this point it’s like around 920 where like if you’re getting a really good season out of Jeremy Swayman he’s going to be around 920 in terms of a save percentage. That is absolutely worth the the price point that they’re paying for Swayman. But what’s the floor? And that’s the big question for me, like if he has a bad year this year, um, like what does that look like at the end of the year? What is the number? And, you know, to that point, what’s the what’s the middle number that you would be happy with to say like that’s it wasn’t his best, but that’s good enough for Jeremy Swayman. Like, is it 910? Is it 9005? Like, at what’s the low point that you would say that’s good enough? 905 or above. Not good. 905 isn’t good enough. But like I’m not panicking. I’m not saying, “Oh my god, this you’ve got to find a way to him have him wave his no move and you’ve got to move on from him.” And I don’t like again I think it’s wrong to you know if he has a another shaky year, an inconsistent year where it’s like he’s got to go. But I do think if he does have another shaky year, you’re sitting here going, “Oh god, did they invest their money in the wrong place?” And if you say he’s got to go, like you you’re acknowledging that he you don’t want this this person that you that you overcommitted to this goalender. You don’t think he can be your true number one. And at that point, what is the value of saying he’s got to go like what are you not getting what are you getting for? You’re not getting anything for him. You’re probably have you’re probably going to have to retain and you’re not going to get that much back for him. So like you’re [ __ ] either way. Yes. And that’s why I think even if he does have a bad year this year, you’re not forcing him out the door. You’re saying, “No, we’re going we invested eight years in this guy. We are betting that at some point there is going to be a breakthrough year.” That goes back to what we were just talking about. So I think again the Swayman the Swayman conversation is complicated. I do enjoy though how uh when they had the goalie tandem, everybody loved Swayman. Everybody wanted Swayman as the guy, especially after that 23. Everybody loves the next guy. It’s It works. It it works almost everywhere in every aspect of sports. If like if you don’t have a true superstar who’s established, everybody loves the next guy. Like how many people were talking about Joe Milton for the Patriots when they had Drake May right there. It’s like you always love the backup, the backup, the other guy. You don’t see, oh, what if he got all that time? And then Swayman comes in, makes a couple comments, people are like, he sucks. Get him out. And I think it’s so funny that and it’s like it’s like the mystery box. The mystery box theory is you got the Do you want the boat or do you want the mystery box? Well, the mystery box could be anything. It could be a boat. Like could be a ray gun or it could be freaking ballistic knives for those who play Black Ops one zombies. You know what I’m talking about. Um uh I want to get more into kind of what track they’re on. Are the Bruins on the right track? But first, our friends at Game Time, they’re always on the right track and they’re back and they couldn’t have come back at a better time. College football season is back and it’s one of the most fun times of the year. Tailgates, hyped up crowds, and incredible finishes. The downside though can often be the process of getting tickets, cues, annoying login screens, and prices jumping at checkout, which nobody likes. But thankfully, the Game Time app is here, and they give the advantage back to fans. It’s the hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. It’s incredibly easy to use and the game time guarantee means you can trust you’ll get 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. Plus, fees are always included, so what you see is what you pay. This weekend, big series, Red Sox host the Yankees, and you can get in Friday’s game for $151 in the third base pavilion, which game time ranked as a top 1% value. I have sat in those seats and I agree, they are really good seats on a Friday night against the Yankees in a wild card race. Sign me up. Take the guesswork out of buying college football or any sport tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code CLNS for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download the Game Time app today. So, I always like um they do polls. Uh is America on the right track? You know, or are are we as a country on the right track? And the answer is no. Usually we are not. Um, are the Bruins on the right track? Are you confident in the direction that they’ve taken this off seasonason that they’ve taken really since the deadline um uh last year trading everybody away? How do you feel right now? We’re on on the track, so to speak. I will say more confident than America being on the right track. Bar is so low. I’m more confident in the Sabres being on the right track than America being on the right track, but that’s a whole another thing. Yeah. I mean, I think it’s it’s it’s very uh it’s very much impossible to tell right now, at least from from my eyes. Like, there are so many pieces that they need and this this off season, you know, there was some good and there was some not so good. Um, you know, there’s some encouraging signs like they get Hagens and I think that’s awesome. I’m excited about Hagens and and um that’s that’s something that I was fully expected to be disappointed on with their spot in the first round. I was like, well, sure, they’ve got a pretty pretty premium position here. Not as high as I would have hoped, but like they still have a chance to get a good player, but do I have faith in this front office to actually draft the right guy? And I think they got it right. But, you know, I I honestly think that it would have been hard to get it wrong. like they could have traded the pick to the Islanders. Um, saw that. And maybe I don’t know what the end result of that would have been, but I’m glad they took Hagens. I’m glad we have a a guy who we can really like look at as a future franchise pillar. It’s been a little bit uh with regards to that coming out of the draft, and that’s exciting. Again, I I kind of like the identity ads they had in free agency. I just don’t like how many of them they tried to to make in terms of like how many bottom six players that they signed and kind of overextended themselves for because that’s it’s just not the way that I think good business is done in in the NHL. Like you don’t build from the back end forward like or like the bottom six forward. You build from the front six down. And I I think it that’s a little backwards right now. And it is what it is. I’m not going to freak out over that. But it it’s it’s just a little bit troublesome that that seems to be something that they keep going back to in terms of building from the back from the bottom six up. Yeah. And I think when you look at their prospects outside of Hagens or at least pre this year, it was like you’re the guys coming up are going into your bottom six. They’re not really going into your top six. I think that was a big reason why I’m like you need first round picks. in these future seasons. And I I like that they went out and got a first another first for next year and then they got the first from the Panthers for 2027. Like I I like that they did that. Those are things they needed. So in that sense, I like the track that they’re on for that. It’s funny that I I will give them I will give them credit for the work they did at the deadline. Like I I I I did not like the Marshian trade just from a it was very hard for me to separate the emotions and the fair heart factor from from that deal. But I I I do like on the whole the fact that they were able to commit to to selling off valuable pieces and getting things back for them when the reality was that that was not going to be a good team or or a team worth holding on to those pieces for. No. And I remember thinking at like in the leadup to the deadline, I’m like, they feel like they’re going to play this one conservative. Like Frederick gone, um, you know, uh, Justin Brazo gone, but outside of that, like who’s, you know, are they are they really are they really going to explicitly wave the white flag? And I I didn’t think that was going to be the case. I’m I give them credit for doing it when it was probably the right call. Yes. It’s funny, though. I saw that uh Islanders clip of them uh the Islanders wanting to trade was it 16 and 17 I think for uh for for seven. I would have hated it. I would have hated it. And I know some people would say, “Oh, you want you want more talent more than you want someone high in the order. Um you have two first next year. You have two first the year after. You you’re going to make your mid first round.” Not mid, I don’t mean like shitty first round picks. I mean like your literal mid first rounders. you’re going to make those picks. Seven should be the highest you pick for a very long time. You make that pick. You hope you get your franchise guy and early returns are. It seems like you did. I think when they do reddrafts years from now, I know the Athletics doing them right now for the past bunch of years. I do think Hagens is going to rank higher than seven and they’re going to be guys ranked uh drafted above him that are going to go below him. We’ll see. But I agree. I think that’s a a strong thing. Um, what I will say, what I will say about like the Islanders is I love the picks that they made at 17 and 18 with Kishan Asen and uh and and uh 161 17 Victor Ecklan and Kishan Asen. Like I like both those players a lot, but I I’m still not doing that deal on the Bruins cuz you need Hagens. You need like you need the guy who fell like after being a consensus number one like you locked into having James Haggins there and there’s no guarantee that the Bruins make make those same picks at at 16 and 17. There isn’t. Um in terms of where I I feel good about where they’re at uh first round picks prospect pool’s in a better spot than it was not perfect but it’s in a better spot. Hard to be in a spot. Yeah. My one area where I am shaky, where I’m I don’t know when are they going to contend again? When are they contending? Because David Posnock’s prime is not lasting forever. And I always say this, I harp on this, but like does that force them to trade two of their upcoming first round picks or one of their upcoming first round picks for a guy that can help you in the now? You know, Rasp Anderson’s a name that gets thrown around. Marty Nas is a name that gets thrown around. Do you want to get him um and then try to, you know, sign him to an extension? Like I just that’s my question. You can’t spend three years or four years in the middle being a fringe contender with David Posnock putting up a bunch of points. That scares me. That worries me a little bit in ter and and and I you I do wonder. I want them to make those picks. As I said earlier, I want them to make those picks. Um, but if there is a trade that pops up that’s going to help them now and in the future, I think Poshnock being on the roster and the age that he is, not that he’s old or anything, but I think it kind of forces you to make that make that trade. Yeah. I mean I mean it’s it’s so it’s projecting so far out, but like I I don’t I don’t know. And like one thing that has to be addressed here is that we’re at a point right now where there are a number of very very attractive UFAs, pending UFAS next year that could be no guarantee, but right now as of today, Thursday, could be available in the next couple of years. And there are guys that would alter the trajectory of this franchise and the outlook with one swipe of a pen. Like obviously you’re looking at McDavid if if he’s available. Like you’re gonna have to compete with 31 other teams and throw out a ridiculous amount of money, but it might be worth it. Uh you’re talking about potentially Capriovv. You’re talking about potentially seems like a disaster in Minnesota. Oh my god. Yeah. The fact that that got out is crazy and also like very bad for the Wild. Um, do I think that the Bruins will, you know, make a run at Capri off? Probably not. But like there’s a Jack Eel if that if he doesn’t sign his deal. Like there’s Quinn Hughes. Like you cannot rule out any of these things. And that’s just like those are things that are lofty pipe dreams, but you have to keep yourself open to them because they can change your franchise on a dime. And the Bruins are in a position where like they they’ll be in the market for that kind of thing. They will be. I agree. And for you, what Chaos this year, it’s going to be kind of crazy cuz you know, drama is fun. Drama’s fun. And you have Quinn the Quinn Hughes stuff. Is you know, are they going to try to engineer him to the Devils? Like, how is that all going to work? And then you have um the Capri Soft stuff. You have all these guys signing Marner in Vegas. What What is that experience like? There’s a lot of food for you this year. There is. I’m very excited about it. Very excited. I just hope that we carry like some of this into the season. Like I I don’t I don’t want like a week before the season McDavid signs, Capri off signs, Eel signs, and then like you’re just banking on like the ne the fourth option. So keep keep the options open. Keep the the pipe dream. It’s it’s nice to dream. It’s nice to have your vision board and to put like a superstar up there because then that changes the conversation pretty drastically. It does. And make sure to go follow what Chaos and obviously make sure to subscribe to us Burns Ringside on YouTube. We got a lot of stuff coming. A lot of podcasts, live streams, videos, interviews, all that fun stuff. And if you don’t like watching us, you can listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast from. Uh, and if you are a big Patriots fans, Patriots All Access on YouTube, Celtics, uh, Celtics All Access, Patriots Press best, Celtics All Access, I get them mixed up, but they’re both great. They’re both kicking in season right now, so make sure to go check that out. Um, if McDavid did leave Edmonton, I’m not going to like we’ll save it for another day about the Bruins. That’s like, this is going to sound like a loop lukewarm take. That’s probably the biggest move in the NHL in like since Gretzky. Yeah, in the salary cap era for sure. Like it is all time. It is the biggest It would be the biggest free agent sweep stakes of all time for for the NHL and like not even close. Not even close second. Like the following planes, who’s like who’s going to the like the Bruins did it? Did they bring Brady Ortiz? It’s like the same. Or they bring the crew they brought for Kevin Durant like Kelly Ool Lin Isaiah Thomas. Like what do they like I that would just be so good. I would love that. I would love it to a certain extent. Like I would need him to sign on like latest July 4th. I could not endure a show Otani type like dragged out free agency. At some point you’re just like, “All right, [ __ ] off. Sign somewhere and let’s move on with our lives.” Yep. Can I have my summer, please? Thank you. Yeah. Exactly. So that that’s that’s all I ask. If if McDavid wants to reach free agency, I will I love it so much. I will love the drama and the juiciness of that and every ounce of juice that I could squeeze out of it as somebody who does this for a job. It would be amazing, but I also enjoy my summer and I don’t want to have to, you know, circle the same wagon for a month over and over again. I I’m with you on that. It’ll be interesting to see. Uh Pete, what can people look forward to from you at what chaos? Yeah, we’re ramping up. Uh we’ve we’re we’re locking in some player interviews. We are uh putting together plans and and preview stuff that’s going to start getting executed in the next week or so. So, uh you can find us at YouTube. We’re a very visual show. Uh we have a nice little set that we love. Great production value. So, uh YouTube first if you’re uh if you’re interested in watching podcasts on YouTube, we’re over at YouTube.com whatchaoshow. And then uh you know if you’re a podcast person, we’re everywhere. We’re everywhere you get your podcast. Spotify, Apple, Podbeam, you know, all all those options. We are we are available. That’s been great. Pete, this has been fun. That’s Pete Blackburn. I’m F Marinoski. Bruce Beat listeners. Have a great rest of your week. [Music]

On this episode of Bruins Beat, Evan Marinofsky and Pete Blackburn share their vibes entering training camp. They dive into what will need to go right this season, and then discuss the direction the Bruins are headed in. 

⏰EPISODE TIMELINE⏰
00:00 Intro
00:55 Remembering the lives of those lost on 9/11
01:27 Welcome, Pete!
03:20 Pete’s thoughts on the Bruins
15:49 PrizePicks
17:08 Will Swayman bounce back?
28:08 Gametime
29:25 Are the Bruins on the right track?
35:11 When will the Bruins contend again?
38:50 Subscribe to Bruins Rinkside!
39:15 Would McDavid leaving the Oilers be the biggest move since Gretzky?
40:53 Thanks for watching!

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