Boston Bruins Offseason Pressure Builds | Lindholm, Lohrei & Roster Questions | Ep. 143

0:00 Speaker 1: Can you start a podcast with me?

0:02 Speaker 2: Please?

0:03 Speaker 1: I need something to do.

0:13 Speaker 2: I'll stack sit it out.

0:14 Speaker 1: A top o Bock of this says today, here's a

0:20 Speaker 1: chance PoTA right down with goalie Scars. Oh my one

0:23 Speaker 1: a move by the rookie to.

0:24 Speaker 2: On one plaster not moving into.

0:29 Speaker 1: Oil dances in podcast.

0:32 Speaker 2: Wait at home right away corner Paster.

0:34 Speaker 1: Chista, what is that for?

0:41 Speaker 2: Most?

0:51 Speaker 1: Welcome in everyone to another episode of Bruin's Tape to Tape.

0:55 Speaker 1: I'm your host today Caroline with a K, and I

0:58 Speaker 1: am joined by my phantasmic co host Maria from Watertown.

1:02 Speaker 1: How are you, Maria?

1:03 Speaker 2: I'm great. I think I'm great. I'm feeling a bit

1:05 Speaker 2: under the weather. I'm not sure if it's all the

1:08 Speaker 2: fallen I swallowed on the golf course yesterday because we

1:11 Speaker 2: finally had a beautiful weekend in New England. Saturday and

1:14 Speaker 2: Sunday was absolutely awesome. But feeling a bit a little

1:18 Speaker 2: bit droopy today, but enjoying the nice summer weather.

1:21 Speaker 1: How about you? How was your weekend? It was pretty good,

1:23 Speaker 1: The weather was fantastic. It definitely feels like summer now.

1:27 Speaker 1: And you're one hundred percent correct. Everything has fully exploded

1:31 Speaker 1: since this past weekend, and I am also feeling it

1:35 Speaker 1: with the allergies.

1:36 Speaker 2: I'm like, God, I feel like I feel like a

1:39 Speaker 2: truck hit me, But no one wants to hear my

1:41 Speaker 2: sad tales of Well, we're here to talk about some

1:44 Speaker 2: hockey exactly as a brief table setting today's episode, we're

1:48 Speaker 2: going to be talking about a.

1:50 Speaker 1: Couple of players that I'm not sure that we've fallen

1:54 Speaker 1: out of love with all of them, but we know

1:57 Speaker 1: that there have been a lot of critics and question

2:01 Speaker 1: marks at various points during the season around four players,

2:05 Speaker 1: in particular a Hampus Lindholm, Elias Lindholm, Mason Lauri and

2:09 Speaker 1: Andrew Peak. And two of those, the Lindholmes, are long

2:13 Speaker 1: term contracts.

2:15 Speaker 2: I wish we had videos so they could see me

2:17 Speaker 2: gagging with regard to those two contracts.

2:20 Speaker 1: So those are not going anywhere anytime soon. The odds

2:23 Speaker 1: of anything happening with either of these players in the

2:27 Speaker 1: near future slim to none, but it doesn't mean that

2:30 Speaker 1: we can't talk about them and what happened and what

2:34 Speaker 1: we're satisfied with or dissatisfied with. And then the other

2:37 Speaker 1: two being Andrew Peak and Mason Laurai Mason Laurai is

2:42 Speaker 1: finishing his first year of his contract and he only

2:45 Speaker 1: has one more year left. And then Andrew Peak has

2:48 Speaker 1: come to the end of his three year contract, two

2:52 Speaker 1: of which were in Boston after trade. So we'll talk

2:55 Speaker 1: a little bit about him. Before we do that, we're

2:58 Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about NHI news and things

3:00 Speaker 1: that are going on. First and foremost, because it is

3:04 Speaker 1: still the playoffs. Look, I know you can't predict how

3:08 Speaker 1: many teams are gonna play only four games and how

3:11 Speaker 1: many teams are gonna play seven games. But I feel

3:16 Speaker 1: like having one of those teams start the second round

3:21 Speaker 1: before the first round was over may have been a

3:25 Speaker 1: bad idea. Because the Carolina Hurricanes actually have set a

3:31 Speaker 1: modern record for longest wait between playoff series. It's pretty

3:36 Speaker 1: insane that we're recording today on the eighteenth. As of yesterday,

3:40 Speaker 1: Carolina has eleven days rest between Game four of the

3:43 Speaker 1: second round and Game one of the Eastern Conference Final.

3:45 Speaker 2: That can't be appealing to the coaching staff, just can't.

3:49 Speaker 1: Yeah, again, We've talked about this many times. There are

3:52 Speaker 1: pros and cons when you've already been playing a tough season,

3:55 Speaker 1: and all seasons are tough, but then this year was

3:59 Speaker 1: particular demanding on every player being so concentrated. Is it

4:04 Speaker 1: going to be difficult for Carolina to get back on

4:06 Speaker 1: the horse and play an intense every other day schedule,

4:12 Speaker 1: or is the winner of the Buffalo Abs series going

4:16 Speaker 1: to still be standing after for one team a six

4:21 Speaker 1: and seven first and second round or the other team

4:24 Speaker 1: seven and seven games second round. I don't know what

4:26 Speaker 1: to expect this is it's like the two opposites coming together.

4:30 Speaker 2: But that's been interesting that Carolina looks like they are

4:33 Speaker 2: a well oiled machine this season. They may come out

4:38 Speaker 2: a little bit slow to start in that first period

4:42 Speaker 2: of whoever their opponent is going to be, but they

4:46 Speaker 2: seem to be a team on a mission and I

4:50 Speaker 2: would venture to guess and would put a bet on

4:53 Speaker 2: the fact that they would They'll be ready to roll

4:57 Speaker 2: because this means a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

5:01 Speaker 2: It means getting a huge monkey off your back, which

5:04 Speaker 2: maybe they already feel like they have at this point

5:06 Speaker 2: in time because they've moved on to the Eastern Conference finals,

5:10 Speaker 2: which has been a knock on Rob Brindamore teams in

5:13 Speaker 2: the past. And I think it's more difficult for the

5:18 Speaker 2: team that's coming in because this series between Buffalo and

5:21 Speaker 2: Montreal has been pretty physical, so whatever little nagging things

5:25 Speaker 2: that players on both teams have had could likely have

5:28 Speaker 2: gotten a bit worse because there is no downtime in

5:32 Speaker 2: between these games. Yeah, to get yourself right, and the

5:36 Speaker 2: amount of preparation time. Granted, Carolina doesn't know necessarily who

5:41 Speaker 2: they're going to play, but they have the time to evaluate.

5:45 Speaker 2: They've had plenty of time because they only have to

5:47 Speaker 2: look at two teams right now.

5:48 Speaker 1: They've probably been watching the series, they understand, they see

5:52 Speaker 1: what happens, they can exploit some of that from Montreal

5:55 Speaker 1: and for Buffalo. It doesn't serve either team to look

5:59 Speaker 1: at anyone else other than the team that they're currently playing.

6:03 Speaker 1: To do so would be foolish, a waste of time,

6:08 Speaker 1: and if you want to talk about superstitions, it's certainly

6:12 Speaker 1: a very efficient way to piss off the hockey gods,

6:15 Speaker 1: I'm sure. And on the flip side, we have a

6:19 Speaker 1: Game seven because I don't know what the hell happened

6:23 Speaker 1: with Montreal.

6:24 Speaker 2: I mean, Montreal looked to be in control of that

6:26 Speaker 2: game to the point that I was like, you know what,

6:28 Speaker 2: I'm feeling a little worn out and tired here, I'm

6:31 Speaker 2: just gonna call it a night, and then I wake

6:33 Speaker 2: up the next morning, I'm like, what the hell happened?

6:36 Speaker 1: Oh? Holy shit.

6:38 Speaker 2: Then I saw some stuff on social media about questioning

6:42 Speaker 2: Marty Saint Louis and leaving dobish in the eight to three.

6:47 Speaker 2: It was my good on whole mice too that listens

6:50 Speaker 2: say what we will about the Canadians and because they're

6:54 Speaker 2: hated rivals here, but that building and those fans are unbelievable.

6:58 Speaker 2: At one point, the building was so loud that I

7:02 Speaker 2: could barely hear, which doesn't bother me what Ray Ferraro

7:06 Speaker 2: was saying in between benches, because I can't stand to

7:08 Speaker 2: listen to him, to be perfectly honest with you, but

7:11 Speaker 2: the crowd was absolutely insane.

7:16 Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know what else happened as well, because

7:19 Speaker 1: I actually had been out all day and again with

7:22 Speaker 1: the weather and everything, I just passed out. I knew

7:26 Speaker 1: it was tied at three when I went to sleep,

7:29 Speaker 1: and holy cow, but it is incredibly difficult to close

7:32 Speaker 1: out a series when you have the ability to do so.

7:35 Speaker 2: And it's funny because both teams have young players on

7:39 Speaker 2: them so you might be able to say, maybe that's

7:42 Speaker 2: the youngness and the inexperience of a team, you know,

7:45 Speaker 2: I'm speaking of referring to Montreal kind of the moment

7:49 Speaker 2: the lights are too bright for them. Yeah, but Buffalo

7:52 Speaker 2: also has. But I think Buffalo has a little bit

7:56 Speaker 2: more betteran leadership. Maybe Montreal does. Because I haven't seen

8:00 Speaker 2: Brendan Gallagher about one time in this series. It'll be

8:04 Speaker 2: interesting to see what the lineup is for tonight's game

8:07 Speaker 2: in Buffalo. But it's Game seven, bring it on.

8:11 Speaker 1: Yeah, It's just been a fascinating game to observe and

8:15 Speaker 1: track these teams in a way that I haven't really

8:19 Speaker 1: in particular all season. But what I found most interesting

8:23 Speaker 1: about that game was the fact that when it came

8:25 Speaker 1: to the shots on goal, once again, Montreal was really

8:30 Speaker 1: held to low shot volume compared to Buffalo, And that

8:35 Speaker 1: was I think the biggest deal.

8:37 Speaker 2: We're doing that in the Tampa series as well.

8:40 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I didn't to watch what was happening, necessarily defensively,

8:45 Speaker 1: because again I was asleep and I wasn't.

8:47 Speaker 2: Going to well.

8:48 Speaker 1: I meant, no, let's be honest, do we care about hockey?

8:51 Speaker 2: Ye? When our team isn't in it. Watch it with

8:54 Speaker 2: one eye open.

8:55 Speaker 1: I don't feel bad about going to bed if I'm

8:58 Speaker 1: I don't either. So what happened? Was it a defensive breakdown?

9:02 Speaker 1: Was Buffalo all of a sudden that much more energy

9:06 Speaker 1: to be offensive or the Montreal skaters to nervous. I

9:12 Speaker 1: would hesitate to place any blame on Dobby because not

9:17 Speaker 1: that type of person to just blanketly blame a goaltender,

9:20 Speaker 1: because it's not always the case.

9:22 Speaker 2: No, no, but there are those shots that on occasion

9:25 Speaker 2: you say, geez, that was a bad one to let it.

9:28 Speaker 2: If you're making honest assessments, those goals do happen. But

9:32 Speaker 2: I do agree with you it's really hard to dump

9:35 Speaker 2: on your goaltender when the said goaltender is under siege

9:39 Speaker 2: in some instances and the guys in front of you

9:42 Speaker 2: either can't or aren't doing their jobs.

9:45 Speaker 1: Agreed, And I think looking at the other end for Buffalo,

9:50 Speaker 1: it's also been very fascinating that they haven't had one

9:53 Speaker 1: single goalie that they have been able to just tap

9:56 Speaker 1: and say you're the guy, Like most teams have a

10:00 Speaker 1: true and dedicated starter and that guy has played almost

10:03 Speaker 1: the entire series for any of these teams except for Buffalo,

10:07 Speaker 1: and I guess I would appreciate, you know, on the

10:10 Speaker 1: two flip sides of not pulling Dobby in was it

10:15 Speaker 1: not Game six Game five? Because that was a smart

10:18 Speaker 1: thing to do, to trust in the goalie, to let

10:20 Speaker 1: them get settled, but also to not be afraid to

10:23 Speaker 1: pull the trigger when you need to. It panned out

10:26 Speaker 1: for Mario Saint Louis. It's a fun series to watch.

10:29 Speaker 1: I look forward to Game seven.

10:31 Speaker 2: It just validated for me too, watching these two teams

10:34 Speaker 2: that the Bruins better be looking over their shoulder in

10:37 Speaker 2: terms of teams that are going to be difficult out

10:41 Speaker 2: moving forward in the regular season. And I'm not saying, Donnie,

10:46 Speaker 2: I know you probably don't listen to our podcast, but

10:49 Speaker 2: I wish you would sometimes. I'm not saying build a

10:52 Speaker 2: team to chase these teams. Build the team, okay, build

10:56 Speaker 2: the team in the manner in which you want to play.

10:58 Speaker 2: Pick a lane and build the team in that direction.

11:03 Speaker 1: I agree. I think building a team around chasing a

11:06 Speaker 1: particular team is short sighted and foolish.

11:09 Speaker 2: It is cool then they had done that. Has it

11:12 Speaker 2: worked out for us yet?

11:13 Speaker 1: No? Not spectacularly. No, we Digress, We Digress, and the

11:18 Speaker 1: last two other pieces well a couple of other pieces

11:21 Speaker 1: of news outside of the playoffs, Although tangentially related, Vegas

11:25 Speaker 1: Golden Knights have actually faced some consequences related to their

11:32 Speaker 1: not following of the rules. Now granted, at first blush,

11:36 Speaker 1: one might think, wow, that's overkill, but then again, this

11:39 Speaker 1: is Vegas. The Vegas Golden Knights have forfeited a second

11:42 Speaker 1: round pick for this year, so they have effectively nothing

11:47 Speaker 1: to pick, nothing to pick, no pick for them this year.

11:51 Speaker 1: And it's all because Tortorella said no thank you to

11:55 Speaker 1: the media.

11:56 Speaker 2: And they won the game. They won the Shames, which

11:59 Speaker 2: makes and listen, I love my toorts, but you idiot.

12:03 Speaker 2: Every team is obligated to speak to the media, but

12:07 Speaker 2: I think it goes deeper than that. I think this

12:09 Speaker 2: punishment goes deeper than not making yourself available for media availability.

12:16 Speaker 2: So to set the whole punishment in full, Vegas has

12:21 Speaker 2: had their draft pick taken away from them the upcoming draft,

12:25 Speaker 2: and John Tworderella was fined one hundred thousand dollars.

12:29 Speaker 1: YEP.

12:30 Speaker 2: I think it goes deeper than that because I think

12:33 Speaker 2: this started with the suspension of Braden McNabb in the

12:38 Speaker 2: Anaheim Series for one game. Vegas was pissed about it.

12:42 Speaker 2: They were very vocal about it. Then Vegas denies Bruce

12:46 Speaker 2: Cassidy the opportunity to interview for an open coaching position.

12:52 Speaker 2: Then they do this, so at some point when you're

12:55 Speaker 2: running the league and you sit back and you say

12:58 Speaker 2: to yourself, who the hell do they think they are?

13:02 Speaker 2: To me, that was like institutional arrogance as far as

13:06 Speaker 2: I'm concerned, and I have no problem with the fact

13:09 Speaker 2: that the league came down on them as hard as

13:14 Speaker 2: they did. I think it was deserved. I hope it

13:17 Speaker 2: teaches them a lesson. I hope what makes them somewhat.

13:21 Speaker 2: It won't. No, it likely won't. But I don't know

13:24 Speaker 2: if they think they can get away with this shit

13:26 Speaker 2: because the league set them up so beautifully when they

13:30 Speaker 2: came in as an expansion team and went to the

13:33 Speaker 2: Stanley Cup Finals in their first season. That doesn't make

13:36 Speaker 2: you the golden child. That doesn't mean that you can

13:39 Speaker 2: do whatever the hell you want and you don't get

13:41 Speaker 2: in trouble at some point in time.

13:43 Speaker 1: I mean, Vegas is the petulant child, demanding everything of

13:49 Speaker 1: the league. There's arguably nothing likable about the Vegas Golden Knights.

13:55 Speaker 1: There's nothing culturally admirable. They picked Carter Hart, they picked

14:02 Speaker 1: up his contract. That alone is just abhorrent. But the

14:05 Speaker 1: fact that the way that they play the product on

14:08 Speaker 1: the ice, the attitude of the owners. I mean, I

14:12 Speaker 1: don't know for a fact, but quite frankly, I wouldn't

14:14 Speaker 1: be shocked if the owners then just paid the fine

14:17 Speaker 1: for Tortorella, because that's normally how they knew.

14:21 Speaker 2: They knew that about him, that he is a person

14:23 Speaker 2: who you knew what you were bringing into your house

14:26 Speaker 2: and bringing in the good, the badney ugly into your house. However,

14:30 Speaker 2: I think there's always a straw that breaks the camel's back.

14:33 Speaker 2: This like kind of middle finger to the league. And

14:35 Speaker 2: I think some of it does stem from the Braden

14:38 Speaker 2: mcnapp suspension for bad so sad he still won the

14:41 Speaker 2: freaking series. What is your beak? What is your beak?

14:44 Speaker 2: What point are you making by not making anybody available

14:48 Speaker 2: to the media post game.

14:49 Speaker 1: They didn't think that they could get away with it.

14:51 Speaker 1: They just didn't care.

14:52 Speaker 2: They didn't care. Now, I don't know if they're gonna

14:55 Speaker 2: appeal it or not. I don't know if there is

14:56 Speaker 2: any kind of an appeel, And honestly, I don't care

14:59 Speaker 2: enough to dig down deep to figure that out, to

15:02 Speaker 2: be honest with you, but I'm glad that the league

15:04 Speaker 2: finally took a stand against an organization who thinks they

15:08 Speaker 2: can just treat everybody however they freaking feel like.

15:11 Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, I think I speak for a lot of

15:13 Speaker 1: people in saying I hope that Colorado absolutely obliterates them

15:19 Speaker 1: in the Western Conference. I agree, I agree.

15:22 Speaker 2: If that series goes five games, I'll be surprised, But

15:26 Speaker 2: I don't know.

15:27 Speaker 1: I don't think if both teams are getting some rest,

15:29 Speaker 1: because again thanks to the scheduling and thanks to the

15:33 Speaker 1: Montreal KDMs those neighbors, everyone gets rest except for them.

15:38 Speaker 2: Cal mccarr needs as much rest as he can get

15:41 Speaker 2: because it sounds like his shoulder is hanging on by

15:43 Speaker 2: a thread.

15:44 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's been beaten up quite a bit. Speaking of

15:47 Speaker 1: punishments doled out by the league, Charlie McAvoy, we didn't

15:51 Speaker 1: get a chance to talk about this before, but six

15:54 Speaker 1: game suspension to start the season in the fall for

15:58 Speaker 1: his attempt did truba ing of a Buffalo player. And

16:04 Speaker 1: again we've said this before. This is something that we

16:08 Speaker 1: think the league should take seriously that we have been

16:12 Speaker 1: extremely vocal about ever since Jacob Truba used his stick

16:17 Speaker 1: as a bat to Trent Frederick's head and did not

16:20 Speaker 1: receive any kind.

16:21 Speaker 2: Of penalty, not even a friggin penalty, right, no fine,

16:25 Speaker 2: not even.

16:25 Speaker 1: Buntly on the ice. And since then we have seen

16:28 Speaker 1: the league start to take that seriously, vindicating to us

16:31 Speaker 1: that they realize, oh, we screwed that up.

16:33 Speaker 2: This was the error of our weight.

16:35 Speaker 1: And you do see this getting called more and more now,

16:39 Speaker 1: as we discussed in our discord, which everyone should join

16:42 Speaker 1: in and check us out. You play stupid games, you

16:45 Speaker 1: win stupid prizes. Not surprise whatsoever that the League came

16:49 Speaker 1: down fairly harshly on Charlie McVoy. I was, however, at

16:54 Speaker 1: the sheer number of games. I was expecting three or four,

16:57 Speaker 1: especially considering it was more of.

16:59 Speaker 2: An a tempted What did I say when we discussed it,

17:04 Speaker 2: When you have an in person hearing, you're looking at

17:07 Speaker 2: a minimum of six games, that's the threshold when they

17:11 Speaker 2: call you into the principal's office. Yes, it's you're getting

17:16 Speaker 2: six games. Yeah, And he has been suspended twice before.

17:21 Speaker 2: He is now viewed as a repeat offender. Those records

17:26 Speaker 2: don't get expunged. It doesn't go away from one season

17:29 Speaker 2: to the next. You can say, oh, yeah, well this

17:31 Speaker 2: happened three years ago. It doesn't matter to the league anymore.

17:35 Speaker 2: It doesn't matter now if we're going to be calling

17:37 Speaker 2: out this stuff when it happens to players on our team. Right,

17:41 Speaker 2: that was stupid. I get your kissed off. There was

17:44 Speaker 2: a slewf wooten there. It either was ignored or wasn't seen.

17:48 Speaker 2: I understand all of that. Don't use your stick of

17:51 Speaker 2: the weapon, correct, correct. I have no sympathy for Charlie

17:56 Speaker 2: in this instant, none, none, none.

18:01 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that was one of the dumbest reactions he

18:03 Speaker 1: could ever possibly have in that situation. And that's what

18:07 Speaker 1: you get. I would like to point out one other

18:09 Speaker 1: thing that I did not pop onto our little agenda.

18:11 Speaker 1: I did see, and I want to say we said

18:15 Speaker 1: it here first, but I saw just this past week

18:18 Speaker 1: I followed WI on Instagram and somebody on one of

18:23 Speaker 1: their shows was talking about Captain C in the future

18:26 Speaker 1: and flirting with the idea of bringing someone in from

18:29 Speaker 1: the outside. Alizadana Chara in two thousand and six, and

18:32 Speaker 1: when I saw that, I thought, ah, we said it

18:35 Speaker 1: here first, folks, we said it here first.

18:37 Speaker 2: If it happens, we have talked about it, and I

18:40 Speaker 2: love pasta, But I'm still not sure that the next

18:43 Speaker 2: captain of the Boston Ruins is on the current roster.

18:47 Speaker 2: I'm just not Yeah.

18:49 Speaker 1: Yeah, it doesn't feel as much of a given as

18:51 Speaker 1: it had been in previous years, previous years.

18:55 Speaker 2: Oh and one more special thing, one more special thing. Yes,

18:58 Speaker 2: the list of Hall of Fame nominees has come out

19:01 Speaker 2: for twenty twenty six.

19:02 Speaker 1: And who is on that list was several several, but

19:07 Speaker 1: the one that we care the most about Patrice Bergeron.

19:10 Speaker 1: Tries Bergeron.

19:11 Speaker 2: If he is not a unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer,

19:15 Speaker 2: then this is something wrong with the people who get votes.

19:18 Speaker 1: Sorry.

19:18 Speaker 2: David Cracy is also on that list, hustle who. I

19:22 Speaker 2: was surprised when I looked down at the list with

19:24 Speaker 2: some impressive stats. Yeah, I almost chuckled when I saw

19:27 Speaker 2: Louis Erickson's name on there. I mean, he's got some

19:30 Speaker 2: pretty good stats, but I'm like Julie Erickson, I don't know.

19:33 Speaker 1: But it's June twenty seconds so we will be sure

19:38 Speaker 1: to have something out for that, because that is about

19:42 Speaker 1: sure that they vote and we find out not surprising.

19:46 Speaker 2: It shouldn't be surprising to anybody that Teres Bergeron is

19:50 Speaker 2: on that list as a first year, so congrats to him.

19:53 Speaker 1: And then the last thing I almost forgot. There's a

19:55 Speaker 1: little bit of a rumor already flying around about next

19:58 Speaker 1: year's roster, and there's an article out on NSSEN right now.

20:03 Speaker 1: Are the Bruins going to sign Darren Radish? He is

20:06 Speaker 1: a right shot D. And the question is, of course,

20:11 Speaker 1: can someone like Radish give Boston enough transition value to

20:14 Speaker 1: justify using a more stable, lower upside option, Meaning is

20:19 Speaker 1: he coming in potentially as a replacement for a defenceman

20:25 Speaker 1: or is he potentially coming in just as a supplement

20:29 Speaker 1: to a left D for example Meson Lorii. Those are

20:33 Speaker 1: the questions. Who knows what it's going to happen. Granted,

20:35 Speaker 1: this is coming from Fluto with some very specific term

20:39 Speaker 1: and money, so there has to be some legitimacy to

20:45 Speaker 1: the idea. But business might be starting to percolate amongst

20:51 Speaker 1: the other teams in the league.

20:52 Speaker 2: Well, you know how I feel, you can't have enough

20:54 Speaker 2: good defenseman. True, I don't think we have enough really

20:58 Speaker 2: good defenseman on the team right now. Agreed, well, and

21:02 Speaker 2: we're going to talk about three of them right now.

21:06 Speaker 1: So the idea to talk about these four players in

21:09 Speaker 1: particular came to us because these were names that have

21:13 Speaker 1: come up with some frequency, either here on this podcast

21:18 Speaker 1: or in general from our discord, our social media presence,

21:23 Speaker 1: just having eyes and ears, and so what we're going

21:26 Speaker 1: to do is, I'm going to do a super brief

21:30 Speaker 1: background on each of the players, kind of what their

21:32 Speaker 1: situation was this year. I'm going to talk stats, Maria's

21:36 Speaker 1: going to talk vibes, and then we'll see how we

21:39 Speaker 1: feel about them. Now again, the Linholmes, let's be honest,

21:43 Speaker 1: they're not going anywhere, so we can talk about them

21:45 Speaker 1: first and then we'll talk about the other two. So

21:48 Speaker 1: let's talk about Elias Okay. This year, he finished his

21:51 Speaker 1: second season off of a seven year long contract seven

21:55 Speaker 1: point seventy five AAV. He's thirty one years old. He

22:00 Speaker 1: has basically no trade for the entire length of the contract.

22:04 Speaker 1: He played sixty nine out of eighty two games. He

22:07 Speaker 1: was expected to score eighteen and a half goals. He

22:11 Speaker 1: scored seventeen goals and he had thirty one assists. So

22:15 Speaker 1: this is the guy who came in. I think the

22:17 Speaker 1: general idea when he was brought in as part of

22:20 Speaker 1: his signing was the number one center Steady Eddie quote

22:25 Speaker 1: unquote replace Bergeron and Krachi, although obviously not to their caliber,

22:30 Speaker 1: but having somebody who could come in and be a

22:32 Speaker 1: consistent center. He effectively played exactly the same this year

22:37 Speaker 1: as last year. So on the plus side, performing in

22:41 Speaker 1: a consistent way, the problem is it's not the job

22:45 Speaker 1: that he's supposed to be playing. Now. In his defense,

22:49 Speaker 1: this is not the first time the Boston Bruins have

22:53 Speaker 1: placed an expectation on a player or taken a player

22:57 Speaker 1: and put him in a position role quote unquote role

23:01 Speaker 1: that maybe is not who he is as a player.

23:05 Speaker 1: We've seen this before. Okay, we've seen this. Yes, this

23:10 Speaker 1: is not me saying that, and I'm sure for you

23:13 Speaker 1: Maria as well, this is not you saying he's a

23:16 Speaker 1: bad hockey player or not a good player. But the

23:19 Speaker 1: fact of the matter is, this is a guy who

23:22 Speaker 1: was signed to be the number one center.

23:25 Speaker 2: He couldn't even be a number two center. In some

23:27 Speaker 2: instances this season, he got pushed down to the third

23:30 Speaker 2: line center.

23:31 Speaker 1: And in reality, a lot of his performance and his

23:35 Speaker 1: abilities more closely align with what you would expect from

23:40 Speaker 1: a solid third line center like a Charlie Coyle. Boston

23:44 Speaker 1: saw him as someone who could be a good matchup,

23:47 Speaker 1: deployment utility player. He was absorbing difficult defensive situations relatively responsibly.

23:55 Speaker 1: You know, he wasn't being particularly sheltered, but ultimately his

24:00 Speaker 1: impact was more reflective of a useful middle six as

24:04 Speaker 1: opposed to the elite two way anchor that you need

24:07 Speaker 1: to have as a good one seat. He was responsible,

24:11 Speaker 1: but his impact not particularly spectacular. Now, obviously, the other

24:18 Speaker 1: significant issue is while he is totally fine, good middle

24:23 Speaker 1: of the road player, he is thirty one with five

24:26 Speaker 1: more years left on a contract, and he is making

24:29 Speaker 1: seven point seventy five dollars and he's.

24:32 Speaker 2: Been put in a role that he is not particularly suited.

24:36 Speaker 2: This is such a bad situation for the Bruins to

24:40 Speaker 2: have put themselves in. Look the back issue to me now,

24:44 Speaker 2: I view it as a chronic back issue. This back

24:47 Speaker 2: issue started when he came to us in August of

24:51 Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, right he came into training camp with

24:54 Speaker 2: this back issue hurt right and something that apparently bothered

24:59 Speaker 2: him throughout the seat. We now have just finished another

25:02 Speaker 2: season and we've heard about this back injury. Yet again

25:06 Speaker 2: you're paying him like he's say, in between the number

25:11 Speaker 2: one number two center. You yourselves have had to push

25:14 Speaker 2: him down to a third line center. And there were

25:17 Speaker 2: instances that even when he was healthy and playing, I

25:21 Speaker 2: didn't notice him on the ice. And so I am

25:24 Speaker 2: of the mindset that if there's a way to remove

25:28 Speaker 2: yourself from this player and this contract, that I think

25:31 Speaker 2: it's time to seriously consider doing so. Now, maybe you

25:36 Speaker 2: can say the organizations set him up to fail. This

25:39 Speaker 2: is not new to the Boston Bruins. But then why

25:42 Speaker 2: would you hand him the boatload of money that you

25:44 Speaker 2: did and the term that you did. You had to

25:47 Speaker 2: have known there was something going on with this guy's

25:50 Speaker 2: back even before he came to you.

25:52 Speaker 1: I don't know.

25:52 Speaker 2: I just this is a player that I would work

25:56 Speaker 2: over time this season to try and cut my losses with.

26:00 Speaker 2: You need that money, even if it's only a portion

26:02 Speaker 2: of it. You need that money in other areas.

26:06 Speaker 1: Most realistic scenario is obviously he stays in Boston, But

26:11 Speaker 1: I think for me what I would like to see

26:13 Speaker 1: next season.

26:15 Speaker 2: It's so bad, though, But are you gonna put him

26:16 Speaker 2: at second or third line? That's a shit ton of money.

26:19 Speaker 1: I know that's the thing. He is overpaid for what

26:23 Speaker 1: he's producing in the role that he was hired to play.

26:28 Speaker 1: I think, considering the economics of it, I would rather

26:33 Speaker 1: even though I don't think it's the right financial move,

26:37 Speaker 1: I think it's the right move for the team that

26:41 Speaker 1: he plays third line, plays a middle six position. I

26:45 Speaker 1: understand that he is then going to be overpaid for

26:48 Speaker 1: playing a middle six. That's a lot of money to

26:50 Speaker 1: bury in the third line.

26:52 Speaker 2: But what are you gonna do.

26:53 Speaker 1: You're gonna then force him to be in a position

26:55 Speaker 1: that he's not really excelling at and then costing games

27:00 Speaker 1: or plus.

27:01 Speaker 2: If Sweeney found a way to unload the David Bacchus contract,

27:05 Speaker 2: he needs to find a way to unload this contract too.

27:09 Speaker 1: If you look just at his stats, he's not even

27:12 Speaker 1: necessarily making a positive impact on goals above replacement, or

27:17 Speaker 1: wins above replacement, or even standings points. Granted, most of

27:21 Speaker 1: the guys that we're going to talk about today all

27:23 Speaker 1: did worse this year than last year, So is this

27:27 Speaker 1: a transition issue? Not everyone did worse. I want to

27:31 Speaker 1: make that clear. Not every Boston Bruin was worse this

27:35 Speaker 1: season compared to last, but a lot of them were.

27:37 Speaker 1: And pretty much all of the guys we're going to

27:39 Speaker 1: talk about are worse. I get the financial piece, and

27:42 Speaker 1: if there's nobody else, then there's nobody else. But that's

27:45 Speaker 1: kind of where we're at two years in with two

27:48 Speaker 1: years worth of data. Then he played all the games

27:52 Speaker 1: last year in spite of being injured. He just then

27:54 Speaker 1: played through it, and then this year he didn't play game,

27:57 Speaker 1: which is admirable. But if you're taking the eye and

28:00 Speaker 1: I'm not noticing you for periods of time and you're

28:04 Speaker 1: not able to contribute in some manner, then what are

28:08 Speaker 1: we doing here? I asked you for seven point seventy

28:11 Speaker 1: five million freaking dollars. Yeah, and you want to talk

28:14 Speaker 1: about another person who has a very hefty contract. Let's

28:18 Speaker 1: switch gears. Then over to Hampuslin Holmes. Well, this is

28:21 Speaker 1: the guy who was on your radar this season mostly

28:24 Speaker 1: because he was pissing you off, and rightly so. Although

28:28 Speaker 1: fun fact this might shock you, this was not his

28:33 Speaker 1: highest number of penalty minutes season in his career. It

28:37 Speaker 1: was actually only his second worst, but he's been increasing

28:43 Speaker 1: in his penalty minutes almost every season, year over year

28:46 Speaker 1: since the beginning of his career. But some background. He

28:50 Speaker 1: came to Boston via a trade and then signed an

28:54 Speaker 1: immediate extension, so he had an eight year contract with

28:58 Speaker 1: an average gnenual value of six point five million. He's

29:01 Speaker 1: halfway through this contract already, and he's thirty two years old,

29:05 Speaker 1: and this season this was his first season back after

29:11 Speaker 1: breaking his kneecap at the very start of the season

29:13 Speaker 1: last year, and he still was in and out with

29:16 Speaker 1: some injury. I don't know that we really heard about

29:20 Speaker 1: his health situation and what was going on with him.

29:23 Speaker 1: He played sixty seven games, but he was pretty much

29:26 Speaker 1: right on the money in terms of his expected goals.

29:29 Speaker 1: Was a four point six and he scored five goals.

29:31 Speaker 1: He had twenty one assists and a pretty respectable defensive

29:35 Speaker 1: points share. He had a two point eight, which is

29:37 Speaker 1: decent for a defenseman and okay, goals above replacement and

29:42 Speaker 1: zero point five wins above replacement. So useful, but definitely

29:46 Speaker 1: not what we all remember hampus as, which was from

29:52 Speaker 1: three seasons ago where he was just an absolute machine.

29:56 Speaker 1: Based on some of my research into his numbers and everything,

30:01 Speaker 1: I think, and I'm gonna speak for myself. You can

30:05 Speaker 1: tell me if this is kind of also your thought

30:07 Speaker 1: pattern with him, But for me, I have felt that

30:11 Speaker 1: he's not been himself for a while. However, I think

30:17 Speaker 1: I have been using that perfect season and his unreal

30:21 Speaker 1: performance that season as the standard baseline of the kind

30:28 Speaker 1: of hockey that Hampus than Holme plays, and in looking

30:31 Speaker 1: a little bit further back into his past, into his

30:35 Speaker 1: time with Anaheim, Unfortunately, I think the way that we

30:39 Speaker 1: saw him play this season is closer to his baseline

30:44 Speaker 1: skills and his performance not what we saw. He's a

30:48 Speaker 1: transition oriented, two ways stabilizing defenceman and what we saw

30:54 Speaker 1: that offensive significance assists. Granted that perfect season, he only

31:00 Speaker 1: scored ten goals, but he had some ridiculous number of assists.

31:04 Speaker 1: The Hampus that we have seen this season is the

31:07 Speaker 1: Hampus that broke in. And I don't know how that

31:10 Speaker 1: makes you feel or it doesn't make me feel good.

31:12 Speaker 2: It doesn't make me feel good because again, you feel

31:17 Speaker 2: like your soul the billa goods, right, because what we

31:20 Speaker 2: saw from the early part of campus coming to Boston,

31:24 Speaker 2: the expectation was.

31:27 Speaker 1: And he showed us that almost immediately with.

31:30 Speaker 2: His fluid movement. His ability to carry the puck in

31:33 Speaker 2: to the offensive zone was strong defensively, but these injuries

31:38 Speaker 2: that have mounted up now have either hindered his ability

31:44 Speaker 2: or had an impact on his ability to skate explosively

31:48 Speaker 2: in the manner in which we saw him. Let's call

31:51 Speaker 2: a space a space. Charlie mckilboy lost the quarterback position

31:55 Speaker 2: on the unit one of the power play because Hampus

31:58 Speaker 2: Lindholm was a better option and his first shift Q

32:03 Speaker 2: being the power play is when he got hurt. So

32:05 Speaker 2: that experiment went down the toilet in a hurry. But

32:08 Speaker 2: how many of us had been saying, get Charlie mack

32:12 Speaker 2: off that unit one qbat, get campus out there. So

32:15 Speaker 2: my expectations, and maybe it's unfair of the player, but

32:19 Speaker 2: I'm basing it on what I saw your first year

32:22 Speaker 2: here with us, where I'm like, you're a joy to watch.

32:25 Speaker 2: I enjoyed watching you play. Where this year it was like, dude,

32:29 Speaker 2: I'm going to take your stick and I'm going to

32:31 Speaker 2: put it where the sun doesn't shine if you get

32:34 Speaker 2: one more stick infraction penalty all season long, all season long.

32:40 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's I'm a little bit. I am now

32:43 Speaker 1: a little bit worried about him, knowing now that the

32:49 Speaker 1: season that we saw from him this year is likely

32:52 Speaker 1: what we are to expect and see moving forward into

32:55 Speaker 1: the future. I don't know what his remaining time in

32:59 Speaker 1: Boston has gone to look like. You know, he's probably

33:02 Speaker 1: going if he stays on this contract, if they don't

33:04 Speaker 1: move him, if they don't trade him, He's likely to

33:07 Speaker 1: finish his career in Boston. It's a lot of money,

33:10 Speaker 1: and the cap is, yes, the cap is going up,

33:13 Speaker 1: and his percent of the cap is going to start

33:15 Speaker 1: is always going to start to go down. I just

33:18 Speaker 1: I don't know if it's who he has as a partner,

33:22 Speaker 1: if something was still off, because again I don't believe

33:25 Speaker 1: we know what his issues were, but he's one that

33:29 Speaker 1: has been then ultimately a little disappointing unfortunately to say

33:35 Speaker 1: the least.

33:36 Speaker 2: But he has also a contract that is not easy

33:39 Speaker 2: to move, and I you know, I said it, I've

33:41 Speaker 2: said it in our discord group and said it on

33:44 Speaker 2: our pod as well. Those the the Lindholme contracts, and

33:49 Speaker 2: it put them both together because they're not appealing contracts

33:54 Speaker 2: and again, easier said than done, but if there's an

33:57 Speaker 2: opportunity to move those contracts.

34:00 Speaker 1: Yep, speaking of someone who we've all had very different

34:04 Speaker 1: expectations of, especially going into this season, Mason Laura, this

34:08 Speaker 1: is believe it or not. Even though I've crept all

34:11 Speaker 1: over this kid.

34:11 Speaker 2: This is a tough one because you don't want to

34:15 Speaker 2: wave the white flag on a young kid, especially a defenseman,

34:18 Speaker 2: because we all know it takes longer for defenseman to

34:22 Speaker 2: mature in the NHL than it does forwards.

34:26 Speaker 1: Yes, there's a lot more that a defenceman has to

34:29 Speaker 1: earn about their position, about reading and understanding everything that's

34:34 Speaker 1: going on on the ice. That's why goalies take even

34:37 Speaker 1: longer to develop, because they have to take in even

34:40 Speaker 1: more information and understand it and apply all of their

34:43 Speaker 1: skill set. When I started prepping for this episode, I said,

34:47 Speaker 1: and even before the end of the season, there's no

34:49 Speaker 1: way that this kid is staying on this roster. There's

34:52 Speaker 1: no way.

34:53 Speaker 2: Well, I don't even know if the Bruins wanted because

34:55 Speaker 2: on the roster, because we heard the rumored trade potential

34:58 Speaker 2: packages during the trade dead and his name was always

35:01 Speaker 2: in them.

35:02 Speaker 1: And his season didn't actually end up on paper, it

35:05 Speaker 1: did not end up actually worse than it looked this

35:09 Speaker 1: year significantly better in terms of your favorite stat, the

35:14 Speaker 1: plus minus, he was a plus seventeen.

35:16 Speaker 2: And I know that's not the be all, end all stat,

35:18 Speaker 2: but it still counts for something.

35:20 Speaker 1: And here's the thing. So the two defensemen that we're

35:23 Speaker 1: going to talk about, and we can even maybe talk

35:25 Speaker 1: a little bit of comparison Peak and Lori, they are

35:28 Speaker 1: certainly not first pair, second pair maybe for Peak, third

35:33 Speaker 1: for Peak, third for Lorai. Lorai had started in the

35:38 Speaker 1: first pairing because he is an offensive defenceman, right, So

35:42 Speaker 1: he's got a lot of offensive transition value. He's got

35:45 Speaker 1: a lot of good puck moving and his possession driving

35:48 Speaker 1: ability is good. Granted he's not as strong on the

35:51 Speaker 1: puck as I think we would like him to be,

35:52 Speaker 1: but again, he's like twenty five years old in a

35:54 Speaker 1: string people, I don't know what you want to expect

35:56 Speaker 1: from him. Whereas Andrew Peak, he is a defensive defenceman.

36:01 Speaker 1: Think what Brandon Carlow had been on this team is

36:05 Speaker 1: what Andrew Peak is now. For Mason Laura he signed

36:09 Speaker 1: a two year, three point two million av contract. Again,

36:13 Speaker 1: he is a high talent offensive puck mover. That's who

36:16 Speaker 1: he is. That's all he ever will be. He will

36:19 Speaker 1: always be a defenseman. You can't just switch to being

36:22 Speaker 1: a forward. There's a lot involved in having that happen.

36:27 Speaker 1: Contract was signed with someone who is a defenceman and

36:30 Speaker 1: offensive defenseman. Those are very high value positions in the NHL.

36:37 Speaker 1: Even if he's somewhat volatile on paper, if you have

36:41 Speaker 1: constructed a well rounded team, his mistakes can be relatively

36:47 Speaker 1: easily forgiven and smoothed over by the team that's out

36:51 Speaker 1: there with him. Ultimately, in terms of what he cost

36:54 Speaker 1: this team out on the ice, once they got him

36:57 Speaker 1: off of the top line, it really wasn't that damaging.

37:01 Speaker 1: You know, He's still had a three point four defensive

37:04 Speaker 1: points share that in spite of those five games over

37:08 Speaker 1: the course of seventy seven games played, five of them

37:11 Speaker 1: were completely disastrous. He wasn't the only one performing completely disastrously,

37:16 Speaker 1: and he still had a three point four defensive points share. Now, granted,

37:20 Speaker 1: his goals above replacement were and the wins above replacement

37:23 Speaker 1: were negative but not horrible, so he was performing as

37:29 Speaker 1: you would expect someone who is all of twenty five

37:32 Speaker 1: and is offensive at his best, he can carry the

37:36 Speaker 1: puck cleanly through transition, he can extend the offensive zone possession,

37:40 Speaker 1: He creates passing lanes, and he activates offensively without necessarily

37:45 Speaker 1: creating too much chaos. But again the issue is his

37:49 Speaker 1: decision making. He over handles, he has poor reads under pressure,

37:52 Speaker 1: risky pinches. But again we've made the points that he's

37:55 Speaker 1: young and it takes time. This is not the Boston Bruins,

37:58 Speaker 1: is not the developmental team. That's the Providence Bruins. Right,

38:02 Speaker 1: they brought the kid up. Maybe they brought him up

38:04 Speaker 1: too early, which is they want to do. But sometimes

38:08 Speaker 1: we wonder about this organization's ability to make those decisions

38:12 Speaker 1: and to make good judgments about when a young player

38:15 Speaker 1: is ready or not ready to play. But I will

38:17 Speaker 1: give Mason more credit for he had been healthy, scratched

38:22 Speaker 1: and missed. Forget how many games he had missed as.

38:26 Speaker 2: A helping scratch, four or five, and he came back

38:30 Speaker 2: and he played well after those scratches.

38:33 Speaker 1: He does have continued upside.

38:36 Speaker 2: He does have a very team friendly Although I think

38:39 Speaker 2: we said it when we first heard the deal that

38:41 Speaker 2: three point two was a little too much, but it's

38:44 Speaker 2: still in the terms of salary, it's still relatively friendly salary,

38:48 Speaker 2: and he has one more year left, so that player

38:52 Speaker 2: could be of interest to another team if you're looking

38:56 Speaker 2: to fill priority openings that you have currently on your

38:59 Speaker 2: own roster.

39:01 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a reasonable salary for the type of player

39:06 Speaker 1: that he is, maybe not him specifically, but for his type,

39:10 Speaker 1: his archetype, the offensive defenseman. Again, they have a higher value.

39:14 Speaker 1: That's just how it is. And while going into this

39:18 Speaker 1: off season I was one hundred percent convinced that they

39:21 Speaker 1: were going to move him, I'm not one hundred percent

39:24 Speaker 1: sure that that would happen, at least in the off season.

39:27 Speaker 1: It all depends on what they can get in exchange

39:30 Speaker 1: for him, because I do think he has a high value,

39:33 Speaker 1: and if they won't just trade him willy nilly, I

39:37 Speaker 1: think no, no, no, no.

39:38 Speaker 2: And nor should they, because he should be viewed as

39:41 Speaker 2: an asset and for another year. But if a team

39:44 Speaker 2: approaches you and says, hey, ABCD, you should be listening,

39:49 Speaker 2: right yeah, yeah, and not for picks, not for prospects.

39:55 Speaker 2: I think he's enough of a value that I would

39:58 Speaker 2: want bodies. You're not going to get one to one

40:00 Speaker 2: for Mason Lauri, right, You're going to have to You're

40:03 Speaker 2: gonna have to have something in addition to Mason Laurai

40:08 Speaker 2: to make a hockey trade. And let's let's Facebax very

40:12 Speaker 2: as much as I shit on Sweeney and Neely, I

40:15 Speaker 2: will give Sweeney credit for knowing how to make cocky trades.

40:20 Speaker 2: What he's not as good at is identifying talent and

40:25 Speaker 2: putting a dollar value to that talent, as we can

40:28 Speaker 2: see from some of the contracts that we have just

40:31 Speaker 2: discussed currently on this roster and even past contracts. Yeah.

40:35 Speaker 1: Well, and I think it also depends on to your

40:38 Speaker 1: point earlier, what kind of team is the Boston Bruins

40:42 Speaker 1: team going to be? Because Laurai was brought up while

40:46 Speaker 1: Jim Montgomery was the head coach and his system, his

40:51 Speaker 1: approach was a very active and involved d well, a

40:54 Speaker 1: young player like Mason Laurai is going to fit into

40:57 Speaker 1: a system like that extremely well because he is very

41:00 Speaker 1: offensive mind. In fact, he's probably the most offensively minded

41:04 Speaker 1: defenseman on the team, and so he fit that system

41:08 Speaker 1: really well. But now we have a different coach who

41:11 Speaker 1: is trying to take the Bruins back to their defensive roots,

41:16 Speaker 1: and that is something that he does not fit into

41:19 Speaker 1: because he's too far on the offensive side. And I

41:24 Speaker 1: think what made Boston so successful for so long prior

41:28 Speaker 1: to the chaos of the last five years is the

41:32 Speaker 1: Boston Bruins had a very clear and very defined identity.

41:37 Speaker 1: The team is this, This is what it means to

41:40 Speaker 1: play Boston Bruins hockey. And it didn't matter who the

41:43 Speaker 1: coach was because that approach, the things that they valued

41:48 Speaker 1: in terms of how they played the game stayed consistent

41:53 Speaker 1: across multitude of coaches right now over the last five years,

41:58 Speaker 1: basically since the very end of Cassidy and through Montgomery

42:04 Speaker 1: through Storm. It almost seems like the coaching style is

42:08 Speaker 1: what is determining or other factors outside of the team

42:14 Speaker 1: are deciding how to play the hockey. And then so

42:18 Speaker 1: if that's the case, then you're making roster decisions based

42:21 Speaker 1: on how well can this player fit into this particular system,

42:26 Speaker 1: when the person who is deciding what that system is

42:29 Speaker 1: could be gone much faster, much easier than any player. Right.

42:34 Speaker 1: So I think that's the larger issue is that Boston

42:37 Speaker 1: has to either go back to the identity that they've

42:39 Speaker 1: always had, which is something that there are still plenty

42:42 Speaker 1: of players who fit into that identity who played under

42:45 Speaker 1: that identity. Or figure out who you are now and

42:49 Speaker 1: stick to it as part of a larger, longer term

42:51 Speaker 1: plan and pick players who can fit that because the

42:56 Speaker 1: players stick around longer than a coach, and he I

42:59 Speaker 1: think Mason and Laura is a casualty of that poor

43:03 Speaker 1: decision making. I think that's ultimately what it is. And

43:06 Speaker 1: as much as I've liked him, and I've enjoyed for

43:08 Speaker 1: the most part watching him play and seeing how he plays,

43:11 Speaker 1: because he's very different than the rest of the defenseman,

43:13 Speaker 1: I just don't think that he is the right fit anymore.

43:18 Speaker 1: And so the question is when does he get treated

43:21 Speaker 1: because his contract will end next season, okay, and you

43:24 Speaker 1: need to.

43:24 Speaker 2: Get something for him if you don't think he's a

43:27 Speaker 2: fit for your future bill because you've never heard his

43:30 Speaker 2: name brought up in that regard, right, I mean, you

43:32 Speaker 2: haven't heard it publicly. We hear about this new core

43:36 Speaker 2: and it seems like from what I'm reading, they want

43:39 Speaker 2: to make Pavo Zaka a long term ruin as well.

43:42 Speaker 2: Where do all these other guys fit in, and if

43:44 Speaker 2: they don't fit in, you can't just let them walk, right.

43:48 Speaker 2: You shouldn't for nothing.

43:50 Speaker 1: Andrew Peak, He's an interesting one to me because I've

43:54 Speaker 1: always enjoyed his game. Now we put him on this

43:57 Speaker 1: list because you brought to my attention that a number

44:02 Speaker 1: of Bruins fans within the population of the nation have

44:06 Speaker 1: beef with him, whether it was from specific incidences or

44:10 Speaker 1: general play. This is not necessarily my take, but I'm

44:14 Speaker 1: definitely going to be interested to hear because you listen

44:16 Speaker 1: to all of the local sports talk radio. So Pete's

44:19 Speaker 1: finishing off his three year contract for very little money

44:23 Speaker 1: two point seventy five AAV. He played two seasons of

44:27 Speaker 1: this three season contract with Boston after being traded from Columbus.

44:32 Speaker 1: He is a defensive defenseman. He's really like a unicorn

44:38 Speaker 1: in that regard when you think about the regulars of

44:42 Speaker 1: the defensive corps. Now, he's an interesting one because I

44:47 Speaker 1: also looked at some of my favorite stats in terms

44:50 Speaker 1: of clear usage, your favorite stat plus minus. He did

44:54 Speaker 1: not have a good season. He was a minus twelve,

44:56 Speaker 1: which was the worps which hey bet the last year. Okay,

45:00 Speaker 1: he had five goals. It was more than was expected

45:03 Speaker 1: Ninus sis. He had it all right, reasonably respectable defensive

45:07 Speaker 1: points share of a one point seventy five, but his

45:10 Speaker 1: goals above replacement not spectacular minus nine and his wins

45:14 Speaker 1: above replacement were minus one and a half. Now it

45:18 Speaker 1: seems like it's not good, but he had very high

45:21 Speaker 1: usage in difficult deployment situations, which really shows a lot

45:26 Speaker 1: of coaches trust and identifying his reliability when it comes

45:32 Speaker 1: to his defensive responsibilities. Even if you have a player

45:36 Speaker 1: like him and they're defending really, really hard at the

45:39 Speaker 1: end of the day, Because of this particular season, the

45:42 Speaker 1: puck was in our defensive zone way too frequently, so

45:45 Speaker 1: he had a lot of extra work that had to

45:48 Speaker 1: be done, but he survived it. He ate a lot

45:52 Speaker 1: of those minutes, and he ultimately ended up being a

45:57 Speaker 1: somewhat reliable I believe he was for a good stretch

46:01 Speaker 1: on the PK. Granted the PK wasn't particularly awesome at

46:04 Speaker 1: the very end, but again, it doesn't matter who the

46:07 Speaker 1: cast of characters is. That's kind of I would call

46:09 Speaker 1: that a wash. He's definitely a quieter type of defenseman,

46:12 Speaker 1: especially in today's NHL where you're getting more attention paid

46:16 Speaker 1: to those offensive defensemen or those two way players. He's

46:21 Speaker 1: defense first, that's his job, that's his home. So I'm

46:25 Speaker 1: curious to hear what are the people saying in terms

46:29 Speaker 1: of why they are displeased with him. Because a competent

46:33 Speaker 1: third line defenseman, he falls within the salary expectation, he

46:38 Speaker 1: is a right shot. Those are rarer. The defensive defenceman rare,

46:43 Speaker 1: those kinds of defencemen. They retain a lot of value

46:46 Speaker 1: with the coaching staff. So what we see in value

46:51 Speaker 1: with players like him very different in reality with what

46:54 Speaker 1: coaching staff sees in values. Tell me about his deal.

46:58 Speaker 2: Then I think the issue, and it's maybe through no

47:01 Speaker 2: faults of his own, is Andrew Peak should be viewed

47:04 Speaker 2: as a dep guy. You should not be viewed as

47:07 Speaker 2: someone who is part of your regular, recurring, login, lots

47:11 Speaker 2: of minutes type of defenseman. And I think there were

47:15 Speaker 2: instances that and you can say this just about anybody

47:18 Speaker 2: on the Bruins team, but he was exposed defensively on

47:22 Speaker 2: certain occasions. I look at a guy like Andrew Peak,

47:25 Speaker 2: and as much as I love myself stay at home

47:28 Speaker 2: defenseman on a team, I also term him as what

47:32 Speaker 2: I refer to as a Jag just another guy. And

47:35 Speaker 2: so when you're trying to retool rebuild, how many Jags

47:40 Speaker 2: are you going to maintain on your roster when you

47:44 Speaker 2: need your next full team?

47:46 Speaker 1: Okay?

47:47 Speaker 2: And so you have decisions to make. And there's Andrew

47:50 Speaker 2: Peak is a right shock defenseman, as is Henry yokih

47:54 Speaker 2: are you, But as we alluded to earlier on in

47:57 Speaker 2: this podcast, there ruins or rumor to be interested in

48:02 Speaker 2: another bright shot defenseman who has a bit of a

48:06 Speaker 2: more proven brack record. So I think Andrew Peak will

48:10 Speaker 2: end up being somewhat of a casualty of this roster.

48:14 Speaker 2: I would be surprised if Andrew Peak is back in

48:18 Speaker 2: a Bruin's uniform in the upcoming season. And he's been

48:22 Speaker 2: a serviceable player. He is a serviceable player, but you

48:25 Speaker 2: need more than that when you're building your team from

48:29 Speaker 2: the back end moving forward. Is he part of that rebuild?

48:33 Speaker 1: I don't think so, But what do I know? It

48:35 Speaker 1: just is going to come down to what does this

48:37 Speaker 1: team want in terms of not just their whole team identity,

48:42 Speaker 1: but their defensive identity.

48:44 Speaker 2: And don't get me wrong, you need some of those

48:47 Speaker 2: guys on your poster. But if you're going to stand

48:50 Speaker 2: up there and tell me that you want to be

48:53 Speaker 2: back in the thick of things to contend to the

48:56 Speaker 2: Stanley Cup, then you've got to minimize the number of

48:59 Speaker 2: jags you have on.

49:00 Speaker 1: Because one potential saving grace is the fact that he

49:05 Speaker 1: is the stay at home defenceman and nobody else is.

49:10 Speaker 1: I don't know where how that fits into the plan

49:14 Speaker 1: to what the Bruins want in terms of what they

49:17 Speaker 1: want their defense to look like. Overall. I wouldn't be

49:20 Speaker 1: surprised if they let him walk in a month and

49:25 Speaker 1: a half, in six weeks, I wouldn't be surprised.

49:27 Speaker 2: They may just say to him, go out and see

49:30 Speaker 2: what's out there. If someone's making you an offera, come

49:33 Speaker 2: back and talk to us if we think we can

49:35 Speaker 2: match it, or if we think it's hey, you're better

49:37 Speaker 2: served to go there, right, because you know they don't

49:40 Speaker 2: have piles of cash, right, should just be throwing around

49:43 Speaker 2: this off season. Yeah, I think their status is somewhat

49:47 Speaker 2: up in the air. I think that's the best and

49:49 Speaker 2: the most accurate thing we can say on this podcast.

49:52 Speaker 1: On May eighteen, It's not a question of can the

49:55 Speaker 1: Bruins make it work with what they have. Absolutely they

49:59 Speaker 1: did this year, and if they had to do it

50:00 Speaker 1: again next year, I don't think I would be disappointed.

50:03 Speaker 2: But you can't be relying on your goalies to save

50:07 Speaker 2: your ass the game after game when you're giving up

50:10 Speaker 2: what were they at, six or seven team in the league,

50:14 Speaker 2: giving up the most high danger scoring opportunities. That's not

50:19 Speaker 2: a great stat And for Don Sweeney to sit there

50:22 Speaker 2: and say, if goalies made the saves, I.

50:24 Speaker 1: Shouldn't put him in that position.

50:26 Speaker 2: What the fuck?

50:27 Speaker 1: Don? I would hate to see someone like Andrew Peak

50:31 Speaker 1: go because I've been, Like I said, I've been satisfied

50:34 Speaker 1: for the most part. I have been too.

50:36 Speaker 2: But when you're in the process of doing what the

50:39 Speaker 2: Bruins are doing right now, there are casualties to your

50:43 Speaker 2: roster and sometimes you have to make difficult decisions. This

50:47 Speaker 2: might be a hard one for them to make. But

50:50 Speaker 2: if someone calls you up and blows you over for

50:53 Speaker 2: an offer that you know, hey, Mason Mora and one

50:55 Speaker 2: of your draft picks or whatever, for something else that

50:58 Speaker 2: you're like, oh, this could help us in the fat,

51:00 Speaker 2: then of course you're going to take that under advisement,

51:02 Speaker 2: if not jump on it exactly exactly.

51:05 Speaker 1: We have forty four days until free agency, so in

51:10 Speaker 1: the span of forty four days, we may start to

51:13 Speaker 1: see some trades, especially as we get closer and closer

51:16 Speaker 1: to the Stanley Cup Finals, and then we will see

51:20 Speaker 1: how much this Boston Bruins roster changes or doesn't change, and.

51:24 Speaker 2: If it doesn't if it doesn't change, boy oh boy

51:27 Speaker 2: going into next season, the amount of criticism that we'll

51:32 Speaker 2: be levied at Don Tweeney and Camp nearly could be monumental. Yes,

51:38 Speaker 2: but it's early. It's very very early in this whole

51:41 Speaker 2: process of rafting and free agency and potentially making making

51:46 Speaker 2: trades that you know will will wait on those conversations.

51:51 Speaker 1: Yes, and there are a number of players that we

51:53 Speaker 1: haven't even discussed yet and we will be discussing over

51:55 Speaker 1: the next month who are coming to the end of

51:58 Speaker 1: their contracts as well well, or are entering into a

52:01 Speaker 1: final year. So if they're in their final year, they

52:04 Speaker 1: can be extended, So we'll be talking about them coming

52:07 Speaker 1: up in the next few weeks. We'll be talking about

52:10 Speaker 1: Victor Arvidson. That's an interesting conversation to have. Well, we

52:14 Speaker 1: did a player profile on him last August and so

52:18 Speaker 1: we're going to take some time to review if our

52:22 Speaker 1: evaluations and our predictions about him were correct spoiler they were,

52:27 Speaker 1: and what we think could or should happen in regards

52:30 Speaker 1: to his contract because that is one of the ones

52:33 Speaker 1: that's expiring at the end of June. And then we'll

52:35 Speaker 1: also be talking about a young upcomer that we didn't

52:39 Speaker 1: really even have time to talk about last year, Freezer Minton.

52:43 Speaker 1: And then a review of the free agency signings that

52:47 Speaker 1: happened last year prior to this year's free agency signing

52:51 Speaker 1: to see was last year a good free agency year

52:55 Speaker 1: for Boston or not. So those are things that are

52:58 Speaker 1: coming up even though there's no Boston Bruins hockey happening.

53:01 Speaker 1: It doesn't mean we don't have something to talk about.

53:04 Speaker 1: But any final thoughts on what.

53:08 Speaker 2: We've talked about, Maria, No, I'm looking forward to Game seven,

53:11 Speaker 2: which is always exciting. It seems like Buffalo, even at

53:15 Speaker 2: this early morning eleven am hour Eastern conference time, is

53:19 Speaker 2: very pumped up. But for them, I think it's I mean,

53:22 Speaker 2: what does the love of game seven, whether or not

53:24 Speaker 2: you have a dog in the fight?

53:26 Speaker 1: Like Game seven's are just unbelievable.

53:28 Speaker 2: Here's what I will say, though, yes, I want the

53:31 Speaker 2: officials to swallow their whistles because they have made themselves

53:36 Speaker 2: way too much of a presence in these Stanley Cup finals.

53:41 Speaker 2: Let the game be decided five on five play unless

53:45 Speaker 2: there's something so freaking egregious that you simply cannot.

53:50 Speaker 1: Let it go.

53:51 Speaker 2: Okay, fine, a stick to the face that draws blood,

53:54 Speaker 2: I get it, But the rest of this bullshit. Let

53:57 Speaker 2: the game be decided by the five and stayed the

54:01 Speaker 2: hell out of the way.

54:03 Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Hockey God's willing. Make sure you

54:07 Speaker 1: like and subscribe for more content, and be sure to

54:09 Speaker 1: leave a rating and review to help other Bruvens fans

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54:17 Speaker 1: Tape MK and on substack at Tape to Tape dot

54:20 Speaker 1: substack dot com. Any last words, go Be's, Go B's.