Jonathan Aspirot: The Bruins' Most Underrated Defenseman | Ep. 152

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0:19 Speaker 2: Today, here's a chance pop right down with goalie scars.

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0:51 Speaker 2: Welcome in everyone to another episode of Ruins Tape to Tape.

0:55 Speaker 2: I am your host today, Caroline with a K, and

0:59 Speaker 2: I'm welcoming in my fantastic co host, Maria from Watertown.

1:05 Speaker 1: How's it going Maria? It is going great. The heat

1:08 Speaker 1: has finally broken for a little bit here, so I'm

1:11 Speaker 1: enjoying having some windows open and not having to listen

1:14 Speaker 1: to the incessant sound of freaking air conditioners.

1:17 Speaker 2: But well, it may be summer, but we still have

1:23 Speaker 2: plenty to talk about. We are talking about Jonathan Asbureau

1:29 Speaker 2: as part of our ongoing summer series where we discuss

1:35 Speaker 2: players that maybe we didn't have a chance to really

1:38 Speaker 2: do a deep dive on during the NHL regular season.

1:43 Speaker 2: And this is a guy who quite frankly, came out

1:48 Speaker 2: of nowhere and has turned into quite a valuable assets

1:54 Speaker 2: on the Bruins' back end. So I'll give a little

1:57 Speaker 2: bit of a quick background on John and Asparo. He

2:01 Speaker 2: was undrafted. He's currently twenty seven year old defenseman from Quebec.

2:05 Speaker 2: He spent the previous six seasons in the AHL, and

2:09 Speaker 2: he actually started in Providence's last fall in the fall

2:14 Speaker 2: of twenty twenty five. He came to the Bruins organization

2:18 Speaker 2: via the free agency in July of twenty five, where

2:21 Speaker 2: he signed a one year, two way contract for league

2:25 Speaker 2: minimuma of seven to seventy five K. But he got

2:28 Speaker 2: his shot really, I mean, he went to camp, he

2:31 Speaker 2: did a phenomenal Jaba camp. Obviously, there were a lot

2:35 Speaker 2: of really great players vying for spots, but he got

2:38 Speaker 2: called up really quickly in October when campus Linnholm was

2:42 Speaker 2: placed on IR So it turned out actually, and we'll

2:47 Speaker 2: talk about this a little bit, very similar in terms

2:51 Speaker 2: of the style of play. So it was a really

2:53 Speaker 2: great matchup for calling him up for Hampus, and he

2:57 Speaker 2: actually did so well in that stretch of time that

3:00 Speaker 2: by January he earned his very first NHL contract with

3:05 Speaker 2: an extension for two years at a total of one

3:10 Speaker 2: point seven seventy five or eighty seven thousand aa V.

3:15 Speaker 2: He played sixty one games, averaging about sixteen minutes of

3:19 Speaker 2: ice time, so definitely more of a third line, third

3:23 Speaker 2: pairing guy this particular season. But his goals above replacement

3:29 Speaker 2: was an eight point five, his wins above replacement one

3:33 Speaker 2: point four, and his standings points above replacement was a

3:37 Speaker 2: two point six. And Maria, you're gonna love this. He

3:40 Speaker 2: had the highest plus minus rating on the team with

3:44 Speaker 2: a plus thirty thirty. Just crazy, unable. We know that

3:50 Speaker 2: you you'll have a good defenseman. What was your takeaway

3:54 Speaker 2: with Jonathan Asperau this season?

3:58 Speaker 1: Very serviceable, very solid, consistent defensive play. My concern is

4:05 Speaker 1: that he spent a lot of his time with Charlie Knackavoy,

4:09 Speaker 1: and Charlie's supposed to be your number one d guy, right,

4:13 Speaker 1: So you're seemingly having and people who cover the team

4:19 Speaker 1: saying it was beneficial for Charlie to have Jonathan Asparo

4:25 Speaker 1: as his defensive partner. I mean, there's no denying that

4:29 Speaker 1: Charlie did have one of his better season, right, Yes,

4:35 Speaker 1: What I question is the fact that is Jonathan Asparo

4:39 Speaker 1: supposed to be a number one parent guy. I don't believe. So,

4:44 Speaker 1: I don't believe. So he's not getting power play minutes, right,

4:49 Speaker 1: was he playing on the p K consistently? I don't know.

4:53 Speaker 1: I mean, but there's no denying the numbers. There are

4:55 Speaker 1: no denying the statistics and the numbers in that this

4:59 Speaker 1: is a player who realized I'm here. I want to stay.

5:04 Speaker 1: I don't want to be sent back down to Providence.

5:07 Speaker 1: But he's not a number one pairing guy, because if

5:12 Speaker 1: he was, he should be getting minutes on the PK

5:15 Speaker 1: or and or the penalty kit.

5:17 Speaker 2: I don't know.

5:18 Speaker 1: But in terms of was he a surprise and a

5:21 Speaker 1: pleasant surprise? APPS, A freaking lutely he was. Is he

5:26 Speaker 1: on a very good deal with the Bruins? Apps A

5:30 Speaker 1: freakingsolutely yes.

5:32 Speaker 2: What I really like about Jonathan Asparo and I think

5:36 Speaker 2: the reason why he was a great partner when he

5:40 Speaker 2: was paired up with Charlie McAvoy. He is a no

5:45 Speaker 2: frills kind of two ways support defense.

5:49 Speaker 1: He's not flashy. He keeps his game simple.

5:53 Speaker 2: Simple.

5:54 Speaker 1: Keeps his game simple means for me, I need our

5:58 Speaker 1: defensive war to try and make the first play on

6:02 Speaker 1: the puck when people are coming into your own end,

6:04 Speaker 1: and I want to see that you can move the

6:07 Speaker 1: puck out of our end quickly or smartly. I want

6:11 Speaker 1: you to make a smart play when you get that puck. Yes,

6:15 Speaker 1: one hundred percent this guy. He is a mobile support defenseman.

6:20 Speaker 1: So what does that mean.

6:21 Speaker 2: He's got great mobility and excellent passing with some offensive abilities.

6:25 Speaker 2: I mean again, he scored three goals, ten assists.

6:28 Speaker 1: I mean he's not going to be but the best

6:31 Speaker 1: to that is he allowed Charlie to have one of

6:35 Speaker 1: his better offensive years. Yes, he's incredibly versatile in that

6:40 Speaker 1: regard because he is so trustworthy. Coaches love this kind

6:44 Speaker 1: of player. He's the kind of defenceman that fans are

6:48 Speaker 1: really gonna almost and I don't mean this in any

6:50 Speaker 1: kind of offensive way, but offensive way. They're not going

6:54 Speaker 1: to notice him because he's doing his job. But the

6:57 Speaker 1: reason why I think he did so well in Boston and.

7:01 Speaker 2: Was so successful is because he has such a solid

7:04 Speaker 2: ability to transition and he can play aggressively in the

7:07 Speaker 2: neutral zone. And this was incredibly valuable because Sturm's system

7:14 Speaker 2: was employing the one two two method, which is effectively

7:18 Speaker 2: what I always like to call the neutral zone Trap's cousin, right,

7:22 Speaker 2: And it means engaging the defense a little bit further

7:26 Speaker 2: up in the neutral zone and shutting things down. And

7:29 Speaker 2: so as a result, he was really really good at

7:31 Speaker 2: this and prevented a lot of lengthy defensive zone time

7:39 Speaker 2: when he was on the ice. So what's his ceiling?

7:42 Speaker 2: He is not going to be consistently the top pair guy.

7:48 Speaker 2: That's twofold one, because I think his skill set and

7:53 Speaker 2: ability isn't really quite there. But because of just how

7:57 Speaker 2: versatile he is, he's gonna get moved around to be

8:01 Speaker 2: wherever the coaches need him to be. When they need

8:04 Speaker 2: a guy to play a simple game to ensure that

8:10 Speaker 2: there are going to be clean exits and good possession

8:14 Speaker 2: depending on even from game to game who they're going

8:17 Speaker 2: to be playing against, he's the guy. He's that kind

8:20 Speaker 2: of player. He's not being a he's not a massive

8:24 Speaker 2: tip the scales guy, but enough that he is making

8:29 Speaker 2: an incredibly positive impact shift after shift.

8:33 Speaker 1: So what do you now? The Ruins are going to

8:36 Speaker 1: start the upcoming season without Charlie mclvoyd because of the suspension, Right, Yeah,

8:41 Speaker 1: so that really will impact the Bruins' defensive pairings and

8:47 Speaker 1: their death for the first I believe it got seven games.

8:50 Speaker 2: Yeah, my correct in that.

8:52 Speaker 1: So yeah, And I'm looking at the current roster and

8:57 Speaker 1: the Bruins' depth of defense here, So that means I

9:02 Speaker 1: would assume I don't know who's going to jump to

9:05 Speaker 1: that number one spot. Is it going to be Hips

9:08 Speaker 1: or is it going to be Zadora? And then where

9:11 Speaker 1: does Asparo fit in? Where does Borgan fit in? Where

9:14 Speaker 1: does Connor Clifton Yoki Hart. There's a lot of questions here,

9:18 Speaker 1: and none of these names make me feel it would

9:22 Speaker 1: be confident right now. I know to start those first

9:27 Speaker 1: seven games, but I mean, where do you see Jonathan

9:31 Speaker 1: Asparo fitting in with this? Did the Bruins want to

9:34 Speaker 1: keep him with Charlie McAvoy because it did give Charlie

9:38 Speaker 1: the opportunity to spread his wings offensively, because God knows

9:43 Speaker 1: that is necessary. You've got to get more production offensively

9:49 Speaker 1: from your defenceman.

9:51 Speaker 2: I think so it's hard to say, because the start

9:55 Speaker 2: of the season is going to be a little bit

9:57 Speaker 2: of a circus because of the fact that Charlie McAvoy

10:01 Speaker 2: isn't going to be playing in the first because of

10:04 Speaker 2: basic two weeks of the season. Now for that stretch

10:08 Speaker 2: of time, who steps up. I think Sturm is going

10:12 Speaker 2: to make the decision based on what he sees at camp.

10:17 Speaker 2: The pessimist in me, the sin in me, is going

10:21 Speaker 2: to say, well, it's just going to go straight to

10:23 Speaker 2: hampus and that's how it is, and whether or not

10:28 Speaker 2: he's the right.

10:28 Speaker 3: Guy, I would what I would like to see is

10:32 Speaker 3: to see that the decision is genuinely made based on

10:37 Speaker 3: how things go at the start of the season, and

10:40 Speaker 3: is that Nikita Zadorov.

10:43 Speaker 2: I wouldn't be mad about it.

10:44 Speaker 1: In fact, I think when I said last season, I

10:47 Speaker 1: wanted him to get a look at on one of

10:50 Speaker 1: the power play units. I think he has. He certainly

10:54 Speaker 1: knows how to skate, he's not afraid to carry the

10:56 Speaker 1: puck in He's big enough that he's protecting the when

11:00 Speaker 1: he's carrying it in these they I mean, these are

11:03 Speaker 1: all open ended questions or all open ended questions. But

11:07 Speaker 1: to your earlier point, it adds to the value of

11:11 Speaker 1: a Jonathan Asparrow when you know you're you have a

11:15 Speaker 1: guy on defense who is less likely to take those risks,

11:20 Speaker 1: is more likely to make a smart play with the puck.

11:23 Speaker 1: So that it opens up the opportunity for potentially your

11:28 Speaker 1: deep partner to be able to make a little bit

11:32 Speaker 1: of an offensive play.

11:33 Speaker 2: Yeah. The problem though, also is the fact that all

11:37 Speaker 2: three of the players that we have just mentioned are

11:40 Speaker 2: all left handed, and Charlie McAvoy is a right handed

11:45 Speaker 2: yeah defenceman. You know, it goes without saying, but I

11:49 Speaker 2: will say it.

11:49 Speaker 1: Are other right handed defense men, and I think that's

11:52 Speaker 1: why they've brought in Connor Clifton, who's right handed, Will Borgan,

11:57 Speaker 1: who they just got from the Rangers right hand how good.

12:00 Speaker 2: Yoki Haru is also right handed.

12:03 Speaker 1: So that's the challenge, right both the forward skaters not

12:09 Speaker 1: necessarily a murderer's row of right handed defense. Right there's

12:13 Speaker 1: a lot of we're in.

12:15 Speaker 2: Flux right now in both the front and in the back.

12:19 Speaker 2: And I think whoever it is that the coaching staff

12:23 Speaker 2: decides is going to take on that role while Charlie

12:28 Speaker 2: McAvoy is out, whoever they partner him with, it has

12:33 Speaker 2: to be a given. And I think that Jonathan Aspero

12:38 Speaker 2: is that kind of player that it wouldn't shock me

12:42 Speaker 2: if they have to put somebody in to a role

12:46 Speaker 2: that perhaps they're not necessarily always in, which is crazy

12:51 Speaker 2: to think about the fact that we just don't have

12:54 Speaker 2: that next guy that we could easily tap. I mean, yes,

12:58 Speaker 2: we're talking about Zadorov, who is a next guy, and

13:03 Speaker 2: Hampus to some degree, but again they're left handed. They're

13:06 Speaker 2: on the left side. So it wouldn't shock me though,

13:09 Speaker 2: if Asparo has that opportunity, because he is the kind

13:14 Speaker 2: of player that coaches love because he is that meat

13:18 Speaker 2: and potatoes, simple defenceman, and he can hold his own

13:25 Speaker 2: even if he's not as flashy or noticeable as our

13:29 Speaker 2: big boys or the problem children. It's it's also partly

13:33 Speaker 2: why I love this guy as a defenceman. He's not

13:36 Speaker 2: a massive in terms of size. He's got a little

13:40 Speaker 2: bit of similarity in style from the good things that

13:44 Speaker 2: we loved about Matt Grislick, some of the things that

13:47 Speaker 2: we loved about Derek Forber, although he's a little bit

13:50 Speaker 2: more mobile, he moves around a little bit more than Forbert.

13:53 Speaker 2: What I find interesting as a good comparison stylistically is

13:58 Speaker 2: with Connor Clifton, and we're going to be revisiting Connor

14:02 Speaker 2: Clifton in a later episode this summer to reacquaint ourselves

14:07 Speaker 2: with him and what he has done since he last

14:09 Speaker 2: played in Boston. But the two of them play in

14:14 Speaker 2: terms of their physicality and their energy somewhat similarly. Now, granted,

14:19 Speaker 2: we would always talk about Cliffy hockey as not just

14:23 Speaker 2: high energy and high physicality, but a lot of times

14:26 Speaker 2: he would be a little bit of a riskier player.

14:30 Speaker 2: Although to not give me as much gray hair as

14:33 Speaker 2: this and Laura, however, I think that could be a

14:37 Speaker 2: pairing that would be actually a hell of a lot

14:39 Speaker 2: of fun because you've got two players then who have

14:43 Speaker 2: a high degree of physicality and energy, who can move

14:47 Speaker 2: the puck, get it out, and if Clifton can play

14:50 Speaker 2: a simple, smart game of hockey, you could have quite

14:53 Speaker 2: a dynamic duo in your back end. Maybe you want

14:57 Speaker 2: to split them up, maybe you want to spread the

14:59 Speaker 2: wealth in terms of how that high energy. But the

15:01 Speaker 2: fact that Clifton as alrighty Asparo is a lefty, could

15:05 Speaker 2: be a very interesting combination come this fall for your

15:09 Speaker 2: third pairing. And let's be clear also the fact that

15:12 Speaker 2: the way that Marco Sturm played and used his defenceman

15:16 Speaker 2: a little bit different than what we've seen in the

15:18 Speaker 2: past and different than what we see on a lot

15:20 Speaker 2: of other teams in the sense that there was not

15:23 Speaker 2: a massive spread in terms of minutes. You know, we

15:25 Speaker 2: didn't really see guys playing twenty eight minute games, but

15:30 Speaker 2: you had players like McAvoy and Linnholm doing like twenty three,

15:36 Speaker 2: maybe twenty four minutes, and then third pairing guys still

15:40 Speaker 2: getting sixteen seventeen minutes on average. I mean, that's not

15:43 Speaker 2: a huge spread. So just because we will likely see

15:48 Speaker 2: Asporo most of the time playing on that third pairing

15:51 Speaker 2: doesn't mean that we're not going to see him. Because

15:53 Speaker 2: this is a guy who gets tapped for a variety

15:56 Speaker 2: of reasons because of the degree of trust that coaches

15:59 Speaker 2: had in a player like him, and how much he

16:03 Speaker 2: thrives in Storm's style of play, and maybe playing with

16:09 Speaker 2: the top I mean Charlie Mapple boys on the ice

16:13 Speaker 2: against other team's top lines, right, That's something to be

16:18 Speaker 2: said that the coaching staff has a comfort level with

16:22 Speaker 2: pairing Jonathan with Charlie against those top one, top two

16:27 Speaker 2: lines during the game situation. Yeah, exactly. So this is

16:31 Speaker 2: a guy who I think could find himself on the

16:35 Speaker 2: Bruins back end for a good stretch of time. He

16:40 Speaker 2: is there for like no money. I think his value

16:44 Speaker 2: exceeds what they're paying him. Don Sweeney and company are

16:48 Speaker 2: certainly going to use this season as an evaluative season. Grant, yes,

16:54 Speaker 2: he already has that contract extension and they can't extend

16:57 Speaker 2: him again until twenty twenty eight. But I would love

17:01 Speaker 2: to see this defenceman come back and play the exact

17:06 Speaker 2: same kind of game again. And I don't think that

17:10 Speaker 2: what we saw, based on my understanding of the style

17:14 Speaker 2: of player that he is, his past history, I think

17:16 Speaker 2: what we saw is what we're going to get. And

17:19 Speaker 2: it was even evident when he was out. He was

17:23 Speaker 2: injured briefly and it was chaos. It was chaos in

17:28 Speaker 2: that back end.

17:29 Speaker 1: Yes, you are right because his consistency level of play.

17:34 Speaker 1: Don't underestimate how important that is. I mean, not only

17:39 Speaker 1: to his deep partner and his alignments, but to his goalies. Yes, yeah,

17:44 Speaker 1: my god, most of the Bruins team last season they

17:48 Speaker 1: were consistently inconsistent where it was peaks and valleys for everybody.

17:54 Speaker 1: But then to have that for your goaltenders. I mean,

17:57 Speaker 1: we mentioned in a previous episode just how much Jeremy

18:02 Speaker 1: Swayman was doing the load that he was carrying for

18:06 Speaker 1: this team, and to have a defenceman that you don't

18:11 Speaker 1: really ever have to worry.

18:13 Speaker 2: About worry about you is worth his weight in gold.

18:17 Speaker 2: That's also one of the benefits of having a player

18:21 Speaker 2: like Aspiro, where he's twenty seven, so he's no baby.

18:26 Speaker 2: Granted he's not spent a ton of time at the

18:29 Speaker 2: NHL level, but he knows who he is as a player.

18:33 Speaker 2: He knows what he brings. This is what I do,

18:36 Speaker 2: this is how I play, and that quiet confidence shows

18:41 Speaker 2: up in how he plays the game. So I love him.

18:46 Speaker 2: I think you do too. His story is.

18:49 Speaker 1: Great, his story is yes, and I admire his willingness

18:55 Speaker 1: to take advantage of the opportunity. I think in a

18:58 Speaker 1: lot of instances, you know, we have seen. You know

19:02 Speaker 1: we've criticized. I have criticized the Bruins for how they

19:07 Speaker 1: don't seem to be able to develop these young players.

19:09 Speaker 1: But by the same token, there have been instances where

19:12 Speaker 1: some of the young players haven't taken advantage of the

19:16 Speaker 1: opportunities that they have been presented with. And although Jonathan

19:20 Speaker 1: Asparo is not a young player, he's not, but he

19:24 Speaker 1: understands the fact that I'm here now, and I'm not

19:29 Speaker 1: giving anyone any reason to send me back down just yet. Right.

19:33 Speaker 2: I like it here, And that's the attitude that I

19:37 Speaker 2: think is going to keep him as the number five

19:42 Speaker 2: or number six. He's not going to be the number six,

19:47 Speaker 2: number seven, you know, number seven, number eight guy.

19:50 Speaker 1: No, no, no, agreed, agreed, agreed.

19:52 Speaker 2: So love this guy.

19:54 Speaker 1: Let's see if he can grow his game, if he

19:56 Speaker 1: can kill a penalty or two along the way, even better,

20:00 Speaker 1: I mean he might. He might not have any choice, honestly,

20:04 Speaker 1: right with Charlie being out for seven games, and so

20:07 Speaker 1: maybe that's another component of his game that will see

20:11 Speaker 1: grow a little bit. Yeah, it's always good for the

20:14 Speaker 1: coaching staff to have options.

20:16 Speaker 2: That is exactly what he provides. And I would really

20:19 Speaker 2: love to see him a little bit on the penalty

20:21 Speaker 2: kill because he has that ability to get the puck

20:26 Speaker 2: out and he is good with transition. So why not? Yeah?

20:31 Speaker 2: Not that to me, I think would translate. All I

20:35 Speaker 2: know is that this is a player who has incredible

20:37 Speaker 2: value for the Boston Bruins. They were stupidly lucky with

20:42 Speaker 2: him in just how well he fit in. I mean

20:47 Speaker 2: I think that they knew that obviously there was something there,

20:50 Speaker 2: especially going through camp, but I'm sure that none of

20:54 Speaker 2: them anticipated him coming in to cover for Hampus and

20:58 Speaker 2: then sticking around for pretty much the rest of the season.

21:03 Speaker 2: So how ell, I'm sure they're going to be thinking

21:06 Speaker 2: how else can we utilize the skills that he brings.

21:10 Speaker 2: You know, we're recording this.

21:12 Speaker 1: It is July.

21:13 Speaker 2: Free agency is still wide open. We don't know what

21:16 Speaker 2: this Boston Bruins team is actually going to look like

21:19 Speaker 2: right now, and what that defensive core is going to

21:22 Speaker 2: look like with or without Charlie McAvoy at the start

21:25 Speaker 2: of the season, and so who is he going to

21:29 Speaker 2: fit best with, who needs his degree of support or

21:34 Speaker 2: is his role going to be something a little bit

21:37 Speaker 2: more broad. All I know is that this guy, he's

21:40 Speaker 2: got a job and Boston just needs some degree of

21:44 Speaker 2: consistency and he's going to provide it. So thrilled, thrilled

21:47 Speaker 2: for this guy. Love this guy. Mustache man is taking

21:51 Speaker 2: us places.

21:52 Speaker 1: And we'll say what other roster moves the Bruins make

21:55 Speaker 1: as we get into the dog days of summer here.

21:57 Speaker 1: I know people think that everything just only happens on

22:00 Speaker 1: July one, but there's still a potential for the Bruins

22:04 Speaker 1: to have other trends actions to kind of help clarify

22:08 Speaker 1: what's going on with the rest of the roster moving

22:12 Speaker 1: closer to the start of the season.

22:14 Speaker 2: Yeah, but that being said, any final thoughts on Jonathan Asperu.

22:20 Speaker 1: Oh good on him.

22:21 Speaker 2: You know, I like the player.

22:22 Speaker 1: I want to see him continue to improve his game

22:26 Speaker 1: and contribute to the Big Boy Club.

22:28 Speaker 2: Absolutely, make sure you like and subscribe for more content,

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22:47 Speaker 4: And as always, go Bes Go Best

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