NHL Free Agency: Where Do the Boston Bruins Stand? | Ep. 155

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

0:02 Speaker 2: Please?

0:03 Speaker 3: I need something to do.

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0:19 Speaker 1: Watch today.

0:20 Speaker 4: Here's a chance pop fa right down the goalie scars, oh my water move by the rookie to on.

0:25 Speaker 3: One paster not moving in far set it joins on his own oil dances at podcast. W at home right away, corner fastersta, what is that for? Most?

0:50 Speaker 2: Welcome in everyone to another episode of Bruin's Tape to Tape. I will be your host today. I am Maria from Watertown. I am joined today as always by my fabulous and hardworking co host Caroline with ak Welcome in.

1:07 Speaker 3: How are you good? I'm good. We are about a month away from the start of youth hockey season, so my friends and family have all been warned that they have fewer than thirty days left to hang out with us, and then they won't see us until April.

1:26 Speaker 2: Then you'll be living in rinks in and around your area of the country. Yes, and we are getting closer and closer to the start of relatively formal HL related activities. Well, we'll be coming upon workie camp and then training camp. So with that in mind, we are going to be focusing this episode and upcoming episodes to do a little bit of deep dives into three different topics. Today, we're going to focus on free agency and how the Bruins fared or didn't fare, and how teams across the league fared with free agency during the summer of twenty twenty six, and then following episodes, we're going to be doing kind of detailed, comprehensive reviews of the Bruins' defensive groups and forward groups.

2:20 Speaker 2: So we'll start with free agency. So, in terms of what the Bruins did during free agency, I shuddered to say that the biggest deal that they made was signing Connorclifton. Short of that, there wasn't anything that caused us to want to dance in the streets, so to speak.

2:40 Speaker 3: And they didn't even really do much in terms of actual signings because a lot of their roster changes came about because of trades. JJ Peterke came through a trade. What's his name, well, the Wiborgan or the defenseman from Magers. He came via a trade, but was even less busy than last year's free agency, And we thought that that was a snoozefest.

3:10 Speaker 2: This positively put us in a coma. It was a snooze fest as it came to the Bruins. There were other teams, and we'll do a little bit of reviewing on that, but there were other teams that made it worth their while to participate in free agency. And let's face facks, we've come to understand for the most part, how Bruins management operates, and any of us who continued to wait for the Bruins to make big deals or big splashes in free agency, I think we've learned that's just not how they roll. And this really wasn't a free agent class where the Bruins had a snowball's chance in hell of landing anybody of any notoriety simply because they didn't have the money to do so, or they didn't have the assets that one might need to part with in order to make participating in free agency worth their while.

4:09 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was underwhelming in general in the grand scheme of things, But I think we've known for a really long time that Boston is risk averse, and that tends to happen. I think with a lot of really well established teams, I think you'll still see that in some degree. You No, you're not going to see crazy big moves with teams like New York or Montreal or Toronto or even Buffalo. It's you're going to see some of the more exciting things happen with teams that are younger or they're actively building, and so because they're building, they have a lot more money to spend.

4:50 Speaker 3: Hence why we saw the craziness of the offersheet situation flying left and right.

4:57 Speaker 2: Oh, that was a little fun between Flyers and the Ducks.

5:01 Speaker 3: And even other teams that do have a lot of established players like Florida. I mean, that's a totally different kind of organization. The way that they operate, the way that team another team like Vegas, the way they approach doing business is very different. And so it's not a surprise then that those teams in particular were quite active in aggressively pursuing a lot of very high end talent. The one was the biggest surprise to me in terms of signings offer sheet drama aside, honestly, was where Bobrovski ended up.

5:41 Speaker 3: No one I saw that coming. Yeah, who saw that coming? I didn't think that he was going to be staying in Florida because of how expensive he is and his age. Those are just two factors that are always gonna ultimately result in a player going elsewhere. I was surprised at Toronto was as aggressive as they were and they went after him and they got him. So that's going to be a great test to see where the issue really lies, because there's no way you're going to be the reason they're not doing well. Yes, I agree with you.

6:14 Speaker 3: There.

6:15 Speaker 2: The other the other significant signing I think we're on the topic of goalies is Frederick Anderson signing with the Oilers because what have we been saying for what seems like a flippant eternity where Edmonton is concerned, When are they actually going to get a bona fide full tender in there now? Again, that will also be very very telling in terms of where lies the problem in Edmonton And if Freddie Anderson isn't part of the solution to the problem, does Zapp push Connor McDavid and even Drivesidle to want to continue being invested.

6:55 Speaker 3: Yeah, and Anderson, he's obviously he's very elite, unlike a goalie like Bob or even I would argue Swayman or Vassie. He's got some sometimes some issues with consistency, and then he sometimes will have some health issues that result in his inability to just play at that level consistently because he's out. I don't know that he's necessarily the perfect goalie to hire for Edmonton in order to actually definitively say this is where the problem is, like how hiring Bob in Toronto will most certainly help them identify the issues.

7:35 Speaker 3: However, Anderson will always give the team in front of him the opportunity to be in the game and take that game. He's that kind of goalie. That's where his consistency lies. If Edmonton is unable to take advantage of those opportunities. I do think that he is going to be that Bell Weather. He may not be the perfect goalie, the best goalie, but he's a heck of a lot better than anything that they've had for a number for.

8:06 Speaker 2: A number of years. He's a very good NHL goalie, and some might argue that if Edmonton had had a very good NHL goalie, we might be having a different conversation and maybe they would have had a better opportunity to invoice it as Stanley Cup. At this point, I think it's incumbent on the Oilers right now. It'll be interesting to see how things play out there because their head coach has been a lightning rod of criticism, mostly due to his own actions. So it'll be interesting to see how long Mike Babcock can hold his shit together to understand that this is a new age NHL and young players have to be and maybe are expecting to be treated in different manners than players of the past.

8:58 Speaker 2: From what I've read by all accoutuns, the players are speaking highly of Mike Babcock, but the proof will.

9:05 Speaker 3: Be in the win loss record.

9:07 Speaker 2: Yes, it always is, right, Yeah, that's the de facto test is prove your worth in a win loss record.

9:14 Speaker 3: So some other big news, which was technically assigning. Patrick Kane is returning for his final hurrah.

9:23 Speaker 2: Now that was kind of a little, i don't want to say, shocking surprising, because all the speculation from insiders was that it was either Buffalo or he'd go back to Detroit. Now, I wonder if the uncertainty with what's happening with Dylan Larkin in Detroit led him to look in a different direction. Could he is he's from Buffalo.

9:49 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, this is kind of my understanding of the situation, and I wasn't paying super close attention, but this is just my outsider's take. He's currently third seven years old. He turns thirty eight in November. And was it a two year deal that he signed? Two year? Yeah, eight million. He's effectively playing till he's almost forty, So this is this is it it?

10:13 Speaker 2: And maybe he wants to retire.

10:15 Speaker 3: And so my impression, knowing that he was looking at his final years in the NHL, he was going to end up in one of two places, Buffalo because that is where he is from, or he's going to go back home to Chicago. And when I saw that headline, my reaction was, that's what's right. I'm I'm of the ilk that if you have a player who spends the majority of their career with you and they end up leaving, everybody leaves for the most part, like the experiences of Andre Copitar or Patrice Bergeron or Sidney Crosby, that's really rare and unusual, even final years of their career.

10:55 Speaker 3: I mean, what happened with Brad Marshan not unusual. Bobby or finish playing with the Bruins. Esposito didn't finish with the.

11:03 Speaker 2: It's it's highly unusual. It's unfortunately, especially when it's because you have this hardcast, right, but you've had business and you've had sustained success. Kane and Tapes and Postsa and Donkey Keith. How many Stanley Cups did they win as a group, and everybody know it was going to have to come to an end because you couldn't keep and pay.

11:26 Speaker 3: I love seeing this kind of what do you call it putting a bow on a career, whether it's yes, you literally do get to go and finish playing great, but also then seeing opportunities where a player gets to come back they sign for a one day contract, like we saw with Marc Andre Fleury or even Zadano Chara he had signed a one day contract to officially retire as a Boston Bruin. I love that kind of story. I think that's good on him. I've got my own personal opinions about him as a player and a human being, but in terms of the way that I think that hockey stories should end, great perfect.

12:04 Speaker 2: Yeah, and yes he's had some hiccups along the way and his off ice stuff, but by all accounts, he's been humbled by it, has learned, has grown from it. Let's hope, and let's face facts too, that black Hawks team could really use some veteran leadership. Here. You have Connor Bodard that they signed to a five year eighteen million dollars needs molding and growing and developing, right, and some of it may be that hopefully Patrick Kane can help share.

12:39 Speaker 3: Some pearls of wisdom.

12:40 Speaker 2: Clearly the black Hawks want Connor Badar to be the face of their franchise. Y, I mean, there's no doubt about that, but he needs the guidance in order to get there. Yeah, I just can't still see that organization going anywhere either. So I just they're a little stuck right now.

12:58 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I don't know that Patrick Kaine is going to provide what they need, at least on the ice. Now. Look, I haven't watched him play, so I don't know what he can still quite literally bring to the ice. But again, as is well known in the sport of hockey, you don't win on the back of one single player, and so perhaps he is that transition piece to continue to explicitly grow and develop Connor Bedard. But then what about the rest of their team, And yeah, I was quickly looking at their roster and they've got some name Snake got Badard, they still have Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Donado, Patrick Kin, Andrew MANJAPANI.

13:42 Speaker 3: I'm just looking at this going there's nothing here that's going to set the world on fire. No. Compared to other teams that are actively in a building phase, this has been a long time rebuild though.

13:56 Speaker 2: This is really taken the Blackhawks, like, we get frustrated here in Boston with our rebuild retotal process, but you know, we hope we're in a shorter window.

14:08 Speaker 3: Yeah, and again, that's a team that is a really well established, entrenched in the culture team, so they're probably going to be a lot more risk averse. It's not like with San Jose or Anaheim. They're making waves. They're going they're being aggressive, and they're pursuing a lot of really young talent. And San Jose, I think is a perfect example to compare with Chicago in terms of their rebuild because over the last couple of years, those two teams have had top five picks multiple years in a row, and look at what has been happening in San Jose versus what's happening in Chicago and San Jose.

14:52 Speaker 3: I don't know that hockey town. I don't know if it's raining money there or what the hell is going on.

14:57 Speaker 2: But in addition to they made out like bandits in the draft, they made out like Bandrinia again, are you about? Oh no, he's heads above conniber Dart, heads above No, there's just no two ways about it. Heads above Connibra Dart. But they also in free agency signed Jacob Truba and Mason Marchmant.

15:22 Speaker 3: I know, I know they've got a phenomenal goaltender in Askarov. That guy impressed the heck out of me the two times that we saw Boston play. And they just signed maclin Celabrini, right, he most expensive contract, and you have.

15:44 Speaker 2: The numbers, they are in front of you because they make you want to vomit gold on he's.

15:49 Speaker 3: I believe he's making nineteen million dollars per year.

15:54 Speaker 2: He signed a five year, ninety one million dollar extent with a cap hit of eighteen million, eight hundred per season.

16:06 Speaker 3: Nineteen million dollars.

16:07 Speaker 2: And how much does David Pastor Knack make chunk change eleven? He's and what's going on kids, Like, I think players don't get worked up about this for the most because their salary caps keep going up, and no one's going to begrudge anybody getting their bag up cash, right.

16:27 Speaker 3: Because then they set the market. Those guys set the market for the next guy. They get it that if maclan Celebrini can make nineteen million dollars, if David Pasternach were to come up, if his contract were coming up in this year, you mean to tell me that he wouldn't be jumping from eleven million dollars to twenty million dollars. Easy. Of course they want to.

16:50 Speaker 2: See those guys, And this is what makes I just don't understand this. Just to compare and contrast, So we have Maclin Celebrini, who is a generational talent.

17:01 Speaker 3: There's just a generational talent, right, he's a lot of kids.

17:05 Speaker 2: And then but I'm then I'm looking at what the Minnesota Wild gave Carillo, who is basically a no show in the playoffs, but they signed him to an eight year, one hundred and thirty six million dollar contract with the cap hit of seventeen million per season.

17:23 Speaker 3: Which that had been previously the highest the highest. There was an extension during the season.

17:29 Speaker 2: During the season. Yeah, and then it came Leo Keemlson because their hand was forced, and then and then Macrimona. It's I guess it's great for the NHL to see guys getting these types of deals because it shows the league is growing. It's apparently getting more profitable. Right the TV revenues, marketing revenues, those streams are flowing in next year. The next season, the cap is slated to go up again. The league is making progress. I mean, it's never going to be anything like what NBA players are pulling down.

18:03 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, don't worry about going to catch baseball. My god, they have no no. So it doesn't matter that there's been all kinds of conversation about a potential workstopage next season, because there are owners who want to implement a salary cap similar to how it's implemented in the NHL, and that conversation is being spearheaded by the majority owner of the Boston Red Sox, John Henry, who happens to own the Pittsburgh Penguins.

18:34 Speaker 3: At one time.

18:35 Speaker 2: There's pros and cons to which I think, when is enough money enough money to be earned by players? If owners are doing it at the expense of the athletes. That's what The.

18:48 Speaker 3: Thing that always will come with a salary cap is a salary floor, and that is just as important, I think, for maintaining that parody as the cap, because to your point of owners then going on the cheap. You talked about how this was the case decades ago.

19:10 Speaker 2: You would see in Boston, well, they would never spend to the cap. It was one of the most embarrassing worst kept secrets in the NHL, never what they spend to the cap.

19:23 Speaker 3: And so there's so many things wrong with that because you're exploiting players, the fans are irritated because you're not going to bring in anybody who's really good because you don't want to pay them. And then you may end up on a team that is never going to go anywhere because your ownership will not spend the money. They will not invest the money in the team to grow and get better. And then you're playing against teams that if they're spending millions a billion dollars every year, how could you possibly compete against a team like that?

20:00 Speaker 3: That's not a You don't want to play a game like that, it's not fun. Ask long suffering Buffalo fans, and we're in a similar situation where maybe not in terms of the money spending, but just being in this stagnant, terrible place. Nobody wants that, and that's honestly, one of the best things about a salary cap is a mandatory salary floor.

20:26 Speaker 2: The thing that concerns me a little bit is, you know, we're still seeing a lot of long term deals being signed because there's money there to give the higher end players, right, because the organization's like, this is our guy, we drafted him, we got to have this guy on the team. Okay, fine, so sign him to the seven, eight year deal. But there is concern about the guys who are now signing just a one year deal or a two year deal because they want to see what the next deal could potentially bring them.

21:00 Speaker 2: So I guess good for them, but it makes it harder on ownership to plan your future, right, no stability stability.

21:09 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's interesting because I feel like we don't see a ton of mid length term contracts as much anymore. We don't really see the four year the five year as much, which again I get both arguments, because maybe the ownership doesn't want to have that seven year contract because that's what the new contract length is, right, they want to have it lower potentially if it's a guy that they're unsure about or they want to let's see it kind of situation. And I see young players or other players wanting to do the one two year contract to then maybe jump up in salaries.

21:46 Speaker 3: So it's a very complicated situation. And I don't know. It just seems like it goes through different trends in what we see and as every CBA gets negotiated since it really got going after the four h five lockout, contracts used to be like twenty years long. No, not really, but twelve right, twelve year long contract, which is insane, and the term has gotten shorter and shorter, and so it just got shorter now and I wouldn't be surprised if in coming years they get even a little bit shorter. I don't know, I don't know.

22:23 Speaker 2: And you know what, if that's the case again, I say, good on the players, go get you bag of cash now. I say that now. But do you want a little bit of loyalty too.

22:32 Speaker 3: From your players? Right?

22:34 Speaker 2: Do you want to stick around and try to be part of something bigger and special? Now, if you're languishing in an organization that just seemingly can't continue to get out of its own way, I'm referring to have an example. I think the Edmonton Oilers are a perfect example of that.

22:51 Speaker 3: Right.

22:51 Speaker 2: I have to give Connor McDavid a shit ton of credit for sticking it out there, because at some point, when do you say to yourselves?

22:59 Speaker 3: What am I doing here? Am I here? Do I want to win.

23:02 Speaker 2: A Stanley Cup? Of course I want to win a Stanley Cup? Am I going to be able to do it here? How many kicks at the can are we going to get here to do this?

23:11 Speaker 3: Exactly? Yeah? And of course they're also motivated because they want to stay in a single place because then they start to have families. They don't want to move a lot. It's ever changing and evolving, and there's a ton of reasons why you would want to go in any direction. Personally, I would like to see more two, three, four year contracts. I don't have anything wrong against the long term ones, that's absolutely yeah. We want to lock up players like Geee Pasternak, you Celebrini, whomever. But I think if you're coming in and you're not a one hundred percent guarantee, known entity.

23:50 Speaker 3: Right you come in, you do need to stay with the team. I think at least for two years. I love to go back to the metaphor of a job. Right you start your job, you really got to wait a whole year to learn a year's worth of your job and how everything works and how you were and then really you can start to make a true impact or make changes or do whatever in the second year of your job. And anyone who's coming in for really less than that, can you really make an opinion on how impactful they were. Maybe, but you really got to know if they're the right fit.

24:24 Speaker 3: You have to have them for a couple of years. You really you have to.

24:28 Speaker 2: Well, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out with these two or three year terms. And that leads me into what other teams have done here in free agency, because the Bruins free agency was so boring. The Dallas Stars and Jason Robertson now they came to terms and they had good arbitration, one year, twelve million dollar deal for hun and he turned down apparently an offer from another team.

24:56 Speaker 3: From what I've heard and read, it wasn't that he was strictly chasing money, although you do see that with the younger players, For him, he explicitly wanted to stay in Dallas. He wanted to make his money in Dallas. So he obviously was given an opportunity and apparently more than just the opportunity in Seattle. We just don't know where else. But he wanted to make that money specifically there, and so I understand that. I get it. Dallas is going to have to figure out what they want to do because once he's I believe he's eligible for free agency next summer.

25:36 Speaker 2: He's on free agent list again for twenty twenty.

25:40 Speaker 3: Seven, but he'll be unrestricted or he is listed will be listed as a UFA in twenty twenty seven. Dallas is going to have to think long and hard about how they want to manage that.

25:52 Speaker 2: And Tyler Sagan will be part of that on the Dallas Stars as well. The list in general for twenty twenty seven has some significant and serious names on it. You know, you've got Robertson, Carlson, Dowdy, Sagan, Nikita Kucherov. Now again, these players, they likely won't go anywhere. Mark Stone, cal mccarr right, Alex Petrangelo, Sidney Crosby, Quinn Hughes. That's going to be an interesting story to follow. That's a really big one in Minnesota and his brother Jack, because you're probably reading the same things that I've been reading about they want to be together.

26:31 Speaker 2: Where is that going to be? Is it going to be in Jersey? Is it going to be in Minnesota? Is it going to be someplace else where a team could swoop in and say, hey, boys, look what we have here. You who knows. I don't know if the Bruins will be in on any of this, but again, if the Bruins are looking at a short term retool, right, because we all know that Sweeney is fairly adept at making good hockey trades or good hockey signings, right, this list has no shortage of pretty good players. If you look at what's coming up for next season.

27:14 Speaker 2: Now, a lot of these guys may get extended during the course of the season because owners and organizations may not want to risk them going, especially when they finally nail down how much more the cap is going to go up next season.

27:28 Speaker 3: Fully expect a lot of those big names who are faces of their franchise to be extended but I think you're right in that they like to wait and find out, and I believe they get a sense of what the cap is going to be the following year by the start of the new calendar years the year, so then typically you'll be seeing as trades ramp up as well. Between then and mid March, those big names are going to get resigned. To think Kle mccar, Nikita kuchirov Mark Stone, they're gonna be staying. I would be shocked, especially if Kale mccar and went anywhere else, anywhere.

28:12 Speaker 2: Else, or even Sidney Crosby. I can't imagine, right, I know, I know there's especially.

28:21 Speaker 3: With I don't know how much stock I buy into the rumors, especially ones that don't explicitly involve the Boston Bruins, but the biggest one being that, Okay, if sid really wants another legitimate Cup run, could he end up in Colorado? Could he end up in Montreal because they're up and coming. Could he end up in Florida for a year? I don't think that would be a good fit.

28:50 Speaker 1: He loves playing with Brad Marsham, Yeah, but the player that Sidney Crosby is, I don't think that would ever work. But I could see.

29:01 Speaker 3: Him in Colorado and the culture that they have there, and even potentially Montreal because of the youth and excitement there, and he could maybe see that being also a place to make a big impact. Although you could then make the exact same argument for staying we building on his legacy of sending the next young group of Penguins players out into the beyond. This is also the last season for Alex Ovechkin.

29:32 Speaker 2: You just took the words out of my mind because they've been on the same trajectory for a long time. And Sydney Crosby presents himself as someone who is extremely loyal. Yes, and I can't imagine that he would lead the Penguins to go elsewhere. And Alex Ovechkin is coming back for one more season at a very team friendly price of four and a quarter million dollars. Yeah, I could see Sid doing right. This is a one year deal. Who knows if this will be it for Alex or not? Seems like believe he turns forty one this September.

30:11 Speaker 2: That's right because he Sid also just had his birthday last week. In case anyone ever forgets, it's eight seven eighty seven. So he just turned thirty nine years old.

30:26 Speaker 3: I don't know.

30:27 Speaker 4: It would be a hell of a thing if both of those players, who are two players whose skill and rivalry rejuvenated the entire league, especially right after.

30:42 Speaker 2: The lockout, they put the NHL on the map again, and their rivalry and there to some degree of camaraderie.

30:50 Speaker 3: Can you imagine them retendering at the same time they they started as enemies and then it kind of turned into a very healthy mutual respect. If you go back and you watch interviews. I've seen definitely interviews with Sid who is the consummate professional, But when he was a kid, he would say in interviews, I hate that guy. Like you could never imagine him saying anything like that today just because he's now, you know, this elder statesman. But I think people forget that twenty years ago he was a kid who was like, I hate that guy.

31:25 Speaker 3: And now it's just such a mutual respect for each other. But if, man, if they were to retire together, huge that usually pretty Yeah. I just got goose by I am and I gotta tell you. The Hockey Hall of Fame has a three year mandatory waiting period before you can be considered and you used to be able to have scenarios where that could be waived, and I believe Wayne Gretzky was the last one where that was waived. God, can you imagine them making sid wait wouldn't no? Could no?

32:00 Speaker 2: There's like, just put him in, Obuchkin in. They should just put him in now. They should just put him in now. And just as an aside, an interesting points during one of our discord conversations, the LA Kings and I want to I want to touch it on what they did free agency, because what they did is unbelievable in free agency as well. But they also announced that they were going to retire it immediate, to which you said, and you were absolutely right to which why does it take the Bruins so long to make these announcements and schedule these things, and to which my response was because they want to ensure that they take the fullest advantage the opportunity to capitalize financially.

32:48 Speaker 3: Oh ye, in any way, shape or form. Yes, yep. And maybe this is the thinking of other organizations, but still very good question, very fair to ask. How the Bruins are That's why always been like what do we do? Yeah? And again I know.

33:03 Speaker 2: They're doing it, and people will say, what quit your bitch, and they're doing it. He's going to have the whole day to himself, and as well, he should have data himself. But it seems to me that there are certain no brainer things that an organization, you know, La Kings just said, we're doing this. Yeah, he's finished, We're doing this.

33:22 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. And it's always been like this because maybe you know, someone might make the argument, well they had the centennial, then it was going to be Chara because then it's going to be burg around and you have to do things in a spread out way or whatever.

33:36 Speaker 2: No.

33:36 Speaker 3: No, now, even if the centennial hadn't happened, they still would have waited. They could have done it. No, they could have done it before the centennial the year that Tara retired.

33:44 Speaker 2: Yeah. So anyways, you know, any opportunity I can take take a shot at Bruin's ownership, I'm going to tease it. So the La Kings also made Jesus. I think they had the most free agent signings other than did they really the Yeah I'm looking at so Vegas signed four five sick nine wow, nine free agents. Now you know a lot of like they're going to be like deal breakers or deal makers in this. But they've certainly added to their their depth, so they've they've got quantity maybe over quality, where I'd say the signings by the La Kings.

34:24 Speaker 3: Were quantity and quality.

34:27 Speaker 2: You know, say what you will of a Corey Perry, the guy can still bring it, you can still bring it. He's still got grello. He's still a dickhead, but he can still bring it on the ice.

34:38 Speaker 3: Scott Lawton, Yeah, some good signings and they have Panarin and they have Paner right. Ellie is definitely one of those teams that they're like San Jose or even Anaheim. They've had glimpses in the very recent past. Anaheim has won a Stanley Cup. The Kings have won a Stanley Cup. San Jose's come really close. So they've gotten the taste and they want to do well. And I think I wouldn't be surprised if some of the aggressive actions of Anaheim have also motivated the Kings to get their rears in gear because they're nearby rivals.

35:15 Speaker 3: The Kings have fallen short in the same round of the playoffs for like five years, and they've always been a competitive team. I don't remember them in recent years kind of being ap team. But now that they have a little more money, they're taking advantage. I think of the opportunity that they have. That's what organizations should do. That's what you like to see.

35:36 Speaker 2: The other as it relates to maybe the competition for the Bruins is the Tampa Bay Lightning landed John Carlson from the Washington Capital. But John Carlson anyways, who pretty damn good defenseman in my mind.

35:51 Speaker 3: Yeah, speaking of other really perennial powerhouses that didn't really do a ton, I mean, aside from Tampa, they were relatively quiet, but they didn't have much that they needed to do because their head coach has a system that really has continued to create a team that is so competitive and it's independent of maybe necessarily the personnel. And it's the same thing I think like within Carolina, where they didn't do a heck of a lot. They lost players, as is expected when you win the Stanley Cup, but I wouldn't be worried about them not keeping up because of the system established by their head coach.

36:33 Speaker 3: So they could have done zero moves and I would still be just as nervous playing against them this fall right. There are only a few teams that can do that, and it's like Colorado, Tampa, and Carolina and it comes down to their coaches.

36:50 Speaker 2: So are there any other free agent we might have missed in terms of notable I don't think so. Maybe someday we'll be talking about some splash that the Bruins make. But it seems like whenever we get to these types of events that we're always rumored to be in the mix of something, but it never really comes to fruition, but by the bridesmaid, never the bride, always the bride'smaid. So with that being said, we thank you for listening. Please make sure you like and subscribe for more content, and be sure to leave us a rating and a review to help other Bruins fans find us.

37:28 Speaker 2: You can support our podcast by joining our Patreon or by following us on our socials at Tape to Tape m K and on Substack at Tape to Tape mk dot substack dot com. Any closing thoughts, Bees Go Bruins.

38:00 Speaker 4: Something the

38:05 Speaker 3: B