Unlocking Boston Bruins Center Depth: Fraser Minten’s Impact | Ep. 145
Liner notes
🎙️This week on Bruins Tape to Tape, we continue our Boston Bruins player review series with Fraser Minten, one of the most exciting young prospects in the organization.Acquired from Toronto in the Brandon Carlo trade, Minten quickly earned the coaching staff’s trust, showing why he could be a key part of Boston’s future at center. We discuss his development, chemistry with Marat Khusnutdinov, long-term upside, and why this trade might become one of Don Sweeney’s best moves.
Plus, we examine Minten’s growth in the context of the Bruins’ search for center depth and the next generation of Boston Bruins hockey. We also take a moment to remember Claude Lemieux.
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Speaker 1: On Thursday, May twenty eighth, the hockey community lost another
Speaker 1: one of the all time greats, Claude Lemieux, known for
Speaker 1: his fierce style of play. The twenty one season six
Speaker 1: team Veteran won four Stanley Cups and a con Smythe
Speaker 1: as the playoff MVP.
Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety five, he.
Speaker 1: Was one of only eleven players to win a Cup
Speaker 1: with at least three different teams, scoring eighty post season goals,
Speaker 1: putting him at ninth all time. He was a pivotal
Speaker 1: member of the Colorado Avalanche team that birthed the great
Speaker 1: rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings on March twenty sixth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven, most famously known as Fight Night at
Speaker 1: the Joe. What makes his passing that much more shocking
Speaker 1: is the fact that he was torchbearer for the Habs
Speaker 1: home playoff game just days before. We honor his memory
Speaker 1: and legacy as a player, and in particular as a
Speaker 1: member of the Montreal Canadians who were responsible for causing
Speaker 1: a great deal of angst and heartbreak for the Austin
Speaker 1: Bruins during an era where it seemed impossible to beat them.
Speaker 1: This is meant as nothing but praise and respect for
Speaker 1: a player who always left everything he had on the ice.
Speaker 1: He leaves behind a wife and four adult children. If
Speaker 1: you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or experiencing a mental
Speaker 1: health crisis, you can call or text nine to eight
Speaker 1: eight or chat at nine eight eight Lifeline dot org
Speaker 1: for free and confidential crisis counseling.
Speaker 2: Can you start a podcast with me? Please? I need
Speaker 2: something to do.
Speaker 3: A drax send it out of Here's a chance, potra
Speaker 3: right on the goalie scars, Oh my one a.
Speaker 2: Mode by the Rookie two on.
Speaker 3: One plaster not moving in its time? Coil Dance podcast.
Speaker 1: What's that for? Most? Welcome in everyone to another episode
Speaker 1: of Bruin's Tape to Tape. I am your host today,
Speaker 1: Caroline with a K, and we are continuing our player
Speaker 1: review series as the summer rolls on, and we are
Speaker 1: continuing today with Fraser Mitten. But first, before we start
Speaker 1: talking about this little gem, I'm going to welcome in
Speaker 1: my fantastic co host, Maria from Watertown.
Speaker 2: Hey Maria, Hey Caroline, how are you. I'm well.
Speaker 1: I had a lot of fun looking into these players
Speaker 1: that we were talking about all season, because sometimes you
Speaker 1: forget about the individual contributions and achievements. And I have
Speaker 1: to say, the kids on this team, I'm actually pretty
Speaker 1: for as much as we talk about the direction that
Speaker 1: this team is going in, I was very pleasantly surprised
Speaker 1: at the things that Fraser Minton, but also his regular
Speaker 1: linematee Mara Husnadinov chief together, and then the handful of
Speaker 1: other guys who often slotted in with them. But let's
Speaker 1: talk about the baby of the team, at least from
Speaker 1: this past season. He's gonna get displaced as the baby
Speaker 1: of the team in the fall when James Hagen's most
Speaker 1: likely makes the full time team. But twenty one year
Speaker 1: old Fraser Minton, Yeah, he'll be twenty two July fifth.
Speaker 2: My kids are older than he is. For Ripe's sake, well.
Speaker 1: Why don't you give us the rundown on who he is,
Speaker 1: where he came from, because last year we didn't actually
Speaker 1: do a conversation about him. I forgot, honestly that he
Speaker 1: even had as many games as he did with the
Speaker 1: big team last season, because, let's face it, after that
Speaker 1: trade deadline, I was barely.
Speaker 2: Present when I watched those games. But give us the
Speaker 2: rundown on Minty. Well, this is such an easy rundown,
Speaker 2: and it's such an enjoyable rundown because say what we
Speaker 2: will about Don Sweeney, but one of the things that
Speaker 2: he does well, one of the few things I think
Speaker 2: he does well, is make hockey trades to the advantage
Speaker 2: of the Boston Bruins for the most part. And this
Speaker 2: is one of those deals where if I were the
Speaker 2: Toronto Maple Leafs probably would have fired their GM even
Speaker 2: sooner than they did because the Bruins were able to
Speaker 2: acquire Fraser Mitton in a trade when the Bruins basically
Speaker 2: cleaned out their core by dealing Brandon Carlow to the
Speaker 2: Maple Leafs for Fraser Mitton and a twenty twenty six
Speaker 2: first round pick and a twenty twenty five to fourth
Speaker 2: round pick a young talented player like Fraser Mitton for
Speaker 2: Brandon Carlow. I'll do that trade every day all day.
Speaker 2: I still don't understand why the Maples, I guess don't ask, right,
Speaker 2: But Jesus Christ, I don't know if they were so
Speaker 2: hell bent on kind of solidifying their back end because
Speaker 2: they knew they had not good solid goaltending going into
Speaker 2: another slayoff run but see that as it may. I
Speaker 2: know that the fans and the media in Toronto as
Speaker 2: this current season progressed in the manner that it did
Speaker 2: for both teams where Toronto was a lost season. They
Speaker 2: didn't even make the playoffs. The Bruins are in a
Speaker 2: proverbial hunt for the playoffs, and you see this young
Speaker 2: player developing and flourishing and you're languishing. Yeah, I'd be
Speaker 2: a little pissed off myself if I was in Toronto. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was very much so.
Speaker 1: Giving the Andrew Raycroft for Tookarask trade from back in
Speaker 1: the day, right, and all respect to Andrew Raycroft, but
Speaker 1: at that point in his career, and then to bring
Speaker 1: in someone like to Grass.
Speaker 2: You had that deal that backfired and blew up in
Speaker 2: your face, and then you make another one with the
Speaker 2: same organization. Like, how dumb a franchise are the Maple Leafs.
Speaker 2: They're the dumbest. I can't believe they did that. He's
Speaker 2: ours now. He I think he's here to stay, or
Speaker 2: I would like to think that he's here to stay.
Speaker 2: We all heard Don Sweeney and Cam Neely in their
Speaker 2: postgame pressors. I think that they have high, high hopes
Speaker 2: for Fraser Minton to develop into a viable center in
Speaker 2: the league, and especially for Ruins, to fill a serious
Speaker 2: need that they have. And I'm not saying he's going
Speaker 2: to be a number one center, Folks, don't put words
Speaker 2: in my mouth, no, but there is a lot to
Speaker 2: be excited about when it comes to Fraser Minton.
Speaker 1: Oh, one hundred percent. He's highly intelligent, two way middle
Speaker 1: sixth center. He's got great matchup utility, a lot of
Speaker 1: coaching trusts.
Speaker 2: Part of why they brought Marco here correcting me I
Speaker 2: from wrong? Isn't that to help kind of h and
Speaker 2: I don't want to say develop, but he knows where
Speaker 2: to put these young players in the best possible place
Speaker 2: to succeed when they're up with the big club.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's very reliable, very mature decision making, I mean,
Speaker 1: because we've seen some really bad decision making from some
Speaker 1: of our young players. And what I really love right
Speaker 1: now is the fact that he's really lucky in terms
Speaker 1: of the peers that he has in his age group
Speaker 1: across the league, because he's playing in Worlds for Canada
Speaker 1: with arguably some of the best young Canadian talent that
Speaker 1: exists in the NHL. When you think about Porter Martone
Speaker 1: and Maclin Celebrini and then playing with someone like Sydney Crosby.
Speaker 1: I hope that what Minton gets out of that experience
Speaker 1: is what someone like Celebrini got last year.
Speaker 2: His abilities just skyrocketed.
Speaker 1: And if Minton is already at a high level, who
Speaker 1: knows what we're gonna see come from him?
Speaker 2: And his cap hit is chump change, absolute chump change.
Speaker 2: Tell us about his contract. His current year cap hit
Speaker 2: is only seven seven sixty two three forty four. That's
Speaker 2: chump change.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's making no money and he is going into
Speaker 1: the last year of his contract that was signed way
Speaker 1: back in the day by Kyle dubis So at this point,
Speaker 1: three leaf GM is a co track.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't even know. It's like a revolving door.
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 2: I think we're gonna have issues with our two guys
Speaker 2: over on Causeway Street. They look like Rhodes scholars compared
Speaker 2: to Toronto Times.
Speaker 1: I could do an emergency Ted talk on why everything
Speaker 1: is wrong in Toronto, But we're a Bruins podcast, not
Speaker 1: exclusively a Leaf's hate podcast.
Speaker 2: But you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: His aav over the length of the entire contract was
Speaker 1: eight thirty seven to five, as in eight hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty seven, five hundred dollars.
Speaker 2: They're basically stealing from this young man. But now, the
Speaker 2: Bruins did retain a little bit of Carlo's salary in
Speaker 2: the deal, like six hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, but
Speaker 2: again in the minimum of NHL roster that is chunk change. Yeah,
Speaker 2: very minimal. And things have not worked out well for
Speaker 2: Brandon Carlo in Toronto either.
Speaker 1: So no, but like I said, come July first, he's
Speaker 1: going to be eligible for an extension. He's still, like
Speaker 1: I said, a baby, so he's going to be restricted
Speaker 1: for a while. But I think it's going to be
Speaker 1: safe to say that he will be getting some kind
Speaker 1: of promotion, to say the least, because his ability to perform,
Speaker 1: especially with line mate Marot Husnadinov. I mean, that was
Speaker 1: a pretty fantastic pairing. You know, last year we did
Speaker 1: a player profile on Marat Husnadinov.
Speaker 2: He came to Boston also via a trade.
Speaker 1: He played a little bit, not a ton, but this
Speaker 1: year seeing him and Minton kind of mesh, that goes
Speaker 1: even further because it's helping with both of their development
Speaker 1: because they've got that connection, they.
Speaker 2: Have that trust, they can play together really well.
Speaker 1: And going to one of our new favorite stats to
Speaker 1: look at how much does this player actually contribute to
Speaker 1: the team. Fraser Minton's goals above replacement, seven wins above
Speaker 1: replacement one point one, standings points two point two, so
Speaker 1: effectively really still making a difference in this team's ability
Speaker 1: to score the goals and win the games, especially in
Speaker 1: a division as tight and highly competitive and skilled as
Speaker 1: the Atlantic Division. And coupled with Marat Husnadinov, who has
Speaker 1: nine points, six goals above replacement and three points for
Speaker 1: the standings, put them together and they are going to
Speaker 1: be a very exciting future middle line. And when we
Speaker 1: see the day that the majority of the current second
Speaker 1: line retires departs, if that pairing at least ends up
Speaker 1: on that second line, I think, as a Boston Bruins fan,
Speaker 1: I'm not mad.
Speaker 2: I'm not mad either. I enjoyed watching them. It's refreshing
Speaker 2: to have some young talent in the pipeline that you're
Speaker 2: excited about watching and seeing what they can do. Again,
Speaker 2: I will point out that this young talent made its
Speaker 2: way to the Bruins as a result of hockey trades
Speaker 2: and not the Bruins' staff identifying, yes, young talent, baya
Speaker 2: a draft However, we'll take it where we can get it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: What I love about him also is the fact that
Speaker 1: not just did the coaching staff have that trust in him,
Speaker 1: but he also had the trust of his teammates. He
Speaker 1: wasn't a purely sheltered player. Offensively, he handled legitimate NHL
Speaker 1: minutes as a very young center, and that matters a
Speaker 1: lot because then again, as the coaches give him more
Speaker 1: trust and responsibility, it will continue his development to become
Speaker 1: a very, very threatening two way center, which is something
Speaker 1: that we talk all the time, have for years about
Speaker 1: how Boston does not have a number one center. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that he is that number one center, but
Speaker 1: you need to have good two way centers, two way
Speaker 1: two hundred foot centers, right.
Speaker 2: And even Neely alluded to that in remarks that he
Speaker 2: made at the end of the season, and they have
Speaker 2: post game pressers and I think he also stayed I'm
Speaker 2: not saying he's a number one set, but they clearly
Speaker 2: have a need there. And again we have talked about
Speaker 2: this ad naugem needs that they knew they would have
Speaker 2: because it was inevitable that David Craigie and Patrice Bergeron
Speaker 2: would move on, and they're trying to find ways now.
Speaker 2: To some degree, they were scrambling a little bit to
Speaker 2: bridge that gap because they never addressed them through good drafting. Yeah, right,
Speaker 2: and that alluded to this before. To me, that was
Speaker 2: some organizational malfeasance as far as I'm concerned. But at
Speaker 2: least they're trying to find ways now to remedy that gap.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I wonder if if he is that next
Speaker 1: future iteration of David Cragie or filling a similar role
Speaker 1: while still being a very different archetype.
Speaker 2: You know that they are similar.
Speaker 1: Atas in which they are similar are their hockey IQ,
Speaker 1: the hate control, and the subtlety of their play. Now
Speaker 1: beyond that, very different player obviously prechie elite playmaking, possession center.
Speaker 2: But sometimes he would disappear, Let's be honest. Sometimes in
Speaker 2: the regular season create would disappear. He might not have
Speaker 2: been as defensively responsible as we've wanted him right to
Speaker 2: be at times, right, but he'd show up for the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Sure, Minton's value comes from he's supporting his teammates as
Speaker 1: a center, being a playmaker and supporting them structurally in
Speaker 1: that regard, because again he's not just centering the wings.
Speaker 1: People who don't know a ton of hockey or are
Speaker 1: new to hockey may not realize that the center is
Speaker 1: also centering the two defencemen as well. Of the best centers.
Speaker 1: That's what we mean by the two way, two hundred
Speaker 1: foot player is he's supporting both of those positions on
Speaker 1: the ice in the forward and defensive capacity, and so
Speaker 1: he has really he's really reliable in that regard, and
Speaker 1: that I think is where a lot of his value
Speaker 1: comes from. And his puck retrieval, backchecking, those are things
Speaker 1: that are going to take him very far and I
Speaker 1: think ultimately end up putting him in a position like
Speaker 1: Crachie in that.
Speaker 2: This is your number two center. Very reliable.
Speaker 1: He plays very mature hockey and very detail oriented, and
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, his scoring is also
Speaker 1: fairly reliable. He had fifteen expected goals, he scored seventeen.
Speaker 1: He had eighteen assists, so he had a lot of
Speaker 1: line involvement, had a lot of balanced offensive contribution.
Speaker 2: You know, he wasn't just lucky he was scoring.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a long time before you've got
Speaker 1: center replacements for Patrice Bergeron and David Crachie, but I
Speaker 1: think he could be the next to fill that kind
Speaker 1: of role.
Speaker 2: You made a good point during our off air conversation
Speaker 2: that I want to Marco Stern himself exhibited instance is
Speaker 2: of having trust in the kid Lie and I think
Speaker 2: you specifically brought up an instance where I think he
Speaker 2: might have started them in an overtime. He did. And
Speaker 2: I also think that Fraser Minton was out during a shootout,
Speaker 2: yes at one point as well. He's a very valuable
Speaker 2: player to the future of this franchise and he's he
Speaker 2: should only get better, right as he has this experience
Speaker 2: at the Worlds, which I think will be immeasurable for him,
Speaker 2: because I will say that I think that younger group
Speaker 2: of players, mister Dinov, Mitton, b Simott, they had brought
Speaker 2: in Richel on occasion. They I think the stage of
Speaker 2: the playoffs might have been a little bit overwhelming for
Speaker 2: them in that first round against Buffalo.
Speaker 1: For sure, Remember he's all of twenty one. I believe
Speaker 1: marat Us Nadinov is twenty three. It's a completely different
Speaker 1: game and it can be very terrified for them to
Speaker 1: be out there you know Richel, he's twenty three. Isamont
Speaker 1: was the elder statesman, but his years of experience didn't
Speaker 1: translate into postseason play because hasn't played as long with
Speaker 1: Husnadinov and Mitten as the two of them played together.
Speaker 1: When we're talking about bigger picture, is Boston going to
Speaker 1: invest in a longer term veteran presence to help with
Speaker 1: those situations because there was no captain this season, and
Speaker 1: you need to spread the wealth in terms of helping
Speaker 1: guys get through those experiences, especially ones who have never
Speaker 1: done it before, and many guys the team who'd never
Speaker 1: done it before. Castle Lick and you wouldn't necessarily consider
Speaker 1: him a baby on the team.
Speaker 2: Even though he is also quite young. So in our
Speaker 2: previous episode, when we talked about Victor Ardwardson and giving
Speaker 2: a grade to the trade, you did it bit broader
Speaker 2: than I did. You combined the deal and the player
Speaker 2: all in one where I just said, Okay, I'm going
Speaker 2: to give the player this grade and I'm going to
Speaker 2: give the trade this grade. But in this instance, I
Speaker 2: think it's an a plus all the way around because
Speaker 2: there's so much more potential just because of how young
Speaker 2: his player is and it's been a while since we've
Speaker 2: had a young player coming into the Bruins organization that
Speaker 2: we're like, I'm excited to see how this player develops.
Speaker 2: And in conjunction with James Haiggins.
Speaker 1: Yeah, don't forget that, even though Fraser Minton came in
Speaker 1: via the trade and he had some playing time in
Speaker 1: those final six weeks of the season, he was not
Speaker 1: guaranteed any kind of a spot on the big boy roster.
Speaker 1: Because he still went well, he earned it, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: he earned his spot there. So that makes me him
Speaker 1: even more because look, let's be honest, I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that James Hagens isn't going to earn his spot, that
Speaker 1: he's not going to be a hard worker. But there's
Speaker 1: no way that he's not going to be reporting to
Speaker 1: Boston the last week of September. You can't tell me
Speaker 1: that that's not going to happen. So his is a
Speaker 1: little bit more of a given, whereas players like Husindinov
Speaker 1: and Minton, you know, there was no guarantee and they
Speaker 1: really made sure to stand out.
Speaker 2: They made it hard for the coaching staff to take
Speaker 2: them out of the lineup, which is what a young
Speaker 2: player should strive to do. Don't make it easy for
Speaker 2: them to take a look at you and say it's
Speaker 2: not cutting it. I gotta send them back down. Gott
Speaker 2: to send him down Providence. Yeah, and he actually played
Speaker 2: all I just was going to bring that up. He
Speaker 2: played in every single game this season. He didn't even
Speaker 2: give Marco and the coaching staff any reason to have
Speaker 2: to consider making him a healthy scratch, unlike other players
Speaker 2: on the roster. Yes, Yes, so love that.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what kind of role and
Speaker 1: position he takes on as he gets older over the
Speaker 1: next five years.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be really exciting to see. And I don't
Speaker 2: think we've.
Speaker 1: Had a group of young players on this Boston Bruins
Speaker 1: team that is this exciting in.
Speaker 2: Quite a while. And I hate to even put this
Speaker 2: out in the stratosphere, but not only do you have
Speaker 2: a player that has a lot of upside, you also
Speaker 2: have a valuable asset now, because if he continues to
Speaker 2: progress in a manner and a trend that we expect
Speaker 2: him to keep going upwards, you could potentially get a
Speaker 2: haul for him at some point in time. If that's
Speaker 2: a road that you want to go down, for sure,
Speaker 2: it's always a reality. It's still a business, right, Everyone
Speaker 2: is always on the table. Everyone has a price, well
Speaker 2: everyone on this roster, yes, for the most part, other
Speaker 2: than a small group of people, but right.
Speaker 1: I mean, you'd be an idiot to put David Pasternack
Speaker 1: on the table, but he has a price.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Any final thoughts on Fraser Minton. I enjoyed watching the kid.
Speaker 2: I don't know the last time I said, boy, we
Speaker 2: have a young player that there's a lot of potential.
Speaker 2: Were there a hiccup with you along the way?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: But you expect out with the twenty one year old
Speaker 2: this as a player, I think I think the plan
Speaker 2: is to keep him in a Brulin's uniform or a
Speaker 2: good decent amount of time. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think he's certainly one of a couple of players
Speaker 1: that I can imagine the next core.
Speaker 2: Right now, we've got that.
Speaker 1: Quote unquote new core of Pasta and Chucky and Swayman.
Speaker 1: They were the ones who are kind of transitioning in
Speaker 1: and eventually they're going to be the ones transitioning out.
Speaker 1: And I think I wouldn't be surprised if Minton is
Speaker 1: part of that future core that whoever's in the front
Speaker 1: office is going to be building around.
Speaker 2: Right whoever's in the front office, Yeah tbd. Make sure
Speaker 2: you like and subscribe for more content, and be sure
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Speaker 1: Or following us on our socials at Tape to Tape
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Speaker 2: Final thoughts just our usual sign off, Go Bruins, Goobey's
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