Discussing Brad Marchand’s comments after the Bruins’ loss to the Islanders. An update on Matt Poitras after an awkward injury Thursday night. Reacting to the Bruins’ decision to waive Oliver Wahlstrom. Plus, discussing call-up options and where they could slot in.
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Leave your questions in the comments and we will answer as many as we can!
Jump to:
00:00 – Wahlstrom waived, Poitras practicing
13:00 – Forward group, call-up options, Riley Tufte
23:00 – Line options that include Merkulov and Lysell
29:00 – Why is sweeney so cautious with call ups?
42:00 – Looking at Matt Poitras NHL growth
52:00 – More on Marchand’s postgame comments
Photo: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
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11 Comments
call-ups determined by the GM. says everything you need to know about Sweeney. that's why i just wouldn't trust him with a retool or with hiring new coaches. Sweeney needs to go, first and foremost.
Bruins Homers and the card carrying members of the Don Sweeney Apologist society are finally waking up to the actual crap state this Bruins organization is in but that wake up call should have dawned on their marble heads long ago
From January to May of last season the Bruins were one of the worst teams in the NHL.
.500 overall, well below .500 versus the playoff teams, crap 5×5 offense and a terrible power play
They ended last season without enough scoring in their bottom 6, without a real 1C, 1LW or 2RW and absolutely nothing in Providence helping them
This year what changed? Um, nothing except some things stayed the same and not all that shockingly, some things actually got worse
This year the Bruins are basically .500, well below .500 versus the playoff teams, the 5×5 offense and the powerplay still stink and they are still without a real 1C, 1LW or 2RW.
The are also still without enough scoring in their bottom six and they still have nothing real in Providence unless you’re a blind Bruins homers who actually thinks Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov are real NHL players, spoiler alert, neither probably is
However, this year they’ve also added being terrible on the penalty kill and the goaltending took a HUGE step back as well
At least all the pissing away of draft picks chasing playoff chokes or fixing his many drafting and UFA mistakes that lead to the salary cap prison and crap farm system Don Sweeney built himself was all worth it right because they have been a dominant playoff team?
Um, nope
Don Sweeney’s Bruins have failed to win more than one playoff round 8 of the past 9 years.
In a decade they’ve only won ONE, lousy 2nd round series that led to another playoff choke and that one lousy 2nd round series win was six years ago
Well at least with Don Sweeney pissing the majority of their first and second round picks away the past 7 years because Sweeney has been very good at finding gems in the 3rd-7th rounds of the draft right?
Um, nope.
Here is where you Bruins homers and Sweeney defenders are going to get spanked as Don Sweeney has been the NHL’s WORST GM in rounds 3-7 for a decade and that’s not based on any opinion, biased or otherwise, it’s based on the only thing that matters, his results!!!!
Name me the Boston Bruins defenseman that has ever played a shift for Boston that was drafted in the 3rd-7th round by Don Sweeney since 2015? HINT: It’s a short list
NO ONE!! Not a single D-Man ever drafted by Don Sweeney in the 3rd-7th round has played an NHL shift, NOT ONE!!!
Name me the Boston Bruins forward drafted in the 3rd-7th rounds currently with the team that Don Sweeney drafted in rounds 3-7 since 2015, TEN FN YEARS AGO!!! HINT: It’s a short list
NO ONE!!!! Not a single forward ever drafted by Don Sweeney in the 3rd-7th round plays for the Boston Bruins going back to 2015
The games played leader at forward for Boston drafted by Don Sweeney in rounds 3-7 since 2015 that actually played for Boston at some point? HINT: It's a short list
Jacob Lauko: A lousy 83 games before being traded to MIN
Oscar Steen: A lousy 60 games before going back to Europe
Jonna Koppanen: A lousy 5 games before going back to Europe
So in 10 years of drafting in the 3rd-7th round going back 10 YEARS to 2015 when Don Sweeney took over as GM and across nearly 40 draft picks, 40!!!
Not a single forward or d-man he’s ever drafted in those rounds plays for Boston today, not a single D-Man he’s ever drafted in rounds 3-7 has ever played an NHL shift and the only forward he’s ever drafted in rounds 3-7 to play more than 70 games in the NHL is Jacob Lauko, whose no longer here
Don Sweeney has made 37 draft picks in rounds 3-7 on either a forward or a defenseman since 2015, TEN YEARS and not a single one of those draft picks plays for Boston today
Most of the NHL’s real talent comes from the 1st and 2nd round but as an NHL GM you have to still find some guys that can give you something at the NHL level from the later rounds and not a single GM has been worse at finding forward and defense help in rounds 3-7 than Don Sweeney has and it’s not even a remotely close race
Again, not only does no forward or d-man drafted in 10 years by Sweeney in rounds 3-7 play for Boston today, the list of D-men that have is ZERO and the forward group is ugly as well in Lauko, Steen, Koppanen
Keep defending Don Sweeney’s drafting and developing homers, his record though betrays you
And no, finding Jeremy Swayman in the 4th round does not make up for whiffing FOR A DECADE on every other 3rd-7th round draft pick (CLOSE to 40 of them). Not even close.
And that’s not even getting into 80%+ of NHL goalies are drafted in rounds 3-7 or that Swayman was drafted exactly where he was supposed to be, so
Don Sweeney's recent 1st round draft picks, so those going back to 2018?
John Beecher (woof), Fabian Lysell (woof) and Dean Letorneau a project that has much of a chance to bust as to hit and either way no one that answer for another 3-4 years.
The Bruins needed young talent now, and Don Sweeney decided to take a project with upside who probably wont’ be ready for the NHL until the 2029-30 season at the earliest. Great move:)
For those thinking Lysell is going to save them, he’s not. Average guy, 7th on the team in PVD in points. His third year should have been the time for him to turn the corner, instead it looks like he’s regressing
As for Georgi Merkulov. Bruins homers the AHL is not the NHL. If every guy who put up good points in the AHL did so in the NHL, the NHL would have 70 teams because there would be that much talent to go around
The AHL is made up of two-thirds 25+ year olds who will never be real NHL players. The other third of the league is made up of prospects at various levels of development
Merkulov lacks NHL size and speed. If you lack both those traits you need to be special elsewhere to be an impact player in the NHL. What is Merkulov special at again?
He’s small, weak physically, bad on draws, a terrible skater and not very good away from the puck.
He’s been moved to wing in PVD because of these things
At the AHL level Merkulov has enough time and space to make plays at wing. In the NHL, his lack of size and speed and the talent level in the NHL will make Merkulov a near useless NHL player
He’s not good enough to play in the Top 6 and his skill set isn’t that of a bottom 6 player. Merk has good Europe league player written all over him and that’s likely where he’s headed soon
They really should give Farinacci and Duran up. Those guys might not be Top 6 players in the NHL but it looks like they may be real bottom 6 players at the NHL, at least that's something
There’s nothing there that’s a real NHL d-man next year. Brunet and Edward could develop into bottom of the roster NHL D-men but if both do, it’ll be years from now as they are just now beginning to develop their pro games
But let's make some more excuses for Don Sweeney and kid ourselves that one off season is going to fix this mess. It’s going to take 203 years to get out of this talent hole and some other GM needs to be at the helm for whatever is next for Boston
Sweeney had his run. All they’ve done is fail in the playoffs while he’s destroyed their farm system in the process. This movie is over. Time for something else. Long past time really…
Why is tufte in the lineup. He doesn't even have one shot on goal the whole time he's been with the bruins
Bad team all year. Fans definitely deserve better. There needs to be a regime change.
And the Bruins have now called up Merkulov because they wanted to wait until after we posted🙄
Tank tank tank 🎉🎉🎉
Brian wears panties?
You know why they call them up, cause sweens signed every single one of those guys in the offseason and wants one to work out so bad.
Cause ever single off season signing was a failure.
Scott and Bridget: from now on you should begin every question to the Bruins players, coaches, and management with the following – "Now that you're out of the playoffs…" Or how about "Since the season is now a bust …" Maybe even "After playing so poorly this year…."
Please share the reactions on the next podcast!
That back-up goalie was completely to blame on the Poitras hit. He should have been thrown out of the game.
drinking game. take a sip every time one of these clowns says the word "like"