What Should Bruins Do With 7th Overall Pick In 2025 NHL Draft?

What Should Bruins Do With 7th Overall Pick In 2025 NHL Draft?

All right. All right. All right. Boston has entered the chat. Welcome in. George Black with Travis Thomas T. How we doing, my man? I’m doing good. I was with you last night at game one. Yep. Celtics Knicks. Didn’t go our way at all. Nope. But we were in good spirits. Best of seven for a reason. We’ll be talking Celtics dropping game one against the Knicks. Do they keep shooting the three? Do they go inside? We’ll also be talking Bruins with the seventh overall pick in this draft. Craig Button of TSN stops by talking all draft prospects with them. And what do the Bruins do with this offseason and as always we got for you guys on Tuesday’s ringside review. The latest from Monday Night Raw. Let’s get right to them though. Let’s bring in our friend Craig Button of TSN. Michigan beats everybody on the hat. Craig, I love I love this energy you’re coming in with, man. Yeah, my man Dan Steer. You know, when you’re when you’re connected at Michigan, you stay connected. And that’s the national championship hat. And you know, seems uh seems a little while ago, but uh certainly uh a lot of fun to to root for the Wolverines. And as it comes to the I I really believe the Celtics were just finding a way to to get another homegate. So that’s why they lost that first game versus the Knicks. Why not games in Boston? I like it. It’ll go five instead of four. All right, Greg. Let’s start with the draft. Uh so it was a lot of ping pong balls being drawn. My degree from MIT wasn’t able to figure it out, but the Bruins end of the day got the seventh overall pick. Looking at this draft, what type of draft are we getting with these NHL prospects overall? not just with the guys that the Bruins could be selecting at seven. Why don’t we kind of tie it in with the Bruins and so so you have a defenseman and Matthew Schaefer really top-notch uh defender but then after that you have some really good centers. Now isn’t that exactly when you’re going into a draft if you’re looking to try to build up an area of your team that needs building up you got centers and and you’re going to have a choice of a number of centers. I’m a big believer that if you don’t draft a center, you’re not going to have a center when you need a center. And the the Bruins need some top end centers. And I I think there are top end centers available to them at at seven. And they’ll have to make a choice. It’s not going to just come down to one uh one player. They’ll have to make a choice, I think, between two, maybe three of them, but I think it sets them up for finding that player that can anchor the middle of the ice. I mean, the Bruins were lucky over the last dozen years with Cree and Berseron in the middle of the ice. You you had one, two covered off perfectly. Obviously, you know, their retirements affected the team in in a way that wasn’t positive, and that’s going to happen when you lose top end, but they have an opportunity now to come back. I’m going to bring up, you know, the Bruins have been such a good team for for so many years now. I thought Cam Neely did a fantastic job in this press conference last week. He was pressed. He he acknowledged where maybe we could have done something different, but people going back to the 2015 draft. It’s 10 years ago. And let’s not forget, and I’m going to add this little bit of fact for everybody, there’s only about 45 players in every draft that play 350 games or more. The Bruins had two of them. They had Nebraska and Brandon Carlo. So, let let’s not look at it. And Ryan Leonard was a draft pick to the Washington Capitals when they were picking high. and the Washington Capitals were able to transform their team now into a really tough team. I think this high pick for the Bruins gives them an opportunity to follow along similar steps. Man, I’m so glad to hear you say this, my friend, because listen, everywhere you look right now, and maybe it was because of the the cautious optimism that this team would end up with a top three pick maybe, and that didn’t happen. But from what I’m hearing around here, everyone’s saying there’s no generational talent, you know, like a Connor Badard type in this draft, but they’re talking down on the draft class in totality. Can you give me an identity on this draft class? I mean, and you’re saying there this team, the Bruins have an opportunity to get some quality centers here at big picture for this draft. Is this a deep draft? Do you see a lot of great players, a lot of good, serviceable players? What do you sort of see big picture for this draft class? You know what’s funny, Travis, is I get asked this question about like, well, who could be a sleeper? And I go, well, everybody’s looking for a sleeper. And if I knew who the sleeper was, I’d put him in the top five, right? So, you’re trying to identify the players and you think, and we know Patrice Bers was a second round draft pick. He’s he’s going into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. So when I hear when I hear commentary that, oh, a draft isn’t deep. I always find that it it goes back to the top end of a draft. Okay, there’s no CBrini, there’s no Bard, there’s no McDavid, there’s no Matthews. Well, if that’s how the only way you’re going to define a draft, then if those players aren’t in it, then nobody has a chance. And that isn’t reality. The reality is is that there’s going to be really good players that are going to be drafted that are going to have really good careers and help teams win in the National Hockey League. There’s going to be some players that we didn’t know were going to be that good that are going to come in and help their team play. And and you’re looking at 17 and 18 year old kids that you’re trying to project when they’re in the NHL moving into an area where they can be real significant contributors. They’re 21 22. That’s a long ways off. So, you’re trying to project everything with that in mind. But I I I said earlier there’s 45 players on average that play 350 games or more in the NHL from any draft. It’s going to be the same in this draft. And there’s going to be some really good players coming. And and when it comes down to Hall of Famers, go just look at the NHL draft. Like every NHL draft doesn’t have a Hall of Famer, but it doesn’t mean there’s not good players that help you be successful. And I I I don’t have any doubt that there’s some players in this draft that are going to be really good. And again, the narrative surrounding it is I I never have bought into it and I’m not buying into it now. All right. So, Bruins picking at seven. You you listed out that they need a center and there will be a lot of centers in that range. Who are some of the prospects that they will be looking at and some of the prospects that you like at that spot at seventh overall? Yeah. Yeah. Well, so we start looking at at at center. I want to start with one player, Roger McQueen, and and I’m he he’s a 6’5 right shot center that if he wasn’t injured this year, he had a back issue and he didn’t get enough. He didn’t get a lot of games in. I he got under 20 games, I believe, was all he was able to get in, but but an unbelievable talent and he he would be in the discussion for first overall if he played the whole year. So for teams right now looking to try to understand, okay, what’s the medical report and and everything that I get and I’m not going to do the same in-depth work that the NHL teams are doing is that it’s all positive. It just needed some time and with that type of injury, no concerns. But given that Kaden Lstrom, who was the fourth overall pick last year, had a back injury and might might just make teams a little bit hesitant. But you get to a point at seven and you’re looking at a player like Roger McQueen and you’re thinking, “Wow, like I know what the injury thing is.” I think the Bruins need to make sure they do a deep, deep dive on Roger McQueen because 6’5 centerman with the skill that he has don’t come along very often. You have to be satisfied with the medical report and then you have to move forward with that. Dean Laterno, who they drafted first in the first round last year, you know, had his growing pains at Boston College, but you got to be patient with these players. And all of a sudden, Dean Lerno starts to progress like he’s expected to. Yeah. Roger McQueen, if he’s the guy that you’re have, all of a sudden up the middle of the ice, you’re looking at two monstrous centermen that can be a big different can make a big difference. Now, the reason I bring him up is because I think that healthy, he’s in the discussion at the top, not there at seven. Anton Fondelle. He’s a brilliant center out of Sweden. Reminds me so much of Sasha Barkov. So, you’re looking at a player that it is so smart, so complete. Yeah. When the Bruins fans have been spoiled by Patrice Berser, just that superb productivity, just night in night out, game in, game out, year in, year out, and and and a championship caliber player. Jake O’Brien, a right shot center from Brford. another really good right shot center that can do it all like in terms of both ends of the ring. You have Caleb Duo, a center with Monton who’s who’s got a high motor, but again those strong two-way centers. You watch the NHL playoffs and and the Bruins fans have watched Berser perform against anybody that he was asked to perform against and end up on the right side of it. Those are just four centers that I think that could like could be a consideration at seven. I I I said I think two of them will be there. They may there might be three they have to make a decision on. But when I look at those four centers, I just think that the Bruins have a real opportunity to get somebody that can be a significant addition to their group and somebody that can be really, really instrumental to success in the years to come. You know, as I have you here breaking down these prospects and I’m hearing you talk about who could be available at seven, who may not be, I wonder, I mean, it poses a question. Should the Bruins consider moving up here? Now, I I look at the top three and I think, boy, you know, those teams may not even want to entertain any phone calls there, but I don’t know. Could you move the four where Utah is? Is that some wiggle room? is, in other words, do you see a path where it makes sense for the Bruins to move up in this draft, trade up and ensure they get one of these guys you’re breaking down? Well, well, to try to ensure, but it also moves you into another what I believe another category of player. Is it Michael Misa? Is it is is it James Hagens, right? Who like in my view just will simply not be there at seven. So when you start to evaluate and you start to look at, okay, what would it take for us to get up there and you’re evaluating players with respect to, you know, like we think this guy’s better than this player. Yeah. I I think for the Bruins to try to consider that teams are always and and because there’s so many centers, so let’s just use Utah, Travis, as an example. So Utah sits and goes, “Well, we might like one of the guys I just mentioned at seven.” They might say, “Hey, we’re comfortable with Roger McQueen. We know we can get him at seven. The Bruins can move up to four and now get one of those other players and assure themselves of of of taking the guy they they have right near the top of their list in terms of centers. So there there’s always that opportunity and and I think the Bruins absolutely should and will explore that opportunity. Yeah, I love that. I mean that makes all the sense in the world. You have that need at center. There’s top end talent at the center position. Misa Hagens, of course, Hagens with BC you just mentioned. Go out and get the guy. When you look at all these centers too, who do you see as immediate impact? Who do you see developmental? Especially in the Bruins case. Let’s say in this one they stay back at seven and it could be McQueen or it could be Denoier. Yeah, I think they’re like a healthy Roger McQueen. Okay. They’re closer to playing than not playing. Uh, you know, Fondell closer to playing than not playing. So when when you and and when I say closer to playing, I’m talking 19, you know, not next year, but n I mean, Anton Fondell has played in the in the in the Swedish Alpenskin, which is the second tier league. Their team won the championship. He was he was an excellent player. So having that that that training day has always been ahead and and Roger McQueen if he’s healthy and every your thing like he’s got all the tools he’s and and the physical ability the physical maturity will will will be continuing to come for him and be good. Those those three guys I would say are closer to playing and when and I I want to make sure I I it’s 19. It’s not 18. It’s not next season, but the year after. I think that they could be coming in and showing that they’re ready to push for a spot on the Bruins. Gosh, brother, I could talk draft with you all day. I I have you here. I I have to ask you, can you share any stories with us? I mean, in your years of being an analyst or also in the front office, by the way, in the NHL, like are there any guys that you evaluated and you thought, “This is a this is our guy. This is a sleeper.” We talked about sleepers earlier. this is our dude and maybe you whiffed on it, maybe you were totally wrong or or vice versa, maybe there was a guy you didn’t think that could cut it and they became a star. Can you share any draft stories from your own personal experience with this stuff of how you either got it right or wrong? Yeah. Well, all you got to do is look at the record to see where we got it wrong, where I got it wrong. So, you know, I’m not You know, who celebrates their losses? Although we were just talking about Derek Jeter talking about in his commencement speech about failure and you’re and you learn from that. I mean the the NHL scouts are trying to they’re looking at the best players at the levels below the NHL. All the sports are. So you’re trying to you’re drafting players, selecting players that you you know have been good and you’re hoping that they can come in and sometimes it doesn’t work out. There’s two players I’m going to mention. One just happens to be the assistant general manager of the Boston Bruins, Jamie Lagenbrunner. and watching him at Clo High School uh that as a 17-year-old player. I mean, he was brilliant. And we we we had a high pick that year in the draft at nine and we didn’t take Jamie, but we tried to move around to see about uh getting a player and and not trying to to try to move up as we coveted Jamie so much. And all of a sudden, you know, we’re in this race to try to find a to try to find a way to to trade up. And then we said, well, maybe we’ll get him with our second round pick. And lo and behold, we did. Jamie was instrumental to our Stanley Cup team in 1999. He was instrumental to the New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup in 2003. He he he’s an excellent executive. He’s an an outstanding person, leader. I don’t have any doubt that he’ll be a general manager of the National Hockey League one day. So, that is that is the one where you were just hoping because there’s times when you’re you you don’t get the player that you’re hoping to get. Well, we ended up getting Jamie and it was just such a boon to us. The other player and Jamie played with him in in Dallas was Yerry Lein and we drafted him in the fourth round and I’d like to tell you we knew how good he’d be. Boy were we lucky because our finish scout was was raving about him and we kept passing on him and then we got him in the fourth round. Three times Salty Trophy winner let in. So there’s times when you just despite your own work and sometimes working against your own best interest, you find a way to get on the right side of it and boy did we get on the right side of it. Let it Hey, Jamie’s son, Mason. He’s one of the Bruins prospects in their farm system playing at Harvard right down the road in Cambridge as well. You spoke about the top guys. I got to tell you a funny story, George. I got to tell you a funny story about about Jamie. So Jamie was a junior at Clo High School. Uh when when when there’s a draft here, the the USHL wasn’t what it was now. He couldn’t enter college hockey at that point in time. So he was looking for the next challenge. He was the best player in the state of Minnesota that year. wasn’t eligible to win Mr. Hockey because it’s only for senior players. So, he now is looking to uh consider he ended up going to Peter Bro, the Ontario Hockey League because he felt that was a nice challenge for him and and he was brilliant in Peterbr. In fact, they just honored Jamie back in in the fall. Uh they honored him and he uh and you think about Peter Bro, it’s a long line of of great people that have come out of Peter Bro. But Ron Thomasino, who was the head coach of Harvard at that time, uh said to me, he goes, “How like you there’s no way you can’t encourage somebody not to go to Harvard.” And I said to Ron, I said, “Ron, I am not discouraging anybody from going to Harvard, but he’s going to have to wait a year.” And Jamie wanted to go and play and we know how his career ended. So when Mason went to Harvard and he’s going to be the captain at Harvard University next year, it just took a generation for a lagard runner to get to Harvard. So for Mason to get there, it’s really good. Hey, it was it was a legendary Ted Donado Harvard out there playing Minnesota. Jamie and Ted obviously meet up. Mason meets Ted. Quick conversation and then Mason’s word to his dad. Mason told me this. I want to go to Harvard and play for him. So there you go. Eventually Jamie got the deal done for them. It goes full circle. When when we look at now the Bruins, we talked draft with them. We talked centers. They have that need. They also have $28 million in cap space. They need more than prospects to get this thing back on track to the playoffs and being contenders. What would be, you’re the GM, you’re looking at the full offseason plan. What would be your top top priority, top of the list where you’re going, we have to address this position, this position group, and maybe this aspect of the team. Well, you have a really good goalender, right? I know Jeremy Swayman didn’t have his best year. Okay. So, you can have an off season. It doesn’t mean you’re going to have two off two two seasons that are subpar. And I I I don’t have any question that Jeremy’s an elite number one goalender. Empas Lindol was hurt for a long stretch of the season. Him coming back healthy is going to be significant. You have Charlie Makavoy, he’s the bedrock of the of the blue line. Like when you when you think about what the Bruins have and I’m starting with what they have because I think that’s really important to recognize that they have some really good strong elements and key and key positions covered off. Charlie certainly I’m I’m a big Mason Laurier fan. I think that he’s just going to continue to progress and and so now you have these three rangy defenders that are really good and the bedrock and Charlie Macko’s a superstar. He’s an unbel unbelievable difference maker. I think they have enough of of the other areas in their group that like grind and grit and physical play. They need to add more skill. They they had a tough time scoring at times this year. I I think the focus for Don Sweeney is to try to find more skill. I I think Elias Lindholm is a really good center line center. He’ll become better with help in front of him instead of being asked to try to do more than he’s capable of. I think that getting the Elias Elias into a good spot will help him and help the Bruins. but to be able to add some skill to be able to add more skill into their up into their upper part of their forward group. I I think that that would be a a a significant focus for the Bruins. We all know that that is their focus. I don’t think anybody would be surprised. I’m not I’m not giving away anything. Wow. Geez, Craig, you just Wow. Who who knew? We the Bruins fans know. And I think that there’s going to be a lot of opportunity because the cap is not just going up next year. you you got certainty that for the next three years it’s going up and now you have some cap space. They cleared out some room and now opportunity. It’s not just in the free agent market. It’s also going to be in the trade market. Younger players and I’m just going to I’m just putting out a name. I’m I don’t know anything but but this type of a player that that you might want to explore. Trevor Ziggress, you know, he’s got one year left in Anaheim. I I think that he’s got all kinds of oodles and oodles of talent. And he I’m not saying him specifically. I’m using him as an example of how you look around the league to try to find other players under contract that might be younger because I don’t think it’s just the free agents you have to look at. You have to look at building out that skill in different ways. And the draft is one opportunity to add uh elements to your team. The free agency is and trades are too. and teams trying to maneuver with the cap going up. I think that the flexibility for the Bruins at this juncture in time is really significant and will allow them to do the things or to allow them to have the opportunity to do the things that are necessary to get them back into contending uh position. I love it. Faster, get more skilled what the Bruins need. And I like exploring the trade market. Smart man. He’s Craig Button of TSN. Craig, appreciate you taking the time. Appreciate wearing the hat as always. repping big blue. Go Blue. For more on the Bruins offseason plans and NHL draft, check out Ness’s Hockey Podcast, a hockey hub, available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, and wherever else podcasts are found. All right, Trev, time to talk about it. Game one. Yeah, Celtics Knicks. We were there in overtime. Knicks getting the win. Get off to a one- nothing series lead. 108 108 105. Celtics at one point up 20 points. Blow that lead. It goes to OT. Celtics also set a playoff record for threes shot and threes missed. 63s, 45 misses. Can we do this exercise on a scale from 1 to 10 of shock? How shocked were we? because we were there together in the building and I remember us talking pregame about how both of us thought the Knicks could get a game maybe two in this series. Yeah. And that was a stretch for both of us at that time. And I actually remember saying to you, if the Knicks steal game one though, that is a big statement. And I remember you saying, yeah, but I’m still that the Celtics are still going to win the series. And then here we are now after the game where we’re like, “Okay, boy, that was a statement. They did steal game one.” I’m still looking at this from a Celtics perspective of Porzingis. I don’t know what’s going on there. He’s sick. He’s not I I don’t know what’s going on, but you essentially, it felt to me like you didn’t have Porzingis, even though I know he played early. Jaylen Brown was terrible. I mean, this this team shot worse than I’ve ever seen him shoot. You live by the three, we die by the three. kind of get that mantra, but this was atrocious. I I just I don’t know what the hell happened there. Iron unkind for them in every shot it felt like, including Tatum who started hot and then disappeared. So, you have all these factors in this yet you still are up 20 and then you still go to overtime and you still almost win the game. Like a scale of 1 to 10, I’m being shocked that they lost game one. I’m probably at a five or a six. A scale of 1 to 10, I’m being shocked that the Knicks got a game. I’m at a zero. Like I I anticipated this coming. I didn’t see game one. There’s a slight shock there. My shock level comes from the way they shot that ball in game one. The Celtics. I I didn’t I never see that coming where it’s that bad. For the love of all things holy, can this team just attack the rim? For God’s sakes, if your shots not falling, can we make it a law that you have to attack the rim? Why does this team continue to settle for jumpers and settle for threes again? Live by the three, die by the three. But my god, just attack the gdam rim if the three isn’t falling. Why? Why is that so hard? Especially the strategy they had early in the game. They got Cat and Josh Hart in foul trouble. 5 minutes and both had two fouls. They were hunting Cat. They were going after him and they were putting Josh Hart on an island, daring him to shoot. It was so simple and it was so smart. Anytime Jason Tatum had Caron Anthony Towns one-on-one or Jaylen Brunson, he was driving and he was shooting and he was setting them up and putting the pressure on him. And at one point it looked like Cat early on was unraveling. They go up into the locker room with a massive advantage. Then they come out in the third quarter, 20 shots in the third, 19 from three. They went one for one on a two-point field goal, which is Al Horford right around the rim. They went eight for 20 overall in the third quarter. 19 of their 20 shot attempts were from three. Best part, Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown were two for eight on all field goals combined. Tatum 0 for seven in the fourth quarter all around. And it goes into the team where what they are. Jason Tatum, what could have been the game-winning shot has Mitchell Robinson on an ISO. And Mitchell Robinson looks like he’s slipping on ice. Like absolutely shook. Tough shot, contested shot, but Jason Tatum, when you have Mitchell Robinson on his heels, go at him. That was regulation. He’s not athletic enough to keep up with him and you can blow right by him. Why not go at him? At worst, you get to the free throw line. No facts. But this team, they were just bashing their head into a wall. 60 attempted threes. And Joe Mazula said after the game, well, there’s a drop in attention to detail. Okay, that can’t happen on the sideline. And you’re the head coach. And what I always give him credit for is he gets them to buy in in the postseason. That is you going to your guys and going drive to the effing cup. I Oh my god, you are preaching. I’m catching the Celtics Holy Ghost with everything you’re saying because I think Joe Missoula at this stage of his young budding superstar coaching career is a star and he is a certified expert master. He has mastered the art of motivation. Done. You’re good. Right now, the X’s and O’s have to get a little better here in a sense of you talking about the end of regulation. Tatum shot. Okay. The end of overtime, the shot with with Jaylen Brown. I I need you to draw something up for me, Joe. I This is You know what I thought about? I actually thought about Brad Stevens because for all the things and maybe you’re picking nits, but for all the things that Brad Stevens was and wasn’t as a coach, George, one thing he could do in the game, he could draw up a play. He could get you open. He could scheme a good look for you at the end of the game when Jaylen Brown caught that damn ball at the end of overtime and just it was like, what was the play there? Is it just ISO? Jaylen figured out. Looks like he wasn’t expecting to get the ball, especially where Bridge is on. I know. And I’m saying, I need something here. You have all these stars. This is a big moment. You’re at home. Draw up something. I felt like I missed Brad Stevens in that moment. And I don’t think Missoula, from what we’ve seen, is great at that yet. Not saying he can’t grow. Not saying, right, but like we got to we got to get better there, Joe. So, I’m so glad you went there cuz I I didn’t even really think about that until you just brought it up. the end of regulation, you’re right, but the end of overtime is the one that really ticked me off. And it was even, this is coming off how they beat the Magic where they were attempting under 43s a game. They only made nine in their game four win. It was mindboggling seeing the Celtics win that way, but they know they can win by going inside. Here’s Jaylen Brown after the game talking about how they were overshooting from three. I don’t think it’s hard at all as just being able to recognize it. just being poised enough to recognize when to take it and when when not to take it. I don’t think we did a good job of that tonight of like seeing the game, understanding the game. It’s just like we was just firing it up um for whatever reason, you know, and you we got to we got to find them better in rhythm, get to the paint, get a paint touch, you know, get to the free throw line and those threes feel a little bit better. But we’ll look at it. Obviously, we was excited. came out um to start the second round of the playoffs, but we got to play with more poise than we did tonight. Says, that was him talking about, you know, you notice your shots not going down. Are you going to make any adjustment? He’s right. I just go back to last playoff, last year’s playoff run. Game two against Miami, Heat one, they won, they shot 54% from three. Celtics only shot 37%. Game two against the Mavs, they lost against the Cavs, excuse me. Boston shot 22% from three. Cavs shot 46%. Game four in the finals against Dallas. Boston lost. Dallas shot 41% from three. In this one, the Knicks shot 46% from three. The Celtics shot 25%. Gosh, they go with the law of averages over a seven game series. They want to shoot 50 plus threes and they know law of averages that they’re going eventually to hit more threes than their opponent and then they can’t keep up. But what gave me confidence from the Magic series was if their shot wasn’t falling, it was broke in the third quarter. Tatum shot was absolutely broke the whole second half. Settles for that three. They showed they can adapt on the fly to attack inside. There was none of that adjustment made. And that’s what confused me. Yeah, it it was almost like the contingency plan here for if you’re not shooting well is to just shoot out of shoot where I agree with you. I I just think it should be a mandated automatic our shots not falling. It’s not that we won’t come back to it, but for now, let’s attack the rim. Let’s get into a rhythm and then go inside out. Then maybe by doing that, we get guys in foul trouble. To your point, you know, you’re scoring still and and then you can extend out to the three-point line again and see if it’ll fall this time. I just think, you know, leaning and depending on the three, my god, I I I don’t know, man. I think at some point this could haunt them. It won’t be this series. Thunder Cavs, but at some point you’re going to run into an issue where you can’t live and die by the three. A and B, you got to be better late game situationally than what we’ve seen from this team. Yeah. Here’s also Jaylen Brown. Another postgame soundbite from him again talking about how they were shooting so many threes and the shot wasn’t there. Yeah. Yeah, in those moments when other team got momentum, we can’t just fire up threes. Um, you know, to break up momentum, you got to get to the free throw line, get to the paint, get to the basket, maybe get a a easy two, you know what I mean? Hit some free throws, and then maybe the next three-pointer feels a little bit better. Um, I feel like we just settled in the second half a lot. Um, but we’ll we’ll look at it and we’ll make adjustments again. Get to the free throw line, find your shot. That’s even Jason Tatum how he said the nights where he’s getting 40 50 points he knows his free throw is instrumental in all of that and there’s also again the adjustments late in the game defensively the execution Al Horford was left out there on an island on the perimeter against Jaylen Brunson time and time again and right when I’m watching it was backto-back possessions Jaylen Brunson hitting big threes he goes blitz him stop putting old man Al out there he can do many things he cannot be isolation defender on the perimeter they finally blitz it causes a turnover by the Knicks They got to stop. It was just the late adjustments. I’m not worried about the team. It’s game one. I still think they end up beating the Knicks. Confidently, I think they win in five or six. You’re still five on ping on five. I think I’m good with six. The lack of adjustments on the fly. Midway through the third, Celtics are up 20. And you’re looking at the at the box score. Jaylen Bro has 11 points. One other Nick player’s in double digits maybe at that point. And it’s basically the Knicks were just uh Celtics were taking their turns on who’s scoring. Multiple guys 12, 13 plus points. and then it all just unraveled. It is just unfathomable. I don’t think it happens again. I also think it’s coming out of a Magic series with a long break, five days off. Magic series where you couldn’t shoot the three, long break, the shot was off, right? And the Knicks got to the point they were daring him to shoot. Magic chased him off the perimeter. Once Tibs recognized their shots not falling, he’s like, “Let him shoot. Go ahead.” Which is crazy to think about, but yeah, you’re I mean, that’s exactly what happened. I I I’ll go this route. I think game two tomorrow night. I’m gonna go Celtics. I still think all these games are being close, guys. I’ll go Celtics 109, Knicks 105. I still, you know, sometimes we see from the Celtics team, the shots not falling in one game and then the next day game they blow the damn doors off of you. I don’t see that happening. I I don’t I’ll be honest, I don’t see any blowouts in this series at all. The Knicks are that tough. Brunson’s just forget it. I mean, he’s tougher than $2 steak tips. He’s ridiculous. I I’ll go 109 105 C’s even up the series win game two. But all these games are going to feel like heavyweight fights, I think. Back at home, I just The Celtics are such a better team. They just got to know to adjust on the fly. This maybe humbles them a little bit. You think little blowout? Game two, 112, 102. 10point win for the Celtics. Little convince. I wouldn’t call that a blowout. I would say that’s convincing. Yeah. Fair. Yep. Okay. Hey, for more on the Celtics quest for Banner 19, make sure to check out Ness’s basketball podcast. Hold my banner. Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and wherever else your podcast are found. Now, throw it to our guys and Matt with a ringside review from the latest on Monday Night Raw. Welcome into another edition of Ringside Review. I am Aan Hadidulu, joined alongside as always by Matthew Culpitz. We are taking a look at the May 5th edition of Monday Night Raw. Action-packed night, the go home Raw. Ahead of Backlash this Saturday, some stories getting lengthened out a little bit. We get a little bit more between Jay Uso and Logan Paul making a surprise appearance after the show went off the air. Lyra, Becky Lynch exchanging some words. So, plenty to discuss and get into. Matt, we’re going to start off. We’ll save the opening of the show and the main event for the end of this here. So, for those of you looking for that, you’ll catch it towards the tail end. We’re going to start with Lyra Valkyia and Becky Lynch with a little bit of an exchange, a war of words, I guess, if you will, before they ended up brawling to wrap up their segment. I have a bit of a concern and we already kind of touched on it last week and I think you will understand where I’m coming from here. We have Becky Lynch calling everyone imaginable in this situation. Garbage, trash, recycling, you name it, she laid it all out there. Everything but the dumpster at this point. However, the crowd, despite her laying into everyone and just disrespecting everyone possible, they’re still cheering for her. She’s not getting the booze that she needs to be getting. And I’m starting to get worried that this is going to end up as a dud of a feud because Becky Lynch is too hard to buy into as a heel. She is too beloved by the fans despite the fact that she’s calling everyone out, fans included. She’s calling them out for booing her, but they’re literally cheering her as she’s saying. Like, it’s it’s a bit of a mess. And I’m a little bit worried that she can’t turn the crowd. And I feel like they need some sort of big payoff at backlash to really set this in motion here if she’s going to be running heel for the foreseeable future. Yeah, I think um a great example of this is with I I was observing Paul Heymon this week and Paul is one of those guys that clearly, you know, that you know he’s loved, but he’s starting to get that heat. You need to have that level of, you know, being respected, loved by the wrestling community, but also can do something or say something that generates actual heat. And I feel like that is what Becky has been kind of lacking here. It feels very kind of lazy like how I viewed John Cena as he run recently where it’s just you know uh diss the crowd kind of use the usual uh cheap heat pretty much as you uh call it and Becky hasn’t really done anything necessarily other than attack Bailey which I know we talked about a little bit last week to really kind of sell you in terms of like oh yeah like I I could start to get a little heat here. I could start to hate her. It’s just not working. It’s not clicking. I actually don’t think she’s been doing the best heel work. I feel like she’s done way better heel work in the past. So, I I completely hear your um concerns, man. I’m starting to feel that, too. I do think I don’t know if you’re going to touch upon it, but I do think Lyra is really elevating herself. I think she’s really kind of um killing it on the mic and doing well, but I I can’t say the same for Becky, and I do see that concern. Yeah, I So, I actually I literally have that written down, too. Like I want to give I want to give Lyra all the credit in the world because I think she’s doing a really good job of trying to be the face that you’re supposed to love in this situation here and feel for in the situation that she’s in. But I I feel like I don’t know if I would say it’s it’s lazy, but it does kind of feel like just taking the cheap shots at the crowd. I I don’t think lazy is the right word because Becky Lynch is one of those workh horses. But like I think they’re just having a hard time figuring out the angle she needs to take to really get the crowd to hate her. And I feel like it needs to get more personal towards Lyra. And I kind of wish that this this feud maybe had one more week to maybe flesh out just a little bit further where we can get cuz I think Lyra did a good job when she brought up the recycling thing to Becky saying you basically recycle everything and you got the ooh from the crowd and everything. So it’s like they’re getting there but I think they need one more week where Becky needs to get personal towards Lyra and she hasn’t really done a great job of that to this point and it’s just a the time between Wrestlemania and Backlash is just so short. like it is what it is I guess but this is in my eyes just a few that needs like another week and it needs to be a little bit more personal and I just we don’t have the time for that unfortunately that’s why I feel like with the match at Backlash something maybe needs to happen where like maybe Bailey intervenes or or it’s just it some sort of I mean I guess Becky needs to win the title in some under underhanded way that would get the crowd to turn on her. I’m not really sure what the answer to that would be, but this needs something. And because we don’t have another Monday Night Raw to flesh it out, I think we just have to look at Backlash and hope that maybe there’s a big payoff there. One thing I do want to highlight with you though, match of the night in my eyes, and honestly, one of the better Monday Night Raw matches we’ve seen in quite some time, and I It’s not that I wasn’t anticipating it being a good match. I just didn’t really know what to expect of it. Eio Sky and Roxan Perez just tearing the house down. IO Sky seems to be having money matches with everybody as of late and she is just unbelievable in the ring. I I’ve been a little bit confused with the use of Roxan Perez and Julia on Monday Night Raw because they’re still technically NXT talent. They’re still on NXT but like they’re doing this in between role thing going on right now. But I I’ve got to say if I was, you know, give my Dave Meltzer opinion here, like that was four and a half, maybe five stars even. Like it just it was perfect. There was no real moment where I felt like anything felt off. Nothing felt awkward. They they just meshed in the ring so well and the crowd was behind it. Everything felt great. The ending, unfortunately, I I hate the run-in situation that we keep getting with everything, but it it is what it is. I I’m enjoying Eio Sky’s work as a champion, and this was a match I just had no expectations for and was blown away by. Yeah, absolutely. And I think you hit the nail um on the coffin with Eio Sky. I feel like having that payoff uh that Wrestlemania win has really solidified her as a star. Now, obviously, she is already a former Women’s World Champion, but this time around, it really feels like the crowds behind her. She’s got the taunt starting to get over like everything is clicking for her and I love it. I think she’s just, you know, probably one of the best, if not the best active wrestler, female wrestler in ring. And I think it’s cool that, you know, it’s just it’s clicking like she’s she’s not a heel. She’s not struggling um on the mic or at least they’re navigating that better with the language barrier. Like she’s just in a great spot. As for Roxan, yeah, I agree. I think the whole kind of like making them work overtime deal where it’s like one night they’re in NXT, the next night they’re on Raw. That’s a lot. Credit credit to her and Julia. And I know Stephanie Vera has been coming up and down quite a lot as well. So shout out to them for all putting in, you know, overtime. Um, I I think it’s fine. Like they’re just more getting like the exposure and they have that security blanket of like you’re a rookie, you know, like if you take a bunch of losses, like you’re still so new, you’re the future. So, I’m not worried about um Roxan really getting damaged by taking all these losses. Although, it’s been quite a few losses on Monday now. Yeah, definitely. Um, it it was a banger and I completely agree. I think it was definitely um a strong four and a half if not a fivestar match and we got it on free television, man. So, no no complaints. Absolutely. Absolutely. And now we’re basically getting set up here for this tag team match. Uh is it I believe it’s next week on Monday Night Raw where we have Rio Ripley, Eio Sky going up against Julian Roxan Perez. It’s been a while since I’ve been really excited about a women’s tag team match, but I’ve been and again not somebody who watches a ton of NXT myself. Being able to see Roxan Pere and this is kind of like where again I’m confused about seeing it, but I’m also kind of enjoying it because it’s exposing me to wrestlers I just I simply don’t have the time to watch during my normal life. like it’s hard squeezing in Monday Night Raw as it is and even getting into Smackdown on the Fridays depending on what my life looks like those days, but being able to be exposed to some of the upand cominging emerging talent and seeing the way that they perform like I I’m excited for this tag team match and there’s literally nothing but nothing but beef carrying it and I and and now I’m starting to be like, “Okay, so maybe I should have some expectations. This might really be one of those matches that shows up big time for Raw.” Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s a strong suit of NXT and that’s why they got all the showcase in the Royal Rumble. Um, you always have the call-ups. You I remember way back even when John Cena was doing like his United States Championship run, you had Sami Zayn coming up at the time, Kevin Owens. The NXT NXT um excitement and just overall program is definitely one of Triple H’s like highlights. Like he has done that right for the past decade. Um, ever since it got rebranded, ever since these stars are just legit contenders. I mean, look at, you know, some of the alum. You got Braun Breaker, main event guy now. You got I mean, Finn Balor was a main event guy until that all what kind of went downhill. Uh Shinsuke, AJ or AJ Styles wasn’t there in there, but you get the point. There’s so many guys that came from NXT that are just, you know, the the future. And I think that’s what we’re looking at with Roxan, Julia, Stephanie Vair, and over on the men’s side, you got like Oba, Femi, Trick Williams, I know a bunch of different names. Um, and now Braun’s really coming into that light. So, yeah, I’m excited. I think same deal. I don’t really watch a lot of NXT, but this is a really cool showcase to kind of show off Roxan and a lot of these other talents, and they’re doing damn well. Yeah, I almost like this kind of style of we’re showcasing the talent rather than elevating them to the main roster permanently kind of deal because for if you know worst case scenario and I’m not saying this is what’s going on here cuz I think it’s it’s working extremely well right now. you’re getting the opportunity to showcase this talent on the bigger stage on the well not network television. It’s it’s Netflix now, but you know what I mean. And we’re getting to see this talent, but they’re not they’re not their hands aren’t tied like they don’t have to be on Monday Night Raw where the roster so bloated cuz they would do that every year after Mania. You get all these random callups, all these people the roster all of a sudden completely saturated with talent and you almost don’t know what to do with all these people. And like you had Rusev come back who we’ll touch on in a second here, but like it’s nice that we get to see this talent and then if you know they finish off with this tag team match and that’s the end of it. Like that can be the end of it. They can go back and do their thing at NXT. They’ve kind of gotten to jump in the pool a little bit of the main roster and get some experience. Now I did just briefly mention Rusev here. So I do want to get your quick thoughts on this. Not like a ton, but just curious overall made his debut last night or not debut but return in the WWE ring for the first time in 5 years. We have him basically just completely decimate Otis when things are all said and done. Did it do anything for you? Yes and no. I think short term I’m happy. I was, you know, an AW fan for quite some time and saw his whole Miro Redeemer gimmick and I loved it. I think it has so much potential and if booked correctly, almost like how we always talk about Gunther has to be a monster, this was great potential for Rusev to be a monster if it works right. doesn’t always work out. Who just got released? The Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman. So, sometimes these monster gimmicks don’t always work. I I think it’s great, but I do still have worries that, you know, it may not get booked right and just fizzle out and yet another failed project. Yeah, I I’m I’m This is kind of the route that I wanted them to go with him. So, I I really hope that they lean into the more like monster sized heel angle where he’s just running through people. And I think he needs to get a championship sooner rather than later just so we can get like a good baby face to try to dethrone the monster thing going for him. I don’t want him just squashing people for a few weeks and getting lost in the shuffle. Like there needs to be a point to this. And that’s one thing that sometimes I feel like WWE doesn’t do the best of is like why is this monster squashing everybody? Like we need to get to the why sooner rather than later. So I mean it is what it is. I didn’t really have massive expectations. I kind of feel like I I got roughly what I was expecting out of it. Um I I was honestly a little bit surprised because I thought Rusev was just going to take the high road and be like, “Yeah, I won. See you.” And walk away. That was like almost a bit of a swerve on its own, but then of course he races back in the ring to finish off the job and take everybody out. But I’ll be interested to see what they do. I again I just hope they get to the why is the monster doing what he’s doing sooner rather than later part. But we got to get into the main event, which basically spanned the entirety of the show here. CM Punk returning to make the save on Jay Uso against Seth Rollins in the main event for the championship match. This was set up earlier in the night with a really good back and forth between Paul Heyaymon and Jay Uso where Jay basically tells him you got a lot of nerve in a different way. Uh coming out to speak to me after what you did to my family and then Heymon kind of just like let loose on an emotional tirade I guess you could call it calling out CM Punk for the situation he put him in. Roman Reigns and the situations that he put him in from ultimately Roman losing the title to disappearing to leaving Paul Heymon in this vulnerable situation with that newaged bloodline we were getting with Solo Sakoa to coming back and I mean he threw some dirt like he he called out CM Punk for putting him in a weird spot but he threw some dirt on Roman Reigns name for leaving him high and dry for coming back for the olafala not even to avenge him like there was a lot of dirt thrown on Roman in there uh so I thought It was a great way to kind of open up this whole situation. We obviously then get the backstage promo once Jay Uso accepts the championship challenge for the night. He’s telling Seth, you know, he fell for it. There’s two things I took away from this entire situation here. First and foremost, Paul Heymon, unbelievable on the mic. He literally never fails to sell anything. But the Bronn Breaker situation is a little awkward in my eyes because while I was listening to Paul talk to Bronn about this grand vision, you look at Bronn Breaker and like he’s playing second fiddle to Seth in this group and I don’t really see how this is going to work. Bronn Breaker feels like the alpha like he’s the type A guy and he’s kind of taking a backseat to watch Seth Rollins get this championship. And like I’m looking at Braun and in my mind I’m like in his head he must be going, “Why is this not me getting this championship opportunity? Like I am literally like look at me. I’m destroying people. Paul, why are we giving Seth this championship match?” And I guess Seth’s the leader. But like did you catch that vibe at all from that? Absolutely. I mean first I want to touch upon Paul. You absolutely again took the words right out of my mouth and I alluded to it earlier in this episode that he just does not miss. I in my opinion goat manager in WWE like the greatest just because of the character work and I think he’s doing an incredible job of getting that heat being the heel delivering promos like we got yesterday but also still just having your respect. You’re like man like you are just good at what you do. With that being said with Brun. Yeah, absolutely. I get that vibe and I I don’t know where it’s going to go. I I again think this is going to be more than just Seth and Braun. So, I do think another member is coming along. Then maybe the puzzle pieces will kind of fill out better. But as of right now, it very much feels like Braun is just kind of there, like he’s there to spear a bunch of people and just wait for his turn. But I feel like the biggest ammo is that he’s beaten Jay Uso before. So, it’s like I’m surprised he didn’t bring that up or like kind of have like that moment where he’s like, “Why isn’t me out there?” Like, “I already beat this guy.” like, you know, like I don’t know, just like a little Easter egg or hint to kind of allude that in the future, you know, some kind of heal turn or he’s already healed, but some kind of turn internally between him and Seth will happen. Um, so yeah, I agree. I I think it’ll be interesting to see how that dynamic forms, but I think once we learn a little bit more about this group, maybe at Backlash, they have an appearance and another member joins, it’ll all make sense. Yeah, I’m glad that that that kind of planted the same seeds in your mind that it gave to me. Like just watching that whole thing, I’m thinking like why isn’t Braun Breaker more like I like I just it like when I look at Braun I think main event star and I in the back of my mind I’m like he has to be thinking why isn’t this me like in terms of his character. So I’m glad that you kind of caught the same feeling I did. Now obviously CM Punk returns makes a save after Sami Zayn kind of failed to do so in what was a messy ending of a Monday Night Raw main event. Something happened after the show that I briefly wanted to touch on before we go here. And that was of course if you’re looking on the screen right now, postshow, Logan Paul out of nowhere, right hand to Jay Uso, knocking him out cold, leaving him laying ringside. I I love and hate that they did this after the show went off the air because I I I love seeing this stuff happen on Raw, but I get what they’re trying to do with the social angle here. Why is this not on Backlash? That’s the one thing. I thought this match was going to happen at Backlash, but it’s not. It’s not on the card. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. I think that’s why we got the World Championship match. So, just real quickly, did WWE whiff on just having this be a part of Backlash? Like, why is it not there? Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I do think Triple H just loves his five match specials. That’s like kind of his dream. So, I don’t I don’t see it getting added now that we’ve already have the five slots filled up. Um, I do like the social angle, especially with a guy like Log. It makes sense. Trendy, get the clicks, get the the viral sensation, but I have seen some rumors that maybe it’s getting pushed to Saturday night’s main event. I don’t know when that falls date wise, but um that’s where I I think I see it going. But yeah, I’m definitely was surprised that it was not on Backlash. It was being heavily advertised. Yeah, that’s a that’s a really good call on your part now that I’m thinking about it because I believe it’s at it’s like the last Saturday of the month or close to the end of the month, something like that. So, we do have that Saturday night’s main event coming up. That is a good call there. We pushed that main championship match to then. But that’s going to do it for us. That’s all we have for this past Monday Night Raw. Matt, as always, pleasure discussing wrestling with you all. Thank you again as always. You made it to the end. Greatly appreciate it. We’ll see you all next time for another edition of Ringside Review. All right, that’s it for the chat. George Bi, Travis Thomas. Appreciate you guys making us a part of your day. Shout out Craig Button. Shout out Matt and Nathan with Ringside Review as well. We’ll see you guys same time, same place tomorrow. Have a good one, everyone.

The Bruins received the 7th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery so what should they do with the pick in the 2025 NHL Draft? TSN analyst & former NHL GM Craig Button joins George Balekji & Travis Thomas to break down which prospects the Bruins should target & if it’s worth trading the pick to move up in the draft. Plus, Craig shares which free agent players he believes the Bruins should look to sign this offseason. Later, George & Travis recap the Celtics Game 1 loss to the Knicks & debate if Boston should stop focusing so much on 3 pointers.

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