Is Donskov Now One of Bruins Coaching Candidates? | The Skate Pod, Ep. 446

Is Donskov Now One of Bruins Coaching Candidates? | The Skate Pod, Ep. 446

welcome in to episode 446 of the Skate Podcast i am Brian D feliz joined by Bridget Pru and Scott Mclofflin bridget and Scott happy Monday everybody’s favorite day of the week scott you had a nice weekend at a concert you went away at the end of last week a little bit nervous uh they might hire the next head coach while I’m away and your prediction was wrong i was I was confident in it i’ I’ve never been like more sure of anything than than making that announcement while I’m like in the car either driving up to Maine or back from Maine but uh yeah here we sit uh late Monday morning and still no announcement yeah I mean I I said it i said maybe the curse has been broken and you guys said no i rejinxed it so maybe today you’re you are I was going to say you are really tempting fate by continuing to reference this curse it’s broken it’s We’re good we’re in the clear well Bridget Scott at the end of last week we we saw reports that the Boston Bruins intended on hiring Marco Sturm as their next head coach and And while that still may be true it was not you know confirmed news or that it certainly hasn’t happened and since we last recorded the Dallas Stars have been eliminated from the playoffs and that opens up a couple of more coaching candidates um so are you surprised that this has taken so long to come down if they really were that close to hiring Sturm last week or what are your thoughts on all that well I I think it’s only surprising if if you fully buy into that report from Cam Robinson and and that’s really what we’re talking about it’s really the one report i mean maybe a couple other people ran with it off of that but you know it was really the one report where Cam Robinson was way out ahead of everyone else that was on Tuesday night that he reported that and then Wednesday Thursday Friday like all the updates from there were no like the search is still going on you know they they had they had candidates in uh at Warrior for interviews uh right up through Friday i believe Maricro Sturm was in the building on Friday so yeah like unless you think it was a done deal before they even finished talking to everyone and that the Sturm interview was just a you know like a foregone conclusion which I would say doesn’t seem like that was the case you know if if Sterm was in the building on Friday and they already had their mind made up and you know hey we’re going to bring him in but it’s really going to be more of a job offer and ironing out all the details well then I think we would have heard about that over the weekend or even Friday night um so it doesn’t really seem like that’s what happened and it seems like there was still a decision to be made after all those interviews and and yeah it may very well still be Sturm i think it’s pretty clear that he is one of the finalists that you know he has he has done well elliot Friedman even said on 32 thoughts on Monday morning that he heard Sturm had a really good final interview so there’s still a lot of signs pointing in that direction but the idea that this was done and delivered and they had made their choice you know mid last week was was premature yeah and and we were you know though we were out doing our own things this weekend and Scott was up enjoying a concert in Portland Maine and I was in New Hampshire shout out Vampire Weekend that’s best live band going right now and you went to see them twice in one week didn’t you indeed yeah I saw them at Boston Calling as well that they only play they only got an hour at Boston Calling though which is not enough they their shows are usually like two and a half hours so I I had to go to a full show yeah there’s just a little taste that had you Jones in for the for the real thing but so while we were all you know doing our things this weekend we still had the group chat going of course and um like immediately when Dallas got eliminated and the thought popped back into my head and and you guys head as well that okay now that they haven’t made this decision yet they do have time to interview Misha Donskoff after you know his season ended with the Stars and we were wondering if that was the holdup uh and why they the timing of this just it the interview process uh dragged out as long as it did so maybe they were waiting for him and we haven’t heard reporting yet on whether or not they’re still willing to give an interview we uh Pierre Lebrun tweeted out this morning that uh basically it’s between two candidates and the final interviews were last week which to me uh that that last sentence in the tweet kind of made it seem like those were the last interviews and which would mean Don Scoff would have not been one of the guys that was a candidate um because he had just come onto the market this weekend so um I don’t know to me and I said this and I think Scott might disagree but Misha Donskov was the candidate that I had thrown out there in our mock uh GM series or our our mock off seasonason series um as somebody that I thought they should really highly consider and now that they haven’t made their final decision and it just so happens that he’s now available and you have the time if you even think that he might be one of your top three options that are out there you need to get him in for an interview in my in my opinion it would be really just not not doing everything you could if you if you’re Don Sweeney and you think “All right this is a really good coaching candidate but we’re we ran out of time in our our process.” No you didn’t you didn’t hire a head coach yet you still have the opportunity to bring him in do it interview him i know you probably you know if you’re Don Sweeney you might be high on those last two candidates including we think Marco Sturm is one of them bring in somebody else that if you have any little inkling that you might might be missing out on a a good option as a head coach they need to they need to interview him um and we don’t have an announcement yet so they had time to do it this weekend maybe they have maybe they do it Monday uh you know that’s which is when we’re recording i’d be happy to see that i think I and I know you guys shared a little bit of a different opinion that time is ticking and get it done as quickly as possible because we’re we’re inching up to the draft and we’re we’re moving along and you know other things have to happen in this off season but I don’t know do you guys think that because they haven’t made a final decision yet and because he’s available they should at least give him a look well I think it’s it takes two to tango and I think that timing isn’t on the Bruin side when it comes to wanting to go through the process of hiring a head coach as soon as they can but it’s also not on the side of Misha Donskov or Pete Dbor in a sense because as I texted you guys and for the record if they hired Dbor I would be I’ll save my commentary on that for for a later time but I think that would be a very desperate move at least Don’s coffee is an outside the box hire still but either one of them we should just in case people don’t know the name or don’t follow the stars pete Dbor head coach in Dallas still the head coach as of now yes but there’s been speculation that maybe where he hasn’t gotten over the hump you know three straight losses in the Western Conference Finals like is is his job on shaky ground he had some interesting and inflammatory comments about their starting goalie Jakeer who is signed to a big long contract so um yeah if he were to become available that would al that would certainly shake things up and also that would make Donskov’s job not necessarily secure in Dallas either because if you’re changing the head coach we had this conversation about the Bruins changing their head coach like does that next head coach get a chance to clean house and bring in their own people so that means both those jobs or does or does Dons Donskov get promoted to Pete’s job so but in any event I just think that for for both of them they have been focusing on making the Stanley Cup final up until a couple of days ago right so for them to be focused and solely focused on the task at hand and that’s winning a Stanley Cup to in a matter of days having to interview for the Boston Bruins where they may or may not have done their homework on Boston i I doubt it i think that they’re probably focused on Dallas so for Donskoff in particular I could see him getting a call and being like “Yeah I mean I yeah I’ll do I’ll do I’ll interview but in internally maybe not feeling completely prepared for that process because he hasn’t had the time on his side so I just think that it’s not so much that I wouldn’t like Miesa Donskov to get a fair shake i don’t know if it’s a fair shake even for him to interview this last second when he you want to ideally do your homework on the team you’re you’re interviewing for so maybe he has done that maybe he’s a forward thinker and has thought about the Bruins along the way and but that but that’s mainly my my my uh setback is does the candidate have the uh proper time to prepare for the interview yeah I’ve I’ve liked Donskcov as a potential candidate all along and I I do feel like if you’re at this point and you haven’t made your final decision yet I I think you you should at least make a phone call and and gauge interest gauge you know hey like you can even approach it that way say like look you know we’re very late in our process like we’ve done final inperson interviews with other candidates but you know you’re you’re available now like we do want to gauge your interest like are you interested in an interview this week can you be prepared you know on Tuesday or Wednesday or whatever another complicating factor to mention here is the Bruins entire front office is in Buffalo this week for the NHL scouting combine um for all the top draft picks uh or not just top draft picks but you know second third round guys whoever um so like you can make it work but obviously this week this combine which begins I think it begins Monday and goes through Saturday um you know that like this also needs to be a priority for Don Sweeney i assume he wants to be there for the entire week to not only look at these prospects and how they’re measuring in and what their medicals and physicals are saying but also for all the interviews that these teams get to have these prospects in and sit down with them and interview them for you know I don’t know how long they get for each prospect but it’s probably at least 15 minutes maybe a half hour um you know like that’s given where the Bruins are picking that and the der of like you know high-end prospects like this is also an extremely important task on on their offseason to-do list so I don’t think you know Sweeney probably doesn’t want to like fly to Boston miss a day at the combine to do another interview but you might have to like if you again if you’re not blown away by the candidates you have if you haven’t truly fallen in love with any of them and you want to at least consider Donskov then it probably h it has to happen this week like I don’t think you’re putting it off another week just to talk to one guy when you’ve already done your final interviews with four or five other guys so um yeah I mean I when when Don Sweeney told the Globe I think it was Jim McBride who had the interview uh or or actually it might have been the Herald was Steve Conroy um that he wasn’t waiting on any other candidates in the playoffs and that was like two weeks ago i think we all took that to mean like well they’re pretty close to the end then and he knows you know we’re not going to wait for another round of the playoffs to end well here you are another round of the playoffs has ended and you still haven’t made your hires so um it has changed things i would at least make a phone call to Don Scavv but I don’t to Brian’s point like I don’t know if there’s just logistically time for it to come together where he’s going to pass whoever your finalists already are and does he have does he have like familial things like I got to talk to my wife or my my kids is is this an opportunity that that makes sense for the family and you have to make these decisions in an instant if you want to rush over for a phone interview or whatever with Dawn yeah i mean maybe he has momentum though like sometimes when you’re the last guy to interview and you’re your brain is still like clicking and you have you know you’re really excited and you have momentum like you’re the last person that he’s he’s talking to maybe you say something that he just was missing from the other interviews and so and also I don’t feel like they have to go all the way back to Boston right can’t he just come to Buffalo no be like “Hey meet me up here.” I mean I I guess but but Yeah and I mean they should I would assume they have some sort of um because I do think part of these interviews is like they’ll watch video of certain things or examples of of how they want to play or certain players you know what to expect like some of these interviews are more interactive than just sitting down across from the table and talking like there’s sometimes other stuff that goes into it and I would assume you can do you could do that from Buffalo if it took place there um because they’re probably doing that with some of these prospects as well like some of these prospects they might pull up a video clip and say you know maybe it’s either of that prospect like hey here’s something we liked you know or hey like what happened in this situation but also might be of here’s how we play you know here’s an example of what we want to do in the forche how do you think that fits with your game type of thing so um you could I I guess I would say it’s it’s probably not ideal um and that might also come back to like who’s in these final interviews we assume Don Sweeney and Cam Neely but is Charlie Jacobs involved and because I I don’t think he’d be in Buffalo i know obviously that is like a second home for him with family there so maybe he is but um you know that would be another factor is like who who’s there and who do you want in that interview he could be there i mean I still think he seems like also something that would be important enough to go out of your way to be a part of yeah i mean I don’t I don’t think too many owners are going to the scouting combat but Yeah but he this is important i don’t know maybe I still think guys for it anyway I still think there’s an element of family here at play where if you’re Misha Donskov and your inerson interview is is in Buffalo right and now the Bruins have the opportunity to hire you based off of that you haven’t spent a weekend in Boston with your wife or your family to he you now now you’re I mean you now you’d be in a situation where maybe you’re you’re getting a job offer from Dawn in short order before your family or your wife or just all included haven’t had a chance to go see their prospective new home there’s there’s a lot of elements at play here you haven’t seen you haven’t seen your coach’s office and like I know like that sounds kind of silly but like the facilities part of it yeah like you want to walk around the facilities yeah so I think there’s a lot of I think there’s a lot of value into interviewing in the city where the job is that you’d be uh And can I add one other thing that works against Don Scoff which is that if he’s interested in seeing if he gets elevated into the Dallas head coaching job or interested in another vacancy at some like he’s not going to have time to even do that if the Bruins are like we need your decision by Wednesday you know like he wouldn’t have time to even weigh the other options yeah yeah the timing the timing doesn’t seem great for anybody well I I will say like just to the counter a little bit like the Bruins don’t really have a reason to have to rush this at least it doesn’t seem like it there’s only two openings left um the Seattle Kraken made their higher late last week so it’s just the Bruins and the Penguins left and again just going off reports seems like the Penguins have different finalists all the reports around them are Mitch Love and DJ Smith who we know the Bruins have interviewed Love it doesn’t seem like you know he might be but it seems like more likely that their finalists are Sturm and maybe Jay Woodcraftoft they didn’t even talk or I won’t say they didn’t talk to they didn’t have TJ Smith in for a formal interview at least he really had never even came up in the Bruins search um while you know Marco Sturm hasn’t come up in the Penguins search so you’re not it’s not like you’re racing with the Penguins to hire someone unless Mitch Love was first for both of them but you know there’s been Elliot Freeman mentioned this on 32s as well he said he’s gotten he’s gotten the sense that the Penguins aren’t really aren’t in a rush and that their search could go on another week or so so um you know so it’s not like the Bruins don’t have to rush because they’re at risk of losing their guy I guess like at least it doesn’t seem that way so your only your only clock is do we want to have our coach in well ahead of the draft and free agency and be able to loop him into all those discussions i think I think that’s what their focus should be i think they they should get their wheels turning here get like get the wheels in motion i just if again if they if they think that St and by the way Scott forgive me if you mentioned this earlier but did you mention that that Elliot said that Sacko is not among the finalists uh I I actually don’t remember if I mentioned that off the top i know we mentioned it before we started recording but yeah that is definitely worth bringing up not that it’s a surprise i think we all kind of thought you know yeah that they’re going to talk to Sacko he’ll be considered he’ll be part of the process but I don’t think any of us ever really thought he was going to be the favorite or actually get the job um but now there is definitive reporting from Freriedman that Sacko has been told he’s he’s out of the running out of the running for head coach or head coach yeah or but like I’m what I’m trying to say is like does that mean that he’s out out or does that mean he goes back to his his role like was he told the door is completely closed that’s what we don’t know um which I I don’t know if you guys have strong feelings either way of whether or not you’d like him to stick around i think we talked a little bit about this last episode um but I think there was a report as well on Friday that he was seen at Warrior and I think one of the comments we got on Twitter was like “Oh he’s cleaning out his office.” And who knows maybe that was a a conversation that had that was had Friday between Sweeney and and Sacko and he’s out out or I think maybe just kind of holding in a holding pattern to see what the next head coach situation is and decide after that point yeah I I think if if if if I’m Joe Sacko I’ve been a assistant coach in Boston for a decade i finally got my first head coaching opportunity after since my time in Colorado the Bruins have decided to go another direction with their head coach that head coach most may or may not want me as part of their staff but do I want to go do I want to go backwards in an organization or would I rather get a fresh start in another organization even if it’s an assistant coach somewhere else there there I think there’s a sentiment to if somebody’s working somewhere and they kind of get promoted and they go backwards it’s easier to accept going backwards if it’s somewhere else but if you’re if it’s at that same location I could see Joe Sackle maybe wanting a change of scenery now if if Marco Sturm or or Jay Woodcraft or whomever is the next head coach of the Boston Bruins wants him on their staff and he wants to stay then maybe there’s a situation where the Bruins haven’t closed the door on him because well you know Jay it’s uh or um Joe it’s not up to it’s not up to us it’s actually up to uh our our new head coach and if he likes you then but again out of respect for Joe Sackle you might not want want him hanging around because it could make him miss out on other opportunities around the league so maybe they did say “Hey it’s it’s probably looking like we’re going to go a different direction.” Uh the entire staff by the way I’ll add that Elliot Freriedman as part of that same reporting on 32 thoughts uh did one of his keep an eye on he said keep an eye on the Maple Leafs for Joe Sacko if if he does shake free from the Bruins organization completely uh the Leafs just lost Lane Lambert who was hired as Seattle’s head coach so they do have an opening there on their staff i get this sense too Brian that Sacko enjoys being an assistant and that there’s some like maybe slightly more job security i mean he survived all of those different coaching changes like we’ve mentioned he’s also local um so I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to stay on as an assistant um I don’t know if he would necessarily take it as you know personal that he didn’t get hired as the head coach i’m not sure he wants to have the instability of being a head coach because we all know that those are short-lived tenures a lot of the time so I mean he he definitely wants to be a head coach like he’s said that and I’m sure anyone who you know kind of fails the first time and then you pay your dues for a decade like he definitely wants a chance and he yeah like he got a chance this season he was interim head coach but we all know and he knows like that wasn’t an ideal situation it it just wasn’t a good enough team to really do much with we can certainly nitpick you know what he did and didn’t do as coach i think I do think there were times like he could have done more and been more willing to make changes um not improving the special teams is is a mark against him but um yeah I mean I imagine he he’s still young enough that like he he wants another head coaching job if if he doesn’t mind if he doesn’t want to be a head coach there’s going to be a lot of ifs here if he doesn’t really want to be a head coach which I don’t buy if he would rather stay in Boston because maybe logistically he doesn’t have to move houses or or his family and if the new head coaching hire for the Bruins wants him on the his staff or the Bruins want him on their staff then maybe if all those ifs are fact then I could see him staying in Boston but if if I’m Joe Sacko I think what Scott said is true i think there’s a competitive nature in everybody and and and you want to you what you said is very act uh very smart Bridget as well there is more stability with with assistant coaches I would imagine so I think there’s a lot of truth there but I also think from a personal uh competitive perspective he probably wants to be a head coach now would being an assistant coach in Boston propel him to his next head coaching opportunity or being an assistant coach in maybe Toronto propel him to a better opportunity of being a head coach in the future not so much in Toronto but just around the league where where can you where’s a better place for you to succeed as as an assistant coach for other teams around the league to maybe look at you in the in the future maybe that’s just not Boston anymore for him maybe it is maybe he doesn’t care about any of that but one thing is seems to be apparent which is he’s not the finalist for the head coaching job in Boston um we do have some mailbag questions we wanted to get to as well that trickled in over the last week before we do Bridget and Scott did you want to give some initial feedback on what is going to be a rematch in the Stanley Cup final this year yeah I I’m wondering if you guys think it goes differently so you know just as a quick refresher last year Florida storms out to a 3-0 lead can’t close it out edmonton comes all the way back to force game seven and Panthers of course winning in seven i I think it’s going to be Panthers again i do think it’s going to be a long series again and hopefully hopefully a more balanced back and forth one and not three 0 because you know like last year’s series ended up being exciting at the end but it didn’t feel exciting for games like three four five until Edmonton was really back in it um I I think it should be a good series like McDavid and Dryidle are just so good on their own that I think and Bousard on the back end like I think anyone discounting the Oilers is pretty foolish but I can’t bring myself to bet against the Panthers with what they’ve done in the playoffs the last three years uh with the fact that they’re healthy going in the Oilers are not zack Heyman is out um you know I I don’t fully trust either goalie but I certainly would rather have Babski than Stuart Skinner so I got to go Panthers but I do think it’ll be you know a six or seven game series home ice is different it is does start in Edmonton this time game seven would be in Edmonton if it got that far um but I’m I’m excited like I just think isn’t you want to watch the best player in the biggest stage like that that’s what you want in every sport so now two years in a row you have Conor McDavid here um I know people complain about the markets because it’s it’s Florida it’s Edmonton you know reporters complain about the travel because it’s almost about as far as you can get between two NHL locations um but I am very excited to watch this yeah that’s like so far away we heard like some of our colleagues who are you know continuing to cover this uh are not happy about the logistics of getting back and forth uh in that series so uh but for our viewing it’s it’s great and I if you are on hockey Twitter at all you’re seeing a lot of Oilers fans probably uh getting their two cents in about how this year is going to be different and how this year it’s going to be the year um rather than you know the result of last year with Florida winning uh so I I’ve seen a lot of hype from that end but we as people who have watched the Florida Panthers take out so many good teams including good Bruins teams over the last few years know how hard it’s going to be to beat them uh for the Stanley Cup and so I’m I’m definitely interested to see it’s hockeyy’s so unpredictable uh who knows who ends up healthy or hurt in this series i mean that’s a huge factor if someone goes down in the first game or two could change the whole the whole series and and if one goalie just hotter than the other like there’s just so much that goes into it that you can’t predict so I’m excited to watch that rematch makes it a little bit more interesting too maybe it’s a little bit more of an aggressive game maybe there’s some animosity left over from from last year and that always makes things more entertaining too so before I give my opinion on the series can I confirm last year in the finals was Leon Dryido playing with a broken foot uh I I do remember he had some sort of injury that came out after i don’t remember exactly what it was well so I think it was something significant i I don’t 100% remember if it was a broken foot but it was something pretty significant and by all accounts he is healthy this year in in the playoffs and I think a healthy Leon Dryidle makes a big difference because he might be Conor McDavid’s Robin in Edmonton but he’s a Batman everywhere else in the league so I think that having the two of them as healthy as can be at this stage in the season is a is is a much uh is a much better advantage for Edmonton this time around if I’m looking at the two teams I think the Florida Panthers are the better team top to bottom and I’m not saying that with any disrespect to the Edmonton Oilers because I’m sure there’s Edmonton fans that would be laughing at that or or maybe maybe even some neutral fans that would maybe laugh at that i I don’t know how you could florida’s the defending champs they’ve been in the finals three times in a row but I do think Florida is the better team top to bottom but I do think that the Edmonton Oilers have the two best players in the world and I wonder if they will be denied a second time around i also think Edmonton has a really strong supporting cast so while I think the Panthers have the better overall team I think Edmonton has a really good overall team as well i saw something interesting and it’s and and it’s it’s true the last couple of generational players before Conor McDavid I’m sure you guys saw this or maybe you’ve pieced it together but Wayne Gretzky the Crosby yeah yeah wayne Gretzky his Edmonton Oilers lost to the New York Islanders back in the 80s it was the Islanders fourth of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships the following year rematch Gretzky gets over the hump gets his first cup sydney Crosby in 0708 season lost to the Red Wings in the finals in game six in the 0809 season the C uh the Crosby led Penguins won the Stanley Cup here’s Conor McDavid loses to the Florida Panthers last year in his first cup final appearance rematch the following year will he be will he follow suit with Crosby and and Gretzky i guess we’ll find out but I I agree with a lot that you guys have said i think that the Oilers falling down 03 last year made for some dramatic moments in a in a mustwatch game seven but they were battling uphill all series if they can avoid that and it’s more of a pingpong series you add into the fact that if it does go seven they’re on home ice where they did pretty well against the Panthers last year in the playoffs so to me it’s a pick them i for me it’s who’s going to win the best team overall most likely or the team that’s not as good overall but has the top two players in the world in particular the top player in the world and will he be denied a second year will McDavid just will the Oilers ultimately and not let them lose and I think Oh boy i really don’t know i I I I if I had to say I feel like McDavid might might just not be denied but Well yeah do you remember the the bitter This was in the Netflix or was it Amazon i think it was Netflix documentary that came out about Amazon amazon it was Amazon okay the at the end of last year they show they’re announcing Conor McDavid as the MVP and he’s in the locker room and he’s looking just about as sad and downtrodden as you’ll ever see a player and that feeling is hard to you know that’s a feeling that nobody ever wants to deal with again and can be a really big motivating factor so you know that’s what those guys remember and they don’t want to feel that again so and Conor McDavid if he were to win a cup here i know it’s not the Olympics but he had such a special moment at Four Nations as well the overtime game winner like that’s that’s a good year for Conor McDavid that’s probably his best career year uh obviously winning the cup but just thinking about what he’s been able to do along the way um with some other big moments it’s it would be I mean if you’re a McDavid fan or even if you’re just a hockey fan that likes to root for the best players like that’d be that’d be something that you’d be rooting for probably and I don’t think and any fans in this area need any extra motivation to root against the Panthers though yeah and you you also had McDavid in that same series as they were falling behind the Panthers flipping out in the locker room like screaming at his teammates to get going and I do I do think like there could be an element here of you know it it almost took it took the Oilers really too long like three games to realize what they had to do to beat the Florida Panthers and how much more of a how much more challenging that opponent was than anyone else they had faced how much of a different animal they are and now there shouldn’t be any surprise like now you’re not going to be caught off guard by the Florida Panthers in game one if you are shame on you but you do think you know they might be able to get up to that level and play the way they need to play well before game three or four well if somebody were to say to Bruins fans at the start of this year either Trent Frederick or Brad Marshand we’ll have a Stanley Cup ring on their finger at the end of the season you’d probably think “Oh wow did the Brewers win the cup?” No they had one of the worst seasons in in recent memory and they sold the deadline and uh and and now they got to face each other in the finals so one of those two guys well Brad Marshian either gets his second ring or Trent Frederick gets his first and and Scott you mentioned I mean the injury to Zach Heyman it opens the gate for somebody one of the depth forwards in Edmonton to kind of step up i’m not saying it’s going to be Fred Frederick in that role but there’s going to it’s it’s it’s a next up mentality heyman’s a loss you’re right about that i mean Sam Reinhardt in Florida I think he might be a little banged up too i mean everybody’s banged up this time of year but I think the Panthers might be banged up as well even if some of them are good enough to play but good enough to play is better than listed out for the night so where where where in the lineup do you think Trent Frederick would be if they win the cup how third does he get a third fourth i perfect world for the Oilers i mean fourth liner maybe ninth floor but you know ultimately I I meant like when they when they hand the cup around oh me I thought you meant a spot in the lineup um I don’t know probably close to last I guess yeah maybe maybe maybe before the backup goalie but maybe I don’t know conor McD Conor McDavid just turns around and he’s like “Freddy it’s your first here you go bud.” Everyone’s first essentially hey you know I will say Frederick was foaming at the mouth back in October in on the season opener the season opener was a virtual no-show for the Boston Bruins and if you guys remember that was my that was one of my first massive eyebrow raising moments this year how do you how do you lose to the same team two years in a row have all summer to think about it and then forget your skating legs to start the season but Trent Frederick was he was really out for retribution he hates the Florida Panthers he grew up with Matthew Kachchuck he doesn’t like him right now in the NHL and I and I do think that he wasn’t able to get any retribution from the year before and I do think that kind of messed with his his psyche as the season went along i think it I think Frederick was still kind of off to a slow start because he just couldn’t get his game going in any in any direction but now in the finals he’s going to have a chance to you know get some retribution on on the Florida Panthers sam Bennett Matt Kachchuck i’m not saying that he’s a match for those players but there’s some bad blood there so you have him you have Evander Kane you have Corey Perry the worm as people call him around the league so I think that I think as much skills the Oilers have up front with McDavid and Dry Cidle and Nan Hopkins and some others i do think that they have some some some grit and sandpaper to kind of match Florida’s toughness darnell Nurse is another one another nononsense guy in Edmonton so I think it’s going to be a pretty uh I think there’s going to be a lot of animosity in this series i think I think it’ll be good and and the Oilers can hurt the Panthers like teams that p well the Panthers played the Lightning they have a great power play toronto has great talent but they kind of they shy away in the in the postseason you take too many penalties against the Oilers they have superstars that are not afraid to do damage and be effective so they got to be real careful about staying out of the box but I think Florida’s a they’re a disciplined team they know what they’re doing by the way fifth final for Cory Perry in the last six years and no lost the other four now did win with Anaheim very early in his career back in ’07 but yeah yeah yeah he bounced around a little bit who was Tampa Montreal Dallas and now Edmonton twice yep wow well it’ll be a fun finals it starts Wednesday I believe is that correct wednesday night all right let’s get to some mailbag questions we have about maybe 20 minutes left or so um Brian there’s one that’s related to Edmonton if you want to start there the one from Remy yes let’s see here okay remy asked us “If the Oilers fail to win and their goalender lets them down then I propose the following swaming to the Oilers Nent Hopkins Steuart Skinner Victor Ardson to the Bruins.” Arson being the extra price you pay and cap dump for for the Little typo here but uh cap for the Oilers only one year left that impacts uh the Oilers more than the Bruins all right I’m just going to leave it there i think there’s a few typos see I’m reading for the first time but essentially that that that trade possibility if if if goalending is a Achilles heel for Edmonton in this series is that something that they would try to look to do i mean not the first time people have speculated about swaying to Edmonton because they are one of the teams that is always right there and has consistently been let down by goalending and as as we’ve discussed from the the Bruins end uh Swayman this summer does not have any trade protection after next season he does his no trade clause does kick in um you know so if the Bruins at all want to try to get out of swimmer’s contract this summer would be or I guess in season would be the time to do it um I I went back and forth on this one a little like it’s it’s not a bad idea like a bad proposal like I think it feels like the kind of trade that both teams would have to at least think about um again assuming Skinner lets the Oilers down obviously Skinner has a really good series and they win the cup then it’s off the table but uh I ultimately don’t think I would do this for the Bruins to be honest um I whatever issues I have with SW this past season I have way more issues with Steuart Skinner uh I think you’d be back to looking for a starting goalie because I don’t think you would have one uh or at least not one you would trust um and I know Remy you know as he went on in his email uh because it was a little longer did mention you know the work that goalie Bob could do with Stuart Skinner potentially get him on track and like sure there’s something to that but ultimately I just think Jeremy Simmon’s a much better goalie than Stuart Skinner or at least certainly has the potential to be way better um and I don’t I don’t I just wouldn’t do it ryan Newton Hopkins I like as a player but I like him when he’s on the line with Conor McDavid um you know he hasn’t really had elite production other than when he’s playing with McDavid so if you bring him in like to me I think that’s kind of another number two center and you know I don’t I don’t think the Bruins have that much of an issue finding number two or three centers they need to find a number one center i don’t think Ryan Nent Hopkins is that so I’m not going to take the the downgrade in net um to make that trade yeah I mean that the big if would be if goalie B scott do we lose Bridget i think we might have i I wasn’t sure if that was me freezing up but yeah I think uh Bridget Bridget has frozen okay well Bridget if you get back we’ll let you finish your thought there um I’m sure she’ll come in in the middle here Scott finishing her sentence but uh let’s move along to the next question uh and again if Bridget comes back online then she’ll be able to finish her thought there so this is from Roger and Roger asks “You’ve covered the Bruins search for a new head coach over the past month and that decision should be made final very soon now that most of the other Now that most of the other NHL coaching vacancies has have also been filled can you spend a little time giving your opinions on the other recently hired coaches i feel like a few of those other hires made perfect sense sullivan and while some other hirings were a little more surprising Quenville and Blashel can you review the other hires and whether you think those coaches will be a good fit for their new teams thanks love the show so Roger I would say also uh maybe you skip ahead the first 15 minutes of this episode where we uh kept talking about the Bruins head coaching hire possibly but um yeah Scott what do you think of some of the other head coaching hires around the league so far mike Sullivan obviously we talked about here quite was never really an option here for for for reasons we’ve discussed but yeah what do you think yeah well yes I guess we can go one by one you know just give quick thoughts so yeah we can start with the Rangers hiring Mike Sullivan um I said from the start you know I I’m I’m a Mike Sullivan guy i like him i would have liked him in Boston so I got to be consistent i like him in New York i I’m always a little skeptical when teams just zero in on one candidate and really don’t even do a search like just as a local example that’s how the Patriots got themselves in trouble with Gerrod Mayo they didn’t look at anyone else um but obviously Mike Sullivan has a lot more of a track record there where you know what you’re getting so yeah I I like that higher for the for the Rangers because I like Mike Sullivan as a coach yeah I I think Sullivan is a uh a good a good fit there i don’t I definitely think that he’s a qualified coach there’s no doubt about it he’s a qualified coach in general it just depends on what a what an organization is looking for where are you in your franchise’s trajectory if the Boston Bruins were a Stanley Cup contender right now I think Mike Sullivan would be a great hireer for the job now the New York Rangers are not a Stanley Cup contender right now but still they have some good talent there and he’s an established guy so you know I’m with you Scott i I I always kind of raise my eyebrows when a team doesn’t spend a long time on on a coaching search or rather should I say it seems like their decision was made the second somebody was let go right now sometimes that guy that got let go is a he’s a no-brainer coach and that I think Mike Sullivan falls into this category but still the Rangers aren’t in a situation where I think they’re a coach away i I think they also need to ask themselves some serious questions hey are we a little bit further than we think do we want a guy that is more win now right so I think the Rangers are in a more similar spot from the Bruins than they are I don’t know a contender that just fired the coach so I think I think he’s a good coach obviously for the Rangers but I I do question maybe they should have spent some more time on on what type of coach they wanted yeah I I think they I think they think they’re going to be back in contention sooner than maybe some fans do you know so that that’s a little bit of a dangerous game to play but if you think that and if that’s what your goal is if you’re not like they are a true retool where that is how they’re going to approach like they’re going to try to be back next year the Bruins say they’re retooling but we have to see this summer like just how aggressive they’re actually going to be um the Rangers actually think they’re going to be back next year they might be wrong but if you think that then Mike Sullivan makes a lot of sense um then so I guess the next you know big name keep it East Coast Flyers hiring Rick Tocket uh I said when we talked about talk as a candidate for the Bruins that I’m a little skeptical about him as a head coach to be completely honest i don’t think his resume is nearly as impressive as people make it seem nine seasons as a head coach one real playoff appearance a second if you count the the COVID year where Arizona was in 10th place outside the playoffs but then wins a playin round um you know I in the the best season he had when he wins the Jack Adams two years ago with Vancouver he gets incredible shooting fortune i won’t quite call it luck but best shooting percentage in the league career year from that Demco career year from Quinn Hughes JT Miller Brock Besser like I don’t know how much you can really replicate that so I have I have my doubts about it uh I don’t know if that’s going to be a great fit in Philly like I I do understand the arguments for him as well um but I’m a little more skeptical of that when it comes to the the bigname East Coast uh Metro Division hires yeah i mean obviously from a history perspective talk fits like a glove in Philadelphia spent most of his career there fan favorite alumni obviously so I I like I said I think he provides accountability for sure and I think he’s going to have a hardworking locker room because I don’t think you have a I don’t think you have a team coached by Rick Tocket or John Tordella previously that isn’t going to work hard because they’re afraid not to but and and I don’t think that Tit is as much of a loose cannon as Tordella is but they are cut from a similar old school cloth though taka at least has the experience um did Tortoella ever play pro not at the NHL level I don’t think but no I don’t I don’t think so but obviously Taka has that player experience as well that is more uh when someone’s been there and done that players have a tendency to respect a little respect that a little bit more i just don’t know if Yeah I don’t know what Philadelphia needs they’re clearly a team that’s also on you know they’re trying to build something so do you build through X’s and O’s or is the culture still something that they’re trying to rectify here and and Bridget’s back bridget’s back with her internet issues can you hear us Bridget i do i heard you the whole last time too i don’t know what the issue was i don’t know if it’s internet or this laptop just sucks like because my internet’s working on my phone so my Wi-Fi is working elsewhere and uh I hate this laptop ah that’s okay that’s okay bridget we want Scott and I just kind of went for a little bit we wanted to give you a chance to reestablish what your thoughts were on the question you were answering and if if that moment has passed in your mind then we’re currently talking about some of the recent head coaching hires around the league and and your thoughts on those what I was trying to say before my computer rudely interrupted me was just that uh Remy was going under the assumption that goalie Bob could reclaim Steuart Skinner or that Yonas Corposalo could be your starter and I just don’t believe in either of those things so I was going to say that I agree with Scott and I don’t know maybe Brian you said this too um that I wouldn’t do that move yeah uh all right we So Bridget we did uh we did Mike Sullivan to the Rangers Rick Talk to the Flyers i guess the next biggest name Joel Quenville his return going to Anaheim which you you got to look at it to you got to kind of talk about two things here like one is just the overarching question of like does Joel Quenville even deserve another chance with the way everything ended in Chicago you know the the whole sexual assault situation and uh he really didn’t he got word of it and then didn’t report it up the chain of command like he should have um you know basically kind of turned a blind eye to it so he has talked quite a bit about that and about the work he has done since um you know he was basically suspended by the commissioner obviously lost he was in Florida at the time that that investigation went down and obviously lost his job there um you know so like that’s one question if you if you decide the answer is yes and you’re willing to be the organization who gives him his next opportunity then I really like to fit in Anaheim like I I honestly I would like to fit in most places um but he it feels like he’s the kind of coach that that Anaheim team which took some steps this season maybe flew under their radar if people weren’t really following uh but you know they went from kind of consistently one of the laughing stocks of the league to at one point in like February even March seemed like they were making a playoff push i think they rattled off seven or eight straight wins and were like right there knocking on the door and then faded at the end um it feels like Joel Quinnville is the kind of coach for a young team like that that feels like they’re ready to push you know at least push to be in the playoffs like he’s the one who can get them over that that next step i I like that Ducks team a lot going forward and and Scott I think you kind of hit it all on the head there i think from a strict hockey perspective I don’t I don’t I don’t know how you could look at a you know multiple time Stanley Cup champion coach four time head coach Stanley Cup champion Colorado and then three with Chicago yeah was Was he a head coach in Colorado i might be mistaken on that thought I thought he may have been but in any event I think you know you add that experience behind the bench with with with a young upand cominging group of players that have a lot of skill it makes sense i think I think I think he was a head he he was not a head coach for Colorado was he on the staff uh I’ll I’ll get you that keep keep going okay and and just to be clear we’re talking about the Yeah he was he was an assistant coach in 96 when they won okay so that that’s head coach there from 05 to08 but they did not win okay okay so I was thinking Okay but still yeah valuable experience behind the bench um yeah I just I think that Ducks team is knocking on the door of they that that Pacific Conference or that Pacific division um it’s tough it’s a gauntlet there’s some teams there i mean the Kings are still good the Oilers are still good obvious obviously the Oilers are still good um you know the Shark the Sharks are obviously rebuilding but Vegas is but the Sharks are getting better right vegas is there it’s tough but I do think that the Ducks have what it takes uh maybe if there’s not enough room in the Pacific in the playoffs um maybe they maybe they they make themselves a wild card team but yeah I like the fit bridget do you have any thoughts on that um this is one that I just like I have a hard time giving my thoughts on i like Scott mentioned like should he be getting another chance i personally don’t know how to speak to that i I take it really seriously what he you know was found to have done wrong so I’m glad that this is not something we’re talking about as a Bruins hire and that’s kind of all I really feel comfortable saying yeah and I mean part of that comes to like what is your organization willing to handle i mean the Bruins had the Mitchell Miller debacle just two years ago and that most likely takes them out of the running for someone like Joe Quenville like they probably couldn’t have been that organization have to answer those questions and be able to convincingly say like “Yeah we did our homework and we take it seriously and you know we went through the whole process that we needed to go through.” and you trust them because it’s like well you just had the Mitchell Miller thing where you clearly didn’t do enough homework like Cam Ney admitted that less than a week later after they cut him admitted like they were something fell short in terms of what they were looking at so if you’re the Bruins there probably hasn’t been enough time since that to be able to take any kind of risk along those lines if you’re the Anaheim Ducks as far as I know like I don’t think they’ve had any scandals so you know they they probably look at that and say “Okay let’s make sure we do our homework let’s make sure everything he says he’s been doing he’s actually been doing right?” Like if he says he’s volunteered here or he’s spoken here or whatever check with them make sure he actually did um talk to Kyle Beach by the way um and like you know make sure that you you have everything buttoned up because if if stuff comes out afterwards that you know if something like the Mitchell Miller situation when now reporters are poking around and all a sudden they find out like hey Joel Quinnville didn’t actually do that and hey the Anaheim Ducks didn’t even talk to this person like now you’re in trouble so you do have to make sure you’re buttoned up but if if you are then you can defend the decision and I I I I thought I saw somewhere that Kyle Beachch made some sort of comment that he may have been uh okay with with with Quenville getting a coaching job like he he wanted to get a coaching job again i I I thought I saw something about that um I know yeah I know like I know Joel he and Joel Quinnville have talked a lot uh in recent years so I don’t know if it was like a full-on blessing i but I know like they’ve come to I don’t know about understanding but like they’ve gotten to a better place where I I think yeah from stuff I’ve seen from Kyle Beach like he does believe Quenville’s efforts have been sincere well so you know I think Scott and I at least answered it uh from a hockey perspective that the fit makes sense um okay so guys we have two questions left i’m just going to lump them together because they’re both asking about young players and um did we want to I don’t know if we wanted to run through any of the others like coaches Blackhawks with Jeff Blill Kraken Lane Lambert Kucks Adam Foot i I guess of those I like Blill for Chicago the most that I’ve said before I like you know the coach who maybe doesn’t do great in his first opportunity but is able to learn and maybe be in a good situation before their second opportunity like Blash looks like that kind of coach to me where he was in a terrible situation in Detroit a team on the decline post Datsuk and Zedterberg retirements had nothing to work with he goes down and joins John Cooper’s staff in Tampa great place to learn and get ready for your next opportunity i I do like that hire um Lane Lambert doesn’t blow me away i didn’t love the way his Islanders teams played i don’t know how much he did or didn’t do in Toronto um and Adam Foot has never been a head coach above Canadian juniors uh he’s been an assistant in Vancouver the last couple years they just promoted him um from within an interesting one to me i I think that one’s pretty risky yeah I I I agree Scott i agree on all of those and Vancouver obviously Rick Tocket you know sealed his own fate there right so they they wanted talk if if if he wanted to stay there so they were kind of you know forced into I mean again Vancouver is they they got a lot of lot of questionable comments and decisions coming out of Vancouver the last couple of years but um Bridget any thoughts on those coaching hires no I I think we can probably move on okay so I’m going to lump these two questions together one from Duncan and and one from Brian R both of whom uh enjoyed the the mock GM exercise we did so thank you for the kind words on that but um they’re the two no they they they are only two of two yes um okay so Brian says “I was surprised that you barely mentioned liel.” Um talking about the GM exercise I get that he hasn’t stepped up that much but I will be surprised if he doesn’t have a third line right-wing job to lose going into camp particularly with the number of other spots that need to be filled i think he’ll start the season there and then he’ll either swim uh or sink but at some point you have to give him an extended look and starting the 25 26 season seems like the ideal time so let’s we’ll put that on the back burner for right now um it’s a good thought uh Brian and and what you’re saying makes a lot of sense it’s objectively true um so we’ll get to that in a second and then Duncan asked about Casey Middlestad there’s a lot of talk about him as one of the best trade assets the Bruins have but what did he really show anyone last year he had two career AHLers for linemates and I feel like we didn’t get an accurate look at him as a player i feel it’s too soon to totally write him off or really don’t understand his trade value would you agree with that bridget and Scott um you want to start with Lysel first or Middlestat i’ll I’ll start I’ll start with Middlestad first because I during our GM exercise I was the one I think pushing the most to trade him i want to make it clear I don’t know I don’t think he is their best trade asset or even close to it i I don’t think he’s a great trade asset with that contract um I think he would be near the top of the list of guys the Bruins would want to trade because of the contract because of the money it would free up it would allow them to go in a different direction at center um and pour that money into someone else but I I don’t necessarily think you’re getting a ton back for Casey Middlestad so I will just clarify that the points about not getting a great read on him because of who he played with completely fair and I I’ve acknowledged that before like yeah I in a perfect world if he’s back obviously I want to see him with better line mates because I do think he’s a player who needs linemates like he’s more of a playmaker so he’s not he’s setting up other guys if his linemates aren’t good enough to get open or to finish chances or to help around the net then that’s not a great mix so I acknowledge that um you know for me like being willing to trade him or even wanting to trade him is more about I just even going back to before he was on the Bruins like I just don’t love the way he plays and it doesn’t it doesn’t fit a normal Bruins identity maybe maybe they’re shifting towards something different where they’re going to allow for more of a more of an offenseonly guy um a center who you know isn’t as good in his own zone um but I I still kind of have a hard time seeing the the long-term fit well it’s almost like I This is what I don’t understand is I believe that Don Sweeney thought that Middlestat was going to be an answer here this if you revisit the trade it’s this is the coil trade uh what the Bruins got back in return was Middle Stat as the main piece a second round pick and Will Zellers the prospect it almost feels like they created a new problem for themselves right like Coyle’s contract some people didn’t like it it leaves the you know it it leaves the cap right it’s gone now you have another one that I feel is even worse for for the value so you’re adding another you’re adding a a difficult contract um in terms of you know what you’re getting verse what you might actually need and yeah you you may have created another issue for yourself it it is fair to say that we didn’t get the best possible look of Casey Middlestat with the team that was around him um after the deadline that he came into to me it feels like he I just get this sense he’s here next season though I do agree with Scott that there it opens up a lot of options to your you know your free agency with more cap available uh and options that I like better than Casey Middlestat if you were to try to really push to get rid of him you would just have to kind of call that piece of the coil trade a a wash I guess yeah and it’s you know it’s tough right cuz we don’t know what we don’t know and and maybe Colorado doesn’t take Charlie Coyle if you know Middlestat’s not going the other way right like you don’t get Will Zers who you might be really high on you don’t get a second round draft pick which is good for your system if you don’t you know agree to take on Casey Middlestat may maybe he wasn’t somebody that the Bruins really coveted it was somebody that they were like “I mean like we got to make a deal here and we think you know there’s there’s something there so we’ll take a full roster.” Yeah we don’t want to exactly and look like I don’t even dislike the idea of taking a chance on Casey Middlestead again he’s had a 57 and a 59 point season in the NHL that’s nothing to sneeze at he’s if he becomes a 65 70 point player for you he is more than worth $5.75 million a year so you know like especially with the cap going up right so but in that case you’re you’re giving up your flexibility for this free agency class right like you’re doing that with you have to sit and wait and watch this season whereas we were trying to move the contract before to make maybe bigger moves and and add bigger pieces that maybe seem like better fits this off season yeah i mean and we talked about this on our I think it was our last episode like you have to find some guys who work better here than they did elsewhere and so taking a chance on Casey Middlestad who clearly has some talent I don’t hate like again I’m just skeptical that it happens that it pans out that way because I have questions about the player and just the way that he plays as a center for the Boston Bruins um but you know I I’m not saying it’s not like a chance worth taking there’s things I would rather do with that money but it’s not like it’s a it’s only an albatross of a contract if he’s a 40point guy or less if you get him back to being a 55 to 65 point guy that’s not a bad contract and like now you have an impact player to work with well he’s only got two years left in his contract right so you didn’t you didn’t you didn’t assume a eight-year deal where he’s like you know two years into an eight-year deal you got six years left of him and you got two years left of him and you know I appreciate you know the fact that he might not be a you know a center Boston Bruins type center but you know what guys honestly what is that what does that mean anymore the Boston Bruins identity right now is kind of in no man’s land in addition to that do you even do the Bruins even want a certain identity that they used to have because it’s not where the league is anymore so yeah i I just think and as far as free agency this year part of me doesn’t want the Bruins having a [ __ ] ton of you know cap space because I don’t think this free agency class is great i don’t think they should be overspending in free agency anyway i think they should i mean we’ve we’ve kind of talked about it like but uh definitely we’ve talked about it um there’s a few different ways they can go they could spend big on someone like Mitch Mner but I don’t think that MNER I don’t think Boston’s on his on the top of Mner’s list anyway so I think the Bruins are probably going to spend around the margins and trying to make some you know good additions but I don’t want them overextending on themselves in free agency certainly not this this this offseason so uh you know yeah it’s I I I I feel like he’ll be on a if I had to say I I feel like there’s like a 85% chance maybe more that he’s um on a team next year just because uh it’s it’s going to be it might be tough to move him but let’s move on yeah sorry one last thing when we were doing our mock off season and we put together our final roster he was on it because I think we all acknowledged that that was probably the most likely thing that was going to happen um and Brian and I had mentioned him as a third line center um yes so like he is a middle six forward he could be on your third line and maybe if you find a way to strengthen the second line he looks like a great option as a third line center the like the same conversation we had had about Charlie Coyle like okay all of a sudden when he’s on this third line with Taylor Hall this is one of the best third lines in the league and you’re you’re happy with it there and so there’s you know there are options also and also how comfortable is anybody and I I’m not judging this it’s too early to tell but like truly how how how comfortable is anybody right now with the idea of a third line of Matt Potra Frasier Mitten and Moratu that’s a young line it’s an unproven line so I mean Casey Middlestat’s not doesn’t have the the the longest resume or pedigree but he he’s a he’s a young veteran in the league that as Scott pointed out has you know put up around 60 points a couple different times so at least he would be a a young veteran presence on a third in a third line role if the Bruins felt as though he could slide down the lineup based on an acquisition in the summer or something so uh yeah I mean there’s a lot of options there and I I just think yeah ultimately it’s too early to tell on Casey Middlestat and I do think it’s going to be tougher to move him than not so like they’ll be patient uh and again it’s not a super long contract that they they got from Colorado um but the other person that we were asked about was Fabian Lel now I think if we were going based off of the end of last season yeah I think we’re all feeling good about the idea of Lizel coming in and earning in all caps earning a spot in training camp but of course he didn’t have a great playoffs with the Providence Bruins and you ask yourself why is that and why is he getting scratched in a potential season ending game for the Providence Bruins so that’s still looming out there as well and I think the jury is out on him i think it’s easy to look at the Bruins roster right now again it’s tough right now before free agency um but you do see the holes and it’s like okay well they got multiple holes that are that are up for grabs lizel should be able to grab at least one of them right in theory yeah but the player has proven to be inconsistent if nothing else yeah exactly like yeah if we had done if we were having this conversation after the end of Boston’s regular season I I would have leaned towards Lysel winning a spot in camp at the end of Providence’s postseason I lean towards him not winning a spot um and this is it’s just sort of the inconsistency you get over and over again from Fabian Lysel where you see a a flash and it looks like something starts to click and then you see a step back and it looks like he’s not ready um I guess where I’m at in like not really mentioning him or or certainly not putting him on my roster for next year is I just can’t assume that like I I just can’t go into next season thinking “Oh yeah Fabian Lela has a job on the top nine now.” Like if he comes in and wins it great but he has to win it like you can’t you can’t just hand guys jobs they got to win them so if he does awesome but I’m not I’m not penciling him in like he’s to me he’s proven less at this level than a Potra or a Minton who a have played more games and I and B I think shown more when they’ve done it pra also had a strong finish down Providence minton played pretty well so I think those guys have more momentum and I also you know as much as I I might like the idea of like hey just spend big at the top of the roster and plug in whoever lower down that generally has not been the Bruins mo so I don’t see them carving out three spots for for young guys or or four if you include Nadinov in that group like there’s going to be jobs there for guys to win but I don’t think it’s going to be like the entire bottom six yeah and I’m just going to throw this up real quick because this was what we went with in our bottom six um which obviously involved an acquisition on offer sheet of Will [ __ ] but like few like like you said Scott Frasier Mitten Matt Potra and then like some guys that we Cole Keepy is a guy we were like ah you know he could be here he could be not same with Jacob LaCo if you think that Fabian Lel fits in better that in that Keepy or Lao spot with who he had as the extra forward um then but I mean even that like they’re different roles right like that’s what I was just going to say like is not going to be your I don’t personally think that that’s a fit for him on that roster so yeah that’s what I was about to say and it just it just doesn’t seem like he’s ready to push for one of those middle six spots which is where he’d be better suited well time will tell on all these questions time will tell and we Yeah we’ll see i mean I I last September I said to you guys in the Warrior Lysel is uh does he know he has a job twin here and that he’s been knocking on the door for three years and this this might be it so um you know we’ll see if he’s learned his lessons but well and he’s he’s now potentially going to be competing with if they draft a winger you know like at seven if say Porter Marone is the best player available or or they decide to go wing there that’s another you know could be another issue for him the longer you go the more chances other guys have to come up and take those spots so Yep remy Roger Brian R Duncan thank you all for your questions we appreciate it if you ever have questions again honestly off season or regular season doesn’t really matter but especially in the offseason um please tweet at the three of us on Twitter or at the skatepod or email us at skapeodwi.com comment on YouTube bridget does an amazing job collecting she’s like a like the the Zambonian when it’s collecting all the all the the shoveling at the end the ice shoveling at the end of it i was gonna say why does Bridget always get credit for this i feel like I do this way more often scott does Scott did it this week uh Scott does this pretty often i I’m the one who sends it in the in the group chat i’ll like screenshot something crazy and I’ll be like “Look at this.” I always I always envision Scott being I always thought Scott got the emails and Bridget got the YouTube questions but you know what maybe Scott’s doing more behind the scenes and I give him credit i’m sorry Scott we’ll go to arbitration we’ll talk about it but um thank you all very much for listening enjoy your Monday and we’ll talk to you throughout the week hey guys thanks for watching Escape Podcast if you want to see more of our videos visit our playlist not in front of a screen you can listen to us on Spotify Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast don’t forget to follow us on social media and if you enjoyed this video please don’t forget to give us a thumbs up subscribe to our channel and leave a comment

Discussing some potential reasons the Bruins coaching search has taken this long, including some candidates that are now available to interview for the open position. Plus, we get some news on where Joe Sacco stands and answer some mailbag questions!

Follow us on Twitter: @TheSkatePod | @smclaughlin9 | @briandefelice_ | @bridgetteproulx | Email us at skatepod@weei.com

Leave your questions in the comments and we will answer as many as we can!

Jump to:
00:00 – Will Misha Donskov get an interview with the Bruins?
17:30 – Reports that Joe Sacco is out of contention for head coaching job
24:00 – Stanley Cup Final rematch
37:00 – Start of mailbag/Oilers trade suggestion
59:00 – Casey Mittelstadt trade value
1:07:45 – Why we didn’t include Fabian Lysell in our GM episode

Photo: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Follow The Skate Podcast on the Audacy App or wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/TheSkatePodcast

Don’t forget to subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/weeivideo

📡 LISTEN LIVE ➡️ https://www.audacy.com/weei/listen
📺WATCH LIVE ➡️ http://weei.com/watch
💻WATCH LIVE ON TWITCH ➡️ http://twitch.tv/bostonweei
Download the Audacy App today and stream your WEEI wherever you are! ➡️
https://go.audacy.com/y-listen-live-weei

FOLLOW US:
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/WEEI
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/weeisports/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/WEEI/

Thumbnail images courtesy of Getty Images/USA Today Network.