32 in 32 Episode 5: Boston Bruins
what’s up guys Welcome to episode 5 of this 32 and 32 series where I preview every team’s off season One team every day going from the bottom to the top Today’s team is the Montreal my Montreal Canadian’s biggest rival or one of their biggest rivals the Bruins So the Boston Bruins have been one of the NHL’s most successful franchises over the last 10 to 15 years They’ve gone to a couple finals They’ve won the Stanley Cup They’ve you know they’ve had some great regular season They won a few President’s trophies and that’s what happened in 2023 They won the president trophy In fact they beat the all-time record for points in a single season by an NHL franchise but then they they lost their captain Patrice Bersron and their number two center David Crerach Everyone thought they’d fall back Well that’s not what happened as they still remain near the top other division They finished second in the Atlantic division finishing with over 100 points Uh they lost in the second round to Florida was still a competitive series So everyone thought that they’d be still a great team and especially too that they went to go get guys like Elias Lindholm and um Nikita Sidorov and everyone thought okay the Bruins are still going to be one of the top teams in the league and they’re never going to fall off Well then they had some problems in the free agent well contract negotiations with Jeremy Swayman as he wanted a big contract at the Bruins were not ready to do it and they lost their leverage in those negotiations because they traded away Lena Smer for basically some peanuts to the Ottawa Senators Eventually they do sign Swayman right before the start of the season and he was a bit rusty and it was not a very good start to their season to the point where they fired their coach Jim Montgomery and brought in interim coach Joe Sacko And the Bruins were still one of the you know they were still a mediocre team middle of the pack team battling for a playoff spot until until at the trade deadline they decided to sell hard on a lot of their players guys like Marian Carlo Charlie Coyle Trent Frederick they were all shipped out for some pretty good returns And the Bruins finished last in the line division for the first time in what feels like forever We’re wondering what’s next in Boston Obviously like I said when you sell that much of the trade line maybe you would think they’re in a rebuild but you could also use those a lot of those assets to try to improve their team to to get better next season Obviously their GM Don Sween’s been extended I think for two years So obviously they’re trying to see what he can do and if not who will be gone The coach hasn’t yet been confirmed who it’s going to be If it’s going to be Joe Sacko if they’re going to bring in another guy It looked like they were trying to get Mike Sullivan did not work out He ended up in New York So now they’re still searching for their new head coach Finished with 76 points at the Atlantic 28th in the NHL Their goal score per game was 27 Their goals against was 26 Their power play was 29 Their PK was 24th Their expected goals percentage at fly according to Moneyp was 24th So they weren’t bad in every department Their offense was pretty poor aside of David Posank finished with 106 points 43 goals in 82 games And after that falls off Morgan Geeki 57 in 77 Brad Marsh who got traded midway through the season finished third scorer on this team with 47 points in 61 games Elias Lynholm was the technically the third leading scorer considering that of what’s left 47 points in 82 games Pavaka also got 47 points in 82 games as well So it was disastrous season for Bruins especially offensively Jeremy Swayman had a pretty tough season 8 92 saves three 11 goals against average four shutouts obviously not a great season for him after getting a huge contract.5 million for what eight years Jonas Coral who they got for Leah Solar wasn’t that much better either in 83 percentage even though his goals against average was under three Now as we look at their projected lineup for the 2526 season you’re going to see after they trade all these guys their team looks pretty empty There isn’t a lot of talent left When you look at their first line Morgan Geeki Elias Glenholm David Pasternak uh Lao Zaka Fabian Lashell was a top prospect Uh John John Beecher Casey Middlestound who they got for Coyle Marellic who they got for Omar Kmanov who they got for Justin Basel Fraser Minton and they got for Brennan Carlo Matthew Pka on defense um Hampus Linholm Charlie Makavoy Nikita Zadorov Andrew Peak Mason Laura younger defenseman Ian Mitchell you got in net Jeremy Swayman Scorpal Oliver Rostrom Patrick Brown this is just a team that is very poor as of right now however they do around 29 minute 29 million in cap space So they can spend hard if they could spend a lot this summer if they want to improve this team for real So it’ll be very interesting very fascinating to see what they decide to do this summer Also have a lot of expiring contracts this summer Uh Cole Keepy who who’s a free agent was a decent fourth liner Well he’s a UFA Henry Yokior they got from Buffalo is another UFA Um Weatherspoon is another guy Uh RFA is Morgan Geeki It’ll be interesting to see what they do with him They could trade him and he could get an interesting return but again he was their second leading scorer Uh John Becher Kim Medinov Lao Lorai So these are a lot of younger guys that they’re might they’re probably going to consider resigning considering this is a pretty weak team They do need some bodies to fill in A team that’s been competitive for so long is going to have a weaker prospect pool and that’s exactly the case Fabian Lashell 21st overall pick in 2021 Fraser Min who they got for Toronto with a 38th overall pick William Zellers who they got from Colorado who’s a 76th overall pick in 2024 So that’s a good prospect there Uh Walsh Lerno they got 25th overall last year Did not have a very good season in the NCA I don’t think even scored a goal It was like what 30 games I think got like three assists So obviously the Bruins prospect pool is very poor The good news for them their draft capital even though it could still use work they they have a bit more draft capital than in previous years They have a first and two seconds next year They have two firsts and a second So it’ll be interesting to see what the Bruins do with them Not to mention a seventh overall pick with guys like potentially Hagens potentially a guy like uh Fondell Mark Tone maybe he might fall to them KBY It’ll be very interesting to see what Boston decides to do but the Bruins have a lot of work to do to rebuild this team At least I don’t know if it’ll be a rebuild or retool I suspect most likely a retool on the fly like what the New York Rangers tried to do a few years ago or even what the LA Kings said that which is a better comparison considering that the Bruins have Pernac they have Makavoy they have Swayman who are some who are some core pieces locked up that are still relatively young The Kings were kind of like that when they had Drew Dowy and Anon Kopitar like around 2018 2019 So it’ll be interesting to see what the Bruins do for their needs immediate needs and long-term needs Right now they need some youth infus They need a youth infusion They need a lot of young guys to help you know to bring in and hopefully develop uh take some swings on younger players Obviously some more picks and prospects And when you look at their center core it is very very poor Lynholm Zaka Middlestat they they they can use better down the middle if they want to be competitive next year in that department The rest of their team is still relatively decent They might want to add another top six winger but their defense score I think is good enough to make the playoffs Same thing with the goalending but down the middle it’s absolutely pathetic No offense Um and when you look at their long-term needs they need a franchise center Obviously they since Bone retired they need that guy badly and more elite talent whether it’s on defense or on the wings or even another second another centerman This is a team that does need to rebuild their prospect pool I don’t know Like I said I’m not sure if they’re going to do a full tiered down rebuild but they probably need to they would benefit from getting a high draft pick once again next year and maybe getting a guy like Gavin McKenna which let’s be honest would push this thing forward pretty quickly So let me know in the comments What should the Boston Bruins do this off season Should they decide to start a rebuild Should they just use those assets they you that they acquired at the dread deadline to improve this team in the short term and maybe make a push for the playoffs It’ll be interesting to see what they decide to do I as a Montreal Canadiens fan I’m kind of hoping that Boston has a couple one or two you know tough seasons just to you know cuz it’s been pretty rough the last few years being a Kings fan not having a lot of success and then watching the Bruins dominate the regular season So it’d be nice you know a little return Um don’t forget to like and subscribe and I’ll see you again for another
I preview one NHL team’s offseason every day going from the bottom to the top. Today’s team is the Boston Bruins.
