On this episode of Bruins Beat, Evan Marinofsky and Conor Ryan discuss the ongoing situation the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman find themselves in as arbitration nears. Why is there such a delay, and can they reach a deal before arbitration? That, and much more!
Topics:
- The latest on Jeremy Swayman
- What might his deal look like?
- Are the Bruins legitimate Cup contenders next season?
- The East is wide open
- Fixing their problems
0:00 - Intro
0:24 - Strengthening offense and defense
5:35 - Swayman avoiding arbitration
8:39 - Negotiating contract terms
10:24 - Eight million seems agreeable
12:53 - Benchmark for goalies
14:05 - PrizePicks
15:30 - Are the Bruins legit contenders next year?
23:00 - Gametime
24:45 - Scoring issues
25:23 - Second line options
26:58 - Dynamic player options
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Topics:
- The latest on Jeremy Swayman
- What might his deal look like?
- Are the Bruins legitimate Cup contenders next season?
- The East is wide open
- Fixing their problems
0:00 - Intro
0:24 - Strengthening offense and defense
5:35 - Swayman avoiding arbitration
8:39 - Negotiating contract terms
10:24 - Eight million seems agreeable
12:53 - Benchmark for goalies
14:05 - PrizePicks
15:30 - Are the Bruins legit contenders next year?
23:00 - Gametime
24:45 - Scoring issues
25:23 - Second line options
26:58 - Dynamic player options
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
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SportsTranscript
00:00Every team has these questions of like, yeah, but yeah, they're competitive.
00:04But so if the Bruins are in that spot and their strengths lie in kind of what
00:08you need to follow your way in the playoffs in terms of a great defense
00:12and a really strong goaltending and you figure out the scoring along the way
00:16and maybe it maybe it all works out, maybe Lysel's
00:1918 goalscore and he has a great season or maybe you have to address it.
00:22The deadline you can, I think, roll with the punches
00:25and try to shore up your offense as the year goes on.
00:27But if your strengths are rooted in your goaltending and defense and you've
00:31you've got a battle tested group that had a pretty successful playoff run last year.
00:35I think you like your chances.
00:45And welcome into the Bruins beat on CLNS Media
00:48presented by Prize Picks and Game Time.
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01:09How about them Red Sox?
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01:22I'm Evan Marinovsky.
01:23That is Connor Ryan.
01:25Connor, what is up?
01:26Evan, I'm doing well.
01:28How are you doing?
01:29Doing great. Doing great.
01:30This is a big week for you.
01:31Big week.
01:32Anything big happening?
01:33Anything big happening this week for you?
01:35Huh? I wonder. Check.
01:36Yeah, I don't know.
01:37It all blends together once you get to the summer months.
01:39Right, Evan?
01:40It does. Yeah.
01:41Crazy Fourth of July weekend, I imagine.
01:43And now big event of your summer.
01:47The wedding.
01:48Yeah, a big wedding.
01:50You were running all over, running all over the Commonwealth this week.
01:54So and when and when the Bruins trade for Leon Dreisaitl,
01:58Ty Anderson and I will be live on set at the wedding doing a podcast.
02:02Hell of a hell of an emergency podcast.
02:04Yeah, you probably don't want my input.
02:05If it's at like 11 o'clock at night, you may not want any commentary from me.
02:10Well, I heard it was open bar, so I don't think you want my commentary.
02:14That's true. Yeah, either.
02:15I don't think, you know, but there's going to be a lot of people.
02:18It's going to be just a lot of holy shit.
02:20Yeah, I can't like like Tim Robinson.
02:24And I think you should leave like, what the hell?
02:26Yes, it's flabbergasted.
02:29I did. I love Bruins Facebook.
02:32I'll occasionally I don't know what it's I think it's called Bruins
02:35insider dot com or something.
02:36I'm I'm like I'm sending people to go read it, which is honestly really funny.
02:40So like, go check them out.
02:42You'll get some great Bruins information there.
02:44But I'll be scrolling Facebook every now and again.
02:46And I will come across one of their posts
02:49on Facebook.
02:51And it'll be, you know, like major development in Leon
02:55Dreisaitl to the Bruins.
02:56And I'm always like, let me let me look into this.
02:59And the Dreisaitl spelt completely wrong, like D-R-E-Y.
03:03And then like separate like space S-A-Y-T-L or something.
03:07It was it was great. It was awesome.
03:09So love the insight that Bruins Facebook provides me.
03:12And then the comments are even better.
03:14Like the comments are like taking it very seriously and everything.
03:17It's like it's like the Facebook comments you have for like the group.
03:19It's like the community Facebook group for like, I'm sure Framingham has one.
03:23Oh, he has one. Many.
03:26And they're all terrible.
03:27It's just people like just trying to dunk on each other,
03:30type in through their their their laptop screen, acting like big, tough guys.
03:34When it's like someone's like, do you know?
03:36It's like, do you know where we can park correctly
03:39so we don't get a ticket?
03:39And people like you should kill yourself.
03:42It's like guys like they're asking for input.
03:45They don't want a ticket.
03:46You're right. That is what it is like.
03:48Don't be an asshole like the one in Framingham.
03:50But like, where can we take our kids to?
03:53Where can we take our kid to get a skating lessons?
03:56You know, the old selfie used to that.
03:59They raised you on skates.
04:00Yeah, it was a book of babies.
04:03No, they're they're asking for input.
04:05Like, can you please give a helping hand here?
04:09No, you can't do that on Facebook.
04:10Facebook is Facebook is the worst.
04:12And we're talking about talking about us who operate on Twitter.
04:15So, yeah, I mean, Twitter is its own cesspool.
04:18But like Facebook is a is like a darker cesspool.
04:21Like there's a lot of funny stuff on Twitter.
04:23There's a lot of memes like my for you page on Twitter.
04:25Now we'll have just like those random tweets that have like seven words in them
04:28with an account that's tweeted as like maybe like 500 followers.
04:33And the tweet has like 500000 likes.
04:35And it's like, all right, that's actually a really good tweet.
04:37I'm glad that that got picked up.
04:39But then Facebook, it's just like, you know,
04:42like middle aged people just trying to ask each other.
04:46Yeah. Yeah.
04:46Again, typing through the safety of their laptop makes me feel like big time.
04:49Yes. Yes. But you're right.
04:51Like the Framingham group, like, oh, we just moved here.
04:53Like, what's the best schools for the kids?
04:56It'll just be like two middle fingers.
04:58Yeah, exactly.
05:00And like, come on.
05:01Birmingham's different from when I grew up back in four.
05:03Yeah. Yeah. OK. Yeah.
05:05Friggin Eisenhower was Truman was president when you were there.
05:09Paul Revere was running through the streets of Framingham.
05:10Rutherford B. Hayes was running shit while you were while you're shouting out
05:15Framingham. So friendlies was a well-earned establishment in Framingham.
05:19It was both about 500 friendlies back then.
05:22Yeah. Eleven.
05:23That's eleven in the whole country.
05:25Back in the day.
05:27Anyways, a little bit of Bruins news.
05:29Real Bruins news.
05:31Jeremy Swayman avoids arbitration.
05:33People were very nervous last week getting to coming down to the deadline
05:37on Friday of, you know, would Jeremy Swayman
05:40like to go to arbitration?
05:41And then the question was, you know,
05:42will the Bruins like to go to arbitration with Jeremy Swayman?
05:45Both were nos, which that means that they can just continue
05:49to negotiate this contract and there's no deadline now.
05:51He can be offersheeted.
05:53It should be a hell of a story.
05:54That'll happen at your wedding.
05:55The Seattle Kraken will offersheet Jeremy Swayman at your wedding.
05:59It will be fantastic.
06:01But of the seven teams, none of them really
06:05doesn't make a ton of sense for them to do it.
06:06I don't think it'll happen.
06:08So what it looks like and, you know, Jeremy Swayman
06:11was in the Bruins schedule announcement video.
06:14They clearly view Jeremy Swayman as a core piece.
06:18I think it's safe to say he gets signed.
06:20I think it's just a matter of when and for what price.
06:23But at least there's no deadline hanging over their head for arbitration.
06:27Yeah, exactly.
06:28I mean, you listen, Jeremy Swayman made no bones about how much he hated
06:32going to arbitration, elected for it last year, and the Bruins carried out with it.
06:36Again, I don't think it's fun for anyone to go to arbitration
06:39in terms of the team who is trying to sign you is like, yeah, you're good,
06:42but you're not you're not that good.
06:44And we got the we have the chats in the the PowerPoint
06:47slideshows to back it up, right?
06:48You don't want to hear your own team kind of more or less diminish your value.
06:51That would be crazy.
06:52Imagine a PowerPoint on like how you suck.
06:55Yes, it's like it's just natural.
06:57It's just natural stat trick.
06:59Like, well, you're high danger, say percentage on.
07:01No. So so again, not fun.
07:03I think for anyone to have to go through that,
07:05especially when it's your own team, that, again, it's it's a business.
07:09Dollars and cents is about getting the best value.
07:12And so I mentioned that, but still not fun.
07:14And I think, yes, it's, I think, promising in terms of both Swayman
07:19and his representatives and the Bruins in terms of being like, all right,
07:23what's going to have this hovering over us, this thing
07:24that can be another point of contention?
07:27It would finalize things right if they do go to arbitration.
07:29But you don't want to do it for the second year in a row
07:32when your franchise goalie who's 25 coming off of an incredible playoff run,
07:37who has said multiple times he hates going arbitration,
07:39wouldn't be that great if you once again have to kind of haggle over that
07:43and get into another contract dispute.
07:45So, again, having that deadline out of the way gives them more time.
07:50Again, does that mean like we're going to get a Swayman contract
07:53in like a day or so?
07:54Who knows?
07:55Like we'll see Swayman's around this entire summer, I believe.
07:57So you'd hope it's done sooner rather than later.
07:59But there's no timeline to it, right?
08:01Like I think what Pasternak, when he signed his content,
08:04like his last kind of RFA contract, I think was in September,
08:07like right before camp started.
08:09So, yep, it was these things.
08:11These things can easily carry into August and September if it gets to it.
08:14But I think as much as you know, there's probably a set resolution
08:18with arbitration.
08:19I think it's a step forward for both Swayman and the Bruins to be like, all right,
08:24we'll cross, you know, we'll bridge this gap.
08:26We'll still we're still debating.
08:27We're still trying to find what the right number is, the right term, all that stuff.
08:30But to have this kind of two month runway to continue to kind of go back
08:35and forth and operate, I think, in good faith without having to resort
08:38to nuclear option of arbitration for the second year in a row,
08:41I view it as a step in the right direction.
08:43But I do think it's good to again, I'll look really dumb with Swayman's
08:47signs at like five o'clock today or signs tomorrow.
08:51But I think the fact that you do have this two month kind of window here
08:54to negotiate and he's more or less kind of the last thing on the to do list.
08:57Look at the cap space and how many guys are really left in free agency.
09:01Like this is kind of the last thing they got to do.
09:02They don't really have to rush this.
09:04And then the Bruins aren't on a time crunch of like, all right, we need to.
09:07All right, we give up like fine.
09:08You want eight and a half, you want eight, seven, five, we'll do it
09:10like they can still operate with that, with kind of this leeway.
09:13And Swayman can still operate without having to look down the road
09:17and see another arbitration here in a few weeks down the road either.
09:20So I think it helps helps both groups to kind of get to this agreement
09:23of no arbitration moving forward.
09:25Yeah, I think that's huge.
09:27I do wonder what the haggling is over with.
09:30You know, is it price?
09:31Is it term?
09:32Like does Jeremy Swayman want a shorter term deal to make more, you know,
09:36you know, four or five year deal or something like that?
09:39Sort of kind of what Austin Matthews has done up in Toronto, where it's like,
09:42hey, I know the cap's going to jump.
09:43I want more money down the line,
09:45which is risky for a goalie, which is very risky for a goalie.
09:49Because, you know, I think if you're a guy like Austin Matthews,
09:52you know pretty well you're going to be scoring a lot of goals.
09:55And that contract, that's like my next contract is going to be quite high.
10:00With Swayman, you don't know that.
10:01And that's not to say he's not a good goalie.
10:03It's not like I'm running the arbitration hearings against Jeremy Swayman or anything.
10:07But you do have to consider like goaltending can be fickle.
10:09You can have one really good year.
10:11You can, you know, go back to the middle in that next year.
10:14Things happen.
10:15And so I wonder if it's that price wise.
10:19I think we all agree it should be somewhere around eight million.
10:21I don't know why, you know, the projections have it around that.
10:26The pundits, I mean, like, you know,
10:28eight million seems pretty agreeable or around there.
10:32So I do wonder what it ends up being price wise,
10:35because I feel like eight times eight is pretty simple
10:38considering they look at him as the number one goalie.
10:41Yeah. I mean, it can go in a whole bunch of different ways.
10:44And it could be based on how the Bruins are approaching,
10:46but also how Swayman's maybe approaching.
10:48And maybe Swayman wants a 40 year deal.
10:51And he's banking on the fact he's going to get even better.
10:53And maybe a couple of years from now, when you look at how the caps
10:56are, but I'm like, I can get ten and a half million.
10:58That's a gamble, right?
10:59You would think that a player would want to operate with eight by eight
11:03and lock that in.
11:04And he's still what?
11:06Thirty three when he hits the market again.
11:08And who the hell knows what the cap's going to look like by then. Right.
11:11So it's the wrong thing.
11:12Oh, my goodness.
11:13I was like, hey, sir, we went into space.
11:17Yeah. Jesus.
11:19There we go.
11:19That's what I get.
11:20But but you look at it right.
11:22Like in terms of swimming could be banking on maybe like more of a bridge
11:26four or five year deal.
11:28The Bruins could be looking at that in terms of maybe just setting,
11:30you know, kicking the can down the road.
11:32But again, as you mentioned it, I think the thing that works best for everyone
11:36is like an eight year deal for a for a payout
11:40that more or less fits in with what Swayman's probably looking for. Right.
11:44Because I saw like I think the athletic had to think of different projections
11:47and one had like six point five seven, which like
11:51if Bruins are trying to argue with that, like I think good luck.
11:55But you also have to look at it right.
11:56Like Swayman's this guy that even if maybe he doesn't have the
12:00you know, the individual resume of like a Sorokin
12:03who like was a Vesna finalist yet, you look at like how good Swayman's been.
12:07He's improved every year.
12:08He had that unbelievable playoff run.
12:11If you're the Bruins and you're hoping this guy continues to get better,
12:14why not just lock him into eight eight by eight?
12:17You know, it's almost like it's like Lindholm.
12:19If it's eight and like seven point seven five, you'll probably be doing backflips
12:22because it just seems like the value is going to continue to get better and better
12:25as this goes on with the cap jumping up.
12:27So I could see from Swayman's perspective, right, of also like
12:31where he kind of fits in the hierarchy, right?
12:34Of the you've got a lot of very good young goalies
12:36are going to go to market pretty soon.
12:38If he's the guy who's going to be setting the, you know, the floor
12:41for what these next guys are going to make, like Shusterkin
12:44and Ottinger and these kind of players, maybe he is like,
12:48I have to get at least eight, eight point two five
12:50and kind of set that benchmark for these next goalies.
12:53That could also be a factor as well.
12:54So you would think that,
12:56you know, the best way to bridge the gap is eight by eight.
12:59But we'll kind of see.
13:00It could be both Swayman's camp or the Bruins camp
13:03kind of changing how they want to approach this contract.
13:06Yeah, six and a half or seven for Swayman.
13:08You do yesterday.
13:09I mean, that'd be an easy one.
13:10And I think it's interesting because, you know, you mentioned
13:12like the resume element to Swayman of like, you know, he's been good
13:16and he's had, you know, you know, he had a great postseason,
13:19but he hasn't been, you know, the 60 games starter ever.
13:22It's only been a couple of years.
13:24But as we see in sports, more and more teams lock up
13:28exciting young prospects to long term deals that sort of look like gambles.
13:32But if they pay off, they look like cheap deals.
13:34It's like Taige Thompson and Buffalo.
13:37You look at, you know, the Atlanta Braves did it a ton
13:39with a bunch of their players.
13:41The Red Sox kind of did it with Sadain Rafaela,
13:43which that seems to be working out so far.
13:46So again, I mean, I think, you know, it's a similar thing to Swayman,
13:49although I think you know what you have more than if Swayman was,
13:52you know, just out of profit.
13:53If this was like, but if they were doing this like bussy or something,
13:57which I don't think they would do.
13:59Anyways, before we get into a big question.
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15:28Question I've had recently ever since the Bruins went out and got
15:33Nikita Zadoroff, Elias Lindholm at Free Agency was are the Bruins
15:39legit Stanley Cup contenders next year?
15:41I was looking at a power rankings this morning from ESPN and they
15:43had the Bruins at number seven.
15:46I haven't had a chance to look at the odds yet for next season.
15:49I'm sure they've moved around quite a bit.
15:50I'm sure the National Predators have jumped up as a team that has
15:54some pretty good odds.
15:56But I got to say, yeah, I think they they really I think the Bruins
16:02are definitely Stanley Cup contenders next year.
16:04You look at up front, you know, obviously we've talked about the
16:07second line right wing spot.
16:08That's sort of up in the air.
16:10The rest of the lineup though, like that to me, that's the one
16:13lineup question.
16:15I don't think they have any other like pressing things.
16:18I mean, you know, your backup is either Corpo Salo or Bussy.
16:21We've talked a lot about that.
16:22But again, like you have both those guys.
16:26Your D seems pretty locked up.
16:28Your bottom six.
16:29There's lots of options there.
16:32You know, obviously there's some questions about Brad Martian in
16:35terms of he's getting up there in age and you know, what's the
16:37effectiveness?
16:38Who's going to be playing with?
16:39I get that but Lindholm with posh talk like to me.
16:42That's a Stanley Cup contender and I saw like Jay fresh had his
16:46first projections ahead to next season.
16:47Jay fresh awesome Twitter follow.
16:49If you guys don't already follow him, he's the man had the Bruins
16:53and third in the Atlantic, which I was kind of surprised about
16:56which again can't argue with analytics.
16:58I'm not going to be like all his his algorithm stinks Connor.
17:02It's wrong again.
17:03It's very good.
17:04It's a very good algorithm.
17:06But I think the Bruins, I think the Bruins are like one or two
17:09in the Atlantic.
17:09Am I crazy?
17:11No, no, I agree.
17:12And I again in terms of a contender.
17:13Yeah, I think they're right in the mix, which I think we've
17:15said countless times, right?
17:17I've been like as long as you're in the mix, you got a shot in
17:20terms of these teams that and you look at the way the Bruins are
17:22built right with with their decor.
17:25How is the door of as an added element there?
17:29How you know, it's not just like the physicality.
17:31Obviously, it's what everyone points to in the Bruins could
17:34definitely use that and I think it's going to come in handy,
17:36especially in the playoffs, but and not just him, but like I
17:40think like that Max Jones Castle Lake Beecher, if that's kind
17:43of the grouping on the fourth line, a lot of speed, a lot of
17:46physicality there as well.
17:48I think that could be a really, really fun line to watch.
17:51But yeah, like they're they seem like they've kind of seen
17:54what these other teams around the NHL are doing in terms of
17:56a lot of mobility, a lot of size on the back end, a lot of
17:59skill up front, a lot of, you know, emphasis on speed with
18:04their forwards, especially kind of in that bottom six grouping
18:07like they're going to be competitive team, especially when
18:09you've got that decor and especially that goalie of swimming
18:12can build off of last year.
18:14Yeah, you got a pretty good shot again.
18:15The Bruins couldn't could not hit the net in the playoffs
18:18last year and they took the Panthers to a pretty competitive
18:21six games, you know, in the second round, like what happens
18:24if your defense is even better?
18:26What happens if a few other guys step up and again, like as
18:29you said, they have question marks like when you look especially
18:33I think on the scoring front, like you kind of need a guy like
18:36Lysell or Murkyoff to break out.
18:37You need guys like Geeky and Frederick to continue to take
18:41steps forward.
18:41You need Lindholm to be live up to expectations in terms of
18:45what his contract is going to be.
18:46You know the things to, you know, fall your way, but how many
18:49other teams, you know, are going into this year without similar
18:54question marks, right?
18:55Like look at like the Oilers who are a great team.
18:58They went to the Stanley Cup final.
18:59I still don't feel that great about their goalie situation.
19:02You look at that goal that went right by Skinner from Reinhardt.
19:06That was the game, the series winning goal.
19:08Not great.
19:09Needed to save there in a pretty important moment.
19:11Like look at Toronto, their team.
19:12I assumed is Toronto the, is Toronto who Jay Fresh has a second
19:17in the Atlantic?
19:19I think so.
19:20Yeah.
19:21So, I mean, if it's not, well, like my wife, I will.
19:23Yeah, let's operate with the assumption that it's going to
19:26be Toronto.
19:27How is their goalie situation?
19:29Is Chris Tannev going to stop the, is the Chris Tannev going
19:31to stop the pucks from flying into the back of the net?
19:34Like, all right, you look at Tampa, you know, you, you got
19:37a guy like Gensel, but you're pretty top-heavy team there.
19:40Like Acemont and some of these guys are like in featured
19:43roles on that lineup.
19:44Now, they're going to be tasked with like driving play.
19:47Like again, you've got point couture of all those players,
19:50but also the well gets pretty dry.
19:52Once you get past like the first three, four guys in that
19:55lineup that they need a lot of other guys to step up for
19:58them as well.
19:59Like, you know, Carolina, they lost a whole bunch of guys,
20:03New York Rangers.
20:04Like they can't get anyone to move to take on true.
20:07They can't get true, but a wave is his no trade clause.
20:09And again, like the whole thing is a mess.
20:11Yeah.
20:12And the whole thing with the Rangers is like he's coming
20:14to the Bruins.
20:15Remember he's coming to the Bruins.
20:16Yeah, exactly.
20:18But like they run into the same conundrum every year of
20:20like how reliant they are on their special team scoring
20:22and how they can, you know, deliver at five on five.
20:25You're going to have these questions about like, is it
20:26been as you had in the playoffs?
20:28Like every team has these questions of like, yeah, but
20:31yeah, they're competitive.
20:32But so if the Bruins were in that spot and their strengths
20:35lie and kind of what you need to follow your way in the
20:39playoffs in terms of a great defense and a really strong
20:41goaltending and you figure out the scoring along the way
20:44and maybe it maybe it all works out.
20:46Maybe Lysel is a 18 goal scorer and he has a great season
20:49or maybe you have to address at the deadline.
20:51You can I think roll with the punches and try to shore
20:54up your offense as the year goes on.
20:55But if your strengths are rooted in your goaltending
20:57and defense and you've you've got a battle-tested group
21:00that had a pretty successful playoff run last year.
21:03I think you like your chances.
21:04Are you the favorites?
21:05No, probably out of that whole group, Florida probably
21:08has the fewest amount of question marks, even though
21:10they've lost guys like OEL and Montour, but they're still
21:13a pretty damn good team.
21:14It's really deep.
21:16But other than that, like you got a shot and if you gave
21:19if you push the Panthers to six games and your team's
21:21probably better and more equipped to handle the Panthers.
21:24I think if you're a Bruins fan, you should just like where
21:25you are right now.
21:26You're in the mix.
21:27If not one of the I think four or five teams that have
21:30a pretty good shot.
21:30You look just the way your team is constituted right now
21:33as we're recording in early July.
21:36Yeah, and I think the interesting thing about Florida is
21:38like they did technically get worse and they've been to
21:41two straight cups like that takes a toll.
21:43We say this, you know, we said that with Tampa for a long
21:45time like that takes a toll on a team, you know, it's hard
21:49to go to three straight.
21:50Now that Florida seems great.
21:51Like that's the core pieces of Kachuk, Reinhardt, Barkov,
21:55Bobrovsky like that's not a fun team to deal with and
21:58I would agree with you.
21:59They're probably the favorites.
22:00You also have the Devils now like the New Jersey Devils
22:03are look to be in a better position than they were
22:05last year.
22:05They have high expectations.
22:07They were big spenders.
22:09They went out and got Jacob Markstrom from the Flames
22:13and then like you mentioned the Leafs like who is in
22:17net for them?
22:17Joseph Wall.
22:18That's their one hope like maybe it works out, you know,
22:21he has a good track record coming up, you know up to
22:24Toronto, but like is he ready to be the full-time starter
22:26and they got like Matt Murray and Anthony Stolarz up there.
22:29So like their number one problem is still not fixed until
22:33you know, maybe if wall puts together great season, then
22:35you know, they'll have a real goalie.
22:37But like until that happens, I don't know who they have
22:41in net.
22:41I don't know, you know, what fixes that problem.
22:44Now they do a barubi.
22:45They do have Craig Barubi, but there is there's it's funny
22:49because the Bruins do have a big question mark and we
22:50talked about this kind of with the second line right wing
22:52spot, but it hits it a bigger thing that would I think
22:55was sort of a huge problem for them and the playoffs last
22:58year. I want to get to that.
22:58But first quick word from our friends over at the Stanley
23:01Cup final is over and what a thriller it was the Celtics
23:05are NBA champions with hockey and basketball playoffs
23:08over attention turns to the MLB.
23:11And is there a better activity to do during the summer
23:14than hitting the ballparks?
23:16Nothing beats a summer night at Fenway Park a Fenway
23:19Frag a nice cold beverage and the crack of the bat.
23:24It's a nice change of pace from the heart pounding intensity
23:27of the NHL and NBA playoffs.
23:29Just pure relaxation good weather and great vibes.
23:34I feel like every year I make a slew of fond memories
23:36at Fenway for me last year.
23:38It was in Chicago watching the Red Sox take down the Cubs
23:40at historic Wrigley Field got to say pubs fans very nice
23:45people want to go to a game this summer.
23:48Go check out game time the authorized ticket Marketplace
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24:39price guaranteed now back to the show.
24:43So that question I kind of alluded to was scoring in
24:45general, you know, the Bruins had trouble scoring last
24:48year in the playoffs, you know, the one true score on
24:52that team is David Pasternak outside of that, you know,
24:56there isn't a strong second candidate.
24:59I mean Marshad obviously historically has been a large
25:01producer.
25:02Hopefully this year for him, you know, you see more even
25:06more production, but I think at least Lindholm helps
25:09that answer that question of all right.
25:11Now you have a real number one center who's going to
25:13be paired with Pasternak.
25:14You're going to have Zaka on the wings, which you know,
25:16in 22-23 he was great there.
25:18So like you I think you have that and that answers that
25:21big question of you know, it doesn't fully answer it,
25:24but it answers some of it.
25:26I still am skeptical about that second line.
25:28But is that enough for me to say?
25:30No, they're not cup contenders.
25:31No, I like I think either Lysell fits there or they
25:35address it by making a trade at the deadline to get a
25:39second line winger because you know, as you said, I think
25:42the East is wide open.
25:43I like, you know, you mentioned the Panthers is like
25:45the favorite and they probably are and the odds probably
25:47have them there.
25:48I don't think it's overwhelming.
25:50I'm not like, oh, it's the Panthers and then everybody
25:52else. It's just wide open.
25:55Yeah, and I again you look at like Lysell is the obvious
25:57guy you look at where I think a lot probably hinges if
26:00he, you know comes into camp and he's dynamic during
26:04preseason play and you can comfortably say, you know,
26:07the first second week of October that he's good to go
26:09there and you can pencil him in.
26:10That's great.
26:11Hell, I'd take even if like the third line is some
26:14assortment of like Frederick Potra and Lysell and it
26:18gives you two really young players with a guy like
26:21Frederick who is physical but also has like that knack
26:24for just whatever line he's on.
26:25He makes his line mates better.
26:27Like if that's your third line and you operate with
26:29like Geeky starting off, you'll probably take that and
26:32see where those guys can develop.
26:33Hell, like Morgan Geeky.
26:34I think exceed a lot of expectations and if he's with
26:37Marshan and Coyle, it's not bad.
26:39Like you can probably get more production out of a guy
26:41like Geeky as has been the case for a lot of these
26:44guys when they put up in the top six roles.
26:45Like the Bruins, it's not like it at all.
26:48I think rests on like if Lysell hits, that's great makes
26:52your life a lot easier.
26:52You don't have to go and trade for someone.
26:54You don't have to spend money on a guy that's cost
26:56controlled and is a really dynamic player, but if it
26:59doesn't work out, you do have other options before you
27:01even have to get to the, you know, yeah, Defcon one
27:04right of like maybe it's Frederick who's played well
27:07with Coyle before.
27:07Maybe he's due for, you know, maybe he's another level
27:11to hit.
27:11Maybe it's Geeky, someone like that.
27:13Hell, like maybe it's Justin Brasso or someone that
27:16gets a look there if they think he can build off of
27:18what he showcased last season as well.
27:21Like the Bruins at least have options of ways to
27:23figure things out.
27:24Is it, you know, is it as set in stone as if you
27:27retained DeBrusque or if you signed a, you know,
27:31Toffoli?
27:32No, of course not.
27:33It would make you feel a lot better because you
27:34really don't have to worry about that.
27:35You have to follow you like, all right, he's going
27:37to fall ass backwards and get 25 goals.
27:39That's like what he's done his entire career, but
27:42the Bruins at least do have ways to kind of fill
27:44that gap, at least for right now.
27:46Now again, check in in middle of December.
27:49If it's Lysel who flamed out early on and Geeky
27:53struggling to, you know, he's got a 10 game goal
27:55to stretch, then it's not great.
27:57Then you got to address it.
27:58But for now, at least I don't think that one
28:00vacancy as critical as a top six role is right.
28:03I don't think it's something that it's like the
28:05Bruins have no one there.
28:06They have options.
28:07And again, if things don't work out, what's the
28:10case every year during the deadline, right?
28:12Where there's four or five 20 goal scores who
28:15dangled out there.
28:16So again, it's what we talked about with them,
28:17like prioritizing Alex Zdorov.
28:19If Alex Zdorov is dangled out at the trade
28:22deadline, a 6'6'' mobile defenseman who's really
28:25mean and really nasty, you're paying a steep,
28:28steep price for a player like that.
28:30Not to say that a 20 goal score is going to
28:32come cheap, but it's more agreeable.
28:34I think in terms of what the price would be
28:36as opposed to if you are prioritizing a defenseman
28:39in that same spot.
28:40I mean, look what the price was for Hampus Lindholm
28:42three years ago at the deadline.
28:43Like it's not cheap to get a top four legit
28:46defenseman.
28:48Yeah, I mean, and the other thing I wouldn't
28:50count out is Georgie Merkuloff.
28:53Georgie Merkuloff has had two really productive
28:56seasons in the AHL.
28:58Now, I think they'd rather keep him down the
29:00middle.
29:00I think it's better suited for him down the
29:02middle, but I wouldn't be shocked.
29:03I mentioned this on my mailbag episode last week
29:05at Bruins Beat, wouldn't shock me if he's a
29:07third-line center.
29:08Like he's played a lot more than Matt Potra
29:10has, at least last season.
29:12Potra still recovering from an injury.
29:13You do wonder if Potra begins the year in
29:15Providence based on how he is in training camp,
29:18but you also wonder like is Merkuloff so
29:20good that they're like, we got to find a spot
29:22for him in the top nine.
29:23Like this guy's so productive.
29:25He needs to play.
29:26And again, like, you know, playing him on the
29:28fourth line for eight minutes a night is not
29:31going to be what gets him ingratiated in the
29:33NHL. You're going to need to give him a
29:35consistent shift.
29:36You're going to need to give him ozone time
29:38and the fourth line is not the place for that.
29:40So I do wonder if he's in the mix as well.
29:44Maybe not for that second line right wing spot,
29:46but you know, if they, you know, futz with the
29:48lines a little bit, if they get to a point
29:50where Marsh ends up with Lindholm and
29:53Impostor knock and, you know, Zaka centering
29:56the second line or something, or they put
29:57coil on the wing.
29:58Like I think there is a, I think Merkuloff,
30:00there's also Merkuloff too.
30:02So I think Merkuloff is another interesting
30:03case there in that top nine, but should be
30:07interesting.
30:08We have a lot we can talk about this off
30:09season. Definitely a lot.
30:12Connor, what can people look forward to from
30:13you over at the globe and Boston.com?
30:15Yeah, we'll have you covered every step of
30:17the way this off season, whether it's the
30:19swimming contract, maybe other trades looking
30:22ahead at roster projections.
30:23I think we'll be looking at doing our first
30:26kind of depth chart breakdown, which I'm sure
30:28will look terrible in a couple of months when
30:31camp actually begins.
30:32But we'll have that over at Boston.com and
30:34the globe, plenty more stuff.
30:35So you can read all of my stuff over there.
30:37And if you want to follow me on Twitter X,
30:40whatever it's called, you can do that at
30:41Connor Ryan underscore 93.
30:43Go do all that.
30:45That's Connor Ryan.
30:46I'm F.
30:47Maranofsky.
30:47You're presented by prize picks and game time.
30:49You burns be listeners.
30:50Have a great rest of your week.
31:01Yeah.