Has Jim Montgomery earned an extension? | Pucks with Haggs
Joe Haggerty and James Murphy discuss a number of Bruins topics in a mailbag edition of Pucks with Haggs, including whether or not Jim Montgomery deserves a contract extension going into what's believed to be his last season under contract with Boston.
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Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.
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Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.
For the CLNS award winning Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, College hoops, NBA History, go here to featured channels- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP7KyKodc3OHuN_XhEyPPw?sub_confirmation=1
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SportsTranscript
00:00Pucks with Hags is brought to you by PrizePix and the GameTime app.
00:06Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast powered by PrizePix,
00:10the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:14This is the 112th episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast.
00:17I have with me longtime friend and colleague, Jimmy Murphy.
00:21Murph, please tell everybody where they can find your work, my friend.
00:24Well, actually, Hags, right now, just written-wise, I am on Substack
00:29under Murphy's Hockey Law, so you can find my scribbles over there.
00:33There haven't been too many lately, kind of took the summer off in that regard.
00:37But I'll get that going again soon.
00:39Then, of course, I'm hosting the iTest podcast on the SICK Media Network
00:43with Pierre Maguire.
00:45So we're on during the summer.
00:46We're on every Wednesday, 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern.
00:50All right, yeah, definitely check that from Pierre Maguire.
00:53That's great for all the hockey fans out there.
00:55I'm also on Substack too, JoeHaggerty.substack.com.
01:00Subscribe for a premium membership.
01:02Get all of my NHL and Bruins writing sent straight directly to your inbox.
01:07I write three times a week as well for the Boston Sports Journal,
01:10so definitely check that out at bostonsportsjournal.com.
01:12A lot of good stuff on that site as well.
01:15You know, we're going to do some fun stuff today, Murph.
01:17We're just going to – I think we'll kick around the same old topics.
01:22You and I both know this is the dead zone of the hockey offseason right now.
01:25Everybody's at their cottages in Canada.
01:28Everybody's away on vacation, gone fishing.
01:30Like basically nothing's going on right now.
01:32So we'll also answer a bunch of questions mailbag style from some fans,
01:37which I think is always – that takes us down a different road than we would
01:41if we were just kicking around like top Bruins-type topics.
01:45First, we'll just go with Boston Four Sports.
01:48Gets right into the nitty-gritty here.
01:50Okay.
01:51What's the latest on a Swayman extension?
01:53Things have seemed quiet for the past few weeks.
01:56I think it's pretty much status quo at this point.
01:59You did see pictures of Swayman and Olmark reunited
02:04and hugging in Italy at Michael Panhalla's wedding,
02:07and congratulations to him, by the way, on getting married.
02:11Longtime Bruins employee, great guy.
02:15So like obviously they're in Italy at a wedding.
02:18There's not much going on right now at this point as far as negotiations go
02:21and closing the deal.
02:23He's been in Boston all summer.
02:24That's a good sign.
02:25They both declined arbitration.
02:27That's a good sign.
02:28I would only start to get nervous about this and worried about this
02:32if he packed up and went back to Alaska
02:36or if they got a few days into training camp and nothing was going on.
02:42Those are the kind of times to get nervous, times to get worried.
02:45But I think right now there's no natural deadline to get this done right now.
02:50Everybody's away, and it's not going to get done until they get back.
02:53Yeah, I'm with you.
02:54Look, I wouldn't expect anything until let me –
02:57when does training camp start for the veterans?
02:59The 18th, Joe?
03:00Something like that, yeah.
03:01Yeah, the 18th.
03:02It starts later and later every frigging year.
03:03I know.
03:04I know.
03:05It's getting close.
03:06The seasons keep going later.
03:07But like you said, if something – let's just say September 11th.
03:13That's the start of rookie camp the week before.
03:15Let's say if they're not done by then, I think you can get a little tense
03:18and you can wonder what's going on.
03:20The only thing I worry about, and it's not so much Swayman,
03:23it's his agent, Lewis Gross, who is notorious for holdouts,
03:28notorious for dragging things out to the deadline.
03:31We saw what he did with Nylander in 2018.
03:34He brought it down all the way to December 1st deadline at 3 p.m.,
03:38and the deadline was at 5 p.m. that day.
03:41He doesn't mind dragging it out and going all the way to the wire.
03:45So that's the only thing I worry about.
03:47But look, I don't know Nylander as a person, as a player,
03:51as well as I know Jeremy Swayman, and you know Jeremy Swayman.
03:55Swayman doesn't seem like the type of A, person, and B, player
04:01that would want it to become such a drama-filled episode like that
04:07and let it creep into the season.
04:09It just doesn't seem like his style.
04:10I think he just wants to get on the ice and play.
04:12And as you pointed out, Joe, he's been here all summer.
04:15He's at Warrior a lot.
04:17He's at team events.
04:20I think he's the type of guy who might – obviously money rules everything,
04:25but I don't think there's any doubt that he's going to get a lot of money
04:27in this deal.
04:29I just feel like he's the type of player that might say to the agent,
04:32be like, look, I know that you think you're looking out for my best interests,
04:36but I just want to play.
04:38So let's get this done.
04:39So I don't think we have – I do think there is a chance of a holdout,
04:44but I don't think it goes deep into camp.
04:46I don't think it's anything, like you said, where he packs up and leaves.
04:49I think he's the type of guy – like we see right now what's going on
04:51with the Patriots and Judon, and Judon's still sticking around.
04:55He's on the field.
04:56He's working out.
04:57He's not exactly practicing.
05:00Obviously there's been some bad blood going on between them the past week.
05:03There was a little argument with the coach, but he's still sticking around.
05:08He hasn't said I want out, and I see a similar situation
05:11but even a better situation with Jeremy Swayman and the girls.
05:14Well, one thing – and I don't think I've talked to you about this,
05:17but I've talked to a lot of other people about it on the podcast.
05:22Part of the issue, I think, with Jeremy Swayman is that there isn't
05:26a comparable player goalie to him for the money that he's looking for.
05:30I think it's going to be hard for Louis Gross and Jeremy Swayman's camp
05:34if they want eight years, 64, when the guy's never played more than 44 games
05:39in a season, when he's never been a Vezina Trophy finalist,
05:42when he's never even been a starter by himself in the league yet,
05:47and you're going to give him that kind of money?
05:49I understand that they traded Linus Almark, and that was basically them saying,
05:55you're our number one guy.
05:56You're our starter.
05:58But then you have to go out and actually perform and show that you can do it
06:01and actually put seasons together where you've done it
06:04before you can get paid like that.
06:07Every person that's written about it and either tried to use Conor Hellebuck
06:11as a comparable to Jeremy Swayman, which is frigging ridiculous,
06:15or basically said, you should just pay him because you said he's your number one guy.
06:19That's not how negotiations work.
06:21No, not in a cap world.
06:23No, it's like real estate.
06:25You have to provide other players and say, this is a comparable,
06:28this is why we should get this amount of money.
06:31And there's nobody you can look at that signed a – the only one that –
06:35like I think he's going to end up getting over seven,
06:37even though I don't think there's a comparable that's making over seven either.
06:40He's going to probably get something around what Saros got.
06:42I just don't think he's going to get eight.
06:45I don't think he's going to cross the threshold from seven to eight.
06:48I think he'll get somewhere in the sevens because the Bruins,
06:51everybody in the league is going to be pissed at them if they sign this guy.
06:56Granted, I think he's a number one goalie.
06:58I think he's going to be outstanding for the next ten years.
07:00I think he's a franchise guy.
07:01He's obviously stood in the playoffs as he showed last year.
07:05But like everybody in the league is going to come down super hard on the Bruins,
07:09all the GMs, if they sign him to this huge amount of money and set this precedent
07:14that you can give a guy that's only a few years into the league
07:16and has been basically sharing time or a backup huge money like that
07:20before he goes out and proves it.
07:21Yeah, and the other thing we have to factor in too, Joe,
07:23and not a lot of people are bringing this up,
07:25but I don't know how much of a role it's playing right now
07:27in negotiations with Swayman or any player,
07:29is the CBA is up in two years, 2026.
07:33Look, all things point to the cap continually going up,
07:38but there are some, you know,
07:40and I'm not trying to bring this into a broader thing,
07:42but I'm just saying it could be connected.
07:44There are some warning signs that the cap isn't going to go up
07:48as much as people like because you look at what's going on right now,
07:52tags with TV and TV revenue and a lot of people in our business.
07:57And, you know, we saw what just happened with Jeff Merrick at sports.
08:00And I know there was some kind of weird situation there,
08:02but it's always money related.
08:05They're going to look for excuses to get rid of people
08:07because they need to cut back on salary in sports.
08:09And it took a beating in their TV deal.
08:11I haven't seen the numbers of what Turner and ESPN have done
08:15since they signed their contract.
08:17It looks good from the outside, but we don't know,
08:19but there's a lot of things that factor into contract negotiations
08:22when you're looking long-term and clearly a CBA is one of them.
08:26So I think if, you know, you're the GM, you're Don Sweeney,
08:29you probably got the Jacobs in your ears saying,
08:32just pump the brakes a bit here.
08:34We want to give him what he deserves,
08:36but don't go overboard here and lock us into something
08:39that we're going to regret later on or we can't handle later on.
08:43And so there's a lot of factors that go in there.
08:46I like what you said, though, about, you know,
08:49he hasn't been a true number one yet.
08:52No. What happens if you give him this huge contract
08:56and then he shows physically and mentally he can't play 16 games?
09:00He's not durable enough.
09:01You know, like he can't maintain his performance
09:03when he's playing that much.
09:05Like what happens then when you pay them that kind of money?
09:07Like they'd be taking a huge unnecessary risk
09:11if they went out and bet on him to be that guy
09:13before he's actually gone out and shown it.
09:15And Joe, I got to ask you this, too.
09:17So when we, you know, when we were talking about this,
09:20maybe in May, early June, before they traded Almarc, right?
09:24We're looking at it like, OK, they're going to trade Almarc.
09:27They're going to bring Bussey in as the backup.
09:29And Jeremy Swayman is going to be the horse.
09:32Well, now they go out and in that Almarc deal,
09:35they take back a veteran goalie who, yeah,
09:37you know, they got some of the salary retained,
09:39but they're still paying them three million.
09:41That's a lot of money to pay a quote unquote backup.
09:44So my theory is they don't necessarily see Swayman
09:47as being the end all be all.
09:50I'm going to play 60 to 65, maybe even more games.
09:53Right.
09:54They brought in a guy that they want to be able to come in
09:57and maybe pick up 20 to 25 games and help Swayman out.
10:01Who knows?
10:02You know, they brought in a guy just in case
10:04he can handle the durability that they need, like you just said.
10:07So I don't think they're looking at him a lot
10:10like the fans are looking at him right now
10:12or maybe like his agent is looking at him.
10:14So I'm with you a hundred percent on this.
10:16I don't think he can cross that $8 million threshold,
10:19but I do think he makes out like a bandit and he'll be okay.
10:22Well, yeah, it's huge money regardless.
10:25But yeah, there's, I mean,
10:27there's always a legitimate fear amongst Bruins management about,
10:31and with any NHL team,
10:34that the one thing that can destroy your team can sink your team
10:37can turn you into a cellar dweller immediately
10:40is if you have severe goaltending problems.
10:42If you have bad goaltending, that will kill your team.
10:45I don't care how talented they are otherwise.
10:47And I'm sure they envision a scenario where if they went with Swayman
10:52and all of a sudden he's getting paid big money
10:54and all the pressures on him.
10:56And like he struggles with the adjustment to that a little bit,
11:00or there's any kind of an adjustment period there
11:02to him getting used to being the guy.
11:04And then you have a rookie behind him backing up.
11:06That's a recipe for like things that could go wrong
11:09and go sideways for them.
11:11So I think they were glad to get a guy like Corpus Aulo.
11:13That's a proven commodity that can come in and play
11:15and maybe play a little bit more.
11:17And maybe the Bruins also believe that that's just the best way
11:20to get the most out of your goalies is to have a one and a 1A
11:23or to have one guy playing 50 to 55
11:26and the other guys playing like 25 to 30 or whatever, you know,
11:29like just always having that kind of scenario
11:31rather than having a guy like Hellebuck or Saros
11:33that's playing like 65, 66 games a year.
11:36Yeah.
11:37And I even look back and I'm not knocking Cary Price at all.
11:40He's one of the greatest goalies ever to play the game.
11:43And of our time and of the generation that we've covered, Hags,
11:46but you look at what happened to him towards the end
11:50and how he's really down.
11:51He's not as good as Eddie Belfort when he used to throw his pads at you
11:53when you tried to talk to him in the locker room.
11:55We can get into that sometime.
11:58It's funny you bring him up.
12:00I bumped into somebody who knows him very well the other day
12:03and that came up.
12:05Anyhow.
12:06But, you know, the best goalies, even the best goalies,
12:09the most skilled goalies can wear down.
12:11Things happen.
12:12And so I think they know that.
12:14And I think they look at it and say, also, we got a lot of money to other areas.
12:18You know, I think they've done a great job.
12:20I was just looking before we came on here at their salary cap situation
12:23going forward in the next four to five years.
12:25They're really set on the blue line.
12:27They've done a great job of locking in their top four in that blue line.
12:31So that's good.
12:33But, you know, you look ahead to the forward position, Hags,
12:36and I think we can agree that on a Stanley Cup contender
12:39that Lynn Holm is not a true number one center.
12:42He's more of a 2C and he'd be better slotted there.
12:45And then you have Coyle at the 3C.
12:47So maybe, you know, you need to keep things open.
12:50You need to keep options open down the line to fill other areas.
12:54So it's not just about swimming.
12:56It's not just about respecting who he is, what he is, and giving him the money.
13:00It's about the whole team.
13:01And I know fans don't want to hear that.
13:03And going back to quickly, not to reverse,
13:06but what you said about having the 1A and the 1B, you know,
13:10even sometimes I'll admit when we're sitting there in a press conference
13:13and Sweeney or Montgomery or whether it was Cassidy,
13:16and, oh, we love the – or even the goalies saying it.
13:18We love having that competition.
13:20It pushes us.
13:22You heard Elmar can swim and say that all the time.
13:24A lot of times you're thinking you have, like, whatever.
13:26But it's true.
13:27It really is true.
13:29It does help keep them on their toes because it's human nature
13:33that people can get complacent.
13:34So I think it helps to have that 1B guy.
13:37All right.
13:39Cap 77.
13:40And this was on the Boston Sports Journal Q&A message board there.
13:44I do a Q&A every week.
13:46So I grabbed some of the questions from there because they come up with some
13:49good questions on that message board,
13:51even if sometimes I'm a little late on the draw answering the questions
13:54and they get pissed off at me, which I apologize for.
13:56That happens.
13:58One from Cap 77.
13:59Will the Swayman talks drag on like those for Pasternak until the day
14:02everyone arrives at Warrior for camp?
14:04Does it have to be an 8 times 8 deal?
14:07Do you think that that's maybe part of the holdup is that Swayman's camp is,
14:13like, determined to get 8 times 8?
14:16And, like, I honestly do see it.
14:18I see the most likely scenario being like he mentioned.
14:21It's very reminiscent of Pasternak.
14:23Don Sweeney's been very good about, like, closing these deals,
14:25making sure the guys that they want to be Bruins get done.
14:28And it's not a big distraction.
14:30It's not a big problem.
14:31And we all remember, like,
14:33the whole summer we were talking about Pasternak and the hands up,
14:36like, getting it done.
14:37Was that at the golf tournament?
14:39No, I think it was during, like, the physical fitness testing or whatever.
14:43Okay.
14:44So after that.
14:45You know, when they do the pull-ups.
14:47Kevin Miller used to have a pull-up on the first day of camp.
14:52I think that's what it was the very first day.
14:54Because we've had a couple at that golf tournament.
14:56I can't remember who it was.
14:57It was Marcian or Bergeron or one of those guys.
14:59Yep.
15:00But I feel like it's going to be something like that when it gets done.
15:02Yeah.
15:03It's probably going to be, like, the first day of camp.
15:05And then it'll be, like, you know, much ado about nothing.
15:07Yep.
15:08I agree.
15:09Do you think 8 times 8?
15:10Do you think that's, like –
15:11No, like we just said, I don't think he's getting that.
15:13I think it's – I'm 100% with you.
15:15Do you think his camp might be holding out for that?
15:17I think they might.
15:18That's probably the number they have in their head, I would think,
15:20is something like that.
15:21They could be.
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17:49I can't remember, Patrick Roir was not in off season.
17:51He was amidst at the end of the year.
17:53That was right before the trade deadline.
17:54I just love Patrick Roir being in the league.
17:57I want Patrick Roir in the NHL.
17:59I want him coaching.
18:01I want his personality there.
18:02He's one of those guys that's going to be fiery, unpredictable, exciting.
18:07I want him around in the league somewhere.
18:09I was, I was glad for that hire.
18:11And I think that could be, uh, the right fit for, for that Islanders team that
18:16probably has not had enough of a kick in the butt the last few years.
18:20Yeah, I'm with you on that.
18:22I mean, look, I don't know what Buffalo is trying to do.
18:25I, I gave up long ago trying to figure out their direction.
18:28I don't think they know it either.
18:29Uh, like you said, it's like now they're going back to the past and they try to
18:33go to the future with a young guy.
18:34They're all over the place.
18:35So yeah, I'm not exactly thrilled with that hire.
18:38Um, the other one I look at that was kind of two of them, actually, that
18:41are very similar in my eyes that I questioned were St.
18:45Louis with Bannister.
18:46And this is no knock on him.
18:47I think he's a good rising coach.
18:49I just don't think he's ready for the head coaching job yet.
18:52I think he would have been a good assistant.
18:53I also think maybe he even needed a few more years down in Springfield.
18:57I was, you know, and I was living out there, uh, right after the, or during
19:00a pandemic and right after I caught a lot of those games there and they
19:03went on a run to the conference final one year hacks, he did a great job
19:06with that team and really good job, those young kids, but you know, from
19:09people I know within that, or it just doesn't seem like he was ready.
19:13And it almost feels like he was a consolation, uh, as opposed to maybe
19:17some of the guys they wanted to get.
19:18And then I looked similar position, Jim Hiller in LA.
19:22I just think that I think that team where they are right now.
19:26In that market, trying to stay relevant, uh, where they are
19:30in the direction of the team.
19:31I think they needed a bigger hire.
19:34I, I really do.
19:35And I wonder, and I look, I don't want to get into the whole
19:38Blackhawks history thing and everything went on with, with Joe Quinville.
19:43But I wonder right now with him being reinstated, if either of those two
19:47teams, St.
19:48Louis, obviously already had them once.
19:50If either of them is saying, damn, we should have waited.
19:52We could have got a Stanley cup champion coach with a lot more
19:55experience, a lot more pizzazz.
19:57Of course, maybe they want to stay away from the controversy outside the rink
20:00there, but I just look at those two hires as maybe like they weren't,
20:05I don't think they're ready yet.
20:06Uh, but around the league, I don't really have a problem with many of the
20:08hires that went on this summer.
20:10I'm trying to look at the list right now.
20:12There's a couple others.
20:13I like a lot.
20:14Um, Ryan Warsawski and San Jose.
20:17I think he's going to a young coach where I think it's the right fit there.
20:23And I think he's the right, that's the right.
20:25Group of players in an organization, I think for them to take a
20:28chance on a young coach and show a vote of faith in a young coach like that.
20:32And the other one I really like is Barubi in Toronto.
20:35I think he's exactly what Toronto Maple Leafs need.
20:38That's where I was going to go fit there.
20:40Yeah.
20:40I'm with you there.
20:41The Bosma one in Seattle.
20:43I do like, because he is a veteran and he did go back to the aid, did some time
20:48there really is familiar with what they're bringing up.
20:50I think they're a team that, yeah, I know they made the playoffs in their first
20:53year and they upset the abs and that seven game series at the time with
20:57the defending champions, but clearly that was kind of a blip, you know, and
21:02then they're, they're building towards something right now.
21:04I think he's a good coach for that.
21:06I totally agree with you on, on Barubi there.
21:08One guy I'm surprised to kind of survive just with all the change that's going
21:13on, including moving is in Utah and that's Andre Terigny and it's not a knock on him.
21:19I just felt like, okay, maybe it's a new team, new ownership.
21:24They want to come in with a splash and maybe make, you know, get a big name in
21:28there.
21:29So I was surprised he made that, but good for him.
21:31Um, and then I look around, there's a lot of good assistant coach hires.
21:35Uh, Travis green in Ottawa is an interesting one to me.
21:38Yeah.
21:38Um, hags that team, I think really it's now or never for them.
21:42Right.
21:42Because we've been waiting for them to turn that corner and make the playoffs.
21:46They've got a lot of skill.
21:47I know they've dealt with some injuries and then they've got a goalie.
21:51They got a goalie now.
21:52Uh, I like that higher there.
21:54Uh, one, I, I don't get okay.
21:58And you know, yes.
22:02Like what, what has Sheldon Keith done besides lose to the Bruins over and over
22:07again?
22:07The one thing, what has he done?
22:09The one thing I will say Murph, um, and I don't, I don't necessarily love that
22:12higher either, but the one, I think Lindy rough was perfect there.
22:15I would've never got rid of him.
22:16Yeah.
22:17The one thing I like about him, at least that I saw in the last playoffs is the way
22:22he had the Leafs playing in that series against the Bruins, like trying to get
22:27gotten them to buy in and they were playing defensive hockey.
22:30They were playing the way you need to play to win in the playoffs.
22:33Like, I actually liked the way the Leafs played in that first round series.
22:36I did too.
22:37Well, while getting hurt in game seven, killed them.
22:39Like that was, that was like the beginning of the end and the death knell for them.
22:43But like, maybe they win that series of Joe wall, uh, doesn't get hurt and he's
22:47able to play in that game.
22:49And I will say like to his defense, I liked that, but like there was obviously
22:55so much babying and coddling going on of those superstar players.
22:58And there was so much that I don't, I think he didn't stand up to, or really
23:02like seize control of like he needed to in Toronto.
23:06And you wonder if it's going to be the same thing in New Jersey with the same
23:09kind of players playing for the devils.
23:11Yeah.
23:11A lot of high-end skill.
23:13Yeah.
23:13Yeah.
23:14I'm interested to see how the relationship with him and Dougie Hamilton
23:17manifests.
23:19We'll see.
23:20You're my friend, Dougie.
23:22Only player to ever like get in, get in a pissing contest with me in an argument
23:26with me on the first day of development camp when he was like an 18 year old kid
23:30and used to pull the, like, I don't want to talk to everybody.
23:33If that person's in the scrum memory did that a couple of times, the people
23:36you're like, who the F is this kid?
23:38Like get out of here.
23:39Yeah.
23:40Go have your mom and dad complained to the GM that you're not playing.
23:42Okay.
23:42Now you said, see, I didn't know if we were going to say if we were going to go
23:45there, but yeah, yeah, it happened.
23:47Yeah.
23:48All right.
23:48Next question.
23:49This is from Ryan M double zero on BSJ Q and a board.
23:53Uh, is Jim Montgomery going to get an extension?
23:56He's had young players make major strides under him.
23:59Pasternak has had his best two years offensively and didn't prove in the
24:02playoffs.
24:02Those true would assume he would be highly tick ticketed if they don't get him
24:08something.
24:10This, I think we've talked about this a little bit, Murph.
24:12I think this is fascinating and really interesting that he does not have an
24:16extension to this point.
24:17Obviously the Bruins like could just decide, you know, they're waiting until
24:22the start of training camp could extend them at the beginning of training camp,
24:24have an announcement, do the dog and pony show, uh, and end like any
24:28conversation about this whatsoever.
24:31But I think we're all know that he signed a three-year deal when he was
24:34hired and he's in the last year of his contract now, uh, from what I was told.
24:39And if they let him go into the year as a lame duck coach, especially where they
24:44hired a guy in Jay leach to be an assistant.
24:47That was one of the guys they interviewed for the head coaching job when Montgomery
24:50was originally hired.
24:52Um, and the, like the last time they had a coaching change in season, you remember
24:56who they put on the Nicole Julian staff, uh, before they made the move in the
25:00middle of the year, right?
25:01Bruce Cassidy was on that staff.
25:03So like there's an MO there, or there's a pattern there of them putting the guy
25:08they want already on their staff when the season starts and sort of having it
25:12already in place, if that's what they want to do.
25:15Now you balance all that off with what he said.
25:17And just the regular seasons have been outstanding.
25:19Like, I think he did a better job coaching this past year than when he won
25:22the Jack Adams the year before, he's done very good job in the regular season.
25:28I liked that.
25:28He challenged the players more this past season.
25:31Uh, and he was more, you know, hard nosed about being a head coach when he had to
25:35be, and kind of had a little bit more of an attitude with them when they
25:38weren't meeting expectations.
25:39I liked that.
25:39And I thought they made a decent step in the playoffs.
25:43Um, you know, obviously not enough yet.
25:45And I know Don Sweeney had mentioned displeasure with the fact that they
25:48couldn't even get to a game seven against Florida and that they really wanted that
25:52in that second round series, but you're also talking about the team, a team that
25:55ended up winning the cup and a team that, um, I think you battled just as hard as
26:00anybody else did in the playoffs, probably harder, like maybe Edmonton, you could
26:04also make the argument, but I think those were the two toughest opponents that the
26:07Florida Panthers had in that whole run.
26:09Um, so like if I'm Jim Montgomery, I probably think I've earned an extension
26:13and why do I have to go into the season in the last year of my deal?
26:17And I think that's just setting up for, for a lot of like questions, uh, if
26:21they don't sign them to an extension.
26:23A hundred percent agree with you.
26:24And I liked the point you make about the analogy you made about Leach and Cassidy.
26:29Uh, the other thing I will point out in that same regard is the elevation of Joe
26:33Sacco to associate head coach, giving him clearly openly saying we're giving
26:38him more of a say on the bench.
26:41Uh, so that kind of, you know, raises a, we'll call it a red flag, but it's just
26:47a little something to think about there.
26:49Um, but I'm with you.
26:50I think he a hundred percent has earned it.
26:52The one thing I will say that, uh, and I love the point you made, because I don't
26:56think that's been said enough tags is what you said that he did a much better
27:01coaching job this past season when he went to Jack Adams, because let's face it.
27:06You and I could have at least got the Bruins to 500 coaching the team.
27:09He had the year before with how stacked it was and how good it was.
27:13And, you know, both players, crazy birds are on, they were
27:18running the show a lot too.
27:19And he admitted that he, he basically, I said it to him one time.
27:23I said to him, I said, you know, as having Bergeron is like having
27:25Reg Dunlop on the bench, you know, he's like the player coach and he
27:28laughed and he said exactly right though.
27:29I mean, it's, it's a great asset for me to have, and I lean on him heavily.
27:34And you saw in that Florida series when he couldn't lean on him as much, it hurt.
27:39The one thing I do get a little nervous about, and I'll circle it back to when
27:44we were talking about Sheldon Keefe and the Maple Leafs, and I'll draw it
27:47into the Florida series this year.
27:50The one thing I see is sometimes in the playoffs, he has had trouble
27:55adapting as a series has gone on.
27:58And, you know, you, you talked about how Sheldon Keefe adapted to the series
28:02against the Bruins and got them to a game seven after going down three, one.
28:06I S I've kind of seen the same thing with the opposite thing.
28:09I should say with Jim, but I think he's earned it.
28:12I mean, I think he, the players like them, um, it's a, it's
28:16a good matchup right now.
28:18You, I think you need to decide this.
28:20I think you're exactly right.
28:21You don't want that hanging over anyone's head going into this season.
28:24You need to decide that before the season starts.
28:27Yeah.
28:27And yeah, I just think it turns into a situation that could
28:31get out of your control fast.
28:33If he doesn't have a contract beyond this year and everybody knows it.
28:38And, you know, cause we're, you and I are going to start talking about it.
28:41Well, that's just, that's our job in a row and like everything that's
28:44going to, what it's going to be about, you know, that's what the
28:46conversation is going to be about.
28:48Um, so if they want to avoid that, I think they would sign him to
28:51an extension by the same token.
28:53I'm sure, um, that Jeremy Jacobs in Delaware North does not want
28:58to pay a coach, not to coach.
28:59You know, they don't want to get assigned a guy to an extension and
29:02then have them sit around after they fire them and they have to pay
29:05them, um, you know, to not be their coach, you know, like they, that's
29:09something they do not want to do.
29:11And no team wants to do, but like, I could see that being a, you know, a
29:16bone of contention with Don Sweeney, Kim Neely, if, uh, you know, Bruins
29:20ownership is paying out money to a coach.
29:21That's like not coaching that they fired and decided to make another move.
29:25So I think that's going to cause them to use caution before
29:28they signed him to an extension.
29:29Let's face it.
29:30We're starting to talk about big money with coaches too.
29:32You know, they don't get paid chump change anymore.
29:34You're talking about millions of dollars.
29:36So that, you know, that's the other part of it too, but that's going to be
29:38something really interesting to watch.
29:41Um, all right.
29:42This is from, uh, T Kevorky on, uh, the Boston sports journal Q and a board
29:47again, look forward to Zadoroff bringing in intimidation element
29:51to the bees of lack for awhile.
29:53He's been in the league for 11 seasons and the bees are at 16.
29:56Any reason for concern about that?
29:58Yes.
29:59And, uh, Pierre Maguire brought this up on the eye test the other day.
30:02He pointed out, we were talking about, look, we, we all agree.
30:05He's going to help.
30:06He's a, he's, he's perfect to put in that second pairing slot on the left.
30:10And maybe you switch them back and forth between the first
30:13period and the second period.
30:14And you can do a lot of things there.
30:15It gives them options.
30:16It gives them as, as the, uh, reader call there said, uh, that
30:20intimidation factor as well.
30:22But you do have to wonder why so many teams, you know, and why, why
30:27does he keep switching and he's had some good years and still switch teams.
30:32Um, I don't know the answer to that.
30:33I don't have it, but I think it's a valid question.
30:36And, you know, maybe we'll do some digging.
30:38We'll try and find out what the answer is to that.
30:40But other than that, I liked the signing.
30:42I was hoping for a while.
30:44And I think, you know, this, I was campaigning for it openly.
30:47I think Noah Hanifin would have been the perfect fit for them on that left side.
30:50There would have solved a lot more problems.
30:53Uh, and obviously brought a lot more high end skill.
30:56Yeah.
30:56Um, but I don't not like this signing.
30:59Um, I just don't, you know, I don't get why that many teams, uh, throughout his
31:05career, that's the only question mark I have with him.
31:08The one thing I would say, um, that might be, uh, something that gets them
31:12traded or gets, you know, is something that could rub somebody the wrong way.
31:20Organizationally at some point is just that I think he, from what I, the people
31:24that I've talked to, he's a very outspoken guy.
31:27He's a very opinionated guy.
31:28He doesn't make, uh, any, he won't be playing for Russia ever again.
31:32I'll tell you that.
31:32Well, he, you know, he doesn't beat around the bush really.
31:35He's pretty blunt with his assessments and his comments and his, you
31:38know, it's his, his opinions about things.
31:40And I'm sure that ends up rubbing some people the wrong way.
31:43Just cause anybody that strong opinions like that, isn't afraid to air them.
31:47Like some people just aren't going to like it.
31:48That's just part of being that kind of person.
31:50I love it though.
31:51Oh, I love it too.
31:53Honestly, Murph, I gotta be honest.
31:56It's great for us, obviously, because like opinionated, he's not, uh, shy
32:00around the microphone, like he's willing to talk, like all that stuff.
32:03And he's willing to talk about league things, world things like whatever.
32:07But I also think the Bruins needed a guy like that.
32:10They needed a guy that was going to like, tell it like it is when there's problems,
32:15call people out if they need to be called out and not be afraid to do it
32:18and kind of be a bad-ass about it.
32:20Like that's the kind of guy that, and I'm not saying they're the same person or a
32:23player, but that's the kind of guy Sean Thornton was that was a perfect fit for
32:27this Bruins teams back in the day is he would call out bullshit.
32:31Like he was also a guy that was, they called the Sean father.
32:33He would hook up players with stuff.
32:35Like he had all kinds of connections.
32:36Like he knew how to play the game, but he also was a guy that if he needed to be
32:40called out or he needed to cut somebody down to size or, you know, tell them
32:45something that they needed to hear, he was the guy that was going to do it.
32:47And he was not afraid to do that.
32:49And he had, he had the respect of everybody to do that.
32:52So I think that's something, you know, that that's the kind of element that I
32:55think this team at times could be a little bit soft about stuff like that, or not be
33:00willing to really like say what needed to be said.
33:03And I think he's the kind of guy that will do that.
33:04But by the same token, I think that's going to cause friction at times, or, you
33:08know, be something that's going to have to be managed.
33:10Yeah, I totally a hundred percent agree.
33:12And maybe it's just a matter of him learning the timing of it and when to say
33:15it and, and, and probably has 11 years into the league.
33:18I probably got it.
33:20I get that stuff out.
33:20Yeah.
33:21Yeah.
33:21So I like it.
33:23I think it's going to be a good sign and I'm not worried about it.
33:25All right.
33:25So this came from Joseph O'Malley on my Facebook fan page, and this is the Irish
33:30name weighed into, yes.
33:31Weighed into the Blackhawks thing a little bit.
33:35Oh, okay.
33:36Maybe on a pucks with hags podcast, you could explain why Stan Bowman
33:39is worth one of the 32 GM spots.
33:41So it was clearly, this is somebody that has hard feelings about the way
33:45the Blackhawks thing was handled, but we all know Bowman was reinstated.
33:49And you talked about Quinville.
33:51He does not have a job currently, head coaching job, but he is, I believe,
33:54open to getting an NHL employment now too.
33:57Do you feel like Stan Bowman deserves a second chance and is
34:00worthy of one of these GM spots?
34:03If, if everything I've read that he did, you know, do what he was supposed to,
34:08he did the work and he really, it sounds like he, he really reached out to Kyle Beach.
34:16I mean, look, I I've gotten two, three, four chances in life on
34:20things that I've screwed up on.
34:22I'm not going to sit here and try and take away a second chance for somebody else.
34:25I don't condone at all what happened.
34:28I think it's horrible.
34:29And I don't think it should ever gotten to the point that it did.
34:33Um, but if he, if all that I've read is true, yeah, I mean, I think
34:39everybody deserves a second chance.
34:40Uh, and as long as, as we've read that Kyle Beach is not against this right
34:47now, and he hasn't come out and vocally said it, and he says that, you know,
34:51look, he has reached out to me.
34:53He has shown remorse.
34:54He's looked for forgiveness.
34:56Uh, then, yeah, I think everybody deserves a second chance.
34:59And, you know, as far as a hockey resume goes, I don't think anyone
35:02can argue what he brings there.
35:03So I think it's a good hockey hire for the Edmonton Oilers.
35:06I do want to say though, you know, just with the Oilers there, even if
35:09they didn't bring in Stan Bowman, I think Jeff Jackson has done a great job
35:13there, uh, with the Oilers, really not making that, they were always that
35:19they were like, what I collect the calm, the Maple Leafs West, you know,
35:21this high end skill team, like you mentioned earlier, they could never
35:24play defense that the Oilers were the same thing, but if you watch that
35:27team throughout this playoff, their bread and butter was defensive hockey.
35:32And their PK, uh, and they got some unbelievable goaltending
35:35from Skinner as it went on.
35:36So I think they're heading in the right direction.
35:39It's a good hockey hire.
35:40As far as the outside stuff goes, obviously I hate what happened.
35:43Um, but if he has paid the price to earn that second chance, then so be it.
35:48Yeah, absolutely.
35:49I agree.
35:50Like I think at a certain point, once the NHL has deemed that they've done
35:54the work and that they've paid the penance and that they've, you know,
35:58done what they were supposed to do, then I think it's, it's time for people
36:01to sort of move on and accept, um, that people do deserve second chances
36:06if they've done the right things.
36:07And if they are truly, uh, if they've truly showed contrition about what, uh,
36:12what act they played in that whole situation, which, you know, I think was,
36:18you know, that could have just happened anywhere necessarily.
36:21It happened in Chicago, but I think there's a lot of NHL spots that something
36:24like that could have happened.
36:26I bet it has.
36:26And, and, and, but that served as a warning and as a message to
36:31every single NHL team.
36:33And by having these executives and coaches like sit on the
36:36sidelines for a while.
36:37I think people realize now what the consequences are if they don't treat
36:40this situations like this in the proper way.
36:42How many years was it?
36:44What's that?
36:44Then he was out.
36:45How many years was he out?
36:46Two, three.
36:46Yeah.
36:46A couple, a couple.
36:47Yeah.
36:48Yeah.
36:48So it wasn't, um, yeah, it was like two, right.
36:51Cause then Bill was the coach of the Panthers and then he had to leave.
36:54So he's been gone.
36:55And then Maurice came in.
36:56Yep.
36:56Yeah.
36:57That was, uh, no Brunette Brunette.
36:59So it's been like three years, I think.
37:01Yeah.
37:02Um, all right.
37:03So, uh, next question from Jimmy on the BSG Q and a board.
37:08And I don't think it was Jimmy Murphy.
37:10Uh, where did the bees rank in their division?
37:12If they stand Pat, how about in the East, the league?
37:15I feel like the bees are marginally better overall than last year, but
37:18have like a 30 or 40% chance to improve their results from last year, which
37:23might be all we can hope for.
37:24But honestly, I was hoping for more.
37:26I don't know what more you really could be hoping for at this point, given what
37:31they did, I think they got two impact players in free agency in Zadorov and
37:37Lindholm, um, they're going to re-sign Jeremy Swayman, you know, they recouped
37:42a first round pick by trading, uh, Lena Solomark.
37:45They brought in, uh, a player in Max Jones, who I think could be a really
37:49nice reclamation project for the Boston Bruins.
37:51It could be a really good fit with the Bruins.
37:53Um, they're going to give a guy like Fabian Lysell, I think every chance to
37:57win a spot on this team and put them potentially in a plum top six right
38:03wing spot with Charlie Coyle and Brad Marshand.
38:05If he's, he does the right things.
38:07Like, I like what they've done.
38:09I think they're they've the, the, with the, the players they've added, I think
38:13they're going to be significantly better than they were last year.
38:17Um, as, as far as like a team that could win in the playoffs, I think they're
38:21going to be significantly better.
38:22No, because they had a very good regular season last year.
38:24I think they, they probably be somewhere around the same, but I think that the way
38:29that they now covet size, heaviness, strength, maybe a little nasty, like some
38:35of the stuff that they like have decided to accumulate more of as, uh, uh, an
38:40organization is going to pay dividends for them in the playoffs.
38:43And you've seen this over the last few years.
38:45They've really figured this out, whether it was a career-oriented
38:48whether it was getting Pat Maroon at this trade deadline, whether it was the
38:51guys that they went out and got in now, they're the smallest defenseman is
38:54Charlie McAvoy at six, one, 210 pounds.
38:57Um, they didn't draft a guy that was under six foot three in the draft.
39:01Like they clearly are starting to realize that they have to be bigger and
39:05stronger and tougher and more physical.
39:08If they're going to win in the playoffs, just seeing how the
39:09Florida Panthers did it.
39:11So I think they're going to be significantly better than they were last year.
39:14I think if they're around where they were last year in the East, that's
39:17totally fine during the regular season.
39:19And this is about them being like incrementally better or
39:22significantly better in the playoff.
39:25A hundred percent agree with everything you said.
39:26And, and, you know, just to echo on the whole thing about
39:29greediness and size and all that.
39:31Like you said, it's not just at the NHL level that they're accumulating this.
39:35They're doing it at the state level.
39:36They're doing it at the state level.
39:37They're doing it at the state level.
39:38They're doing it at the state level.
39:39They're doing it at the state level.
39:41It's not just at the NHL level that they're accumulating this.
39:44They're doing it through the draft now as well.
39:46I mean, look at their first round pick that they made.
39:48So the one thing I'll say, and look, I think they make the playoffs.
39:52And as long as you make the playoffs, it's not a cliche.
39:56You make the dance, anything can happen.
39:58So I I'm with you.
40:00I actually don't think they will finish as high as they did in the division,
40:03in the conference, in the league as they did last year.
40:06But I think they make the playoffs.
40:07And then I think given if they're healthy,
40:10depending on what moves they might have made by that time,
40:13I think they can make a run.
40:15You know, they're a team that could challenge at least to make the conference final.
40:19But you look at the Atlantic division at HAGS,
40:22and one could argue that this is the toughest division in hockey right now.
40:27To either go with that or the Pacific.
40:29But you look at that division, you got to think.
40:31We were talking earlier about the Buffalo Sabres.
40:34When are they ever going to turn it around?
40:35Okay, so there's a team that's pushing to make the playoffs.
40:38You looked at the Ottawa Senators.
40:40That's a team that could push for the playoffs right now.
40:42The Detroit Red Wings, I think, are knocking on the door right there.
40:45They're kind of, you know, the eyes are playing.
40:47I think that's reached its max now, and it's now playoffs or bust for them.
40:52So I think they're going to make some kind of move.
40:54Maybe it's before the season or in the season
40:57to make sure that they're in the playoffs this year and they break their drought.
41:00So I'm looking at it right now, HAGS.
41:03And if I'm looking at the eight teams out of the East,
41:06I feel confident saying that five of them will be from the Atlantic division.
41:10That's how good the Atlantic division is.
41:11So it's going to be a lot of competition throughout the regular season.
41:14But as long as the Bruins stay healthy,
41:16as long as the Swainman situation is resolved and he can handle his new workload,
41:20I think they make the playoffs and then they can do some damage.
41:23Do you think, do you see any of the sort of traditional
41:28Atlantic teams sort of dropping back?
41:30Um, like I look at Tampa and I see a team that might be,
41:35they're a crapshoot to me, might be starting to like,
41:37come back to regress to the mean, getting a little old, like they
41:42losing stamp coast, losing their captain is a big deal.
41:44Like, I don't care what he says, losing that guy.
41:47That's been the unflappable leader.
41:49That's been the center of everything that they've done
41:51and letting him go inside elsewhere.
41:54Not only does that affect them just by his presence being missing.
41:59I think not keeping him around and not showing him loyalty
42:03is also going to affect that team and the players on that team.
42:06Like, I think there's longstanding effects from that way.
42:09That situation played out.
42:12I totally agree with you.
42:13And you know, there was, it like two questions ago,
42:16somebody was saying they could have done a little better in free agency.
42:20If that would be the only guy where I could say they,
42:23they did better than what they did.
42:24That would be the only guy at the center position that I was looking at.
42:27Like, wow, I'd rather him than Lindholm.
42:30But yeah, you can't undervalue what that leadership role and just the staple.
42:35He was the pillar.
42:36He was in that organization for, you know, so many years now.
42:40That's a huge loss.
42:41The only thing I want to attempt, though, they did go out and get canceled.
42:44Okay.
42:46They did bring back McDonough.
42:47So that is going to bring back some leadership there.
42:49It's going to add some grid on the blue line.
42:51And I look in the tooth though.
42:53He's starting.
42:54They are getting long in a tooth.
42:55They are getting long in a tooth.
42:57They got a little smaller overall, but the X factor as it always is.
43:02And we started the show off with it as goaltending.
43:04Yeah.
43:04Does Vasilevsky come back on a war path?
43:07Is he out to prove that last year was an anomaly?
43:10That's the one thing I look at there, but I'm with you.
43:12If that's one of the teams that's been a steady playoff team that could drop out.
43:17I'm with you.
43:18It could be the Tampa Bay Lightning.
43:19Yeah.
43:20I can see.
43:20I just don't think I don't.
43:21I don't think the Florida Panthers are as good this year.
43:23They had big losses.
43:25Yeah.
43:26Yep.
43:26They did.
43:27Montour is gone.
43:29Their power play is going to suffer.
43:30Tarasenko is gone.
43:31A lot of the depth has gone and they've lost some key players.
43:34There's no question about it.
43:35Yep.
43:37But I still think they're the bones of that team.
43:40I think they're still very good.
43:41I think they're a playoff team.
43:42They got some young guys coming too.
43:44Yeah.
43:44Do I think they're going to win the cup?
43:45Probably not.
43:46Again, probably not.
43:46But that's extremely difficult to do anyway.
43:49Well, and don't forget, Pads.
43:50They were in the cup the year before too.
43:51So they're going to have quite the cup hangover right now.
43:54That catches up to you as we saw with Tampa.
43:56Yep.
43:57I think Toronto is Toronto.
43:59They're going to have a good regular season,
44:01but I don't expect anything out of them come playoff time,
44:04just as currently constituted.
44:07No goalie.
44:07No, it's insanity.
44:09They keep watching them flame out in the playoffs
44:12and don't change anything.
44:14Keep the band playing because everybody buys tickets
44:16during the regular season and has Marner jerseys
44:19and Nylander jerseys and Matthews jerseys.
44:23The Marner thing's interesting too, though.
44:24What happens with that?
44:25That's a huge factor in where Toronto goes.
44:28Oh, yeah.
44:29100%.
44:31That's kind of the little secret nobody's talking about right now.
44:34Yep.
44:35It's going to be interesting.
44:36Murph, thank you very much for joining us.
44:38I appreciate it.
44:38Always a pleasure, man.
44:40Talk to you soon.
44:40All right.
44:41Until next time, everybody.
44:42Thanks for listening.
44:42We'll see you at the rink.
44:55Bye.