What will the #Bruins do before tomorrow's deadline? Bruins legend Mike Milbury joins! Is anyone untouchable?
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00:00I mean, uh, there's really, when you get hurt like this with McAvoy out, Lindholm's out,
00:07Marsha and the captain is out. I mean, it puts you in a really difficult position. And so they
00:14made, they sold Frederick and, and I guess they did okay on that. It was fine for, for what they,
00:20for what he was and the fact that he was walking in a cast. Um, so they need, they need talent
00:28and they need to accumulate as many draft picks as they can. I don't know what the free agent
00:32market looks like this summer. Um, they took a swing and missed last year on a first or second
00:38line center and they will not be any good and they will not be any contending kind of team until
00:44they fill the voids, uh, at the first line center and the second line center position.
00:48It's very basic right there. I mean, they can, they have an, they have a few pieces together,
00:55but those pieces are, you know, the center position is one where you, you, you've got to
00:59work all 200 feet and you've got to be intelligent defensively and you've got to be creative
01:04offensively. It's, it's the, it's the spark that makes the engine go. And, and they don't have
01:10that right now. And I don't think they're going to be able to get that at trading deadline day,
01:13but it looks to me that they need to accumulate some draft picks if they can, wherever they can.
01:19And, you know, start to focus on that because it looks to be, it's not a, it's not a quick
01:25turnaround. This is not a quick turnaround when it comes to parting with, with who remains. Yeah,
01:31I, there was, it sounds like Colorado wanted to, was trying to do a deal, which was Frederick and
01:38Carlo. Uh, I, I, maybe the value wasn't there on the Bruins side of things, but what, like,
01:44what would you be willing to, who would you be willing to part with? Who do you need to part
01:48with? I don't, I don't know that I need to part with anybody, but I, I I'm hanging on to Swayman.
01:55I'm hanging on to McAvoy and Lowry's a work in progress, but I'd hang on to him and Postenok.
02:02And beyond that, I'm investigating, I'm turning over stones to see what I can find and probably
02:08not in a hurry to keep really much of anybody else. And it's funny, maybe Mark has like,
02:13because they, he has that fire that, you know, he'll fight for you whenever you can, a fourth
02:17line player would tie them up for, for a few years, but I don't, there aren't anybody, there
02:23aren't people there. There's some useful pieces to the puzzle. Don't get me wrong. And you know,
02:29if geeky sticks around, it won't bother me, but if he goes, it won't bother me either because
02:33they have to play the game where they're, they're, they're trying to cast chips to get, to get lucky
02:39probably in the second or third round, not just the first round, but the thing that they have to
02:43make us some great picks in the middling rounds that turn out to be top flight players. And that's,
02:48that is not easy to do. You brought up somebody like Laurie though. I think he's an unrestricted
02:53free agent. So what is the temptation not to get rid of him rather than go into it and do a deal
02:59with him, get like, get what you can now for him? Well, um, I wasn't aware that he was unrestricted.
03:05It's kind of young to be that, is he not? Um, I'll tell you right now I'm looking for it,
03:10but anyway, yes. But, but he, he's shown enough flashes of, of offensive brilliance. I mean,
03:18he's kind of a, he's, he's in grade school when it comes to defending, but you know, he's a,
03:24looks like he's a cum laude graduate when it comes to offense, he really can make some stuff happen.
03:29So I'm hanging onto him, but I'm not overpaying for a guy like that unless I'm sure that he can,
03:34he can turn it around in his own zone. And it looks to me as if, you know, they're starting
03:39to flatline a little bit here. And that, that is a time to point the finger at the
03:45coaching staff a little bit. I mean, Mike, when it comes to the Brad injury,
03:48do you think that that changed the way in which they're approaching the trade deadline with him?
03:53Do you think that they were ever going to part ways with him? And do you think that they are
03:56going to moving forward? It's, it's hard to judge not knowing exactly what the injury is. If it's
04:02concussion, you never know how long that's going to be. If it's a, you know, separated shoulder,
04:06you know, it's going to be a few weeks, but I, I, I have said this before on the show,
04:12and I'd say it to Brad Marsh and as great as he's been for the ruins, he's 36 years old. They need
04:18chips to, to, to transfer into assets. And he's realistically, he's, he's gotta be able to look
04:26in the mirror and say, we're, we're not gonna, we're not competing for a championship here.
04:30We might squeak into the playoffs if we're lucky, but why not go someplace and find yourself a
04:37chance to win a ring and whether he comes back or not, I just, at the end of the career, like guys
04:43like Crosby and Malkin, I see again, why not give it a try? I mean, it worked for a Bork. It was fun
04:49for a Bork and, and, uh, and I could think it'd be great for the organization to get an asset form.
04:55And, and I think that should, the conversation should have already taken place.
04:59So whether they can do it and whether his injury will allow it to happen,
05:03I can't answer that question, but I certainly would be exploring it because they've got,
05:07they've got a lot of work cut out for them. Mike, but if it doesn't happen because the
05:11deadline is tomorrow, does that pretty much reassure it's because it seems like he still
05:16wants to play for a few more years. Does that pretty much reassure that he'll be back in a
05:21Bruins uniform with some type of extension for another two or three years? It certainly makes it
05:27more likely, but, um, it depends on the money angle. I mean, he can't expect, he was on a
05:34pretty good deal for the Bruins for a long time, but, um, he's not getting better at 37. He's not,
05:42he's just not getting better. The father time is starting to wear on players at that point
05:46in their career. So he probably needs to take a haircut and there's a hard cap in the NHL and
05:52the Bruins need to work around it. They're going to need room in the salary cap to, to, you know,
05:57finagle deals around the league when they can. But, uh, if he doesn't get traded now, then the
06:04chances are that of him coming back seemed to be a little bit better as long as the money's right
06:08for the Bruins. When evaluating this season now and deciding what they are going to do,
06:13do you think that Cam Neely and Don Sweeney look at the way it started
06:17with Jeremy Swayman and give the, give the players and themselves a bit of an excuse?
06:24Like, do you think they look to next year and say, all right, he's, he's going to be locked
06:28in. There's going to be no holdout. It's going to be a different Jeremy Swayman.
06:32I mean, I don't think he's been that bad. I, I, I I'm in the minority, I guess, of people
06:37assessing him because the holes around him are so blatant and the way things have shaped up
06:43defensively for them, that was supposed to be their lifeline. And they're not really exactly
06:48pulling on the lifeline right now. And it's making him do things that he might normally do.
06:53I thought the whole pro the whole contractual situation was a mistake. I think they should
06:59have wrapped them up before they traded all mark. I think they should have wrapped them up,
07:02you know, at this dollar price. I mean, you could say it's a mistake for now, but I think,
07:08I still think this kid's a top flight goaltender, but the team around him is,
07:12is not built for success right now. And he's going to need some help.
07:15And I think it'll be fine next year. Mike, when you look at this team and you look at it,
07:21you've been in this situation before. Is it realistic to move on from guys that you just
07:28signed? Well, whether it's an Elias Lindholm as a door off or even the other Lindholm defenseman,
07:35is it like realistic to move on from guys? If you feel like, Oh, we made a mistake and these guys
07:42are not really what we expected, even though you just kind of gave them pretty good contracts.
07:46If you could get away from the door off and Lindholm contracts, do it in a heartbeat,
07:51run away from it. There was, they were overpaid and misplaced in their roles on the teams. The
07:57door is a four or five defenseman Lindholm is proving to be a number three sentiment.
08:02And they gave him a boatload of money and they were mistakes. And if you could possibly get rid
08:07of them, and I don't think you can, you'd have to do it in a, in the blink of an eye, but that's,
08:13I don't think that's happening. I think they're going to have to eat those contracts and those
08:18players. And hopefully that Lindholm comes back to some sort of productivity that's remotely close
08:24to what they anticipated. You saying that you have to point the finger at the coach a bit with
08:29how they've been playing recently coaches, all coaches. So it's not just, it doesn't just fall
08:33on, on Saco. And no, I mean, I think that the, the coaching staff and I'm watching the defenseman
08:40play. I'm watching guy like Laura, I make the same mistakes, make, take the same gambles that
08:44he's been taking all year long. He's got to be reined in those guys have got to do a better job
08:49of teaching their players, the responsibilities of being in the defensive end and they, and the
08:55responsibility of not turning pucks over and, and being careful with a puck and not icing it just
09:01because you're under pressure every time it's, it's, they're not looking very good at all and
09:06any aspect of the game. And, and it, it takes everybody to contribute to it. And it takes
09:12everybody to share the blame. And I think the coaches deserve a fair bit of it right now.
09:17Mike, who is the most dishonest exec you dealt with in a trade deadline?
09:21Well, he's dead now, so I don't really want to bad mouth them anymore, but
09:26it was Brian Murray, you know, but we used to coach Washington and walk, worked in Ottawa and
09:32Florida and a number of places, but, you know, he had trouble, he had trouble telling the
09:39truth from a lie. It was, uh, he, he sucked.
09:43I mean, the man has passed on. Can we, can we, well, he was a good coach. I'll give him that.
09:52We only speak kind of speaking of good coaches.
09:56I don't care what you're speaking to me after I'm gone. In fact, I don't care what you're speaking
09:59to me now. Um, if it's not Joe Sacco going forward here, is there anybody that you like?
10:06No, I haven't given that any thought. I just, you know, that's a little too far ahead, but I,
10:10you know, I was hoping there after the sort of bump in the road and I love Joe,
10:14he's a great guy. I just, I mean, doesn't seem, it seems like the whole mood of the team is
10:20somewhat tepid and that's not a good thing.
10:22They didn't respond to him the way you thought they would, is what you're saying.
10:25No. And that may be in part his fault, but it also may be in part the people that they
10:30have in place to play for them. So it's not a good situation.
10:34All right, Mike Milbury.
10:35I'm going to talk to the guys from St. Peter's Fiesta in Gloucester when we're going. So I'm
10:39going to make sure that, oh, chime, hopefully we can get the greasy pole. Cause I know how he
10:43likes a greasy pole shine. I'm so excited for it. When are you talking to them?
10:48Uh, Ken and I are talking to him right in about 10 minutes. I think what time is it on nine 40.
10:54Unbelievable. All right. You want something else? What else do we have boat races out there? We're
10:59going to see what we can do with you guys. Can you get them on the show for a few minutes and
11:02of course, but we have got to get chime first on the pole, uh, which is what was also Courtney's
11:11nickname at Boston. No, it won't be the first time. Won't be the first time he's played with
11:15a greasy pole. Okay. Um, so yes. All right, Mike Milbury. Thank you very much. Thank you.