2021 thread: One last gasp or scratch and claw

[harmfuljays]

The offseason wasn't particularly kind to the Bruins. Departure of Torey....the whatever that was with Chara. Its a great scoring line....and it probably still will be when Pastrnak comes back next month. But for now with limited secondary depth and a sketchy backend they will try to recreate glory. Mercifully the Devils are up first.

Forgive me if I am not backflipping over Craig Smith but I guess his 20 are better than Kase's total!

Is Nick Ritchie really still on this team?



Show me Jake Debrusk!



All seems to be forgiven with Rask's bubble family exit and both he and Halak will play for new contracts next year.

This is also Krejci's swan song at that crazy price of 7.25

All jokes aside I do really like Charlie Coyle...IMO he's a future captain.

The Bruins are 1 year removed from having the best record in the league at the time so there's that.

This is a tough Massmutual East Division and I could see it being a dog fight for the Bruins this year. But maybe the system just keeps on working and Cassidy can get all the other lines out there playing rope a dope until he can ice the BBP. That doesn't sound like much of a winning formula but the Bruins are damn good at layers. Its been a good ride so I've got no real expectations here and I will take whatever they are dishing out.

[harmfuljays]

And the Bruins claw this one out...Devils tried to run Rask all game which seems to be a solid game plan if its being allowed. Rask remained sharp.

No Craig Smith in this one.

Charlie Mac looked a bit anxious in this one with his new role leading the D. Definitely will watch him in his increased role.

Nick Ritchie looked surprisingly decent....so hold the phone!

Marchand fresh off hip rehab provided the win.

The Devils don't strike me as a solid team yet but there is promise.....that Miles Wood guy was pretty decent...full of piss and vinegar in his game. I suppose that Hughes fellow is also pretty good. I also took note of that Sharangovich youngling. He had some skills.

Interesting to see Ruff with a team again. I am sure I will get to see more of this team whether I like it or not.

[Chris18]

Rask goes to the bench with the game tied at 2 while the entire Bruins bench yells at him to get back in net. After the game he said he just had to tell Halak something. He later admitted he thought they were down 2-1. Great game awareness bud!

[Pokecheque]

Shockingly, the Ritchie/Heinen trade appears to be working out for both sides.

Ritchie seriously looks like one of the dumbest hockey players in history though. And there's a lot of competition for that spot. The only guy who photographed worse was Cam Barker.

Marchand is still as good, and as despicable, as he ever was. I'll always be astounded at how stout he is. For a little guy he's insanely hard to knock down.

[Chris18]

Tonight's game against the Rangers started off amusingly, with Zibanejad and Marchand playing paper-rock-scissors for who would leave the ice first. Marchand honored the game and left.

Then the game turned into an old school brawl fest. Good times.

[the Cunning Linguist]

When in doubt, bust out "Barbie Girl"...

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status ... 06528?s=20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just awesome...

[harmfuljays]

The Bruins are in. The top line has been remarkable yet again this year. Craig Smith has been dependable and Nick damn Ritchie has 14 goals....I guess that's why I don't have a job in the NHL. Swayman is up and coming and even Lazar and Hall were great TD additions.

Charlie Coyle and Jake Debrusk have been a bit disappointing this year but with other contributions it hasn't been a dagger.

Still they are the 4th seed....kind of where I figured they would be.

I do have to bow before Patrice and Brad.....ageless wonders at this point. Pasta is a great fit there with his engaging personality.

This is a well coached, well motivated team. It certainly has been a pleasure all these years.

Of course when folks are making moves like this its hard not to like....

[E.L.]

Hall orchestrated the move to Boston, but he's at least walked the walk after talking the talk. He's been great.

[E.L.]

Might not solve their offensive woes, but the Bruins should offer Danault crazy money this offseason, if only to have Bergeron and Danault as your top centres.

[Pokecheque]

Bruins had great special teams all season long, but at even strength their shooting % was 30th out of 31 teams. That's a very bad sign that this club is really starting to show their age.

Sasky once said that the Bruins just never seem able to forgive one bad year, and I think he's still right. Boston always has that one guy every few years they can't wait to run outta town on a rail. Back in the day, it was Joe Thornton. Then it was Tyler Seguin. I'm sure Dougie Hamilton counts there too. Now there are two personas non grata in Boston: Jake DeBrusk and Tuukka Rask. DeBrusk had a rotten season where he landed in the press box for parts of the regular season and playoffs. Would not be surprised at all if the team bounced him this summer. Rask will probably never be forgiven for bailing on the bubble, however justified he may have been (I tell you what, if my young daughter was having a health scare, I'd drop everything too). People are predicting he's going to retire but I don't know. It does appear they may be okay in the goaltending department if Swayman is the guy going forward.

Not sure what they do from here. The B's under Neely and Sweeney have had a mostly-good run despite that horrible start in the 2015 draft. Does Boston move on from one of them? Both? I'd probably keep them, but at some point, a rebuild is gonna have to happen.

[harmfuljays]

oh geez...not ready for the post mortem yet!

They've got all the mileage they can out of that top line and every year that goes by they are older and less effective. I doubt we will see Krejci or Rask back. IMO Hall played himself out of a big money contract offer. Reilly deserves an offer.

I didn't have any cup illusions for this team and their showing was a pleasant surprise. So I am going to go with that for a little bit and maybe next week I can add something of value.

[harmfuljays]

Tuukka has a torn labrum (go figure) and will undergo off season surgery so I suppose that's it for him as a Bruin. Swayman and Vladar it is!

[Chris18]

Tuukka has a torn labrum (go figure) and will undergo off season surgery so I suppose that's it for him as a Bruin. Swayman and Vladar it is!

I read in a few places that he wants to return to the Bruins. You think the Bruins wouldn't want him back? With 2 kids that inexperienced?

There's also a lot of UFA goalies, most of whom I'd imagine will remain UFAs at least until after the expansion draft.

[harmfuljays]

Personally, I would like to see a stat breakdown on Glove high shots since the injury. Management knew about the injury so they should have been monitoring any team that caught wind and removed him going forward.

If I can sit at home and see it happening I am sure they did too. We all saw it in Game 5.

They have to own that. Broken wing Tuukka over Swayman.....it seems that's already been addressed but I don't like the response. Its almost a token farewell to Tuukka at the expense of the series.

https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/06/14 ... ukka-rask/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Eh....moving on now both from Tuukka and this.

[E.L.]

I have an inkling they're bringing the whole gang back for one more go: Krejci, Hall and midseason Rask. They'll swish some money around and add defence.

[Chris18]

Swayman shut the Isles out in the regular season. I don't know why they didn't use him. If their way of saying bye to Rask was to rely on him when he was hurt, that's bullshit.

[E.L.]

Carlo extension: 6 years, 4.1M AAV

[E.L.]

Hall returns at a very reasonable price: 4 years, 6M AAV. He should easily be worth that if he's healthy. B's once again convince a guy to take a haircut for the greater good.

[E.L.]

Ritchie and Kase not qualified. Opens things up a bit.

[E.L.]

Krejci returns.