But why did you put Bjork with Bergeron and break up one of the most dominant lines in the NHL?

Because stacking one line doesn't work lol and Pasta/Krejci have chemistry as well. Bjork started last year on the 1st line, struggled a bit and then got hurt. A lot of people sleep on Bjork, but he's maybe one of the most talent/complete prospects in the Bruins system.

You could even say that he played well with him until he got hurt and then struggled. Before his injury, he had 16 games played and 9 points. That's a 0.57 PPG pace, which is very good for a rookie, if you ask me. He clearly wasn't the same after he returned. Kind of a sucky year for him, seeing he came back from the injury (concussion? from Martin hit), didn't play great and was scratched and ultimately got sent down, recalled and immediately injured after that. However, anyone who sleeps on him are the same people who fall in love with the shiny new toy. It's like Donato in over Heinen, and even DeBrusk (this was more saying he should be on the 2nd line over DeBrusk). Or Grzelcyk somehow making Krug expendable after 5 games. You know how it is lol

Just to touch back with my opinion on Bjork. This kid has huge upside. He has the high IQ to back up the speed/skill. I'm hoping, once he's 100% recovered, he puts on some (good) weight and comes into camp ready to go. If he makes the team out of camp, excellent, but even if they send him down, it wouldn't be the worse thing. He definitely would benefit from big minutes in the AHL, especially to get his game legs back.

Ya, I think for Bjork he just needs to add some weight. There are so many good prospects in the B's system, but Bjork is the one guy that I keep getting drawn too. His rookie year was tough (as you pointed out) and he was never really able to get into a good rhythm

-16 games in Boston with 3G/6A
-Injury vs TOR (out 2 weeks)
-12 games in Boston with 1G/3A
-8 games in Providence with 2G/2A
-1 game in Boston (no points)
-1 game in Providence (no points)
-1 game in Boston (season ending injury after just 2:43 of TOI)

I don't know that he ever really recovered from the first injury and then he was bounced between the NHL/AHL and finally injured to end his year.

If you look at his OPT's he was at 11G/22A over 82 games. If he plays with Bergeron/Marchand I wouldn't be shocked to see him give you 20G/30A.

I would do this trade, but I'm not sure the Bruins would be comfortable surrendering back-to-back first rounders (based on comments Sweeney made on break up day earlier this month). You'd probably have to rework the trade with other assets to make it more realistic. But as I said, I'd do it.

Not so sure about your roster set up lol. I don't think the Bruins want Donato playing on the 4th line. As for the UFA signing, I probably wouldn't want to see the Bruins sign JVR to a 6M/year deal just to see him play on the 3rd line. Thankfully you've got JFK in there, otherwise that could have been one of the most expensive 3rd lines in the NHL lol

If I played with Bergeron and Marchand, I'd probably put up those numbers. His production playing with those type of players should be taken with a grain of salt (just like Riley Nash's production playing 1C).

I was super excited to see Bjork play, especially after watching him play for Notre Dame and look dominant out there. And yes he got off to a decent start, I'm not sure I feel confident he would have sustained it for the whole year. I don't think it would be a bad thing for him to spend the first half, or up to a full year, in Providence. Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen and Matt Gryzlek all did, and it benefited them tremendously. I don't see Bjork as being a special case deserving of staying at the NHL no matter what.

If he's not prepared in camp, maybe he does go to the AHL. It all really depends on the work he puts in during the off-season. He didn't get any special treatment last year when he struggled and I don't see that being any different this year.

Hypothetically speaking, this is what I think the B's would have to give up in order to get Hanifin, who I personally think should be a high priority with the Bruins as they could use another top 2 defenseman. If they can get him for less, then I'd be happy with that. And as far as the JVR signing goes, he played on the third line this year with Kapanen and Bozak and I think he'd be a decent third liner here in Boston as well, maybe even a second liner (he had 36 goals on the third line). And my roster setup was a rough draft, and I've heard a lot of JFK on the third line so that's where I put him and then dropped Donato to the 4th line, but then again, Donato has more experience than him so he could be there. Other priorities should include trading David Backes, but I don't think that's happening until either the deadline or the end of next season because of how big his contract is, but hopefully he performs well enough so he's worth more at the deadline