Team: 2017-18 Boston Bruins

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 15, 2017

Published: Jul. 15, 2017

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

This would be a good way to Honor Chara's last year, if he goes ahead and says its his last. It's not likely to happen, but this is the bargain bin shopping we could do to get more experienced, dependable players to make a bigger run at a Cup. The most important rule I followed in this mock was to not sign or acquire a player with more than 1 year left. I don't want to block our young players for a long duration, I just haven't seen enough from them thus far to be confident they'll score 40 points, which is what I consider average for a top 9 player. I feel Hudler and Stafford have more of a chance for 40 points than Bjork and Heinen. As I said this isn't likely to happen and the young guys will likely get a shot, but I think they may have some struggles this year that some Vets might not have.


The first line takes Hudler, who's been known to score 50 points, he had a down year in Dallas, but he's got potential to put up big numbers. He's only 33, so I don't think he's fallen off the cliff yet.

The 2nd Line call's Beleskey's number because he's the most important to get something out of. He'll end up a liability if we push him to the 4th line for the rest of his time here.

Backes gets the call at C and really needs to keep his positioning good, with his lack of speed. If he can think ahead far enough to know where to be, his foot speed won't end up his kryptonite.

The 4th line would create a ton of energy. Matthias and Nash can chip in 20 points, and possibility Accari too.

The top defensive pair stays together.

Merrill is a good stay at home defenseman, you could put McNabb in the trade instead of Merrill if you think it's a better match. I went for Merrill because, while they are both in the last year of their deals, Merrill will be a RFA and McNabb will be an UFA.

Krug gets paired with Miller who's a slight upgrade over McQuaid. This pair should be pretty strong for a 3rd pair and Krug will play 22 mins or so because of double shifting on the PP.

Manning is acquired at the deadline to add defensive depth. I'm not going to put him in for anyone because I don't want to jinx anyones health or speculate that they could be likely to get injured. I just feel like injuries happen in hockey and that we've got more depth up front with the young guys and could use another fringe top6 defenseman at the deadline if we're making a run and this team looks like it's got a legit shot for a CUP.

I was able to fit 5 lines and 4 D Pairings, so we've got more cap room than it appears. We made our deadline deal to get Manning, so we don't need more cap.

1.

2.

3.