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Realistic Expectations?

Jul. 16, 2017 at 12:09 a.m.
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I think the biggest boost the Bruins are going to get this season is from Charlie McAvoy. I legitimately see him as being Boston's #1 defenseman next season, he's that good. Krug is a good #2 guy, Chara can be serviceable on the second pairing, and Tuukka is still a high end goalie in the league. The problem I have with their lineup is offense. Outside of Marchand and Pasta, where are the goals going to come from? JFK could have some decent contributions if he plays, Vatrano could take a step forward, but I don't see where they can score enough to make it back into the postseason. Bergeron's offensive upside isn't tremendous, Backes is on a decline, Spooner hasn't been consistent, and the rest of the bottom six doesn't look like a group that can score enough.

I think they get into the playoffs if McAvoy turns in one of the best rookie performances by a defenseman in recent memory, and then Tuukka has to have a Vezina-caliber season. If that doesn't happen, I think the Bruins miss the playoffs. They'll be on the bubble, but I don't see them overtaking teams like Ottawa, Toronto, Tampa, or even Montreal. I know most people on this forum are Bruins' fans, so the viewpoints will be pretty optimistic, but where do you guys see the B's ending up this season?
Jul. 18, 2017 at 4:24 p.m.
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BreKel
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I'm going to pick this apart a little bit....Meaning, I'm going to just hit on the points you made, so if you see parts missing, it's just because I didn't feel the need to respond to them.

Quoting: krakowitz
I think the biggest boost the Bruins are going to get this season is from Charlie McAvoy. I legitimately see him as being Boston's #1 defenseman next season, he's that good.


Chara is still the team's number one. I think McAvoy won't overtake him for that role this upcoming season, but will help a lot. We're very excited for him. Most Bruins fan see him as a #1 down the road. The Bruins top 4, in general, should be solid. Chara, Krug, McAvoy, and Carlo. Their 3rd pairing actually won't be bad either. At the end of the day, McQuaid and Kevan Miller are solid bottom pairing guys. The young rookies we have will now put them in positions they belong in. I think the Bruins defense as a unit will be solid.

Quote:
The problem I have with their lineup is offense. Outside of Marchand and Pasta, where are the goals going to come from?


Too many people sleep on David Krejci. This is a guy last season who was coming off hip surgery. He was invisible the first 10 or so games, and still went out and tied a career high for goals with 23. His assists were down, but if you look at the revolving door of LWers he had this past year, it makes sense. Schaller, Vatrano, Cehlarik, Spooner....None that really produced consistently. Also, Bergeron was injured to start the year and that affected his game big time. This is a guy who scored 32 goals just a year ago. Is Bergeron a superstar when it comes to being offensive? No, but he's certainly good enough to be mentioned.

Quote:
JFK could have some decent contributions if he plays, Vatrano could take a step forward, but I don't see where they can score enough to make it back into the postseason. Bergeron's offensive upside isn't tremendous, Backes is on a decline, Spooner hasn't been consistent, and the rest of the bottom six doesn't look like a group that can score enough.


JFK may end up in Providence to start, which wouldn't be bad. I honestly don't see him being a huge point contributor, if he does make the team. Personally I think Anders Bjork and Jake Debrusk have more of a chance of making the team and being productive. Vatrano, i don't know what to make of him right now. He had a big-time 'honey moon' factor when he first came up. Now it's time to see if he can take that next step. He can score...That's evident. He has some good speed. Everything else about his game, right now, have question marks. On Backes, he may be on a decline, or he may have had issues adjusting to a new system. We'll see this year. I think the Bruins would be better off having him as the 3rd line center, to create more depth in the bottom 6. Spooner isn't consistent but still is good for 40+ points. The bottom 6 will be interesting.....It's really just the 3rd line. The 4th line is actually pretty solid.

Quote:
I think they get into the playoffs if McAvoy turns in one of the best rookie performances by a defenseman in recent memory, and then Tuukka has to have a Vezina-caliber season. If that doesn't happen, I think the Bruins miss the playoffs. They'll be on the bubble, but I don't see them overtaking teams like Ottawa, Toronto, Tampa, or even Montreal. I know most people on this forum are Bruins' fans, so the viewpoints will be pretty optimistic, but where do you guys see the B's ending up this season?


You're putting a lot of weight into two players when it's a team game. Bruins have good players. They'll be on the bubble just like the teams you mentioned. Why are those teams all sure things but Boston is a question mark? What did Montreal do to get better? What did Ottawa do to get better? It's too early to ask about this, in my opinion. Who knows really....
Jul. 19, 2017 at 5:08 p.m.
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Quoting: BreKel
I'm going to pick this apart a little bit....Meaning, I'm going to just hit on the points you made, so if you see parts missing, it's just because I didn't feel the need to respond to them.

Quoting: krakowitz
I think the biggest boost the Bruins are going to get this season is from Charlie McAvoy. I legitimately see him as being Boston's #1 defenseman next season, he's that good.


Chara is still the team's number one. I think McAvoy won't overtake him for that role this upcoming season, but will help a lot. We're very excited for him. Most Bruins fan see him as a #1 down the road. The Bruins top 4, in general, should be solid. Chara, Krug, McAvoy, and Carlo. Their 3rd pairing actually won't be bad either. At the end of the day, McQuaid and Kevan Miller are solid bottom pairing guys. The young rookies we have will now put them in positions they belong in. I think the Bruins defense as a unit will be solid.

Quote:
The problem I have with their lineup is offense. Outside of Marchand and Pasta, where are the goals going to come from?


Too many people sleep on David Krejci. This is a guy last season who was coming off hip surgery. He was invisible the first 10 or so games, and still went out and tied a career high for goals with 23. His assists were down, but if you look at the revolving door of LWers he had this past year, it makes sense. Schaller, Vatrano, Cehlarik, Spooner....None that really produced consistently. Also, Bergeron was injured to start the year and that affected his game big time. This is a guy who scored 32 goals just a year ago. Is Bergeron a superstar when it comes to being offensive? No, but he's certainly good enough to be mentioned.

Quote:
JFK could have some decent contributions if he plays, Vatrano could take a step forward, but I don't see where they can score enough to make it back into the postseason. Bergeron's offensive upside isn't tremendous, Backes is on a decline, Spooner hasn't been consistent, and the rest of the bottom six doesn't look like a group that can score enough.


JFK may end up in Providence to start, which wouldn't be bad. I honestly don't see him being a huge point contributor, if he does make the team. Personally I think Anders Bjork and Jake Debrusk have more of a chance of making the team and being productive. Vatrano, i don't know what to make of him right now. He had a big-time 'honey moon' factor when he first came up. Now it's time to see if he can take that next step. He can score...That's evident. He has some good speed. Everything else about his game, right now, have question marks. On Backes, he may be on a decline, or he may have had issues adjusting to a new system. We'll see this year. I think the Bruins would be better off having him as the 3rd line center, to create more depth in the bottom 6. Spooner isn't consistent but still is good for 40+ points. The bottom 6 will be interesting.....It's really just the 3rd line. The 4th line is actually pretty solid.

Quote:
I think they get into the playoffs if McAvoy turns in one of the best rookie performances by a defenseman in recent memory, and then Tuukka has to have a Vezina-caliber season. If that doesn't happen, I think the Bruins miss the playoffs. They'll be on the bubble, but I don't see them overtaking teams like Ottawa, Toronto, Tampa, or even Montreal. I know most people on this forum are Bruins' fans, so the viewpoints will be pretty optimistic, but where do you guys see the B's ending up this season?


You're putting a lot of weight into two players when it's a team game. Bruins have good players. They'll be on the bubble just like the teams you mentioned. Why are those teams all sure things but Boston is a question mark? What did Montreal do to get better? What did Ottawa do to get better? It's too early to ask about this, in my opinion. Who knows really....


Obviously we could go through every single player and say that they need to step up a little bit and think that they can, so I mentioned the players that I feel need to have the biggest improvements over last season. As far as the other teams go, I think Montreal got worse, which puts them on the bubble. However, I still don't see the Bruins passing them. Ottawa I think got better by simply adding Chabot and White into the lineup this year. Methot is getting pretty overrated, I could see this being an upgrade for the Sens. Of course there are very few sure things to make the playoffs, but those are teams that I project to be better than Boston right now, which is why I see them needing to take bigger steps forward.

Does Boston have a realistic chance of the playoffs? Of course they do. Anything can happen, and injuries can derail seasons (Tampa last year, Montreal the year before, etc). But if we're basing things off of right now, I think the 100%, realistic, best case scenario for them is making it to the second round. I just think there are too many teams that are better than them right now.
Jul. 21, 2017 at 12:56 p.m.
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Quoting: krakowitz
Quoting: BreKel
I'm going to pick this apart a little bit....Meaning, I'm going to just hit on the points you made, so if you see parts missing, it's just because I didn't feel the need to respond to them.



Chara is still the team's number one. I think McAvoy won't overtake him for that role this upcoming season, but will help a lot. We're very excited for him. Most Bruins fan see him as a #1 down the road. The Bruins top 4, in general, should be solid. Chara, Krug, McAvoy, and Carlo. Their 3rd pairing actually won't be bad either. At the end of the day, McQuaid and Kevan Miller are solid bottom pairing guys. The young rookies we have will now put them in positions they belong in. I think the Bruins defense as a unit will be solid.



Too many people sleep on David Krejci. This is a guy last season who was coming off hip surgery. He was invisible the first 10 or so games, and still went out and tied a career high for goals with 23. His assists were down, but if you look at the revolving door of LWers he had this past year, it makes sense. Schaller, Vatrano, Cehlarik, Spooner....None that really produced consistently. Also, Bergeron was injured to start the year and that affected his game big time. This is a guy who scored 32 goals just a year ago. Is Bergeron a superstar when it comes to being offensive? No, but he's certainly good enough to be mentioned.



JFK may end up in Providence to start, which wouldn't be bad. I honestly don't see him being a huge point contributor, if he does make the team. Personally I think Anders Bjork and Jake Debrusk have more of a chance of making the team and being productive. Vatrano, i don't know what to make of him right now. He had a big-time 'honey moon' factor when he first came up. Now it's time to see if he can take that next step. He can score...That's evident. He has some good speed. Everything else about his game, right now, have question marks. On Backes, he may be on a decline, or he may have had issues adjusting to a new system. We'll see this year. I think the Bruins would be better off having him as the 3rd line center, to create more depth in the bottom 6. Spooner isn't consistent but still is good for 40+ points. The bottom 6 will be interesting.....It's really just the 3rd line. The 4th line is actually pretty solid.



You're putting a lot of weight into two players when it's a team game. Bruins have good players. They'll be on the bubble just like the teams you mentioned. Why are those teams all sure things but Boston is a question mark? What did Montreal do to get better? What did Ottawa do to get better? It's too early to ask about this, in my opinion. Who knows really....


Obviously we could go through every single player and say that they need to step up a little bit and think that they can, so I mentioned the players that I feel need to have the biggest improvements over last season. As far as the other teams go, I think Montreal got worse, which puts them on the bubble. However, I still don't see the Bruins passing them. Ottawa I think got better by simply adding Chabot and White into the lineup this year. Methot is getting pretty overrated, I could see this being an upgrade for the Sens. Of course there are very few sure things to make the playoffs, but those are teams that I project to be better than Boston right now, which is why I see them needing to take bigger steps forward.

Does Boston have a realistic chance of the playoffs? Of course they do. Anything can happen, and injuries can derail seasons (Tampa last year, Montreal the year before, etc). But if we're basing things off of right now, I think the 100%, realistic, best case scenario for them is making it to the second round. I just think there are too many teams that are better than them right now.


But is making the second round the worst thing right now? It would bring great playoff experience to a rookie-laden lineup (since we figure to have at least four of them) and still allow us to draft in the position that we finished in the standings (which seems like it'll be in the upper teens/low 20s).

That being said, many of the underlying metrics for the Bruins indicate a bounce-back year is coming, both in shooting % and save %. Chara and Backes are on the decline; no one is going to debate that. But with Bergeron and Marchand still elite contributors, along with lots of young players stepping up and bounce-back seasons from vets (Krejci and Beleskey), they should easily be offset and have improved results.

If you look at the rest of the division and the conference, there isn't a ton to be inspired about.
Montreal got actively worse this year, or at best is treading water.
Ottawa still hasn't been impressive, and while they're adding two top prospects, a drop off to start the year should be expected, especially with Anderson aging and Guy Boucher's consistent coaching decline.
Florida doesn't even have Boston's depth
Buffalo might take a step forward, but saying they'll be better than Boston when they have a worse goaltender and a definitively lacking defense is a stretch.
Detroit doesn't need explanation
Even if you want to make the case that Toronto has arrived and is ready to compete, hopes are still hinged on the young kids continuing to develop and the same amazing injury luck they had.
So although everyone expects Tampa to return to form, nobody else in the division even looks that scary

Are the Bruins competing for the cup this year? Likely not. But does that mean they can't take a stride in their development and in results? No, they absolutely can.

Expectations should be a playoff appearance and a top 3 division finish, with something around 99 points.
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Jul. 21, 2017 at 11:36 p.m.
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Quoting: tadhockey
Quoting: krakowitz


Obviously we could go through every single player and say that they need to step up a little bit and think that they can, so I mentioned the players that I feel need to have the biggest improvements over last season. As far as the other teams go, I think Montreal got worse, which puts them on the bubble. However, I still don't see the Bruins passing them. Ottawa I think got better by simply adding Chabot and White into the lineup this year. Methot is getting pretty overrated, I could see this being an upgrade for the Sens. Of course there are very few sure things to make the playoffs, but those are teams that I project to be better than Boston right now, which is why I see them needing to take bigger steps forward.

Does Boston have a realistic chance of the playoffs? Of course they do. Anything can happen, and injuries can derail seasons (Tampa last year, Montreal the year before, etc). But if we're basing things off of right now, I think the 100%, realistic, best case scenario for them is making it to the second round. I just think there are too many teams that are better than them right now.


But is making the second round the worst thing right now? It would bring great playoff experience to a rookie-laden lineup (since we figure to have at least four of them) and still allow us to draft in the position that we finished in the standings (which seems like it'll be in the upper teens/low 20s).

That being said, many of the underlying metrics for the Bruins indicate a bounce-back year is coming, both in shooting % and save %. Chara and Backes are on the decline; no one is going to debate that. But with Bergeron and Marchand still elite contributors, along with lots of young players stepping up and bounce-back seasons from vets (Krejci and Beleskey), they should easily be offset and have improved results.

If you look at the rest of the division and the conference, there isn't a ton to be inspired about.
Montreal got actively worse this year, or at best is treading water.
Ottawa still hasn't been impressive, and while they're adding two top prospects, a drop off to start the year should be expected, especially with Anderson aging and Guy Boucher's consistent coaching decline.
Florida doesn't even have Boston's depth
Buffalo might take a step forward, but saying they'll be better than Boston when they have a worse goaltender and a definitively lacking defense is a stretch.
Detroit doesn't need explanation
Even if you want to make the case that Toronto has arrived and is ready to compete, hopes are still hinged on the young kids continuing to develop and the same amazing injury luck they had.
So although everyone expects Tampa to return to form, nobody else in the division even looks that scary

Are the Bruins competing for the cup this year? Likely not. But does that mean they can't take a stride in their development and in results? No, they absolutely can.

Expectations should be a playoff appearance and a top 3 division finish, with something around 99 points.


Guy Boucher's coaching decline? What? The dude should have at least been a nominee for coach of the year. Heck, I would have given it to him. That team plays with such good defensive structure and forechecking that it's so hard for offenses to crack. What was the big knock on Erik Karlsson before this season? That he couldn't play defense. All of a sudden, Boucher comes along and he's playing excellent defensive hockey as well. This isn't me reacting to the fact that they were one goal short of going to the Finals, this is me saying that the style they played with was excellent, and bringing in Chabot and White will really help them. Even the depth signing of Nate Thompson could prove to be a good one. You're underselling Ottawa too much.

I don't see Montreal being a team that can legitimately compete until they realize that Alex Galchenyuk has to be their #1 center. They can't expect to make some noise the playoffs with Danault as their top line pivot. They got a little more dynamic up front with Drouin replacing Radulov, but their defense is extremely slow, which will leave Price out to dry a ton. I expect them and Boston to be very close in the standings this season. Neither team has a ton of depth scoring, and defense is a question mark for both teams. I think the skaters for Boston are better than Montreal, but Carey Price can steal many games for them over the course of the season. Rask can steal some too, but he's not quite on Price's level.

To me, there are three teams that are clearly ahead of Boston right now -- Ottawa, Tampa, and Toronto. You could make the argument for Montreal as well, but we'll leave them out for now. Since I see those three taking the spots for the Atlantic, that leaves Boston fighting with teams like Carolina, NYI, NYR, and potentially the Flyers even for two spots (again, Montreal is in the discussion as well for the WC). Those aren't chances I like.
Jul. 22, 2017 at 3:49 a.m.
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Edited Jul. 22, 2017 at 9:18 a.m.
Quoting: krakowitz


Guy Boucher's coaching decline? What? The dude should have at least been a nominee for coach of the year. Heck, I would have given it to him. That team plays with such good defensive structure and forechecking that it's so hard for offenses to crack. What was the big knock on Erik Karlsson before this season? That he couldn't play defense. All of a sudden, Boucher comes along and he's playing excellent defensive hockey as well. This isn't me reacting to the fact that they were one goal short of going to the Finals, this is me saying that the style they played with was excellent, and bringing in Chabot and White will really help them. Even the depth signing of Nate Thompson could prove to be a good one. You're underselling Ottawa too much.

I don't see Montreal being a team that can legitimately compete until they realize that Alex Galchenyuk has to be their #1 center. They can't expect to make some noise the playoffs with Danault as their top line pivot. They got a little more dynamic up front with Drouin replacing Radulov, but their defense is extremely slow, which will leave Price out to dry a ton. I expect them and Boston to be very close in the standings this season. Neither team has a ton of depth scoring, and defense is a question mark for both teams. I think the skaters for Boston are better than Montreal, but Carey Price can steal many games for them over the course of the season. Rask can steal some too, but he's not quite on Price's level.

To me, there are three teams that are clearly ahead of Boston right now -- Ottawa, Tampa, and Toronto. You could make the argument for Montreal as well, but we'll leave them out for now. Since I see those three taking the spots for the Atlantic, that leaves Boston fighting with teams like Carolina, NYI, NYR, and potentially the Flyers even for two spots (again, Montreal is in the discussion as well for the WC). Those aren't chances I like.


The thing about Ottawa and Boucher is, Boucher's style doesnt seem to be as effective in the regular season as it is in the playoffs. Maybe ottawa is the team that finally breaks through with Bouchers system. This isnt the first time boucher coached a team to a Game 7 in the ECF. It will be interesting to see how other teams handle the system next season. I dont think ottawa will miss the playoffs but i wouldn't be shocked if it happened, As it happened before with Boucher and the Lightning
Jul. 27, 2017 at 3:25 p.m.
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Quoting: krakowitz
Quoting: BreKel
I'm going to pick this apart a little bit....Meaning, I'm going to just hit on the points you made, so if you see parts missing, it's just because I didn't feel the need to respond to them.



Chara is still the team's number one. I think McAvoy won't overtake him for that role this upcoming season, but will help a lot. We're very excited for him. Most Bruins fan see him as a #1 down the road. The Bruins top 4, in general, should be solid. Chara, Krug, McAvoy, and Carlo. Their 3rd pairing actually won't be bad either. At the end of the day, McQuaid and Kevan Miller are solid bottom pairing guys. The young rookies we have will now put them in positions they belong in. I think the Bruins defense as a unit will be solid.



Too many people sleep on David Krejci. This is a guy last season who was coming off hip surgery. He was invisible the first 10 or so games, and still went out and tied a career high for goals with 23. His assists were down, but if you look at the revolving door of LWers he had this past year, it makes sense. Schaller, Vatrano, Cehlarik, Spooner....None that really produced consistently. Also, Bergeron was injured to start the year and that affected his game big time. This is a guy who scored 32 goals just a year ago. Is Bergeron a superstar when it comes to being offensive? No, but he's certainly good enough to be mentioned.



JFK may end up in Providence to start, which wouldn't be bad. I honestly don't see him being a huge point contributor, if he does make the team. Personally I think Anders Bjork and Jake Debrusk have more of a chance of making the team and being productive. Vatrano, i don't know what to make of him right now. He had a big-time 'honey moon' factor when he first came up. Now it's time to see if he can take that next step. He can score...That's evident. He has some good speed. Everything else about his game, right now, have question marks. On Backes, he may be on a decline, or he may have had issues adjusting to a new system. We'll see this year. I think the Bruins would be better off having him as the 3rd line center, to create more depth in the bottom 6. Spooner isn't consistent but still is good for 40+ points. The bottom 6 will be interesting.....It's really just the 3rd line. The 4th line is actually pretty solid.



You're putting a lot of weight into two players when it's a team game. Bruins have good players. They'll be on the bubble just like the teams you mentioned. Why are those teams all sure things but Boston is a question mark? What did Montreal do to get better? What did Ottawa do to get better? It's too early to ask about this, in my opinion. Who knows really....


Obviously we could go through every single player and say that they need to step up a little bit and think that they can, so I mentioned the players that I feel need to have the biggest improvements over last season. As far as the other teams go, I think Montreal got worse, which puts them on the bubble. However, I still don't see the Bruins passing them. Ottawa I think got better by simply adding Chabot and White into the lineup this year. Methot is getting pretty overrated, I could see this being an upgrade for the Sens. Of course there are very few sure things to make the playoffs, but those are teams that I project to be better than Boston right now, which is why I see them needing to take bigger steps forward.

Does Boston have a realistic chance of the playoffs? Of course they do. Anything can happen, and injuries can derail seasons (Tampa last year, Montreal the year before, etc). But if we're basing things off of right now, I think the 100%, realistic, best case scenario for them is making it to the second round. I just think there are too many teams that are better than them right now.


Ok well a minute ago you didn't think they would even make the playoffs, now you're saying maybe 2nd round!! We (Bruin fans) are not delusional, we don't expect a cup this year, but I think we have the blocks in place to challenge for one again while we still have guys like Bergy/Marchy/Krejci/Rask - so next 3-5 years. We would be pretty happy having 2 cups in a 10 year span!!!! Some teams haven't won one for over 50 years!!!
Jul. 27, 2017 at 3:28 p.m.
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Quoting: tadhockey
Quoting: krakowitz


Obviously we could go through every single player and say that they need to step up a little bit and think that they can, so I mentioned the players that I feel need to have the biggest improvements over last season. As far as the other teams go, I think Montreal got worse, which puts them on the bubble. However, I still don't see the Bruins passing them. Ottawa I think got better by simply adding Chabot and White into the lineup this year. Methot is getting pretty overrated, I could see this being an upgrade for the Sens. Of course there are very few sure things to make the playoffs, but those are teams that I project to be better than Boston right now, which is why I see them needing to take bigger steps forward.

Does Boston have a realistic chance of the playoffs? Of course they do. Anything can happen, and injuries can derail seasons (Tampa last year, Montreal the year before, etc). But if we're basing things off of right now, I think the 100%, realistic, best case scenario for them is making it to the second round. I just think there are too many teams that are better than them right now.


But is making the second round the worst thing right now? It would bring great playoff experience to a rookie-laden lineup (since we figure to have at least four of them) and still allow us to draft in the position that we finished in the standings (which seems like it'll be in the upper teens/low 20s).

That being said, many of the underlying metrics for the Bruins indicate a bounce-back year is coming, both in shooting % and save %. Chara and Backes are on the decline; no one is going to debate that. But with Bergeron and Marchand still elite contributors, along with lots of young players stepping up and bounce-back seasons from vets (Krejci and Beleskey), they should easily be offset and have improved results.

If you look at the rest of the division and the conference, there isn't a ton to be inspired about.
Montreal got actively worse this year, or at best is treading water.
Ottawa still hasn't been impressive, and while they're adding two top prospects, a drop off to start the year should be expected, especially with Anderson aging and Guy Boucher's consistent coaching decline.
Florida doesn't even have Boston's depth
Buffalo might take a step forward, but saying they'll be better than Boston when they have a worse goaltender and a definitively lacking defense is a stretch.
Detroit doesn't need explanation
Even if you want to make the case that Toronto has arrived and is ready to compete, hopes are still hinged on the young kids continuing to develop and the same amazing injury luck they had.
So although everyone expects Tampa to return to form, nobody else in the division even looks that scary

Are the Bruins competing for the cup this year? Likely not. But does that mean they can't take a stride in their development and in results? No, they absolutely can.

Expectations should be a playoff appearance and a top 3 division finish, with something around 99 points.


Agreed well said Tad!!
Jul. 27, 2017 at 3:32 p.m.
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Quoting: krakowitz
Quoting: tadhockey


But is making the second round the worst thing right now? It would bring great playoff experience to a rookie-laden lineup (since we figure to have at least four of them) and still allow us to draft in the position that we finished in the standings (which seems like it'll be in the upper teens/low 20s).

That being said, many of the underlying metrics for the Bruins indicate a bounce-back year is coming, both in shooting % and save %. Chara and Backes are on the decline; no one is going to debate that. But with Bergeron and Marchand still elite contributors, along with lots of young players stepping up and bounce-back seasons from vets (Krejci and Beleskey), they should easily be offset and have improved results.

If you look at the rest of the division and the conference, there isn't a ton to be inspired about.
Montreal got actively worse this year, or at best is treading water.
Ottawa still hasn't been impressive, and while they're adding two top prospects, a drop off to start the year should be expected, especially with Anderson aging and Guy Boucher's consistent coaching decline.
Florida doesn't even have Boston's depth
Buffalo might take a step forward, but saying they'll be better than Boston when they have a worse goaltender and a definitively lacking defense is a stretch.
Detroit doesn't need explanation
Even if you want to make the case that Toronto has arrived and is ready to compete, hopes are still hinged on the young kids continuing to develop and the same amazing injury luck they had.
So although everyone expects Tampa to return to form, nobody else in the division even looks that scary

Are the Bruins competing for the cup this year? Likely not. But does that mean they can't take a stride in their development and in results? No, they absolutely can.

Expectations should be a playoff appearance and a top 3 division finish, with something around 99 points.


Guy Boucher's coaching decline? What? The dude should have at least been a nominee for coach of the year. Heck, I would have given it to him. That team plays with such good defensive structure and forechecking that it's so hard for offenses to crack. What was the big knock on Erik Karlsson before this season? That he couldn't play defense. All of a sudden, Boucher comes along and he's playing excellent defensive hockey as well. This isn't me reacting to the fact that they were one goal short of going to the Finals, this is me saying that the style they played with was excellent, and bringing in Chabot and White will really help them. Even the depth signing of Nate Thompson could prove to be a good one. You're underselling Ottawa too much.

I don't see Montreal being a team that can legitimately compete until they realize that Alex Galchenyuk has to be their #1 center. They can't expect to make some noise the playoffs with Danault as their top line pivot. They got a little more dynamic up front with Drouin replacing Radulov, but their defense is extremely slow, which will leave Price out to dry a ton. I expect them and Boston to be very close in the standings this season. Neither team has a ton of depth scoring, and defense is a question mark for both teams. I think the skaters for Boston are better than Montreal, but Carey Price can steal many games for them over the course of the season. Rask can steal some too, but he's not quite on Price's level.

To me, there are three teams that are clearly ahead of Boston right now -- Ottawa, Tampa, and Toronto. You could make the argument for Montreal as well, but we'll leave them out for now. Since I see those three taking the spots for the Atlantic, that leaves Boston fighting with teams like Carolina, NYI, NYR, and potentially the Flyers even for two spots (again, Montreal is in the discussion as well for the WC). Those aren't chances I like.


Expect a sophomore slump for the Leafs. They had no injury issues and the kids will now start getting slowed down by the way opposing coaches call the game. And if Boston did manage to get in a playoff fight with the teams you mentioned, I'd be confident we would make it.
Jul. 27, 2017 at 3:46 p.m.
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The thing that a lot of non-Bruin fans don't quite seem to understand, and quite often sports fans in general is that good defense not only wins games, but also wins championships. For the last 25 years the Bruins coaching and management has stressed "defense first", "be responsible and accountable". Bruins in the last 10 years are usually in 1 goal games, winning, and yes sometimes losing really close games like 3-2, 2-1 etc etc

So where is the secondary scoring people ask? Well if the top 2 lines account for 2 goals a game and the bottom 6 find 1 per game? Quite often that's enough for the Bruins to win games!! And that's not a lot to ask with Rask in net and solid D AND defensive minded forwards.

This is also a reason why I always suggest on this site who plug in promising rookies like JFK and Bjork - they need to learn how to play Bruin hockey first, it's quite different than anywhere else. Backes struggled last year, but he's smart enough and experienced enough that I think he will be much better this year.

A big thing is health, for any team. That's one reason why Toronto had such a good year last year. They were freakishly healthy. But what comes around goes around....Tampa will likely come around, Toronto, well they may be going around!

Also remember 2 seasons ago we were 5th in league scoring, we had a difficult year with injuries last year. Many of the same players are still there.
 
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