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What Your Team Is Thankful For: Boston Bruins

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As Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Boston Bruins.

Who are the Bruins thankful for?

Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark

Boston’s goaltending wasn’t just great last season, it was historically great. And with the litany of NHL all-stars that departed Boston this summer, many pundits figured that the Bruins’ historical 65-win season would be a distant memory as they struggled through this season. That has not been the case, in fact, the Bruins aren’t just as good as last year. Thus far this season, they are actually better. Last season at this time Boston was sporting an incredible .823 points percentage, but this year they are sitting at an unfathomable .861.

Sure, they still have some of the pieces from their strong core kicking around, but the real reasons they are historically good once again this season are Swayman and Ullmark.

Swayman and Ullmark have split goaltending duties almost directly down the middle this season with incredibly close comparables. Swayman is currently sporting a record of 7-0-2 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. Ullmark on the other hand is 7-1-1 with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.

To find a discrepancy between the two netminders it requires a deep dive into the numbers. According to Money Puck, Swayman has saved one full goal more when you look at both goaltenders’ goals saved above expected. Swayman has posted a 7.6 goals saved above expected while Ullmark has posted 6.6. The calculation by Money Puck is done by taking the goals that a goalie is expected to allow and then subtracting the actual number of goals the goalie has let in. Both Ullmark and Swayman are well above average in this category and every other goaltending metric.

There was talk in the summer that maybe the Bruins would like to move on from Ullmark, but it is hard to fathom Boston breaking up such an incredible duo. Goaltending is a notoriously difficult position to project and it’s rare for teams to get one goalie playing as well as Swayman or Ullmark, and having two is unheard of.

What are the Bruins thankful for?

Surprising play from their top centers.

When Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci announced their retirements in August, many thought that it could be curtains for the Bruins time atop the NHL standings. But, from the moment the puck dropped to start the NHL season they have received quality work from their top two centers Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle.

Zacha’s year didn’t start out great as he had just a single assist in the first five games of the season, but since that time he has posted seven goals and six assists in his past 13 games. On top of finding his offensive game, Zacha is averaging almost three and a half minutes more ice time per game than his career average and is finding far more success in the faceoff circle winning draws at a rate that is almost five percent higher than last season.

Coyle on the other hand is on pace for a career season and has fit the role of a top-6 center perfectly. At the moment the 31-year-old is on pace for 32 goals and 41 assists should he dress in all 82 games. Now a lot would have to go right for Coyle to hit those numbers, but the odds are pretty good that he will top the career-high 56 points he put up in the 2016-17 season. Coyle isn’t just doing good work on the offensive side of the game; he has also been a huge part of Boston’s penalty kill and has been dominant in the face-off circle.

What would the Bruins be even more thankful for?

More scoring from the backend

It’s hard to be wishing for more when your team is 14-1-3 to start the season. But if the Bruins were looking for a little something extra it would be more scoring from their defense core. So far this season, Bruins defensemen have accounted for just seven goals and 28 assists. Now, those numbers aren’t horrible, and they certainly don’t paint a fair picture of all their defensemen’s contributions. But the collective 35 points from the Bruins defense core barely tops the 31 points that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes has put up on his own this season.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has said in press conferences that he would like to see the Bruins’ defensemen adopt more of a shot-first mentality and he would especially like to see his rearguards be in shot-ready mode at any time.

There is merit to what Montgomery is preaching. The Bruins have a ton of big forwards who can drive to the net and get sticks on pucks, or at the very least cause disruption and perhaps create a seam for a seeing-eye shot from a defenseman to find its way into the back of the net.

The Bruins could certainly look to conference foe the Carolina Hurricanes to see how an active defense core can score a lot of goals from the point just by simply being selfish and shot-happy when the shooting lanes open.

What should be on the Bruins holiday wish list?

A top-6 forward.

To be fair, the Bruins really don’t have any needs at the moment. And if there is anything that can be taken away from last year’s playoff collapse it is that often it doesn’t payoff to go all in.

The Bruins don’t have many trade chips to bolster their lineup at this year’s trade deadline, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. If they were to decide to make an impact move at the trade deadline, acquiring a top-6 forward must be top of mind for general manager Don Sweeney.

The Bruins current top-6 is formidable, but it is hard to imagine a team with Stanley Cup aspirations feeling overly comfortable with 34-year-old James van Riemsdyk eating up big minutes come playoff time. That’s no slight on van Riemsdyk, who has been terrific this year, but the reality is that he would be better suited to dress on the team’s third line with Matthew Poitras and Jake DeBrusk

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On The Jake DeBrusk Contract Situation

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Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub wrote the latest on the Boston Bruins contract negotiations with pending unrestricted free agent forward Jake DeBrusk. Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney spoke with the media today and did little to hide the fact that the Bruins would like to re-sign the 26-year-old to a long-term contract extension.

Sweeney told reporters that the club would like to see DeBrusk remain with the Bruins and will continue to engage with him and his agent in hopes of finding common ground on an extension. The Bruins are tight to the cap for this upcoming season but at the moment are slated to have $28.5MM available in cap space (CapFriendly) next summer before any cap increases. Sweeney’s comments echo what DeBrusk told NHL.com Staff Writer Derek Van Diest back in August when he said he would like to remain in Boston long-term.

Given where both sides appear to be it seems likely that a deal can be reached, which would take one item off Boston’s to-do list over the next year. The Bruins will enter this season with tempered expectations after winning the President’s Trophy last season and suffering a historical upset at the hands of the Florida Panthers. Boston lost a lot of pieces to free agency and retirement and will have far less depth than they did last year.

The DeBrusk situation could have a happy ending after the relationship between the player and the club appeared rocky just a short time ago. Back in November of 2021, DeBrusk was benched by former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, and this prompted DeBrusk to request a trade. He eventually rescinded his trade request and had a terrific bounce-back last season posting 27 goals and 23 assists in 64 games.

Afternoon Notes: Bruins, Samsonov, Sprong

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Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub is reporting that Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is hinting that the Bruins will go into a re-tool this offseason. What that will be remains to be seen but the long-time GM was quoted as saying, “roster changes are likely coming.” Sweeney continually referenced Boston’s dire salary cap situation as well as integrating younger players into the lineup. Sweeney’s words are no surprise given that Boston has less than $5MM in cap space entering the offseason and have just seven of their current forwards signed to contracts for next year. Boston will also need to work out a new contract for backup goaltender Jeremy Swayman who will be a restricted free agent this summer.

On top of needing to work out a deal with Swayman, Boston has many other key free agents who will likely need to move on given the Bruins lack of cap space. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí are both unrestricted free agents who played on low cap hits last season and hit bonus clauses that will cause Boston to carry bonus overages of $4.5MM into 2023-24. Trade deadline acquisitions Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway are also all unrestricted free agents this summer and are likely to seek employment elsewhere. Given everything going on in Boston they will have a very different looking team than the one that lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers.

In other notes from around the NHL:

NHL Insider Chris Johnston tweeted today from Toronto Maple Leafs practice that Ilya Samsonov was not at Toronto practice and that goalie coach Curtis Sanford was working with Joseph Woll and Matt Murray. The Leafs have yet to offer an update on their netminders status for game 4. Samsonov is expected to have an MRI and some additional tests prior to the team offering an update on their starter for the elimination game on Wednesday. Woll would be the likely starter for Toronto should Samsonov be unable to play. The 26-year-old Samsonov was injured in a collision with teammate Luke Schenn in game 3 and was unable to return to action.

The Seattle Kraken have announced that forward Daniel Sprong has been ruled out of game 4 against the Dallas Stars. The 26-year-old is dealing with an upper body injury and won’t dress tonight as they Kraken look to take a 3-1 stranglehold on their second round series. Sprong has just two points in 10 games in these playoffs and is currently mired in a six-game pointless streak. He played just 6:36 in Seattle’s 7-2 game 3 victory and has been largely relegated to fourth line minutes during his recent stretch of poor play.

Boston Bruins Notes: Bergeron, Krejčí

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Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now is reporting that it appears as though center Patrice Bergeron will be dressing in game five for the Boston Bruins. Bergeron has been sidelined for all four of Boston’s first round games against the Florida Panthers after sustaining an injury in the regular season finale against the Montreal Canadiens.

Yesterday both head coach Jim Montgomery and general manager Don Sweeney had stated that Bergeron would likely return to practice Tuesday morning. Bergeron did in fact skate with the team today and led the stretching. After practice he said that he didn’t foresee any issues keeping him from playing in his first game of the playoffs.

Boston will have an opportunity on Wednesday to eliminate the Florida Panthers after taking both games three and four in Florida. The Bruins will return home with an opportunity to punch their ticket to a second-round matchup with either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In other Boston Bruins notes:

  • While it appears that Bergeron will be returning, Jimmy Murphy tweeted that head coach Jim Montgomery told the media that David Krejčí will be unavailable for game five. Krejčí dressed for the first two games of the series in Boston, but then was a late scratch for game three and hasn’t dressed since. He struggled mightily in game two of the series going -3 and getting beat up in the faceoff circle. Not much is known about Krejčí’s injury and Boston has been tight lipped about it other than to offer updates on his status. NHL.com’s Eric Russo writes that Don Sweeney has said that Krejčí is slated to undergo further testing and an update could come after the team hears from the doctors.

Evening Notes: Saginaw, Gold, Després

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Jeff Marek of Sportsnet is reporting that the Saginaw Spirit will host the 2024 Memorial Cup. The four-team tournament will take place outside of Canada for the first time in 26 years. The last time the tournament was hosted in the United States was 1998 when Spokane held the tournament that was eventually won by Portland.

Four other OHL teams were in the bidding for the event, the Kingston Frontenacs, the Niagara IceDogs, and the Soo Greyhounds were all unsuccessful in their attempts to secure the sought after event. With their winning bid now in hand, Saginaw is already planning to make some major renovations to the infrastructure of their building, including a new ceiling, a renovated media suite, as well as new VIP suites.

The 2023 Memorial Cup will take place May 25 to June 4 in Kamloops, B.C.

In other news from around the hockey world:

  • The Boston Bruins have announced that Evan Gold will be the new General Manager of the Providence Bruins. Gold is in his eighth season in the Bruins organization and is currently the Assistant General Manager to Don Sweeney. Gold will continue to work closely with Sweeney in the day-to-day operations of the Bruins NHL squad, while simultaneously running the day-to-day operations of the AHL club. Prior to joining Boston in 2015, Gold also spent eight seasons in the Washington Capitals organization as a Hockey Operations Assistant.
  • Former Pittsburgh Penguin Simon Després has been released by his Austrian club Villacher SV after just one season. Després was a first round pick of the Penguins back in 2009 and made the jump to the NHL rather quickly in 2011-12. Després battled injuries and inconsistency while he was a Penguin, but it was after he was traded to Anaheim that concussion issues began to emerge, and he was eventually bought out by the Ducks. Després struggled to find his offensive game in Austria scoring just 15 points in 43 games. At just 31 years of age, Després likely has lots of hockey left in him, but he will most likely have to continue playing abroad if he wants to keep his career going.

Snapshots: Hague, Pastrnak, Jets

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When Vegas Golden Knights training camp opens tomorrow morning, defenseman Nicolas Hague won’t be there as he awaits a new contract. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports that he isn’t expected to be on the ice with his teammates Thursday morning at City National Arena, the team’s practice facility.

Hague is one of the few remaining restricted free agents in the NHL, alongside Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin and Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson as the marquee names. Granger expertly notes that Hague missing camp is more detrimental than in previous seasons, as new head coach Bruce Cassidy will be installing a completely foreign defensive system from what the Knights have been used to in past seasons. Hague, the 34th overall pick in 2017, had 14 points in 52 games last season.

  • Speaking today during preseason media availability, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney says it’s a priority for him to get pending free agent winger David Pastrnak signed as soon as possible. Pastrnak, while he’s expressed a strong desire to stay in Boston, hasn’t shared the same urgency in negotiations in previous reporting. Pastrnak, who’s notched 40 or more goals in his last two full seasons, will be in line for a substantial raise, and it may behoove Sweeney to get a deal done before his value rises even further.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have made three scouting hires, including the first woman scout in team history, Sydney Daniels. Daniels joins the team as an NCAA scout, having previously served as the assistant coach for the women’s team at Harvard. The team also brought on Jari Kekalainen, brother of Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, as a European scout, and former Toronto Maple Leafs scout Tony Martino as a USHL scout.

Morning Notes: Waddell, Bloom, Lundqvist

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According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, it appears the Carolina Hurricanes and GM Don Waddell have re-upped on a new contract, though the specifics are not certain. Waddell’s previous contract had been set to expire on June 30th, and with that date coming and going and the Hurricanes busy offseason proceeding, it would seem clear that some sort of agreement had been reached. That train of thought appears confirmed now via LeBrun, who says the deal went without a team announcement. While the Boston Bruins announced their extension with GM Don Sweeney, who also had his last contract expire on June 30th, this quiet approach is not out of the ordinary and is part of a new trend, LeBrun says.

An extension with Waddell isn’t a surprise to most, given his strong relationship with the organization and of course the team’s recent success. Since being named the full-time GM in 2018, Waddell has overseen four consecutive trips to the playoffs in Carolina, as well as significant transactions like the hiring of Rod Brind’Amour as Head Coach, drafting the likes of Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis, acquiring and the subsequent recovery from losing Dougie Hamilton, and most recently the blockbuster acquisitions of Max Pacioretty and Brent Burns.

  • An injury update on Sabres forward prospect Josh Bloom, who was hurt in Thursday night’s prospect showcase game against the Montreal Canadiens. According to Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, Bloom did not practice on Friday and his status for tonight’s contest with the New Jersey Devils is uncertain. While Bloom being sidelined for at least a day of practice and a showcase game is a clear negative, the possibility that he could be available and that his absence is being spoken about in the short-term is a positive, given how the injury played out on Thursday. Bloom had left the game after being hit along the boards, failing to return, now listed with a lower-body injury. The winger broke out for  the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit in 2021-22, contributing 61 points in 67 games.
  • The Athletic’s Arthur Staple had a chance to sit down with former New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist as he reflected on his transition from Hall of Fame goaltender to his new role away from the rink. Now, Lundqvist will serve in a forward-facing role, representing the Rangers in the community. Notably, Staple inquired about his transition from playing, which happened rather suddenly when a medical condition was revealed that would force the superstar into retirement. Lundqvist mentioned that the transition was a bit different for him because of the health condition, but it gave him plenty of time to reflect and leave him “in a good place mentally.” He added that leaving his playing days behind creates a hole that needed to be replaced, “[b]ut I also understand I’m not going to be able to feel the way I felt around the games, just my goal is to find new interests.”

Bruins Notes: Langenbrunner, Front Office, Pastrnak

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The Boston Bruins have given Jamie Langenbrunner a new title, naming him Assistant General Manager – Player Personnel today. The front office executive has been with the team for the past seven years, first joining as a player development coordinator and working his way up. A name to keep in mind for future general manager searches, he has rather quickly made his way through the Bruins system, having only been named director of player development in 2020.

He wasn’t the only one to receive a promotion today though. Here are more notes from the front office announcements:

  • Dennis Bonvie and Ryan Nadeau have been named directors of pro and amateur scouting respectively, while Darren Yopyk is now assistant director of amateur scouting. Brett Harkins is the head college scout, while Parker MacKay is now an amateur and college scout. The team has also named three skating and skills consultants, reformed their medical department, and named a handful of analytics additions.
  • Not to be overlooked was general manager Don Sweeney’s press conference discussing the new contracts for David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron. In it, he was asked about a potential extension for David Pastrnak, and explained that there is an ongoing conversation with the star winger. Sweeney wouldn’t discuss details, though did mention that the Bruins are comfortable going into the season without an extension in place. Pastrnak, 26, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Boston Bruins Extend Don Sweeney

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The Boston Bruins have made it official, signing general manager Don Sweeney to a multi-year contract extension. The move comes just as his current contract was set to expire, and keeps him at the head of the front office for the foreseeable future.

Bruins’ CEO Charlie Jacobs released a statement:

We are proud to extend Don Sweeney to a multi-year contract as General Manager of the Boston Bruins. Under his management, the Boston Bruins have been one of the winningest franchises in the league and a perennial playoff contender year in and year out. While we recognize there is work to be done to achieve the ultimate goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Boston, I’m confident that Don’s commitment to being best-in-class on and off the ice will help us climb that mountain once again.

Team president Cam Neely also expressed praise and confidence in his general manager, explaining that he believes Sweeney is committed to doing “whatever it takes” to give the Bruins the best chance at winning the Stanley Cup.

Since the end of the season, which saw the Bruins exit the first round at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, Sweeney has drawn plenty of criticism. The firing of well-liked head coach Bruce Cassidy just a few days after he was told he would be back, some eyebrow-raising comments from a source close to winger David Pastrnak, and the still unresolved issue of Patrice Bergeron’s future have made Sweeney the target of many fans’ ire.

Named general manager in 2015, Sweeney has taken the Bruins to the playoffs in each of the last six seasons, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. The team has drafted and developed players like Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, Brandon Carlo, and Jake DeBrusk in that time as well, a huge chunk of the team’s current core. Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle, Hampus Lindholm, and others represent trades that Sweeney orchestrated as well.

It’s the other moves, including several missed draft picks and trades that have taken players like Ryan Lindgren out of the organization that draw so much criticism and have made Sweeney such a hot-button topic for Bruins fans, and what will likely make the reaction to this news rather negative.

The team did not detail how many years the new contract is for. Sweeney is in the process of conducting a search for the team’s next head coach.

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