wanna hear a secret? the boston bruins aren't selling.

The open question is pretty simple. Boston has found a formula that is very successful and frankly I could see them just run it back next year as well. I think they are showing that the fears about their center position were overblown.

That said, a deal for a young center / winger might be interesting

yah that's fair, this was mostly for fun. I was basing it off some other trade proposals I've seen Boston making on here. The thought being that you would be freeing up 7 million or so in additional cap space, while also gaining a 1'st and 3rd, which could be bundled up with some other assets to make a big trade, maybe for a guy like Chychrun or something. Schmid is obviously a downgrade but an acceptable backup, and if you prefer an in house backup would still likely be worth something to another team as a trade chip. We could also put Toffoli in the mix?

But yah I hear you, I don't expect Boston to make any moves like this. Maybe in the offseason? Cheers

ANA would consider a RW prospect, but LW will be getting pretty busy with Gauthier added

Zegras
Gauthier
Vatrano/Killorn
Lundestrom (as long as Strome is 3C)
Jones

Otherwise probably somewhere a shade below 1st rd value

You can have Graeme Clarke and a 3rd

Not familiar with his game but after a quick glance it seems fair on value. Might lean 1st rounder if anyone offered it straight up, otherwise I’d be cool with that

I’d do the 1st, 2nd deals. I wouldn’t do the Tanev deal. Go after depth PK forwards.

Jake Evans, Trenin come to mind

Yeah if someone offers you a 1st I’d have to think NJD taps out and says thanks for the consideration, and if that offer is out there I would take it as Anaheim.

Depending on the situation and what other moves are in store NJD might be able to swing the balance over a similar offer slightly by needing less/no retention

Would this team make 2nd round?

I would say they make playoffs…but 2nd round…I dunno.

Yah, I mean. In a playoff context, that is an amazing forward core, a elite top six and a great bottom six to boot. Also great goaltending. But the defense is still shaky (they'll be great in time, L Hughes and S Nemec will be studs, but for now they are still very young). My goal was to at least buttress that up with two solid shutdown guys. Then, if Hamilton comes back, with Seigs, it's actually not bad depth wise, it's just lacking maturity in the top four. But could the massive improvement in goaltending help that, and ultimately allow the offense to lead the way?

Depends. I'd prefer if all of this happened with a different coach. Once Nemec and L Hughes fully develop though, I could see this being a contender all the way.

If healthy going in with that Dcore, goaltending I can trust, and the forwards. I’d pick us over any team in the east.

It would be something…and at least another trip to 2nd round would help development of young guys.

Yah that makes sense also. my thinking with Tanev was to add a shutdown guy responsible enough to play a first pairing and help get a handle on the mistakes rookies like Hughes will make. Otherwise it's hard to assemble a proper first pair. I think if we could tie L Hughes and Nemec to solid responsble guys, add in a guy like Hamilton to feast on third pairing competition, while cycling in the remaining Seigs, Marino, Miller types, all while playing a more disciplined defensive game, then - while perhaps not world beating - you'd still have a "strong enough" defensive unit, playing in front of a high end goaltender. Together, my thought is that this would be able to weather the storm, enough to allow our world-beating offense to do it's thing. If Ulmark hits his stride, the defense can focus on minimizing mistakes and nailing their coverage, then I think the offense could carry us quite far.

If you imagine this roster a little bit into the future, with a more mature L Hughes and Nemec, I would call them contenders. I would call the defense one of their strengths. The tricky part is their current inexperience.

I like miller enough

Hughes,Nemec,Veteran Quality LD,Marino,Bahl,Miller (Bahl+Miller replaced by Siegs and Hamilton come playoff time)

But our PK is lacking, especially without McLeod who was our best in that area.

See this is where I'm curious about your thoughts regarding Lindy. To me, if we are talking about Seig and Hamilton of last season (which I believe is who they are, I just cannot accept that they forgot how to play defense), then I'd agree. Even with one additional dman you could run out

Seig - Nemec
L Hughes - Marino
Grzelcyk - Hamilton
Bahl

At their peak guys like Seigenthaler and Marino were able to carry that. Currently though they don't quite seem there. To me I tie that in with many players regressing, which I further tie into the coaching.

Even then, with the amount that L Hughes and Nemec need, if the goal were to go all in, I'd be tempted to add a higher end player just for that top pairing. Even one year from now, L Hughes + Marino may be that, but if we are going "all in" on this season? I'd say you'd need someone a bit more established.

That said, I generally agree with you.

I think Lindy should be fired ASAP.

Seems like he wants the devils to play a much less controlled game. Instead of holding the puck, fire it into the general area of the front of the net. Less skating involved (which is our strength). I also hate the stupid power play drop pass more than anything. The only thing that makes it even remotely viable is Jack and Bratt’s ridiculous talent. But having 4 of our guys and 4 of their guys all lined up on the blueline and hoping Jack or Bratt can find a way through is dumb. And stops everyone else from moving while they wait at the blueline.

From your lips to God's ears, brother. That's why I am tempted to say that if we address goaltending in a big way, plus maybe some depth here and there, then any coach worth his salt should be able to make that team a contender. There is just too much talent.