yave1964 Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 PRESEASON OUTLOOK Rask out-Ullmark in. Krejci off into the sunset, Coyle moved into his role. A team that is always in the conversation with some changes but mostly intact looking for another run. FINAL RECORD 51-26-5 107 POINTS 4th in the Atlantic. Lost a 7 game series to Carolina in the first round. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR All Eight spots in the East were basically decided before Christmas, Boston was in it was a matter of fighting for position. Boston got red hot in mid February, they defeated the Sens on February 19th 3-2 the first of a five game winning streak and they 17-3-1 through early April. At that point they were still in contention for the Division title. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR They lost 5 of their next 7, stumbled to 4th but managed to hold Washinton off for the first wild card, setting up a series with Carolina. For a 7 game series it was a snoozer, not a single game was close until game 7 which was 3-1 until Boston snuck one in with 22 second left and really wasnt much of a game. WHAT WENT RIGHT Bergeron nearly point a game pace as he gets closer to being a lock for the Hall. Pastrnak down a bit but it is hard to call a 40 goal year a down year. Marchand was very good as usual. Hall, Coyle, Haula had solid secondary seasons. Craig smith punched the clock on his typical season. Jake Debrusk asked for a trade which management refused, instead they put him on the first line and he performed admirably. Trent Frederic established himself as a 4th line shut down ball of hate. Swayman came out of nowhere and established himself as a real deal goalie. Ullmark overcame a wretched start to finish strong. McAvoy had a great year on the back end, GrZelcyk had a solid year on the back end. Hampus Lindholm came over from Anaheim and signed long term. WHAT WENT WRONG Ullmark looked like a bust early before righting the ship and having a decent year. Carlo had a lost season on the back end. Nick foligno came over as a free agent and was a non entity. Zboril looks lost and is a bust. Rask tried a comeback, could not stay healthy and was forced to retire. Lots of kids got looks and none did much with it. FREE AGENTS AND DRAFT PICKS They have no first rounder this year (Traded for Lindholm) and no second for next year and the year after. As for free agents, Bergeron is an UFA but has stated he will be back or retire. He is coming off a contract that paid him 6.9 million per year, he is loyal and may take less to stay. Lazar, a sercicable 4th liner likely wont be back. The biggie is NEXT year, at the end of 22-23 they are staring down Pastrnak as an UFA as well as Craig Smith, Nosek, Haula, Foligno, Wagner and Clifton are all UFAs as well. TOP PROSPECTS Fabian Lysell is a very good prospect but is several years away. As for what is ready to step in now...Studnicka is considered a top six center in waiting but in 37 games in the nhl he has 1 goal and 6 assists and looks...not good. Cam Hughes and Oskar Steen were the offensive leaders with Providence but neither looks like NHL caliber. Senyshin is now 24 and he looks more of a bust at this point. Jack Ahcan is 24 still trying to gain ground as a bottom pair defender. The Providence club is loaded with a bunch of 23, 24 year olds who are still stuck in the AHL. Marc McLaughlin may or may not be a prospect, the jury is still out. The combo of 'prospects' Froden, Ahcan, Studnicka, Zboril, Mclaughlin, Vaakanainen, Stten and Blidh threw up this combined stat line GAMES 125 GOALS 9 ASSISTS 21 POINTS 30 PLUS/MINUS minus 9 they have one of the worst three prospect pools in the NHL. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR A quick glance at Mcavoy and you see a damn solid NHL defender but he was anything but, he gave the puck away 65 times with only 29 takeaways, he had 166 shots on net and a whopping 129 others that missed the net entirely so in other words he missed the net over 40 percent of his shots. His Corsi was a good 56 percent but only a smidge better than Mike Reilly and Gryzelk. IMHO his nice peripheral numbers are a result of playing top pair minutes usually with an enormous amount of offensive faceoff and zone time with the top line of Pasta, the Rat and Bergeron on the ice with him over half of the five on five time when he is on the ice. Dont get me wrong, I think he is a player, just a step below the very good or great defenders and more a product of his environment with no other defender fighting for his offensive zone time. With Lindholm coming aboard for a full season I can see Mcavoy slipping easily into a 45 point a year area. He is nowhere near as good as one would think just looking at the raw numbers. OFFSEASON OUTLOOK first order of business signing Bergerov for whatever he wants both money and term, he took a short deal last time, he probably will again but they need to get it done. Second, lock up Pasta before he becomes a free agent next year. Third, a true second line center and more quality on the back end are neccesary if they are to stay up there in the toughest division in hockey. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorkyM Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 They will be better next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 That prospect pool is weaker than weak, esp at center depth, they are beyond screwed if Patrice retires. The fact the core of Berg, Marchy and a DK, even Chara combo had 3 shots at a cup and only came away with one....Uhg. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorkyM Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 You could be correct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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