Bruins Sign Alex Chiasson + Who Will Be Boston's?  | Pucks with Haggs - video Dailymotion

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Check out the latest episode of "Pucks with Haggs" as Joe Haggerty welcomes the Boston Globe's Conor Ryan, co-host of Bruins Beat and Poke the Bear! The two react to the Boston Bruins signing right winger Alex Chiasson to a PTO deal, Boston's approach to replacing the void left by Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, who will be the next captain, and more!  0:00 Introduction 2:00 Bruins sign Alex Chiasson 5:15 Bruins are giving themselves options and depth after losing key players 8:00 Are there any other PTO (Professional Tryout Contract) candidates that Bruins could pursue? 11:00 Should Bruins target Mark Scheifele or will they pursue someone else to start at center? 15:00 Should Bruins target Elias Lindholm over Mark Scheifele? 19:00 Bruins need to find a top line center 20:00 Summer of Pastrňák 21:45 Who will become Bruins captain? 33:00 Is there even room on this roster for Alex Chiasson? 41:00 Outro  This episode of the Pucks with Haggs Podcast is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook! Because right now, when you bet on a Super Bowl Winner, you can GET BONUS BETS EVERY TIME THEY WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON!  21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.

Transcript

00:00 Pucks with Ags is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS

00:04 Media Network.

00:07 Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Ags podcast.

00:10 As always, I'm your host, Joe Hagerty.

00:12 You can find my stuff at joehagerty.substack.com and I encourage you to take the premium membership

00:18 where you can read more of the stuff that I write about the Boston Bruins and the NHL.

00:23 Post something just about every day during the week.

00:25 With me today, first time on the Pucks with Ags podcast, Boston.com's Connor Ryan.

00:30 Connor, thanks very much for joining us.

00:32 Absolutely.

00:33 Thanks for having me.

00:34 How's your summer been?

00:36 Pretty good.

00:37 Pretty low key now that we've gotten past the waves of retirements and all those things.

00:42 I think Bruins fans are probably traumatized after this summer.

00:45 I think it's starting to wind down a little bit.

00:47 I think, as you said, the summer is ending now.

00:50 Summer camp's over.

00:51 We're starting to get back into the swing of things.

00:53 I'm looking forward to it, Joe.

00:55 No more of waiting through the summer and seeing what's next for the Bruins.

00:58 We get to finally get to training camp, see what goes on moving forward.

01:02 Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to it too.

01:04 It has been a little bit of pain this summer.

01:08 A little more than usual with the retirements and some long-time standbys going on.

01:12 One thing that's not painful is the sponsors for the show.

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02:05 All right, Connor, let's jump right into this first biggest news item with the Bruins over

02:10 the last week.

02:11 And I'm sure you'd love to talk about this.

02:13 A former BU product.

02:14 Another one coming to the Bruins.

02:16 Alex Chasen.

02:17 This is a guy that the Bruins...

02:19 Yeah, count up those Terriers.

02:21 There's a lot of them.

02:22 There's like a Terriers mafia going on right now.

02:25 This is a guy that the Bruins have liked for a long time, going back to when they had the

02:29 Tyler Sagan trade in 2013.

02:32 That was a guy they were trying to get from Dallas.

02:34 I think they ended up settling for Matt Fraser instead, but the guy they really liked was

02:37 Alex Chasen.

02:38 We've heard his name a couple of times associated with the Bruins.

02:41 Makes sense.

02:42 He's a power play guy.

02:43 He's a big winger, 6'4".

02:45 He's been fairly productive if you look at him as like kind of a third line sort of option

02:50 for your NHL roster.

02:52 Was with the Red Wings a little bit of last season, about 20 games or so.

02:55 Just your take on this.

02:57 Here on a PTO, which is a tryout agreement during training camp, so no guarantees he

03:02 gets a roster spot.

03:03 But how do you think he fits into the mix going into training camp?

03:06 Yeah, I mean, I think if you're the Bruins, you're just looking to kind of stockpile that

03:10 forward depth and looking for, you know, leaving no stone unturned when it comes to looking

03:14 at adding depth to this team.

03:16 It doesn't hurt to bring in a guy like him on a PTO.

03:18 As you said, he's a bit of a journeyman.

03:20 He's been around quite a bit, but wherever he's gone, he's been pretty productive in

03:23 terms of what his role is.

03:25 If you're looking for just a third or a fourth line guy that you can kind of pencil in on

03:29 the net front on the power play, maybe on the second power play unit and generate some

03:33 offense, it's worth giving a flyer on a guy like that.

03:36 But as you said, it's been linked to the Bruins before.

03:37 They like him and they like his skill set as a guy who's 6'3", 6'4" can be productive

03:42 in those roles.

03:44 So if you're looking for a guy just to add to that competition, that's one thing that

03:47 feels like every training camp, whenever Don Sweeney has his press conference to lead off

03:52 training camp, it's always talking about internal competition.

03:55 Something they always talk about every year going into camp.

03:57 So adding a guy like Chayison into the mix, you can kind of further push other guys, add

04:03 competition to maybe some of the younger guys into the lineup.

04:05 It doesn't hurt if you're the Bruins, if you can bring the guy into the mix and seeing

04:08 what you really have in him.

04:10 Yeah, and one other thing I like about this is I think they did need to bring maybe another

04:17 forward or two in because of James Van Riem's recent history.

04:22 You know, a lot of injuries has missed a lot of time.

04:26 You know, let's say he gets banged up in training camp and isn't ready to start the year.

04:29 I think you have your head, your bets a little bit.

04:31 If you have a guy like Alex Chayison around that you can plug into a winger spot and,

04:35 you know, maybe you have to rearrange the deck chairs a little bit to make it work with

04:39 him if Van Riem's deck is out.

04:41 But that's one of the things I've kind of looked at with this Bruins plan and the guys

04:45 that they've brought in is that unless they had some other options, some other veteran

04:51 options and in a pinch, he could certainly play a second line winger role.

04:56 Let's say JVR starts the year there, gets hurt, something happens and you want to bring

05:00 a guy like this in.

05:01 I think it's good to have that kind of insurance in case injuries hit at the wing spots where

05:07 having traded Taylor Hall, having lost some other players in free agency, maybe your depth

05:12 is not as far as NHL players go what it once was.

05:15 And this is a guy you bring in and would give you instant depth if you can keep him around

05:19 after training camp.

05:20 Yeah, absolutely.

05:21 I think it's something where you look at just the Bruins giving themselves options.

05:25 As soon as that, you know, they announced the PTO deal, you have people worried about

05:29 like, oh, the Bruins are, if there's any year where you're bringing up some younger players

05:33 to, you know, fight for a spot in the line, if it's this year and you're signing these

05:36 veteran guys, it's like, well, have those guys earn it, right?

05:39 Everyone wants to talk about a guy like Fabian Lysell or these guys that of course everyone

05:43 is intrigued by them.

05:44 There are these kind of shiny new prospects that you hope can crack a spot on the roster,

05:48 but it's not a guarantee, right?

05:50 You need someone to push them throughout these games.

05:52 You can't just give a guy like Lysell, you know, the expectation going into that he's

05:56 going to seize one of those spots and just hope it happens.

05:59 You need some of these veteran guys like Jason who can push them.

06:02 And if Lysell can put together a really strong camp, a good preseason and fight for those

06:06 spots, that's great.

06:07 He's earned it.

06:08 But I think it's important to have these veteran guys up there that if these younger guys don't

06:13 step up, the spot's there.

06:15 And I think Jason, it's not like he's this like project or this guy that's a fringe player.

06:19 Like he's kind of proven out of these various stops that you put him in a certain role,

06:22 he's going to produce.

06:23 So there's value in that, especially if you're the Bruins, you're signing him to PTO deal.

06:27 Yeah.

06:28 I think Mccullough has become the trendy guy now with the Bruins fans that they think is

06:32 going to win a spot and all of a sudden push for, I think, you know, Lysell has lost a

06:36 little bit of the luster in, you know, the last year, year and a half or so, like obviously

06:41 still talented, was a former first round pick, but it seems like coming off a year where

06:45 McCullough was second in the HL and rookie scoring definitely, you know, showed a lot

06:50 of promise was one of Providence's best players.

06:53 He's almost becoming that sort of it prospect now where they're pinning a lot of hopes on,

06:57 but I'm with you when we actually have a question from a fan, I'm going to, we're going to get

07:00 to a little bit later on Twitter that kind of encapsulates that feeling that you're talking

07:05 about in that sentiment pretty perfectly.

07:08 But Alex, Jason, I think there's no, there's no downside with a guy like this.

07:11 Do you foresee any other potential PTO kind of guys?

07:15 I'd thrown a few out there a couple of weeks ago.

07:17 Paul Stasny was one that maybe made potential sense because he can play center.

07:22 He's a veteran guy.

07:23 He's a good two way player.

07:25 Good, but any, you know, and center, I thought was somewhere they may bring somebody in and

07:28 a PTO just given the players that they have right now and throwing another player into

07:33 that mix certainly wouldn't hurt.

07:35 Even though you've got Jesper Boquist, Morgan Geeky, Pavel Zaka, Charlie Coyle, certainly

07:40 Trent Frederick could factor into that.

07:42 Mark McLaughlin, Johnny Beecher.

07:44 There's a lot of guys right now that are going to be in the mix for possible center spots

07:47 going into training camp.

07:48 Do you foresee any other PTOs at this point with training camp around the corner?

07:53 Yeah, I think if you're the Bruins, you're trying to stockpile as much depth as you can.

07:56 So I think Stasny is a guy that makes a lot of sense if you're just looking for any more

07:59 additional help down the middle.

08:01 It's something where, as you said, there are plenty of options to turn to, but is it kind

08:05 of clear cut where those guys are going to fall into the lineup or which guys can kind

08:09 of perform in those set rules?

08:10 So I think if you're the Bruins and you have the ability to bring in a few more guys, it

08:14 doesn't hurt as you're trying to figure out where exactly these guys fall into the lineup.

08:17 Like I think people have talked about a guy like Geeky as someone who could probably produce

08:21 more in regular minutes, but other than that, like you're looking at, you know, a Patrick

08:25 Brown or, you know, even younger players, Johnny Beach or what have you, if you're looking

08:30 for a set spot for down the lineup, a guy like Stasny, who again has kind of carved

08:34 out a role as a pretty dependable third, fourth line center, doesn't hurt bringing them in

08:38 if you have the opportunity to do it.

08:40 So I think, yeah, targeting guys down the middle on PTO deal seems like a smart move

08:45 just to round out what's already a pretty deep forward core in terms of just the amount

08:48 of various ways they can kind of tinker with this line.

08:51 I'm going into training camp.

08:53 Yeah, they definitely have numbers.

08:54 There's no question about that.

08:55 It's just a matter of how these guys are going to fit and how well they're going to perform.

08:59 Geeky, to your point, I think they definitely have high hopes for him that he's going to

09:04 produce more in a perhaps a bigger role with a few more minutes than what he was playing

09:08 with before and that he can still elevate his game and he's not quite a finished product

09:13 at the NHL level.

09:14 You know, we'll see, though, when you when you start projecting all these guys into greater

09:19 roles, bigger things, you know, you're reaching a little bit or you're asking for more.

09:22 You're not necessarily going to get and you better be prepared if you don't get what you

09:27 think you're going to get.

09:28 It's the same with Charlie Coyle and Zaka.

09:29 You know, they're going to be elevating into roles, too, that are beyond what they've done

09:34 in the past.

09:35 And they're going to be asked to do more this year than they've ever done before.

09:37 And you're basically asking, I'd say, every center on your roster to do more than they've

09:42 ever done before.

09:43 And for that position, with that kind of responsibility and the players that they're replacing, it's

09:48 a huge ask.

09:50 And you know, that leads into a next topic.

09:54 And I was watching NHL Network this morning with my son before we went to camp, and it

09:58 was Jameson Coyle and Mike Rupp.

09:59 And they were sort of rehashing some things, some some rumors, some discussions, some all

10:04 this stuff from the summer.

10:05 And one of the things that Rupper brought up was Mark Schaefeli on the Bruins.

10:09 And they even had the line charts out with Schaefeli as the top line center for the Bruins.

10:14 By the way, they had Jesper Bokewitz as the fourth line center on their line projections,

10:18 which was interesting.

10:19 Patrick Brown was nowhere to be found.

10:21 That's probably why I forgot to even mention him when I was on Saturday.

10:24 Even though he's in there and I think he's a good penalty killer, face off guy, like

10:27 those things that he brings to the table that may bring value to a winning hockey team.

10:32 But they talked about Schaefeli going to the Bruins and if that's going to get revisited

10:35 now or during the season.

10:38 And obviously they talked about a goalie going the other way.

10:40 And Linus Almark was the guy again that they talked about getting shipped to Winnipeg,

10:44 which would, of course, be the carousel of Hellebuck also going somewhere as well.

10:49 That would be a lot of dominoes to fall.

10:51 Is that something that you see as a possibility?

10:54 I mean, I know Schaefeli obviously is a top notch offensive player.

10:58 He's still at an age where he can produce prodigious offensive numbers.

11:02 I like what he would bring as far as being able to play with the top wingers that the

11:06 Bruins have and give you the kind of offensive production you were getting with Patrice Bergeron

11:11 when he was here.

11:13 But you're also going to take a step back defensively.

11:15 I don't think there's any question about that.

11:16 He's not a two way center like Bergeron was or even David Creechie was for that matter.

11:21 And also like I continue to want to avoid Winnipeg Jets players just because of the

11:27 cloud that's been over that team for the last two or three years.

11:31 Rick Bonas lost his mind at the end of the playoffs last spring when they were a little

11:36 bit eliminated, basically intimating the players around him.

11:39 We're not, you know, we're quitting.

11:40 We're not competing like he was frustrated with them.

11:42 Paul Maurice basically quit on the team and then went to Florida and took them to the

11:46 Stanley Cup final last year.

11:47 And a lot of the comments that he was complimentary that Maurice was making about the Florida

11:52 Panthers, about the players taking control of the room, about all that stuff, I also

11:56 felt was kind of a backhanded slap at the Winnipeg Jets and what he'd been dealing with

12:00 before he went to Florida.

12:02 And Schaefeli is absolutely in the middle of that mix as one of their best players.

12:06 So there's trouble signs.

12:07 There's things I don't like about it, but beggars can't be choosers if you're the Bruins.

12:11 And it turns into a thing where they absolutely need a legit NHL number one center.

12:16 And that's the best guy available.

12:17 You may have to do a deal with the devil.

12:19 I don't even want to think about the extension that may come with that if they had to trade

12:23 for a player like that and give a value for him.

12:26 But is that something that you see as a possibility?

12:29 Is that something you like?

12:30 And if not, who is your guy on the radar, off the radar, been discussed, not discussed,

12:36 that you think would be the great target for the Bruins to go after as a potential number

12:41 one to bring in from the outside?

12:42 Yeah, I mean, Joe, I think you're going to hit the nail on the head with deal with the

12:45 devil when it comes with Schaefeli in terms of like, listen, the Bruins are desperate

12:50 in terms of having a capable top six center.

12:53 And Mark Schaefeli is that.

12:54 And I look at where that value is, I think it comes with just setting the positive domino

12:58 effect of just having a guy that you can slot in there and how much he pushes guys further

13:02 down the lineup like probably coil in a pinch can hold to a top six spot.

13:07 We saw in the playoffs, but over 82 games asking a lot for a guy right like the domino

13:11 effect of having some of these guys slide back into roles where they're more catered

13:15 to is huge.

13:16 But if you're, you know, investing in a guy like Schaefeli to step into that role, yes,

13:21 he's a guy who's coming up 40 goal season can drive play, put him with Pasternak, probably

13:25 get good results.

13:26 But when you look at just the other kind of warning signs there, whether it's the defensive

13:30 game where, you know, if he's your guy next to Marsh and and the breath, Scoppa, Sonak,

13:35 it's an offense only line, right?

13:37 You all of a sudden you have, you know, you obviously it's a big departure going from

13:41 Bergeron to a line that's going to be this.

13:44 Yeah, exactly.

13:45 But especially like that, where you're going from top, you know, two way grouping to a

13:50 group that pretty much is gonna be trading chances down the ice.

13:53 And that's also including what exactly is like a Pablo Zaca line going to be as well

13:57 when they were kind of the same offensive oriented kind of grouping there as well.

14:01 So you're sacrificing more defense, which you look at the way this team is built.

14:05 It's kind of going to have to be your foundation this year in terms of your success has to

14:11 be rooted in defense and goaltending.

14:14 I think the mantra or the talk about the Winnipeg Jets in the locker room, pretty concerning.

14:20 It's one thing if it was just one player, but it seems like it's just a stench kind

14:24 of following that team.

14:25 And again, you can preach all about the the Bruins, you know, culture and what they have.

14:30 But introducing that as kind of your savior or your another big addition, I feel like

14:35 it's not something exactly you want to do with this team that's already kind of going

14:38 through a bit of a transition.

14:39 Yes, they still have guys like Marsham.

14:41 They talk about guys like, you know, McEvoy and Pasternak who have been here for a while,

14:45 but still adding this other voice into the room that has a lot of narratives surrounding

14:51 him.

14:52 Not a huge fan of that.

14:53 Again, beggars can't be choosers.

14:54 But I think if you're the Bruins, whether it's, you know, waiting for more around the

14:59 trade deadline when hopefully things should open up more and teams aren't as, you know,

15:04 stuck against the cap or teams are holding on to assets more or just, you know, punting

15:09 and waiting until next offseason when, you know, a guy like Elias Lindholm, who I think

15:13 is probably the ideal target.

15:15 Again, you run the risk of like focusing in on these students to be unrestricted free

15:19 agents and who the hell knows happens between now and then in terms of whether they get

15:23 traded, signed elsewhere, what have you.

15:26 But I think that's a guy that if you're investing in the next piece, no one's going to replace

15:31 previous version.

15:32 But if you find a guy that's a very capable two way center that can give you 60, 70 points

15:37 can anchor a top six role.

15:39 Those should be the guys you're investing in as opposed to guy like Strike Blue, who

15:42 can score you 40 goals will also probably be in the ice for 40 goals against.

15:45 I just think it's not a guy worth investing in in that spot.

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17:08 Well, this is why I feel like the trade deadline is the right time to do it or midseason, even

17:15 if it's a little bit before the deadline.

17:17 And Sweeney has done a good job.

17:19 Don Sweeney has done a good job of, you know, preemptively making deals sometimes ahead

17:23 of the deadline.

17:24 A week, 10 days, two weeks, three weeks, a month even, you know, to make to get ahead

17:28 of all the, you know, the fracas that happens right around the actual trade deadline.

17:33 But like we've seen this in recent past, trades for Taylor Hall, signs him to an extension.

17:39 Trades for Hampus Lindholm, signs him to an extension.

17:41 I think this could be part of the plan for the Bruins and the game plan this year is

17:45 to go into the season, take a few months, maybe you're asking more out of guys than

17:49 they're capable of over a long term, but at least get a few months into the season, see

17:54 what you have, and then, you know, potentially Lindholm, potentially Shifley, you know, maybe

17:59 even, you know, Ryan Nugent Hopkins is available from the Edmonton Oilers.

18:03 But there's some guys out there that maybe they're available and you can go and make

18:07 that deal.

18:08 Now, obviously Nugent Hopkins has signed for a long time, so that's kind of a different

18:11 category.

18:12 But Lindholm and Shifley, those are guys, rental players, you could bring in and do

18:17 the same thing with them that you did with Lindholm and Hall, where you trade, bring

18:20 them in, maybe you give up a little bit more because you know there's an idea that they

18:23 may stay in Boston, you know, and it's not necessarily a "rental," quote unquote, pure

18:28 rental.

18:29 And, you know, but you bring them in and they become the answer for the next three to four

18:33 years, which buys you some time to figure out your internal answer, your long term answer,

18:39 your guy that's going to be the next Patrice Bergeron, whether you draft and develop or

18:42 target somebody and trade for them.

18:44 But, you know, I do feel like Sweeney has shown us part of one of the things he's good

18:49 at is targeting rental guys in the last year of their deals, trading for them when it's

18:53 a need, and then making sure that all their ducks are in a row for the extension, you

18:57 know, when they come in and as long as it's a good fit, you see that happen and they become

19:01 a part of the Bruins fold.

19:02 So I could see something like that happening with a legit frontline center to bring them

19:07 in.

19:08 You know, they just need to make sure that the guy's the right fit.

19:11 And I'm with you.

19:12 Lindholm, I think, is much more a Boston Bruins player than Schaefeli, especially for what

19:17 they're going to be asking for a top center to play in all situations, to play a 200-foot

19:21 game, to potentially kill penalties, win face-offs, in addition to producing offensively.

19:26 And it's going to be interesting to see how that whole thing goes down.

19:32 But I do think at the end of the day, they're probably going to need one of those guys at

19:35 some point in this year.

19:36 If there's going to be a come-to-Jesus moment with this Bruins team, we're just not getting

19:40 what we need out of the center position and we need to go get somebody else.

19:43 Yeah, exactly.

19:44 I mean, it's one of those things where this team, the way they're built, they can hang

19:48 in, win 2-1 games, but you're going to have way too many of those games where I think

19:52 it's going to be tight contests and just not having the offensive firepower or asking too

19:56 much of a guy like Coyle or even Zaka to continually get the most out of the talent they're surrounded

20:02 with.

20:03 So I think it's going to come at some point.

20:04 I think for Don Sweeney, it's all about just being patient, seeing what's out there, and

20:09 letting this market develop.

20:10 I think he saw it's been a trend all throughout this offseason of teams just don't have the

20:15 financial leeway or they're too hesitant to move on from prospects.

20:19 But if you wait until the middle of the season when teams get desperate, teams are looking

20:23 to finally make a move part ways with guys, that's when hopefully the market picks up.

20:28 And whether it's a guy like Lindholm, as you said, or, you know, I think that's the guy

20:32 that makes the most sense.

20:33 But again, I'm sure the Bruins covered him, but sure do a whole bunch of other teams will

20:37 probably value a guy like him more than a guy like Shifley.

20:40 So that's also the part of the battle is the Bruins always talk about, you know, this is

20:45 the year finally they stopped moving assets.

20:47 They stopped moving feature draft capital or what have you.

20:49 Might have to do it one more time, but get to a guy like Lindholm, which again, you kind

20:53 of have to weigh that price.

20:54 But considering that kind of the main missing piece in terms of building a sustainable roster

21:00 as part of this kind of retool they have in the post-Bertrand era, you desperately need

21:04 a top line center somewhere in the mix there.

21:06 Enjoying seeing snippets of the summer of Pasternak that we're getting through social

21:10 media here.

21:11 Yes, he was in Prague for a soccer game, leading the rowdy hooligans in the crowd and

21:17 in chance and then apparently buying an entire round of drinks for everybody in his section

21:21 or whatever was going on there.

21:23 But you know, we're seeing bits and pieces of Pasternak summer here, whether it's pushing

21:28 the baby carriage in Boston and seeing Milan Lucic or this, that it seems like he's having

21:34 a great summer and he's going to be in a good frame of mind come September when training

21:38 camp rolls around.

21:39 Yeah, exactly.

21:40 I feel like that's like an annual tradition.

21:41 I think it was the last year he was at like a tennis match and he was part, I think it

21:44 was a soccer match in over in Prague and he was partying there too.

21:47 I feel like that's again, it's one of the signs of the season's almost here.

21:50 It's like late August, Paz is doing his annual tour around Prague and enjoying life and getting

21:55 ready for the new season.

21:57 And yeah, I mean, he's going to be out to be a guy that is going to be the focal point

22:00 of your offense.

22:01 Rather evident with a guy coming off of a 61 goal season, but you're going to need him

22:04 to pretty much be driving play.

22:07 If he either takes a step back or injuries or what have you hit with him, then all of

22:12 a sudden you're in a spot where you're, I don't even know where you are.

22:14 You're like the worst version of the Islanders, your, your defense based on goaltending, but

22:19 you don't have enough firepower to really win you some of those tight contests.

22:22 So it's going to be, you know, he's going to be probably the most important player going

22:26 into this upcoming season.

22:27 Yeah.

22:28 And I didn't realize the stat until I saw it on the NHL network the other day, 34 more

22:32 goals than anybody else in the Bruins last year for Pasternak, which really illustrates

22:37 just how much he carried them offensively at times last year.

22:40 And I think it could be an even wider gap this year.

22:43 Maybe not because Marchand's, you know, a year and a half, two years removed from the

22:47 double hip surgery, and maybe he'll have a little more, you know, oomph to score goals

22:52 than he did at points last year when he went through some Valley scoring wise.

22:57 I've asked everybody that's been on the last, I don't know, month or so this question and

23:04 this may be a loaded question for you because of your BU ties, but who do you see as the

23:10 who's going to wear the C for the Boston Bruins and why I've long held that.

23:16 I think it's Marchand should be Marchand.

23:18 He's the logical choice.

23:19 He's the only holdover.

23:20 If you don't count Milan Lucic coming back from the 2011 Stanley cup team, he's the only

23:24 guy that's won.

23:26 He certainly will feel, I think the most responsibility and the most accountability to carry on the

23:32 mantle that Patrice Bergeron, the leadership mantle that he had and carry on everything

23:36 that Patrice Bergeron built here.

23:39 I think a lot of guys would take that seriously, but I think Marchand would take it most seriously

23:43 and take it most to heart and take it most seriously.

23:47 So that would be my guy.

23:48 But you know, obviously McAvoy's a candidate.

23:50 Pasternak, I think certainly deserves consideration and a lot of discussion.

23:54 I think all three of them are going to wear letters regardless of who gets the captaincy

23:58 and maybe it's going to be overplayed a little bit, who gets to see, because they're all

24:01 going to be equal leaders in most respects.

24:04 But who do you believe is the captaincy and where do you think the Bruins are leaning

24:08 in that direction?

24:09 Yeah, I mean, obviously Galleg MacAvoy makes plenty of sense long term, but I think when

24:14 you look at just the state of this team and the kind of era they're in now where they're

24:19 transitioning from this two decades long, you know, luxury of having a guy like Bergeron

24:25 and Tarr and these guys are such, you know, commanding presences in the dressing room

24:30 to still have that kind of last piece there with Marchand in terms of being that bridging

24:35 that those kind of differing eras you're in kind of now.

24:38 I think that's really important.

24:39 As you said, he's still a guy that if anyone was going to take seriously the mantle and

24:43 the responsibility of learning from, you know, being that next guy up to Bergeron and carrying

24:49 on that tradition, it's the guy who's kind of been stapled to his hip in Marchand over

24:52 the years, right?

24:53 So this is a guy that I think takes it very seriously, will always be the first one to

24:57 tell you how much Bergeron means to him and the impact he's had.

25:00 And I think he's a guy that, you know, even look at, you know, previous dev camps, usually

25:05 it's Marchand, the guy who's talking to these guys about what they need to do, you know,

25:09 follow by example, work out in the gym, all these things that, you know, I think he's

25:14 a guy that can kind of lead the way in that regard.

25:15 He's an emotional leader, but as you know, I think Bruce Cassey is the one that's always

25:19 mentioned why he's a natural fit for a leader because he holds everyone to a very high standard.

25:24 And as you're, there's Bruins team, that's kind of going into the unknown with this post

25:28 Bergeron, Crecce era.

25:30 I think having a guy who's been there, done that, it's been part of this era has more

25:34 or less been Bergeron's understudy for over a decade now.

25:37 I think having him as the C, I think is the important kind of next step there.

25:41 And yes, he's, he's 35, who knows how long he'd have that for, but also wore the C for

25:46 three years too.

25:47 Like in terms of, I think what that role is and that responsibility as you're waiting

25:51 into this next chapter of the Bruins, I think having a guy like him as that commanding authority

25:57 still makes the most sense.

25:58 McAvoy and Pasternak, they will get their chances as they're not going away anytime

26:03 soon.

26:04 But I think for right now in this moment, I think Martians the far and away best choice

26:08 there in that regard.

26:09 Yeah.

26:10 And look to your point, McAvoy, his time is going to come to where there's no question

26:15 about it.

26:16 I mean, Martians only signed for like two years this year, next year, I believe.

26:19 So like, he probably is not going to play beyond that.

26:22 You know, maybe I'm not going to count them out.

26:24 Maybe, you know, he's one of those, like, they're going to have to rip the shirt off

26:27 my back kind of guys as far as retirement goes, but like, he's going to be 36, 37 at

26:32 that point.

26:33 Like that, you know, he, that may be it for him.

26:36 And then the C goes on to somebody else after that.

26:38 So we're not talking about a long-term captaincy here.

26:41 I just think the natural way of things would be Bergeron passing to Martian and Martian

26:47 passing to Pasternak or McAvoy.

26:49 And let's like full disclosure, let's be honest about Martian.

26:52 Like 10 years ago, would we have ever entertained him being captain material for the Boston

26:57 Bruins?

26:58 No way.

26:59 Like he's obviously grown up, evolved, matured, learned from Patrice Bergeron.

27:02 I think a lot of what Bergeron has naturally has rubbed off on Martian and kind of brought

27:07 him more to center from when he was way out being a radical poopster for large portions

27:16 of his career.

27:17 And he's gone away from that to a large degree, because I think he realizes how much it hurts

27:21 the team and he wants to be a team guy.

27:24 So like that part of it, you know, is obviously there now where he's matured into that sort

27:29 of role and being considered.

27:30 I think some people may completely discount him immediately because they look at his past

27:34 and say, how can this guy be captain when he's done, you know, been suspended a billion

27:38 times, had to write over a million dollars in game checks, the NHL for suspensions and

27:42 fines like all that stuff.

27:44 Look the guys look the guys face twice, like all that stuff.

27:48 But I also think there's another part of it too, where like I think there was some weariness

27:52 maybe earlier in his career that he was almost too hard on the young guys and that was, you

27:58 know, not as patient with them as they were coming up and trying to break in.

28:01 And I think that's changed to add to your point, coming in and talking to the guy, the

28:05 younger guys, the prospects of development camp, I think as he's gotten older, he's gotten

28:09 better about that and sort of walk the line of like being demanding and accountable and

28:15 making holding everybody else accountable, but also understanding that like, you can't

28:19 be too hard on young guys that are still sort of building themselves up and breaking in

28:23 and sort of like going away from a little bit of the old school.

28:26 Like, you know, you're going to, you're going to have to prove to us that you've earned

28:29 it and then we'll ease up on you a little bit.

28:31 So like, that's a huge component to being captain too, is to integrating young players,

28:36 creating that welcoming dressing room that Patrice Pergeron has really created over the

28:41 years and Zdeno Char too, who like would not have hazing, did not even want to use the

28:46 word rookie, was really good about that stuff.

28:49 So I think in some ways too, like people's perceptions, some people's perceptions have

28:54 to change about Marshend a little bit and finally evolve the way the players evolved

28:58 to view him as captain material, which like people like you and I that have been around

29:02 him for a long duration and have been in the dressing room, understand and see every day

29:06 how much of a leader and sort of a captain kind of guy he is to begin with anyway.

29:10 Yeah, exactly.

29:11 And it's one of those things where I feel like if he gets named captain, most of the

29:14 material will probably come from, I feel like it's like Toronto and these other markets.

29:18 Yeah, that's where it'll come from.

29:19 And I think for Bruinsveld, the only possible hang it was probably just that argument of

29:23 like long-term, like should you give it to him over McEvoy?

29:27 That's the only argument I could see like Bruinsveld having, which you want to focus

29:31 on that and you can, I still think it's kind of a non-issue, but I think Marshend in terms

29:34 of leading by example, how good he is working with younger players.

29:38 Like I feel like the thing that always stuck with me with Marshend when you talk about,

29:41 you know, a guy that gets called up from Providence or a younger player that has a really good

29:45 game or two, like last year, even talked about a guy like Lauko.

29:48 I think for him, we're coming from his kind of career trajectory of being this guy that

29:53 was kind of a grinding player, started on the fourth line and kind of built his way

29:57 up.

29:58 I think he has, he knows what patience is needed.

30:00 He identifies what guys who are really committed to working on their craft need to do to take

30:05 that next step.

30:06 Like every time he talks about these younger players, I always feel like he has a very

30:09 patient, you know, fresh perspective on that.

30:11 I think you kind of need that for, especially this team that is probably going to have to

30:15 show out a lot of patience for some of these younger players.

30:17 They try to carve out roles in this lineup.

30:20 So I think he's a guy that really makes a lot of sense in terms of being that kind of

30:24 that conduit of leadership for these younger players who are hopefully making that next

30:29 jump up to the NHL ranks this upcoming season.

30:31 All right, before we get to the Twitter question of the week, which is a new segment I completely

30:37 just invented here in this episode, be proud, you're on for the birth of this, Connor.

30:42 24th episode, I believe of the Pikes with Hags podcast.

30:46 Anything that you're working on, anything that you're hot about, anything you want to

30:49 talk about Bruins or NHL related, you know, that's kind of been on your mind that you

30:54 haven't really been able to talk about, you know, on a podcast or anything else right

30:58 at this second in the complete dead portion of the NHL offseason where everybody's at

31:04 their cottage and still like going to soccer games and partying it up right now before

31:08 captain's practice opens.

31:09 Yeah, you know, it's been a slow part of the summer.

31:12 I think my most exciting thing last week, I went to the Savannah Bananas game in Brockton.

31:16 That was, that was a highlight of my, of my week, Joe.

31:18 So it's nice.

31:20 I think for me, the only other thing is just looking ahead to next season.

31:25 People want to look at the fact that the Bruins have a whole bunch of cap space, have a lot

31:28 more fiscal flexibility to hopefully aggressively retool with a pretty solid foundation you

31:33 have with this team, especially defense, goaltending, what have you.

31:37 I still think Jake Dabrowski is the other big piece that not only for next year in terms

31:41 of whether or not you want to extend them and you look at just what Brendan Hagel got,

31:45 that could be a barometer of what you probably have to pay, pay him if you want to retain

31:50 him long term.

31:51 But he's a guy that you view possibly, he's going to be the condom of your offense.

31:55 But I think you have to see whether or not a guy like Jake Dabrowski at the wing without,

31:59 you know, a set proven top line center kind of drive and play with him, whether he can

32:04 be a guy that can drive play because he's a guy you look at his skill set and when he's

32:08 on he's driving to the net and he's generating high danger looks, grade A chances.

32:12 You should be a guy that kind of whoever you put with him, if he's playing his game should

32:16 generate chances.

32:17 Like if Nick Ritchie who can kind of just park himself in the net front and fall backwards

32:21 into 15 goals a season, you think Jake Dabrowski with how aggressive he is, can be a guy that

32:25 can consistently give you 30 goals regardless where you put them into the lineup.

32:29 So yeah, as much as I think people look at the new additions, like what Luchas can do

32:33 in a fourth line role, what Morgan can do with more minutes, JVR, what he has left in

32:37 the tank.

32:38 I think internally of guys who are coming back, Dabrowski is I think going to be a key

32:42 piece because I think we know possible not getting pencil men for at least 40 goals.

32:46 I think he's that could have a player.

32:47 You can have that expectation.

32:48 The brusque is this going to be, or he breaks through with 30 goals.

32:51 And if so, can he do it kind of off of his own merit as opposed to maybe being a, an

32:56 important piece of a line with Marchand and Bridger.

32:59 And I think if you get another step forward from him in his game, not only will it one

33:03 get him a really nice contract, it goes a long way towards giving you another, at least

33:06 proven offensive conduit on this team that is lacking that kind of proven goal scoring

33:10 touch on a guy like Potsdam right now.

33:13 Yeah, no doubt.

33:14 And I think we did see progression from him last year as far as consistency, as far as

33:21 going hard to the net, as far as, you know, trying to do things even when the puck wasn't

33:26 going in or he wasn't necessarily generating as much as you thought he should, where he

33:31 would be more of a factor.

33:33 And like I, there were times I saw him like taking the body on four checks and no competing

33:38 harder for pucks in those sorts of situations where, you know, under Cassidy the last few

33:42 years it was fly by city every single time.

33:45 And that was good to see.

33:47 And I think that is a sign that maybe he's continuing to get to that place and, you know,

33:52 but there's no doubt that like given their, when they traded Taylor hall, everybody else

33:58 on wing that has talent and offensive ability, that was a sign, a bad signal to them.

34:03 Like you're going to need to step up and produce a line, you know, because there's going to

34:07 be, you know, there's, there's only so many guys that have 30 goal potential on the wing

34:12 on that team, on that roster right now, as we speak, you know, it's Marshand, it's, it's

34:16 Dubrask and it's, it's Pasternak obviously.

34:19 And I think when you get beyond those guys, I don't, I don't see 30 goal potential out

34:24 of any of those other guys.

34:26 So yeah, he definitely needs to step up.

34:28 I mean, and financially their motivation is there, right?

34:31 Like, you know, it's, it's right there in front of him.

34:34 If he can really step up and produce either the Bruins or somebody else are going to pay

34:38 and pay big time for his services.

34:41 So, you know, last year I looked at as a step in the right direction for him, but there's

34:44 no question.

34:45 He's a big X factor guy going into this year and a guy that they're going to need to drive

34:50 play a lot, especially if Pavel Zakhar or Charlie Coyle is your number one center.

34:55 All right.

34:57 Cosmic dad.

34:58 BTH is the Twitter account.

35:00 And his question is, is there even room for Alex Chasen on this roster?

35:05 They really don't want to give low costine McLaughlin, Beecher, Lysel, et cetera, a chance.

35:12 And you could, you know, and look at, I found it funny when we were in Nashville talking

35:17 to cam Neely, talking to Don Sweeney and cam, I remember one point is like, Hey, maybe this

35:22 is the year we just need to look, you pass it over to the rookies, you know, or pass

35:24 it over to the young guys, you know, talking about like the, the salary cap and the difficulties

35:30 they were going to have and all this other stuff and training Taylor hall.

35:34 But it was obvious they had a game plan.

35:36 They were bringing in a bunch of veterans.

35:37 They knew what they were doing.

35:38 It was kind of that, you know, that cheaper smile on their face, like the treasure cat

35:42 smile, like they knew they had a game plan in mind and they were not going to hand anything

35:46 off to any of these young guys.

35:47 Loco, I think we'll probably be on this team.

35:50 Like I think last year that he can play in the NHL level, that he can certainly play

35:54 like a fourth line role.

35:56 And that I think there's still growth room to grow, especially offensively and his skillset

36:01 wise in the way that he plays.

36:02 I think he's one of those guys that has upward mobility from, you know, being a fourth line

36:07 guy, but beyond that, these other guys seen McLaughlin, Beecher, Lysel, et cetera, I'm

36:12 a cool off the, the other guy that we talked about a little bit earlier.

36:16 I don't want to hand it over to these guys.

36:19 I don't want to pencil in these guys into an NHL roster to start the year and say, we're

36:23 putting all our eggs in this guy's basket and this guy is, is it.

36:27 And you know, and if he's not it, we're going to start shuffling this carousel of young

36:30 players in until we find somebody that can do it.

36:33 That's not the way the Bruins have ever done it.

36:35 That's not the way they want to do it.

36:37 They want to bring in an NHL player.

36:39 That's proven that they can do it in the past and has the pedigree and force that young

36:43 guy to push them out and to earn the spot.

36:46 Like Kim Neely and Don Sweeney were NHL players.

36:49 They understood that that was what it was like when they were in NHL players.

36:53 You're not going to win a spot until you've beaten out a veteran for that spot and earned

36:57 it in training camp, earned it in the season whenever.

36:59 And that's the natural sort of cycle of life in the NHL.

37:04 And they want to continue that with the Bruins and they've done that.

37:07 And I think that's the right way to go.

37:08 I don't want to hand it to anybody that's a young player unless they've already proven

37:12 like Loco has at the NHL level that he's earned it.

37:15 And it seems that they continue to do it that way.

37:17 So I know there's tons of Bruins fans that Dev camp rolls around.

37:21 They get all excited about the prospects and like, you know, look, I love Riley Duran

37:25 as much as anybody else.

37:27 Very good player.

37:28 I think he's going to be an NHL player.

37:29 But like we're talking about guys that are in college, guys that are 18 years old, some

37:33 of them, like we're talking about guys that are light years away from the NHL.

37:36 And I went back and went through every Dev camp roster for like the last 12 years or

37:40 whatever.

37:41 And there's at max like four or five guys that make the NHL from those Dev camps.

37:46 And that's it.

37:47 And a lot of them you never hear or see from again.

37:49 So I don't want there to be room on the roster for these guys.

37:54 And I'd rather load up and have insurance policies like Alex Chasen and then have these

37:58 guys have to force them out to get their job.

38:00 Yeah.

38:01 I mean, this is the point of the we're in the dog days of the summer, right?

38:04 Where it's you look and people are mapping out their lineups.

38:06 And of course, they want to pencil in a guy like Mark Ulov in a middle six role of being

38:12 like a guy that you hope can give you 40 points out of nowhere and building off of that or

38:16 Ronnie Beecher, who's really kind of struggled to put it all together in Providence.

38:19 Man, if he gets going in the NHL level, you got your foresee the future there.

38:23 It's again, it's it's one thing to hope these guys can take that step forward, but they

38:27 got to prove it.

38:28 And I think, as you said, if you're the Bruins and you're looking at, you know, leaving no

38:31 stone unturned, having these veterans in place not only gives you an insurance policy, but

38:36 it also puts the onus on these younger guys to prove it.

38:39 And I think Lauco is a perfect example, right?

38:42 I think going to camp last year, I'm like anyone pencil in.

38:45 I don't almost like one of those guys that seem like his time in Providence at Pete and

38:49 was kind of on his way out.

38:50 You know, I got we kind of know he's a good skater.

38:52 We'll see what he can kind of bring.

38:54 But even when he was on the opening night roster, I think or the NHL roster start the

38:59 year, I think we all kind of looked at each other like, what is this like a salary thing?

39:02 Why is this guy here?

39:03 Like, I don't understand this.

39:06 But you saw what you ended up seeing what the Bruins saw over the course of games and

39:11 over the course of his time and came to realize, OK, they absolutely saw him popping in camp

39:17 and outplaying these other guys.

39:18 And that's why he's here now.

39:19 And he showed it.

39:20 And we finally caught on to what the Bruins had been throughout training camp.

39:24 Right.

39:25 And so, yeah, if you're the Bruins and if you are high on a guy like Markulov and he

39:29 has, you know, more offensive ceiling than maybe other guys in your system.

39:33 But if he doesn't show that during preseason action or the guy that still needs time, I

39:38 feel like the book on Markulov, we even talked about it was like the running theme of Dev

39:42 Camp last summer, where it was everyone talking about how good offensively he was.

39:46 Every single coach we talked to was like, going to work on his defensive game, which

39:50 I didn't see how he was that first year in Providence.

39:52 It must have been outrageous because I don't know what he was doing in the D zone that

39:57 had everyone talking about that.

39:58 But he's an unfinished product.

40:00 And that's what you expect from some of these younger players.

40:02 So if you can put it all together and make a sustained push during camp and during preseason

40:07 action, great, like you'll take it if you're the Bruins.

40:09 It's a good problem to have if these younger players are pushing out these veterans you

40:13 brought in as well.

40:14 But it should never be a situation unless you're a team that is the bottom of the barrel

40:19 is going to not be realistic contender at all.

40:22 Those are teams that can afford to throw a guy into the fire and have them learn on the

40:25 fly and go through the bumps and bruises that come with adjusting to the NHL game.

40:31 Bruins are still trying to feel the competitive roster as they're trying to see what the right

40:34 fit is for this team moving forward.

40:36 And putting a guy like Murky love in the middle six at the start of on October 11th isn't

40:42 the best in terms of putting him in the best spots to succeed.

40:45 So I'm putting your team in the best spot either.

40:47 If you have this guy who's going to be a liability in the D zone is not feeling confident in

40:50 his game.

40:51 You know, I think that was the big thing with like, Seneca, who ended up not being like

40:55 an NHL level player, but that's a guy you don't want to throw into a role where he's

40:59 overwhelmed is not feeling confident.

41:01 And it all suddens finding himself kind of in a rut early on.

41:04 If you're the Bruins, you want these guys playing at their best feeling confident, feeling

41:08 poised, ready, they can take on an NHL role and just handing it to them going into camp.

41:12 That's not the best way to do it at all.

41:15 So basically you're saying this ain't Arizona, Connor.

41:17 We're not throwing young players into the mix.

41:19 And yeah, we're not playing at a arena small than again, that's a Connie forum.

41:23 No, we're not doing any of that stuff.

41:25 Thank, thank God.

41:26 So no, we're not playing in an arena named after mullets.

41:29 That is definitely not going.

41:30 Not what's going on.

41:31 It's a step forward.

41:32 Yes.

41:33 So fan dual.com Connor Ryan, thank you very much.

41:36 I also want to thank our sponsors real quick.

41:39 One more time.

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42:05 Thank you very much to factor meals.

42:06 Connor, this was fun.

42:07 Let's do this again.

42:08 My friend.

42:09 Absolutely.

42:10 Sounds like a plan.

42:11 Thank you, buddy.

42:12 All right.

42:13 We'll see you at the rink.

42:14 Thanks for listening to pucks with eggs podcast.

42:15 CLNS media network is powered by fan dual sports book.

42:19 Visit fan dual.com/boston and start earning bonus bets.

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42:28 regular season.

42:29 [MUSIC]

Bruins Sign Alex Chiasson + Who Will Be Boston's? | Pucks with Haggs

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