The Long Term Impact of Mason Lohrei w/ Pete Blackburn | Bruins Beat - video Dailymotion

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Welcome to 'Bruins Beat,' where your host Evan Marinofsky from New England Hockey Journal dives into the heart of Boston hockey. This week, we're thrilled to welcome special guest Pete Blackburn, co-host of the 'What Chaos Show,' to share his fresh perspectives. Together, we'll tackle the pressing question: Why isn't Tyler Bertuzzi finding his groove in Toronto? We'll also spotlight Mason Lohrei's exceptional NHL debut and break down what his presence means for the Bruins' defense. Plus, we're sizing up the Bruins' prospect pool – have we underestimated its depth? Join Evan and Pete as they dissect these topics and give you the insider's edge on all things Bruins.  Topics:  - Pete has a new show  - Why isn’t Tyler Bertuzzi fitting in Toronto?  - Mason Lohrei looks legit through one game  - What he adds to the blue line  - Is the Bruins prospect pool better than we thought it was?   FanDuel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First onlinereal money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. 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 I hear what you're saying about the defensive side of things and that being super impressive,

00:03 but like for me it was still the willingness to play his game on the other end of the ice.

00:14 And mainly just because, maybe it's just like a me thing, but I just get really impressed

00:18 when a guy comes in and on day one, game one, they have that confidence.

00:25 I think from my perspective, in my debut, I just don't want to fuck things up.

00:32 I don't want to make a mistake and have play go the other way and be like, "Well, fuck,

00:37 I shouldn't have done that."

00:39 I feel like I'd be really tentative, I'd be maybe a little bit hesitant to be aggressive,

00:45 and he just wasn't, and he never fucked things up.

00:48 So it was really impressive to me that he had that sort of testicular fortitude and

00:55 boldness on the offensive side of the ice in game one, and I think they need that.

01:00 Bruins Beat is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS

01:05 Media Network.

01:08 And welcome into the Bruins Beat on CLNS Media, my name's Evan Marinovsky, and today we are

01:12 joined by the great Pete Blackburn.

01:15 Pete, what is up?

01:18 Not too much.

01:19 It's been a while since I've been on this here shindig with you, but happy to be back.

01:24 Yeah, the shindig is right.

01:26 I think last time you were on with me, God, was either during COVID or pre-COVID.

01:31 You used to come on a fair amount.

01:33 Oh yeah.

01:34 You used to be a frequent guest.

01:36 I felt like a co-host at some points.

01:39 You did.

01:40 You basically became a co-host at points, and that was when I was still in college.

01:44 So it's been a minute, but it's been nice to-

01:47 Now you're a grown-ass man now.

01:49 I'm an adult like you.

01:51 What a fun time.

01:52 If only we could be in college forever.

01:55 I can hear the excitement in your voice.

01:57 Yeah, so much excitement on that.

02:00 But it is, yeah, it's been a minute, and you are doing a lot.

02:05 You've got What Chaos, which just dropped a national show with you and DJ Bean this

02:11 week.

02:12 It's like, you know, it's a big week for you.

02:14 The Marshand interview, and I know you've got, you guys have a lot of, DJ was telling

02:18 me you guys have a lot coming down the line.

02:20 Yeah, we have a lot of guests.

02:23 Like the Marshand thing to come out of the gate with Marshand was very cool to be able

02:29 to drop that on the first episode, the interview with him.

02:32 But the stuff that we've got coming in the next month or so is going to be on par, possibly

02:39 above that.

02:41 So yeah, it was a big old process getting ready for this show and stacking some content.

02:47 But very happy that it's here, very happy that it's launched and has gone fairly smoothly.

02:52 So I'm super, super excited about it.

02:54 And that's Monday through Thursday, right?

02:56 You have a show you have to do every day, pretty much?

02:58 Monday through Thursday, live.

03:01 Obviously the interviews and the pre-produced stuff won't be live, but the actual show with

03:07 me and DJ and studio will be live and then we'll throw to some of those segments and

03:11 interviews.

03:12 Yeah, fun stuff, fun stuff.

03:13 I know you guys traveled recently, for one.

03:15 I'm not going to say who it is, because I think I know who it was, but very exciting

03:20 stuff, indeed.

03:22 But you get to talk Bruins on this show.

03:24 We had Mike Grinnell on last week and he was saying how like he missed just being able

03:28 to talk bees.

03:29 So this is, this will be your area where you can vent on Bruins.

03:32 I'm ready.

03:33 Throughout the year.

03:35 Not a lot to vent about right now.

03:36 Bruins won on Thursday night.

03:39 Was that four to two?

03:41 Was the, or no, three to two was the final.

03:44 Another one goal game over Maple Leafs.

03:46 There's something sweet about Toronto going down.

03:49 I don't know what it is, but every time the Bruins play them and win, it's just, it's

03:55 fun to watch Toronto suffer.

03:57 Yeah, I know exactly.

03:58 That'll never leave me.

03:59 I hate those guys.

04:02 That's what it is.

04:03 That's why it's so sweet to see them, see them lose.

04:05 I just can't stand them.

04:07 No, yeah, it was a, it was also a great game.

04:09 Like it's one thing to, to win a, you know, a shitty game.

04:14 Sorry, can I say the word?

04:15 You can swear on this.

04:16 Okay, great.

04:17 It's one thing to win a shitty game and be like, okay, I'm glad we came out on the winning

04:22 side there.

04:23 But like when it's an incredible game and it was, that was one of the best games of

04:27 the season for the Bruins.

04:28 Maybe not from a performance standpoint, but an entertainment standpoint to see them come

04:32 out on, on the winning side there.

04:34 It was a, I was very happy with last, last night's result.

04:37 Yeah, it, it was one of those things I think that, you know, they continue to edge out

04:44 these one goal games, right?

04:46 Like that's sort of their thing.

04:48 You know, set it before the season.

04:49 They are going to be the three to two Kings this year, like two to one, three to two Kings.

04:54 They're not going to, they're not going to smoke everybody like they did last year, but

04:58 they are going to still be a good team and they're going to be a good defensive team.

05:01 Yeah.

05:02 And I think that's their thing.

05:03 Like you tweeted it, they're going to be annoying.

05:05 They're really annoying and they're going to annoy people because the fall off is supposed

05:10 to have come.

05:11 You know, you, you're, we're, everyone's waiting for the Bruins to fall off.

05:15 Last year and the year before.

05:17 How many years did we sit here in 18, 19, 1920, 2021 and say, windows closed, it's over,

05:24 you know, and granted, I guess the Bergeron window has closed.

05:28 But you know, they're still competitive nine oh and one.

05:32 So first thing from Thursday night's game, do you think Marchants play was dirty?

05:36 No, I think that it was like, it could have been a penalty.

05:40 But I don't think, I don't think it was a dirty play.

05:42 I don't think that it was like a suspension by any means.

05:46 You know, it's anybody else does that.

05:47 And I don't think it gets the attention that it, that it did because it was Marchand.

05:51 But like, you know, I saw the, the stick kind of go through the legs and, and bring up the,

05:57 the foot of Lilligran.

06:00 But like, you know, I didn't see that as like, I'm going to take this, this guy down as,

06:05 as a way to injure him or whatever.

06:07 It was just kind of a hard play in the corner.

06:09 And if anything, like Lilligran, like impeded in Marchand space, Marchand didn't change

06:14 direction to make that happen.

06:16 So no, it's a hard play in the corner and an unfortunate result.

06:19 And I know that, you know, anytime you go in unfortunate result, people will say, yeah,

06:25 that tends to happen a lot with Marchand.

06:28 But I do think in this case, it was just an unfortunate result.

06:31 Yeah.

06:32 I just didn't see it being dirty.

06:34 I saw a lot of people on Twitter, mainly Leafs people, saying that it was dirty and that

06:39 there was intent and he tend to injure and all this stuff.

06:41 And I said, I don't see it.

06:43 I don't, you know, like I will fully admit McAvoy's play was as dumb a play as I've ever

06:48 seen him make the other night.

06:50 That was as stupid as it gets.

06:51 You know, I mean, you think about you back to that, right?

06:54 Like they have this one minute long offensive zone sequence.

06:57 McAvoy scored like three minutes before they're getting back in the game.

07:01 And to just cheap shot Ekman Larson like that is as stupid as it gets.

07:05 I frankly, I thought it should have been more than four.

07:08 I was surprised it was only four games because that is it's a dumb play.

07:12 So the reason I said that I thought it was gonna be like three to four and the reason

07:16 that I capped it at four was number one, it was announced that it was the phone hearing

07:20 in person.

07:21 Yes.

07:22 Once that came out, that was clear.

07:23 Yeah.

07:24 And also the Rasmus Anderson suspension from a week ago, I thought that that play was like

07:29 a little bit worse.

07:32 Just in terms of, you know, he launched a little bit more than McAvoy did and hit the

07:37 head of Patrick line.

07:39 So like I, he got four games and so I was like, okay, it should end up being the same

07:45 as that or around the same as that.

07:47 So that three to four is my prediction and ended up in that in that area, obviously.

07:51 Yeah.

07:52 Yeah.

07:53 I was like, you were right.

07:54 I gotta take my victories where I can find them.

07:57 Exactly.

07:58 Exactly.

07:59 And I respect that.

08:00 We were a pro victory lap podcast.

08:04 Before we get to low ride, cause that's obviously the talk that that's what everybody wants

08:07 to talk about.

08:08 Tyler Bertuzzi, you know, I am not as up on the rest of the league as you are as we can

08:15 only dream to be.

08:17 But Bertuzzi struggled.

08:18 And it's interesting because, you know, I remember saying at the end of last year, everybody

08:23 was clamoring for him to be re-signed and he was a fit, right?

08:26 He was a fit when he was here.

08:27 There was no doubt, but there was always that injury history.

08:31 His style of play can wear thin at times.

08:34 And I remember saying, you know, you don't want this to be like a Bolesky signing, right?

08:39 Where guy kind of has a hot year or a hot segment of the year playing with good players

08:45 and suddenly you make him part of your core.

08:47 Now, again, I was, I wanted them to re-sign him.

08:50 I did.

08:51 I thought he was a fit and all those things.

08:52 But there was always that part of me that like 70% of me wanted him, but there was that

08:56 30% that was talking pretty loud.

08:59 And so far that 30% seems to be right.

09:01 Because again, I know it's early, it's only a month in his time with the Leafs, but I

09:04 think it's like two goals.

09:08 And you know, he was demoted to the fourth line on Thursday night and just really not

09:12 finding his fit, which kind of continues to go back to like how bad of a move it was by

09:17 his group to kind of bet on themselves going forward, hoping for a longer, bigger long-term

09:25 deal down the road.

09:26 So it feels like the Bruins may have dodged a bullet there with him.

09:29 Yes, and no.

09:31 Like I think that a product of his struggles in the early going in Toronto might be because

09:37 of the role that they're putting him in and sort of how much pressure is on him.

09:41 And maybe he's putting a lot of pressure on himself again, because there's this one year

09:44 deal and he's heading back towards free agency and another contract.

09:49 But you know, and it's only been a month, right?

09:51 Exactly.

09:52 It's only been a new team, new teammates and stuff like that.

09:54 But I think that a part of the reason why he was so good here last year was because

10:00 he was essentially like a role player.

10:02 You know, he didn't have to do it all and not that he has to do it all in Toronto, but

10:06 like there's that's a big role there and a lot of pressure.

10:09 And I think that from what I've seen from him in the early going, it really does seem

10:14 like he's trying to do too much and he's trying to kind of, you know, maybe overanalyze his

10:20 game force things too much.

10:22 And when you look at a player like Tyler Battuzzi, it's the simpler, the better there because

10:29 he is a kind of meat and potatoes, psychotic style hockey where, you know, he kind of like

10:35 the less you think for him, the more success he's probably going to find in those dirty

10:40 areas and just like driving and using that grit.

10:44 So I think that he's going to find it at some point in Toronto, but it's probably going

10:50 to be a little bit harder with the more the pressure kind of stacks and the more that

10:55 he has to like examine his own performance.

10:58 I mean, think about the expectations that were put on him in the offseason of right,

11:02 like you're going to play with Matthews and Marner.

11:05 He's going to be a 30 goal guy.

11:07 He's going to, you know, work his way into a huge long term deal post this season.

11:12 So like I agree with you and I think Toronto is a hard market to play in to begin with,

11:16 right?

11:17 Like those, that's a hard market.

11:18 There's a lot of pressure there.

11:21 And you're right.

11:22 I mean, he's just clearly not the right role.

11:23 And a fourth line role, by the way, demoting him to the fourth line is not going to help

11:26 him in any way, shape or form.

11:27 Yeah, it might like it might in a way that like it tells him like, Hey, just focus on

11:33 like something just focus on, you know, providing some of that that snarl because like right

11:39 now he's not bringing anything.

11:41 He's not really bringing anything that they wanted from him when they signed him because

11:45 they signed him for offense.

11:46 He's not scoring.

11:47 Uh, they signed him to be a tough guy and add a little bit more snarl to their lineup.

11:51 He's not doing that either.

11:52 I mean like the, the, the, the situation with Marsh and I don't want to read in too much

11:57 into that because I think Leafs fans are doing it enough, but like him laughing at Marsh

12:01 and while Martians chirping the bench right after the load, Lillard, uh, incident is like,

12:09 if you're not, if you're not contributing on the ice, at least be like the guy that

12:13 they hired you to be on the bench or like in, in the room.

12:17 And so, uh, you, I think that it leaves fans would like to see at least like to see something

12:24 delivered from, from what they were hoping to get this off season.

12:27 Yeah.

12:28 I, I still think they'll put in him with better players.

12:32 Some point has to produce results.

12:34 I don't know.

12:35 I still think there's that.

12:36 It tends to work that way.

12:39 You hope it does.

12:40 You hope it does.

12:41 Um, Mason Lowry first game on Thursday night, uh, looks real good.

12:47 And you know, you even heard a Jim Montgomery say on Friday, uh, Ryan Mugenel head coach

12:52 down in Providence said, uh, he looked better than he has his time in Providence.

12:56 It was his best game of the season, uh, against the Leafs.

13:00 And you know, again, there were some hiccups in his own zone to begin with.

13:04 There was, you know, uh, a couple of battles with Matthews that he lost and, but I just

13:08 think the puck moving ability, um, his ability, like his stick in his own zone is so strong.

13:15 I just think his reach and the way he's able to use it to his advantage, um, it's going

13:21 to be real hard to send him down if he continues to play like this.

13:24 Yeah, it's a one game sample and I haven't seen a ton of, of him, um, over, you know,

13:29 the past month or, or whatever, but like, uh, you know, I was mostly impressed by like

13:37 his snap decision-making, uh, like in, in sort of the confidence that comes with that.

13:42 He didn't seem all that jittered maybe in the first period with, like you said, some

13:45 of the, some of the turnovers, but like his ability to activate his ability to, to jump

13:50 into the play, to go to the dirty areas, even in the, like the offensive zone, like that's

13:55 really impressive.

13:56 And it didn't look like there was a lot of hesitation.

13:57 It looked like he was playing with a lot of confidence and he looked like an NHL player

14:03 and not, not just like a fringe NHL player.

14:06 He looked like a real impact difference maker on the blue line in his very first game.

14:12 And especially as a defenseman, that is extremely impressive because you're not really protected

14:19 back there, especially against a team like the Maple Leafs.

14:23 You know, this was no cupcake opponent.

14:25 This was no, Hey, we're gonna, we're gonna shelter you in your first game and make sure

14:29 that you're in a position to succeed.

14:31 This was him coming in and having to bridge the gap for the Bruins losing their best defenseman

14:39 against one of the best teams in the league.

14:41 And he did an incredible job holding his own.

14:45 Yeah, I, I want to read the stats about low ride cause they were just outstanding last

14:51 night.

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15:40 All right.

15:41 So a low ride last night, these stats I thought were incredibly impressive.

15:47 Again, a Bruins out chance to leave 20 to 15 with him on the ice at five on five, zero

15:52 high danger chances against.

15:54 So this is what impresses me most.

15:56 I know Mason Lowry is a good offensive defense, but I know he's a good puck mover.

16:00 We know that he has no problem jumping up in the rush, but I'm not saying it's not impressive

16:05 because it is right doing against it, doing it in your first game, missing a lot of guys

16:09 against the Leafs prime time, even though it's on ESPN plus, which you can debate whether

16:14 that or not that's prime time.

16:17 Did you hear Felger at all yesterday bitching about complaining about

16:20 not listen to Felger about hockey.

16:22 I choose to do that.

16:25 I was driving somewhere last night and I caught the, uh, him talking about, you know, needing

16:31 passwords.

16:32 It's like, dude, just, it's not that hard.

16:35 Just isn't that hard to do.

16:36 Shut up, Boomer.

16:37 Exactly.

16:38 The old man yelling at clouds once again.

16:41 But anyways, uh, I think it's the defensive game.

16:44 Like he settled in, he settled in throughout the game that I mentioned it, uh, you know,

16:48 a couple of minutes ago, just that good stick in the D zone.

16:52 His coverages were generally good.

16:55 And again, against one of the top offensive teams with a lot of offensive threats in the

16:59 league, I think that's really impressive.

17:01 And you know, I don't think the reason he got sent down to Providence at the beginning

17:06 of the year was because he wasn't offensive enough.

17:07 It was because he needed work in his own zone, whether it be going back and retrieving pucks

17:12 or uh, you know, just assignments at Ohio state, there was not a lot of structure there

17:16 and you're going to then play with arguably the most structured team in hockey.

17:20 So I think the fact that through, again, it's one game, we'll see more of it, you know,

17:26 most likely on, on Saturday night.

17:28 But the fact that that's there, it's pretty impressive.

17:32 And I think that's, to me, that was my biggest takeaway from, yeah, the fact that it's there

17:37 on both ends, like you, like you mentioned it.

17:39 And I hear what you're saying about the defensive side of thing and that being super impressive,

17:44 but like for me, it's, it was still like, it was still the, the willingness to, to play

17:51 his game on the other end of the ice.

17:55 And mainly just because maybe it's just like a me thing, but like, I'm, I just get really

17:59 impressed when a guy comes in and on day one and game one, they have that confidence because

18:06 like, I think for like, from my perspective and in my debut, I just be like, I just don't

18:11 want to fuck things up.

18:12 I just don't want to, I don't want to make a mistake and, and have play go the other

18:17 way and be like, well, fuck, I shouldn't have done that.

18:20 Like I feel like I'd be a lot, be really tentative.

18:23 I'd be maybe a little bit hesitant to, to be aggressive and he just wasn't any, he never

18:28 fucked things up.

18:29 So like it was, it was really impressive to me that he had that sort of testicular fortitude

18:35 and boldness on the, on the offensive side of the ice in game one.

18:40 And I think they need that.

18:41 They do balls to the wall is the word.

18:44 You know, it's interesting cause like, I think if they don't blow the whistle dead on that

18:48 play, when he had the puck in front of the net, he scores first the entire time.

18:52 No reason to blow that dead and the best probably scores there.

18:55 Samsonov was turned the other way.

18:56 Like his, the other side of his pads were facing the puck.

18:59 The other side of his legs, I should say, but that like, to me, I agree with you.

19:04 Like, I'm not saying it's not impressive.

19:05 I'm just saying like for him to stay at the NHL level, I think the, you know, being responsible

19:09 in your own zone is, is going to be the biggest thing.

19:13 But I agree.

19:14 I mean, and, and so this is kind of my next point.

19:16 So it's interesting when you look at the Bruins you know, you've seen this in the NHL, it's

19:22 a copycat league.

19:24 The big thing now is you need big defensemen.

19:27 That is the new thing.

19:28 I know it's, it doesn't bode well for the short Kings, unfortunately.

19:34 But you know, it's interesting, like you look at sort of their heights on the blue line

19:39 when everybody's healthy, right?

19:40 Like if Lowry sticks with this team, you know, Lowry is 6'5", Carlos 6'5", Lindholm I believe

19:46 is 6'4", McAvoy is 6'1", 6'2"ish, Forbert I think is 6'4".

19:53 That's five of 6D who are big and McAvoy might not be the tallest guy, but he's, he can freaking

19:59 hit.

20:00 That's a thick boy.

20:01 That's a thick boy.

20:02 McAvoy is a thick boy.

20:03 He is, he is very solid.

20:05 He is solid.

20:06 And I think, you know, the fact that five of your 6D back there are that size and can

20:11 cover that much ground and can do that, like that's a, and again, it's nothing new.

20:18 We know their defense is strong, but I think it adds another element that, you know, I'm

20:22 curious if Lowry can stick Grizzlix out till end of November at the very least.

20:27 Obviously there's a lot of trade, you know, not talk or rumors, but people are kind of

20:31 like, oh, you know, is it time for Grizzlix to be traded?

20:34 You know, if they go into the playoffs this year with, you know, Lowry, McAvoy, Carlo,

20:39 Lindholm, and you know, Forbert and whomever, Shattenkirk was horrible on Thursday night.

20:44 And I think he's, I don't want to say it, but I'm glad you did.

20:47 I mean, he hasn't, he hasn't been very good for most of the season.

20:51 He hasn't been.

20:52 And I, again, I, I appreciate that he's a veteran, you know, I would trust him in some

20:58 scenarios, but just that sec on that second power play unit, like I think they need, you

21:03 know, Lowry to be as ready as soon as possible to run that power play unit.

21:08 Cause I just, Shattenkirk just doesn't do it for me.

21:11 And some of the turnovers coming out of his own zone, I'm just not a fan of.

21:16 So I just, I wonder if they do need an extra defenseman back there.

21:22 But again, I think it bodes well for them.

21:24 Five of six that are that big.

21:26 I don't know.

21:27 I think that helps them a lot when the playoffs come around.

21:28 I mean, you look at the Vegas Golden Knights and the size of their blue line last year,

21:32 they had a, they had a huge blue line.

21:34 So like, yeah, I think that yeah, like, yeah.

21:39 And, and, you know, that's not to say that every big defenseman is, is good.

21:43 Right.

21:44 Oh yes.

21:45 I want to make that very clear.

21:46 A lot of big defensemen and a lot of big decors that you're like, okay, well, can these guys

21:51 graduations on having big guys, they all stink.

21:55 So like it's, it's, there's, you gotta find both.

21:58 And you know, I think that the Bruins are in really good shape with what they have.

22:03 And you know, to, to be a sustainable playoff team, you need big guys on the backend.

22:10 I think that's been shown time and time again.

22:14 But they're not just big, they're big and dynamic.

22:17 And and that's a really encouraging thing.

22:21 And that's part of, that's part of the reason why I said they were going to be good this

22:23 year, even though their forward group took such a hit, like their backend is still really

22:28 impressive.

22:29 And we haven't even mentioned the fact that they have still have the best goaltending

22:32 in the league by a pretty good margin.

22:34 It has been unbelievable how, how much nothing has been lost in, in between the pipes this

22:40 year after the incredible year they had.

22:43 And Swain was outstanding.

22:44 Swain, I think was, they saved them.

22:46 They saved them the game once again, was the reason they won a game.

22:49 And what I, and I've mentioned this on previous episodes, I think it's really interesting.

22:53 Last year, Omar got all the hard games and Swain, you know, got most of the hard games

22:58 and Swain got, you know, some cupcakes along the way.

23:00 And of course there was a couple games that like MSG that he was really good in last year.

23:04 But you know, the way that the schedules worked out this year, Swain has faced the better

23:08 teams for the most part.

23:10 And I think that's what's most impressive.

23:11 And I think that's what they wanted to see was Kenny take that step forward into being,

23:17 you know, is it more convincing with him against the good teams?

23:20 I mean, you got to put good teams in quotation marks because the Bruins haven't exactly,

23:26 you know, a juggernaut of a schedule to start the season.

23:29 But yeah, I mean, I think that with those two, the two goaltenders, there should be

23:34 no intent to protect or, you know, sort of like assign good and bad games to either one

23:43 of them because they are both very good and you're going to need both of them down the

23:48 stretch and potentially in the playoffs.

23:51 It still drives me crazy that they didn't run a rotation in the playoffs last year,

23:56 even in that first round, because it worked for them all year long.

24:00 Just keep going.

24:02 Just keep going with what works.

24:04 This is why I don't, there's a lot of people I see on Twitter and saying, you know, oh,

24:10 you know, they got a trade-all mark.

24:11 You know, you got to add the number, franchise number one center.

24:15 And I want to hit a Bucci Gras tweet in a second of a potential trade proposal that

24:20 I found, just bananas.

24:23 But I want to see them go into the playoffs again this year and try the tandem.

24:27 See what you have with this, because you can still run it back.

24:31 You can still do it.

24:33 Like the way they're winning games right now.

24:35 I mean, you can still do that in the playoffs.

24:38 And I want to see them try to do Omark Swayman, Omark Swayman throughout the playoffs.

24:43 And again, I was kind of baffled they didn't try that last year.

24:49 You know, clearly they, they fucked up.

24:52 You know, we haven't talked about last year since.

24:55 I don't think now's the perfect time to talk about it.

24:58 But I want to mention this because I thought we'd mentioned this a little before we came

25:01 on.

25:03 John Bucci Gras was replying to Ryan Whitney on Twitter and gave up a interesting trade

25:10 proposal.

25:11 He said, Ryan, would you decital in Fogle for Omark, Dubrovnik, Patra, Lysel and a

25:17 2026 Surrounder?

25:18 I'm saying no to that.

25:21 I just I'm not I'm not for that.

25:24 I I'm a believer in that if you get like the best player in the trade, most of the time

25:30 you win the trade and like you're getting one of the best players in the world and Leon

25:33 dry sidle.

25:35 But I don't think that that makes you a I don't think that puts you in a better position

25:41 to win right now.

25:43 If you're the Bruins, just because like you're getting the best player, but you're you're

25:48 losing so much else like you're losing all market net.

25:52 You're losing Patra, who I think is the real fucking deal for the future.

25:56 You know, he may not be as good as Leon dry style.

25:59 Not many people are, but like I still kind of want Patra here and I want to see what

26:03 he develops into because he is way ahead of schedule than anybody predicted for him.

26:09 And he's been so impressive every step of the way.

26:12 So like, yeah, no, I'm okay with with saying no to that deal, even if it you're turning

26:17 down getting Leon dry sidle.

26:20 And I just you got to make your first round picks.

26:23 I know that that's Yeah, you do.

26:26 You do have to deal them sometimes.

26:28 But they've dealt enough of them.

26:29 You need to make picks, you need to make them and you need to hit on them.

26:33 That's the big problem.

26:34 That is they they stopped hitting on them and they were like, Okay, well, we just won't

26:38 make them.

26:39 We'll trade all of them.

26:40 Some of them have worked right?

26:43 Like you got a you dealt a first for lamp is Lindholm and that like when you make a

26:47 first round pick you hope you hope you pray for a hampus Lindholm if you're drafting a

26:52 defenseman and so like I get that.

26:54 But with the way with where they are at as a franchise, I do think make your picks get

27:01 them right but make your picks.

27:04 And I think you know, like a lot of people talk about, you know, and Patra has sort of

27:09 quelled this a bit, you know, you need a franchise number one center.

27:12 Well, you might have it with Matt Patra all signs point to him being he's at least a top

27:17 six center and Oh my god, stumble into a top six center when you're your two top six centers

27:23 walked away this offseason.

27:25 Like just talk about finding magic beans.

27:28 Oh, yeah, that front office like their deal with the devil's got to be crazy.

27:32 It's got to be insane.

27:33 I would love to see the the like the webcam footage of the party that became nearly and

27:38 Don Sweeney through in training camp when they figured out that holy shit, this kid

27:42 rocks and turns out we do have a top six center that we got this offseason.

27:47 So just like absolute found money in Matt Patra this this season so far.

27:54 He's been awesome.

27:55 Awesome.

27:56 And you know, again, the productions been there.

27:58 I know we didn't have the greatest game on on Thursday night, but there were still some

28:02 really strong shifts.

28:03 I thought he brought his best at the end of the game.

28:05 But even more importantly, just doing the little things I mentioned this on the show

28:09 a few times like you you've got to be able to do that.

28:12 And that's what makes a top six center a top six center the production mixed with doing

28:15 the little things with, you know, high compete and things like that.

28:18 And he has all of those things, right?

28:21 It's not like a trade off where you're like, Oh, shit, this kid makes like really can make

28:24 a really nice play a few times a game in the offensive zone.

28:28 So worth keeping him in the lineup, regardless of kind of what he lacks in the other end

28:33 or like what he lacks with consistency.

28:36 No, like he brings it on every pretty much every shift and he's bringing consistency

28:40 and he's just doing he's playing a very smart game and very effective game and that's just

28:46 kind of what you need.

28:47 That's what you need.

28:48 One last thing I want to hit on before we head out.

28:51 You know, John Sweetie's got a lot of crap for drafting, rightfully so over the past

28:56 bunch of years.

28:57 Again, rightfully so I want to hit on with that.

29:01 But right now I mean, Beecher's contributing in a fourth line role.

29:04 I think he was seven for seven on draws Thursday night.

29:07 Matt Austin Matthews, by the way, over 11 on face off Thursday night.

29:11 Not great.

29:12 Did have a nice goal.

29:13 I'll give him that did have a very nice goal.

29:14 Lindholm could have been a little quicker to get his stick out there to try to I don't

29:18 know that one timer was nasty.

29:20 Yeah, I agree.

29:22 But I don't know a little more.

29:23 By the way, Lindholm zero points in 10 games so far.

29:26 Not point not the points or everything for defensive, but it's a little surprising that

29:29 he doesn't even have like a secondary assist or something.

29:33 Not ready to hit the panic button there yet.

29:35 But again, Beecher contributing, Patra contributing, Lowry jumping in on Thursday night contributing.

29:42 Have we been too tough on the Bruins prospect pool?

29:49 Probably not.

29:50 I'm going to agree with you.

29:52 I think we were right on the whole time.

29:54 I think that this is what should be expected.

29:59 So like like what we're seeing now, oh, they get some young players coming up and making

30:04 an impact like that should be expected.

30:07 We should be seeing like every year like one or two guys like, oh, this guy looks pretty

30:12 promising and it's been a while, man.

30:14 And I'm not ready to say as soon as we see some some seeds being planted like, oh, maybe

30:19 we were wrong the whole time.

30:21 No, just more of this, please.

30:23 Exactly.

30:24 Like again, we kind of all expected Lowry or we think his, you know, his ceiling is

30:31 top four left shot defense for the NHL, a good, effective one.

30:35 And so you mentioned it's Beecher like Beecher was a first round pick.

30:38 So that's the other thing.

30:40 So like, yeah, he looks like a solid fourth liner.

30:43 But like, is that what you is that what you want for your first round picks?

30:47 Like, you know, if your first round pick is a good NHL player, then then whatever.

30:50 Like that's kind of what you're looking for.

30:53 But when they drafted Beecher, everybody's reaction was like his ceiling is probably

30:57 like the bottom six.

30:59 He's probably like a defensive minded fourth liner, third line center.

31:04 Like if that's the ceiling, why are you drafting those guys?

31:08 You can find those guys a little bit later.

31:09 Like I like taking shots in the first round on higher ceiling guys.

31:15 So like that's where some frustration is come in.

31:17 But like, again, I'm happy if Matt Beach, if if Beecher is a like a solid NHL player

31:25 and Lysol was Lysol was a bit of a shot when he was drafted, right?

31:30 Best player available high ceiling.

31:31 Yeah, no skill, all those things like.

31:34 Yeah.

31:35 So but again, I'm with you.

31:36 I'm not ready to be like the shots, but like exactly.

31:38 But I'm not I'm not ready to sit here and be like, oh, Sweeney does it again.

31:42 We were wrong.

31:43 You know, it's such great drafting.

31:45 Like, you know, I will give them Patra like Patra.

31:47 Yeah, for sure.

31:48 I was not expected at this age.

31:50 Like, you know, like that's that did seem to come out of nowhere.

31:54 But again, like outside of the Patras, the low rise, the Beecher.

31:59 I mean, again, you know, Beecher, we can use lightly and and Lysol, which, again, I think

32:04 a lot to prove down in Providence.

32:07 There hasn't been a ton.

32:08 Oh, yeah, we're also.

32:10 Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

32:11 Like, we're also talking about, like, basically everybody that is in the system.

32:16 Like who else behind those guys that like, I guess other than Lysol, like who else should

32:22 we be excited about?

32:24 That's the thing.

32:25 I don't know, because again, this this past draft, like, you know, I know that Hendrickson

32:30 and Pelosi are doing OK in the USHL, but that's the USHL.

32:34 No disrespect to it, like, but they're older guys in that league.

32:37 You know, there should be like, like I was saying, there should be like a steady stream

32:40 of guys that you can be excited about.

32:43 Yes, yes.

32:45 And I think you're also hitting a point where you're you're getting the ramifications of

32:49 dealing those picks, which is, again, why I think you've got to make those picks in

32:53 the future if you if you're able to do it.

32:56 Dealing and missing, because like if they had drafted well a handful of years ago, you

33:01 could have had the transition period where like, OK, we're going to lose our top two

33:05 centers, but we got another guy coming up like they've lucked into one.

33:10 But like that wasn't the plan or it shouldn't have been the plan, because nobody thought

33:15 Matt Potrer was ready heading into the season.

33:17 So which is also impressive that they are as competitive as they are like that.

33:22 That is interesting that they are one of the two teams left that is technically undefeated.

33:29 And you know, they were as good as they were last year, the regular season.

33:32 So you know, but I agree.

33:35 You know, I'm not ready to absolve the Bruins of their drafting woes and issues with the

33:41 prospect pool.

33:42 But anyways, Pete, what a pleasure to have you back on.

33:45 So much fun as always.

33:47 We always have a great time.

33:49 Anything else aside from What Chaos that you want to plug?

33:52 No, that's it.

33:54 You know, I do some stuff for Ballet Sports still.

33:57 So you can check out that stuff.

33:59 It's mainly Twitter and so like Ballet Sports or my Twitter, Pete Blackburn.

34:03 But pretty much 98 percent of my effort at this point in time is going into What Chaos.

34:08 And we've got some awesome stuff coming up with guests and entertainment and stuff like

34:13 that.

34:14 So follow What Chaos on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

34:18 Go do it.

34:19 That's Pete Blackburn.

34:20 I'm Evan Baranofsky.

34:21 You Brewersby listeners, have a great rest of your week.

34:23 [Music]

The Long Term Impact of Mason Lohrei w/ Pete Blackburn | Bruins Beat

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