Do the Bruins Have a Hampus Lindholm Problem? | Conor Ryan | Bruins Beat w/ Evan Marinofsky - video Dailymotion

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Bruins Beat w/ Evan Marinofsky Ep. 388  Do the Bruins Have a Hampus Lindholm Problem?    Evan Marinofsky is joined by Conor Ryan of 98.5 The Sports Hub to break down some of the concerns surrounding the Bruins roster at the moment. Hampus Lindholm is off to a slow start this year, especially in comparison to his production last season. Is this cause for concern, or are we just seeing a different brand of Lindholm? The forward lines have a new trio that has peaked Evan and Conor's interest, centered by a guy who has stepped up when the Bruins needed depth at the position. That, and much more!    Topics:  - It’s not time to hit the panic button on Hampus Lindholm  - Some more production would be nice though…  - Is JVR-Coyle-Frederic the new second line?  - Charlie Coyle has turned into what the Bruins have always hoped he’d be  - Can Jake DeBrusk come out of his slump?    This episode of Bruins Beat is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and start earning BONUS BETS with America’s #1 Sportsbook!     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    This This episode is also brought to you by HelloFresh. Go to HelloFresh.com/50bruins and use code 50bruins for 50% off plus free shipping!     Follow Evan Marinofsky on Twitter   Follow CLNS Media on Twitter

Transcript

00:00 We have not heard anything new on the DeBrust contract front, where they're at with that.

00:05 He's made it known he wants to be here long term.

00:07 But again, this is sort of an inconsistent play popping up.

00:10 Do you really want to sign on long term to getting wishy-washy play like this?

00:26 And welcome into the Bruins Beat on CLNS Media.

00:29 My name is Evan Maronofsky and today I am joined by the one, the only, the great, the

00:35 magnificent Connor Ryan.

00:38 Connor, what is up?

00:40 Evan, I'm doing well.

00:41 How you doing?

00:42 Doing great.

00:43 Doing great.

00:44 I am fresh off a long weekend at the one and only New England Sports Center.

00:50 It was a hockey paradise at the Mega Rink in Marlborough this weekend.

00:57 It was Sunday.

00:59 I was there from I think 9am until around 8pm.

01:03 So did you go to Olive Garden afterwards?

01:06 I went to the 99.

01:08 That's where I went.

01:09 There you go.

01:10 I know we've talked about this before.

01:11 Yeah, that is the go to spot.

01:13 It is.

01:14 It is.

01:15 But you know, New England Sports Center, what a place for hockey.

01:17 Just 10 rinks.

01:18 You get the bar, you got the food, you get the place to sit, you can watch every game.

01:25 So it's just it's like the Mecca of and people forget the Providence Bruins played there

01:29 in the COVID season.

01:30 Rink one was their home rink.

01:33 So it was like the good old days.

01:35 Remember when they thought they were going to have neutral spots for the playoffs?

01:38 It was going to be Manche, Vegas.

01:40 Yep.

01:41 That that was that was awesome.

01:42 Manchester, New Hampshire.

01:43 What could have been Evan?

01:44 You know, you think about all the locations in America.

01:48 So, you know, obviously that year they had that Lake Tahoe series.

01:51 But think of all the other places in America or even New England.

01:54 You could do that at you could do that, you know, on I'm trying to think of like a lake

01:59 you could do it on.

02:00 You know, you could do it, you know, up in the White Mountains.

02:03 I was just like, what if a sock is a good one, you know, so you do like a tituate throw

02:08 a freeze it up and play a game on it.

02:12 I think you could make it work.

02:13 Have people watch over the overpass, you know, so that would I think that would be great

02:18 postgame party at P.F.

02:19 Chang's to go to Margarita's and Framingham.

02:20 We got to go in and hit Margarita's.

02:24 That's the big one.

02:25 Yes.

02:26 That's where the pre and post game will be held at.

02:27 And we'll do we'll do live podcasts at both.

02:32 But anyways, speaking of Margarita's, I really hope not anyway.

02:36 Margarita's pre and post game, I think would be a little bit difficult.

02:42 But yeah, Margarita's always always a time.

02:45 We're a pro Margarita's podcast.

02:47 And we've always said and by the way, we don't mean like the drink Margarita's.

02:50 I mean, like the place.

02:51 We're not here to smudge any good eatery spot, especially one in the beautiful town of Framingham.

02:58 No, city.

02:59 Watch your mouth.

03:00 City of Framingham.

03:01 Yeah.

03:02 Yeah.

03:03 Yeah.

03:04 Apologies.

03:05 Yeah.

03:06 Apology accepted.

03:07 Anyways, we got to talk Bruins.

03:08 People are going to start to get restless.

03:14 You know, Connor, on Saturday night, I couldn't help but see on the timeline, lots of discourse.

03:20 About Hampus Lindholm.

03:23 He was out there for that OT goal against kind of missed his guy.

03:27 A lot of people, you know, to assist in 14 games this year.

03:31 A lot of people are saying, hey, what's going on?

03:33 Hampus Lindholm.

03:34 Is there a problem there?

03:35 I know we touched on this a few weeks ago, but obviously, now there's a bigger sample

03:39 size.

03:40 Are you worried about Hampus Lindholm at this moment?

03:43 I wouldn't say I'm worried.

03:45 I think the discourse or maybe the most effective way to view his season so far is that I think

03:53 last year, he definitely overachieved.

03:55 I think especially offensively.

03:56 I mean, I don't I don't think at his age of that breakthrough, I don't want to call it

04:02 a breakthrough year, but being a guy that's going to average over 50 points a season,

04:06 I think that's a bit of an outlier.

04:08 He started the year kind of getting, you know, power play one reps, playing without McAvoy,

04:13 really kind of drove play early on.

04:14 That was great.

04:15 Like that was maybe the best hockey I think I've ever seen him play.

04:17 I don't know if that's night in and night out, 82 games as kind of the number two guy

04:22 behind McAvoy, if that's necessarily what you should expect from Hampus Lindholm.

04:28 And that's not to say that I think he's going to be a guy that can play 82 games, going

04:33 to finish with two goals and 11 assists.

04:35 And that's kind of his bread and butter.

04:36 Like, no, he's a guy that I think a fair season for him offensively is around 30, 30 ish

04:43 points.

04:44 So I think that's more fair.

04:45 What?

04:46 Especially if he's not going to get reps.

04:52 But I also think it's a situation where you look at just how he's deployed defensively.

05:00 If he's still a guy that even if the offense isn't there, but he's holding his own defensively

05:03 with Brennan Carlo taking a lot of D zone stats, getting some of those really taxing

05:09 minutes and the birds are coming out on the other side of that with a positive goal differential,

05:13 which has been the case so far, I think you'll take that right.

05:16 Like again, you'd like to have a little bit of both in terms of Sterling defensive numbers

05:20 and 50 points, but you're asking for a Norris top five guy there.

05:26 And again, like he was in top five last year.

05:28 He was fantastic.

05:29 But I don't know, season in season out.

05:32 That's what you should expect from a guy like that.

05:33 If he can give you 30 points and ramp things up a little bit, but really still hold his

05:39 own defensively, I think you'll be you should be happy with that.

05:43 And I also think he has a little bit more to give offensively.

05:44 Like it's not to say that he needs to be scoring 10 goals and putting up, you know, 45, 50

05:50 points, but getting more involved in the offense, getting more shots on net, being a little

05:54 bit more assertive, jumping up into the play.

05:56 I think you want to see a little bit more out of that, which I don't think it's like

06:00 that's going to be gone from his game.

06:01 I think it's all about trying to coaxing that more out of his game, which I think Jim Montgomery

06:05 is kind of identified through these last couple of games.

06:07 You mentioned like two goals, like nine assists on a season.

06:11 My favorite thing is on elite prospects with junior league with kids in juniors, like the

06:15 USHL, the BCHL, the NA, all that stuff.

06:19 It'll say the kid's stats and then say like projected, but the projections are just kind

06:24 of those stats over the like the rate they're at.

06:27 So it'll be like if a kid has like two assists in 17 games, it'll be like they're on pace

06:32 for, you know, 14 assists in zero goals in 82 games.

06:37 I always find that.

06:38 I always find that funny.

06:39 That would be like Lindholm right now.

06:40 I think there's a lot with Lindholm that, you know, has changed from last year just

06:45 around him.

06:47 I think obviously that the forwards he's passing to are not as lethal.

06:51 There aren't as many kind of lethal guys as there were last year.

06:54 So those assists that you might get, and by the way, I thought he was more dynamic offensively

06:58 to start last season, but he's also getting handed a lot more of defensive assignments

07:02 this year.

07:03 You know, you saw in Montreal the stats afterwards, he I think had zero offensive zone starts,

07:09 zero offensive zone, like even just jumping into the play wasn't in the offensive zone.

07:14 You know, with Carlo at the moment in the past couple of weeks has been used primarily

07:18 in the D zone.

07:19 So his D zone number, you know, he's playing a lot of defensive hockey.

07:24 And also by the way, from that Montreal game, I know he banned stats aren't everything,

07:28 but I think he led the team in chances for percentage, like his underlying numbers were

07:33 good.

07:34 Now I know obviously on that OT goal, you know, that wasn't great.

07:36 And the, you know, the surface level stats like assistant goals are not great.

07:40 I agree.

07:41 He needs to be better offensively, but I think defensively he's been pretty good.

07:45 Like I think in the, in the roles that he's been given, I think, you know, he's been,

07:49 he's been all right.

07:50 And I think, you know, again, you, you hit on it, you know, not that last year was an

07:54 outlier, but I think last year was sort of a best case scenario and it's not going to

07:59 happen every year and you don't need that to happen every year.

08:02 I think you would like to, but that's not going to happen every year.

08:05 You know, you've got McAvoy who that's kind of the expectation for.

08:09 But for a guy like Lindholm, if he can be a solid number two defenseman, which again,

08:13 the stats aren't reflecting that at the moment, the goals and assistant points stats not reflecting

08:17 at the moment, but overall, I don't think it's time to hit the panic button on him.

08:23 I think there are times he tries to do a little bit too much or doesn't make the simple play,

08:26 which that's where you sort of have to kind of clean things up.

08:29 But in his own zone, I think he's been all right.

08:32 And I think, you know, the offense will come at some point, you know, we'll see how low

08:36 ride kind of progresses.

08:37 Cause I think, you know, low rise gonna, you know, eat up some of those stats.

08:43 And yeah, I mean, I'm not ready to, you know, be like, he's a bust.

08:46 He's not worth the money.

08:47 And it's like, no, I feel like, you know, overall defensively, he's been good, which

08:51 is what you need.

08:52 And the offense, you know, you're going to start to see the offense come at some point

08:55 because he's too good and he's too good at getting shots through from the point for that

08:58 not to be the case soon.

08:59 Yeah, exactly.

09:00 And I think he's also kind of in that spot that I think Vernon Carlo has run into this

09:05 issue too, where if you're a defenseman who's getting 20 ozone time or even below that,

09:11 and you're just spending a lot of time in your own end, there's going to be a lot of

09:15 tape of you either missing, you know, having a lapse in coverage, what have you.

09:20 And I think that's not to say that, you know, you're trying to absolve these guys.

09:24 And I think Carlo has been really, really strong this year, but when you're also, most

09:27 of your shifts are in that spot and you're kind of dealing those taxing minutes, you're

09:31 dealing with top six opponents night in and night out, opens the door for a lot more tape

09:35 to be out there like, ah, you missed a read here, like you didn't seal off, you know,

09:40 the rebound there, like, it can kind of snowball there in terms of if you're looking for ways

09:46 to find faults in guys, hone in on the guys that have those kind of reps, like nine times

09:51 out of 10, it's great.

09:52 It's like, if you're like an offensive lineman, like you can stop 20, you know, 20 plays,

09:56 19 of them can be great, but he's lit up the sack.

09:58 Everyone's going to look at that.

09:59 Right.

10:00 Michael Hurley is going to be tweeting that, you know, and zoom in on you, you know, so,

10:04 so that, I mean, that is also a thing that, you know, the way he's kind of deployed this

10:07 year opens the door, I think for more of those, if you want to comb through the tape and look

10:13 at that, there's more situations like that where a guy can kind of look bad, but same

10:18 with like Carlo, who I think even his detractors, I don't know if you're going to have that

10:22 much to really complain about Carlo.

10:23 I think he's already been their best defenseman out of the gate so far in the season.

10:28 But, but when you're in those spots, it does just open the door for more and more of that

10:32 criticism, opportunity to have those lapses and have it kind of paid daily.

10:37 So, but again, yeah, can little do a little bit more of course, but again, I'm not hitting

10:41 the panic button yet for a guy that, again, this isn't a guy who's 22, 23, like he's a

10:46 pretty established veteran that even if he gets back to maybe what he was before last

10:49 year, that's still a damn good number two defenseman.

10:52 The other thing is like, I remember when they traded for him, there was a lot of talk of,

10:56 oh, he's been regressing in Anaheim for years.

10:59 And I think a lot of people are sort of worried like, oh my God, you know, is he going back

11:03 to that?

11:04 Is that, you know, was last year such an outlier in that, that he's still going to trend down

11:08 this year.

11:09 And I just think his all around two way game lasts in the NHL.

11:15 I think with the Bruins defensive structure, I think with the way the Bruins are, with

11:19 the Bruins not being Anaheim, even though Anaheim's a pretty fun team right now, but

11:22 Frankfurt Toronto, by the way, my God, lighten the world on fire.

11:25 50 goal scorer.

11:26 Yeah.

11:27 Like 50, it'll be like 50 and 24 for Frankie B. But, you know, again, I think with the

11:34 structure of the Bruins have, with the style of play that Hampus Lindholm plays and sort

11:38 of his strengths as a player and his tools, I look at a guy like that and say, he's pretty

11:44 stable.

11:45 Like I think, you know, even though, yes, the numbers might not be 14 goals and, you

11:49 know, 30 something assists, I still think, you know, his all around game that he brings

11:54 is a good thing to have.

11:56 So yeah, not ready to hit the panic button on Lindholm.

11:59 One quick thing, Brandon Carlo this year, you mentioned it.

12:03 I think this is maybe the best he's ever looked.

12:06 I mean, 2019 playoffs was like sicko mode, Brandon Carlos.

12:09 I, you know, I don't want to besmirch that, but this right now is pretty remarkable.

12:15 Just considering how good he is and how good he's been and how stable he's been in his

12:19 own zone.

12:20 And I think part of the reason he's been so good, haven't noticed him a lot.

12:24 Like that's, you start to notice him, you've got to mention like offensive linemen.

12:27 Like you mentioned, you notice a guy like Carlo in his own zone when, you know, there

12:32 are missed assignments or there are missed coverages.

12:35 But so far this year, I mean, Carlo's been nails and I think they've needed that bad

12:38 and they're going to need that a lot more going forward.

12:41 Yeah, absolutely.

12:42 And that's a contract that I think people were, maybe some of the more vocal critics

12:46 were concerned about the length of it, the payout.

12:49 It's looking pretty good right now for what he brings as a guy you can entrench in your

12:53 top four, lead your P.K., make the smart, simple plays.

12:56 Like looking at what the DNA of his Bruins team is, which is rooted in elite goaltending

13:01 and a really stingy defense.

13:03 Having a guy like Brandon Carlo in place you can pencil in and playing at this level is

13:07 a key piece of that.

13:09 Oh my God, yes.

13:10 Key, key piece.

13:12 But quick, before we get to the rest of the conversation, quick word, Connor, quick word

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14:03 All right, so one interesting development this year has been the James Van Dijk, Charlie

14:10 Coyle, Trent Frederick trio because that has, it's ascended in recent games.

14:16 Van Riemsdijk has clearly been a good value add.

14:19 I think he's fourth on the Bruins as of recording on Monday with, I think it's like 11 points,

14:24 which is pretty damn good for a guy you got for a million dollars out of the bargain bin

14:28 at Walmart or any store.

14:31 I mean, any store, you can pick any store for the bargain bin.

14:35 Kohl's, Target.

14:37 So wherever you want, that's where you got Van Riemsdijk.

14:41 What have you thought of that line?

14:42 Because it feels like that's the new second line.

14:44 Yeah, it's really fascinating to see because I don't think there's even like a set hierarchy.

14:50 You would imagine that any line with Marchand and Paas Schonk is the top line, but after

14:55 that it's kind of up for debate, right?

14:58 But I think if you even want to just look past of what the different titles are, in

15:02 terms of just the person on how they play together, if you're Jim Montgomery and you're

15:05 looking for some cohesion, which has not really been the case so far this year in terms of

15:09 finding a set pair, especially just a forward trio, you got to keep Coyle, JVR and Frederick

15:16 together.

15:17 I don't know what, again, we've talked about this countless times before.

15:20 I don't know what is with Coyle and Frederick.

15:22 It just works.

15:23 It just seems like it always, they complement each other so well.

15:26 You get the most out of Coyle's game, get the most out of Frederick's game, getting

15:29 him involved.

15:30 I think JVR has kind of been a perfect fit there.

15:33 I mean, whether it's him fighting for the puck down low, shielding the puck, that playmaking

15:39 in front of the net, he's so good at those kind of split second passes that if you're

15:44 Frederick and you're the F3 and he's got that really, really strong shot and you can set

15:48 him up for a good look, Coyle, he's possessing the puck and you just have another big body

15:52 and JVR down there.

15:54 It's not, they're not like a revolutionary line in terms of how exactly they're generating

15:59 offense, but they're playing smart, simple hockey.

16:02 It's leading to results.

16:03 You're still in the Bruins and you're still trying to find the best fit for getting this

16:07 five on five offense really rolling.

16:11 I think you definitely need Coyle, Frederick and JVR together because that's probably been

16:17 your one proven grouping so far.

16:19 I would say like Luchich, Beecher and Lauko were really strong shots, but you only saw

16:23 them for a couple of games.

16:24 It's like, those are probably the only lines that you've seen consistently them generating

16:28 not just production, but energy out there.

16:31 You're seeing cohesion when those guys are out there.

16:33 Yeah, those three to me, like that screams a good playoff line.

16:37 You know, big, possess the puck, can four check, long ozone shifts, you know, smart

16:44 play, got all three have no problem getting to interior ice in the dirty areas.

16:49 So like to me, that's a line that you do want to have build chemistry throughout the year.

16:54 So when you do get to the playoffs, that's a line that is hard to stop.

16:58 It's hard to cover, that's hard to face, and those three sort of have that characteristic.

17:05 Coyle's a really interesting one because Charlie Coyle right now is third on the Bruins in

17:08 points, quietly five goals, seven assists, 12 points.

17:11 He had a hat trick the other night against the Islanders.

17:15 You know, it's interesting for a long time we've been saying, when is he going to start

17:18 to produce?

17:19 When's he going to start to produce?

17:20 And again, it's only been 14 games, but still like 12 points in 14.

17:26 I know there's a three goal game in there and there's some other ones like that, but

17:31 like he is starting to produce and you just look at the way his all around game is, right?

17:36 We've talked about this, how good he is defensively, how good he is on face offs.

17:40 Montgomery always starts overtime with him and you know, he can play in any situation.

17:45 I think the fact that now there's this production element, right?

17:47 Where you can put him on the power or he's really been given the chance, the opportunity

17:51 to put on the power play because of Craychie and Bergeron being gone and he's producing.

17:55 But the fact that he is producing in those spots, he's an all situations guy, I think.

18:00 And I think he's really starting to prove his worth and kind of blossoming into, you

18:06 know, again, it's been 14 games.

18:07 He's really blossoming into this guy that can produce too.

18:11 And I think that's so big for the Bruins because you've needed this out of coil for so long.

18:15 Yeah, exactly.

18:16 I mean, I think after that Islanders game, I want to say that he was on pace for like

18:20 80 points or something like that.

18:21 Like, I don't think that's going to be the case, but what he's playing right now and

18:25 if he's going to get these more reps on the power play, he can be a guy that can give

18:28 you 55, 60 points, which if I told you before the year, that's what he would do.

18:33 I think people would be thrilled, right?

18:35 Because also I think the most important thing and why he's really developing into a really

18:39 complete player is that kind of what made him so valuable last year is still in place.

18:44 Like he's still really good on faceoffs.

18:46 Defensively, he's been great with really daunting, you know, D zone starts.

18:50 And he's the offense as a result of him getting 70% ozone starts or they're really trying

18:55 to carve out ways for him to generate offense beyond the power play reps.

18:59 Like he's still kind of just doing what he did last year, just with more minutes and

19:03 with more minutes, more reps.

19:04 If you're playing at that level, the chances are going to be there and he's capitalized.

19:08 So I think that's the most encouraging thing is you're getting, you know, steady production

19:13 from him offensively, which is the biggest question mark, but not at the risk or the

19:18 detriment of his defensive game faltering.

19:20 Because again, it's going to be a work in progress all year, I think in terms of this

19:24 team getting consistent five and five offense, but you also don't want to sacrifice, you

19:28 know, getting more scoring chances, but then giving up more down the other end of the ice.

19:32 Like the most important thing is keeping the goal tending and the defensive structure intact.

19:35 Even if it means a couple of one goal games, one goal leads, you're protecting late.

19:40 Like as long as you're sticking to your identity, that's the most important thing.

19:44 But as they're trying to sort these things out, having got like coil on pace for a 65

19:48 70 point season is huge for this team right now.

19:52 Huge and it goes back to a thing we said in the off season.

19:55 You said this a bunch and it's that the Bruins are the money ball Bruins right now on offense.

20:02 You know, if you can replace Creechie and Bergeron's production with coil and Zaka,

20:08 you know, one person getting 45 to 55 points and the other getting, you know, 55 to 65,

20:15 you're you're in business.

20:16 That's not a bad.

20:17 And, and like I said, this is a bunch of the off season.

20:19 It's not crazy to think, you know, either one of Zaka or coil could do either one of

20:23 those things.

20:25 And it feels like both are sort of, at least as of right now on pace for that.

20:30 And they're 11 one and two, they're okay.

20:31 You know, again, Montreal's performance the other night wasn't great.

20:35 You know, the two off, you know, the two overtime losses against Montreal and Anaheim have not

20:39 been good.

20:40 And obviously there was a loss to Detroit, but like for the most part, those guys have

20:43 held their own.

20:44 And I think that that's very, very encouraging.

20:48 And you know, like JVR money ball sign that is a, that is, I'm trying to think of a guy

20:53 from that money ball team that was like a good, like a Chad Bradford.

20:56 That's that's a, that's a, yeah, Scott Hattaberg.

21:00 That's the perfect one.

21:01 I mean, if you watch that movie and didn't know anything about that team, you would think

21:05 that that team was just like Chad Bradford, Scott Hattaberg.

21:11 Who else did they play?

21:12 David justice, David justice, old man justice.

21:17 You know, they forgot about you know, Tim Hudson, Barry Zito.

21:20 Trying to think of Tahada on that team.

21:24 He went MVP that year.

21:25 I think like, I think Tahada was on that team.

21:28 So like, again, it's, you gotta get a drum up the drum a little bit.

21:33 We understand, but yeah, it was great.

21:36 If the brooms do their own money ball, it's going to be like, they're not going to, if

21:39 the brooms like to win a cup and this becomes a money ball team, like they won't even mention

21:43 like pasta or, or swimming in all mark.

21:48 Reams like scored 80 goals that year.

21:50 They're going to show up.

21:51 They're going to show like a, they're going to show like a scene of Sweeney walking into

21:56 James Van Reams, like how Van Reams eggs house during the summer and various sites just kind

22:00 of like head in his hands.

22:02 Just like, no, no one's calling me.

22:04 No one's calling me.

22:05 And like Sweeney texting, like I'm at the front door and dog is like, Oh, I'm here.

22:09 You know?

22:10 Yes.

22:11 Yes.

22:12 No mention of any of those guys.

22:13 Yeah.

22:14 No mention of a posture.

22:15 Knock.

22:16 Nothing like that.

22:17 It's going to be, and it's going to be Laura.

22:18 I will be like the guy who played, he wins, wins the Norris.

22:22 Yeah.

22:23 It'll be something like that.

22:24 So we already wrote the script, so it's already set.

22:27 We did.

22:28 We got to throw a portrait in that.

22:29 Potra's got to be somewhere in there too.

22:31 You know, he's 110 points.

22:33 Yes.

22:34 Oh yes.

22:35 A potra coming in, potentially winning MVP.

22:39 You know, I'm trying to think of a good scene of him.

22:41 I guess you could, you know, like a comparable to money ball.

22:43 You could have posture being like, you know like I'm going to make this team.

22:47 I'm going to do it.

22:48 And yes, Monty's like, no, you're not.

22:51 We have our setters and Potra, you know, the underdog story comes in and all that.

22:57 So we, I mean, we're basically, if I work on the movie.

22:59 I'll work on the spec, the spec script.

23:01 So yeah, I can help with some of the dialogue and story arc and progression and all those

23:09 things that could take me a little longer than just next week.

23:12 Next week's Thanksgiving.

23:13 So but I think, you know, if a movie company wants to come along and produce that, I mean,

23:19 I think we're your guys on that.

23:21 So they went, they win the cup.

23:24 That's all that matters.

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24:51 Now back to the show.

24:52 We'll end on a negative note, as we have to.

24:58 I guess the next person we could talk about is, who was the, in money, we're just making

25:03 this like the Moneyball themed episode.

25:05 Who was the guy in Moneyball?

25:06 Well, I don't want to compare this Bruins player to this Moneyball player, but Jeremy

25:13 Giambi was traded like, you know, mid season because they didn't like his antics.

25:19 I'm not comparing, I will stop the comparison now.

25:21 You're not going to say anyone getting traded.

25:24 Jake DeBrusque.

25:25 They're going to have the guy in the high name because it was PTO.

25:28 Instead of him like just being at the practice thing, it's going to be him like, he has to

25:32 like work at Market Basket until like they give him a contract.

25:35 Like he's just like, we've assigned him that job.

25:37 That's like what Moneyball would be.

25:38 You got to earn your keep.

25:39 You got to work at the stop and shop down the street from the Warrior.

25:44 In Everett, yeah.

25:45 Yeah.

25:46 It's a discussion shop, yeah.

25:48 Exactly.

25:49 But anyways, Jake DeBrusque, some, you know, not the best start to the season.

25:55 One goal, four assists in 13 games.

25:58 I think this is the exact opposite of what we thought.

26:00 We thought, you know, DeBrusque contract year going to come out just gangbusters and it

26:05 really has been the opposite.

26:07 You know, him and Patra and Hyan have been together for the past couple of games.

26:11 There's not been crazy returns.

26:14 We have not heard anything new on the DeBrusque contract front where they're at with that.

26:20 He's made it known he wants to be here long term.

26:22 But again, this is sort of inconsistent play popping up.

26:25 Do you really want to sign on long term to getting, you know, wishy-washy play like this?

26:32 What have you thought so far of the DeBrusque experiment to start the year?

26:36 Yeah, I mean, I think it's been tough in terms of getting some consistent reps.

26:40 I think it's one of the things where, and you can make the argument this could be a

26:44 guy that the way he plays, he should be able to kind of chip in offensively, whatever line

26:48 he's on, if he's just playing his non-self straight game, going to the front of the net,

26:53 generating chances that way.

26:55 Hasn't worked so far yet.

26:58 It's been disappointing in terms of just the tangible production, because I think you just

27:01 really need a guy like him to get going.

27:02 It's not to say that you needed a 40 goal season.

27:05 Believe me, you would take it.

27:06 But I don't think it'd be fair to like ask for that kind of production.

27:09 If he was just DeBrusque of last year, it'd help you out tremendously in terms of just

27:13 getting tangible five on five scoring.

27:16 So it's been disappointing out of the gate.

27:19 I think you've seen the last couple of games, more encouraging signs.

27:24 He had that set up to that, you know, his first goal, he had a few good setups around

27:28 the net.

27:29 Like I think he's moving his feet more and he's impacting the game.

27:31 And I think he kind of mentioned it on Monday at warrior that the fact that I think he's

27:36 rounded out his overall game means he's contributing a bit more even when he's not scoring again.

27:40 Yes, bread and butter is still scoring and he needs to do that.

27:43 But if he's contributing on the PK, if he's doing these other things, it's almost like

27:47 we talked the last week about like Tyler Bertuzzi.

27:50 If he was like struggling to score, he's not doing some of the other stuff.

27:55 They can still kind of validate the team in the lineup.

27:57 Like the breast can have some of these stretches here, but he's still averaging 16, 17 minutes

28:03 a night because he can still play on the PK, do these other things to contribute to the

28:06 overall team.

28:07 But usually if he's not scoring and he's taking bad penalties or he's giving up chances down

28:12 the other end of the ice, he's either on the fourth line or he's playing 11 minutes a night.

28:16 Right?

28:17 That's exactly it.

28:18 So I think that's the encouraging thing for the Bruins in terms of, um, uh, of the fact

28:25 that at least the breast is becoming a more complete player.

28:27 So it's not like you have to really cut his minutes or something like that.

28:30 But again, you can only put out these qualifiers or, or kind of look at the, the brighter side

28:36 of things without being like, you still need this guy to produce, still need this guy to

28:39 cash in on some of these chances, which you hope are going to come soon.

28:42 Cause we all know he scores one.

28:45 Usually that starts kind of that deluge of scoring, which you desperately need from him

28:48 right now.

28:49 Yeah.

28:50 It goes back to like, I remember we talked in the, or we talked recently after that Maple

28:54 Leafs game, like who would you rather have DeBrusque or Bertuzzi?

28:57 It goes back to that.

28:58 Like you still with DeBrusque get the all around game, you get, you know, um, production

29:04 in other ways other than scoring, but those goals need to come and the points need to

29:08 come and that like to get a five or 6 million a year deal, you're going to need some consistent

29:15 production.

29:16 And I think that's where this should give you a little pause.

29:18 And I wonder if this stretch gives the Bruins a little pause as to, you know, now maybe

29:23 they go to the negotiating table and say, Hey, we'll do, you know, 4 million or four

29:28 and a half, but we're not going to go further than that.

29:31 And if the DeBrusque camp says we are not taking anything under five, then you've got

29:35 to make a decision there because, uh, he would get you something.

29:39 The other problem is if he continues to not really produce and be inconsistent, is he

29:43 going to get you all that he could at the deadline?

29:45 That's the other problem.

29:46 So, um, him not producing is the kind of double-edged sword there, or it's really just bad in general.

29:51 It's not a double-edged sword, it's just terrible.

29:54 It hurts everybody involved.

29:55 Um, but again, I think that that inconsistency, I wonder how much that gives the Bruins pause.

30:01 Um, but again, we'll see in the coming weeks, it'll be a storyline to follow.

30:05 That's for sure.

30:06 Speaking of things to follow, Connor, what can people look forward to from you over at

30:10 Boston.com and the Boston Globe?

30:11 Yeah, we'll have you covered throughout the season, whether it's game recaps, columns,

30:16 features, uh, breakdowns, you name it.

30:19 We'll have everything over at Boston.com.

30:20 So please read my stuff over there as long as, as well as Patriots, Celtics, everything

30:25 else from the rest of our great staff over there.

30:27 Even if you, uh, Patriots are not doing well, but there's plenty to talk about with that

30:31 team throughout this season.

30:33 So it's not great, but we have you covered every step of the way over there.

30:36 So please read our stuff over at Boston.com.

30:39 And if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can at Connor Ryan, underscore 93.

30:43 I thought you were going to say, uh, please follow my stuff or please read everybody else

30:46 as long as you read mine.

30:47 But then you, you're corrected to say that there's a lot of other great stuff.

30:52 Uh, yeah.

30:53 Patriots right now.

30:54 God, it's not great.

30:55 Yeah.

30:56 Oh my God.

30:57 What a waste of time that team is.

30:59 I got it.

31:00 You gotta keep losing.

31:01 You can't keep winning.

31:02 Like you're not keep winning.

31:03 You can't win like giants.

31:06 You're like after the week's lose, lose the most important game of the year is against

31:11 like the giant third string quarterback.

31:13 Please.

31:14 I mean, put Will Greer out there.

31:16 Put me, put you, put whoever.

31:17 Malik Cunningham.

31:18 I don't want to get hurt, but yeah.

31:19 Well, okay.

31:20 All right.

31:21 That's fair.

31:22 We, we, we need our hands to type Trent Brown and as quarterback.

31:24 Yes, need it.

31:26 He'll see.

31:27 He can see over the line.

31:28 That's for sure.

31:29 It's true.

31:30 Yes.

31:31 Um, so anyways, that's Connor Ryan.

31:32 I'm Evan Baranofsky.

31:33 You Bruinsby listeners have a great rest.

31:35 Love your week.

31:36 [Music]

Do the Bruins Have a Hampus Lindholm Problem? | Conor Ryan | Bruins Beat w/ Evan Marinofsky

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