In the latest episode of Poke the Bear, we react to the Bruins' decision to trade Linus Ullmark, whether the return was enough for Boston, Joonas Korpisalo's value, and much more.
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00:00Did not have a good year last year with Ottawa and maybe he's, you know, there's room for
00:03improvement there.
00:04But I just think committing, you know, what will end up being possibly $11 million per
00:10year to the goalie rotation moving forward or whatever you want to call them.
00:14I don't know.
00:15I don't know if it's rotating anymore.
00:17The goalie, your goalie core, $11 million to that, in fact, I think right now you're
00:23only saving like, I think it's $1.165 million against the cap.
00:27I would have taken, I would have taken the draft pick a lower draft pick and the $5 million
00:31in cap savings.
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00:42And welcome into Poked the Bear episode 241 presented by PrizePix.
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00:59Connor, I don't know if people saw on Monday night, the Red Sox had quite the win.
01:04Came back from 6-2, Alex Cora compared it to 2021.
01:08The place was electric.
01:10Want to get out on the action, go to GameTime, get yourself some seats, a hot dog, a lemonade,
01:16a beer, whatever you drank, sit back, relax, and enjoy the savings through GameTime, not
01:22at the ballpark.
01:23You're not saving any money at the ballpark, but you'll save money on tickets, which is
01:28what matters most.
01:29I'm Evan Maranofsky as Connor Ryan.
01:31Connor, what is up?
01:34Evan, I'm doing well.
01:35How are you doing?
01:36Doing great.
01:37Doing great.
01:38It was quite the Monday night for the NHL world, but especially for Bruins fans who
01:43were settling in around, I don't know, like 7.30 PM, probably that's when it's like, all
01:48right, you know, I got to go downstairs, I got to sit on the couch, maybe get some food,
01:52get myself a drink, sit back, relax.
01:54It's a game seven.
01:55I don't have to, I don't have a team in the fight.
01:58You know, maybe, you know, you're just watching the game and then the Allmark news breaks
02:03right before, right before, and everyone's minds, or at least around here, went to the
02:09trade.
02:10And for those who don't know, or those who need to be reminded, Linus Allmark went to
02:15the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the 25th overall pick, which was the Bruins' initial
02:21first rounder this year that they dealt to Detroit.
02:25Jonas Corposalo, 25% retained by Ottawa.
02:29So they will pay it.
02:30The Bruins will have to still pay him 3 million per.
02:32He's do that through 2027, 2028.
02:35We're going to be old by then.
02:36That's a long time.
02:37I'm already, I'm already old, Evan.
02:39Well, you'll be older than you'll be older than.
02:44And Mark Kostelik, a six foot four, 209 pounds center, 25 years old, bottom six forward.
02:53The reaction on Twitter was mostly that the Senators won this trade.
02:57I don't think there's any disputing that.
02:59What was your first reaction to this?
03:02Yeah.
03:03I mean, I think in the immediate aftermath of it, like after you kind of sit and digest
03:08it, I was probably underwhelmed a little bit.
03:11Again, I don't know if maybe that's just the fact that we've been hearing, you know, Chick
03:16Wren and the number seven pick and all those things, which probably was overshooting what
03:20we should have expected.
03:21Right.
03:22Like, and again, the Bruins do get some useful pieces back.
03:24They get their own first round pick back.
03:27They get Kostelik, who should, you know, add a little bit of size, add a little bit of
03:31speed to the bottom six.
03:33That's all.
03:34That's all good.
03:35Right.
03:36Like you're making the most out of moving an asset that you probably didn't have room
03:41for in terms of the financial, you know, the cap ramifications.
03:45But when you think more about the fact that what have we talked about, Evan, this entire
03:49time involving any Allmark trade, it's like we've said, you know, whatever you get is
03:55icing the cake.
03:56But the most important thing is the cap savings.
03:58Right.
03:59Because if you're the Bruins and you're making the decision to move on from a very good goalie
04:04in Lina's Allmark, you're making that decision knowing full well that like it's not sustainable
04:10or feasible to have, you know, eight million dollars or, you know, you sign straight into
04:17an eight million dollar per year contract and you have Allmark on the books.
04:21It's not feasible to have, you know, 12, 13 million tied up to your goaltending tandem.
04:27And when you've got five million on the bench, at least every single day, you know, that's
04:32just not making the most of your money.
04:34But now you're in a spot where, again, I think it's just the corpus allo and that contract
04:39is the big kind of head scratcher.
04:41Why I'm now like just not overly enthused by it, because, all right, you have let's
04:48say again, Swainman signs for eight million per year.
04:51You have Allmark and Swainman and they're accounting for 13 million total against the
04:54cap.
04:55You have it now.
04:56If with corpus allo, if you're keeping him, you have 11 million dollars tied up to two
05:01goalies except a mockably worst number two option in net with corpus allo.
05:06Right.
05:07So I just think you look at the Bruins and what the priority of this offseason should
05:12have been, which is obviously, you know, finding a suitor for Allmark was easier said than
05:17done.
05:18But when you look at the fact this team desperately needs as much help as it can get in terms
05:22of scoring up front and the cap space they have.
05:27If I'm the Bruins, I would have, you know, taken a second round pick or a third round
05:31pick if that means not taking on corpus allo's contract, because again, like maybe I'm inviting
05:37risk in terms of saying that I'd rather either go with Brennan Bussey or signing veteran
05:42Joe Schmo off the street for one, one and a half million.
05:47But I just think when you've got three million dollars on the books for a guy like corpus
05:50allo, who did not have a good year last year with Ottawa and maybe he's, you know, there's
05:55room for improvement there.
05:56But I just think committing, you know, what will end up being possibly 11 million per
06:02year to the goalie rotation moving forward or whatever we want to call them.
06:06I don't know.
06:07I don't know if it's rotating anymore.
06:09The goalie, your goalie core, a million dollars to that.
06:13And the fact that I think right now you're only saving like I think it's one point one
06:17six five million against the cap.
06:19I would have taken I would have taken the draft pick a lower draft pick and the five
06:23million dollars in cap savings and use that money to add another four to two up front.
06:28Right.
06:29Like I just think you look at this team and yes, they have money right now to re-sign
06:34Swayman to get a big fish like Lindholm.
06:37But like the money then starts drying up pretty quick.
06:40And like my first reaction to like that money being committed to corpus allo, in fact, you
06:45didn't shed all that much.
06:46It's like I just picture it like July 3rd, two days into free agency and like the Bruins
06:53having one point two five million in caps face left.
06:57And Anthony Duclair's market, you know, create or just someone like that.
07:01And he signs for three point two five million somewhere for twenty five goal scorer.
07:05I'm like, well, shit, that's my that that is my big thing.
07:10Right.
07:11Like, again, they got.
07:12Yeah.
07:13Good that they got some, you know, solid returns.
07:17Something had to be done.
07:18The writing was on the wall.
07:19But it's I think corpus allo is contract.
07:22And in fact, you're still committing a pretty hefty chunk of change to your goalie core
07:27this upcoming year and in the years ahead.
07:30This isn't like it's a one off like corpus allo's right now is signed through twenty
07:34twenty seven, twenty eight.
07:36I think the cap situation and the fact you didn't clear all that much is why I'm like
07:41I got to see how the rest of this plays out, because right now I'm not overly enthused
07:44with that, because I think it all comes down to cap flexibility.
07:47And that should have been the priority in any deal involving all mark.
07:50Well, I mean, we said it on yesterday's aged Bruins beat that came at the worst possible
07:57time, too, because it was going to win, too.
08:00Yeah.
08:01Everything went wrong.
08:02We had posted it already.
08:04And the old mark news happened.
08:06Someone tweeted us being like, oh, look what notification I just got.
08:08I'm like, yeah, I'm sorry, man.
08:09Like, shit, we'll have a new one for you tomorrow.
08:13The thing that we had said all along and I had said was, you know, if they come away
08:17with one of chicken in the twenty fifth pick, I'm fine with it because they'll save a bunch
08:24against the cap and that can be the other player or whatever.
08:26But we never considered Corpus Allo really because it had been reported that the Bruins
08:31nixed it in during the season in large part because they didn't want to take on Jonas
08:35Corpus Allo.
08:36So I don't.
08:37What changed?
08:39What changed from then to now where now they look at it and say, we'll take them.
08:47Did they watch a bunch of film of them?
08:48The goalie Bob come down and go like, yeah, I'd love to work with them.
08:51You know, I can.
08:52We can fix them.
08:54We can fix that.
08:55And look, the Bruins have a great history of dealing with goalies, no doubt.
09:01But you know, I saw Jay Fresh even tweet out today on Tuesday.
09:05You know, there's this misconception that the Bruins are this stout, you know, credible
09:08defensive team.
09:10They took a step back last year.
09:12They weren't.
09:13They weren't.
09:14They weren't pedestrian.
09:15They were kind of.
09:16They were pretty bad in terms of shot generation.
09:17They got billed out quite a bit from having two really good goalies, 100 percent off.
09:22But no, you're right.
09:23You're 100 percent right.
09:24And I think that's the big thing of like, you know, it's not like Corpus Allos coming
09:28in here.
09:29It's like, oh, the great Nara defense in front of him is going to shut it all down.
09:33And no, it's not like that at all.
09:35And so I don't know, you know, what there is there.
09:39And again, like if I think some people mentioned like, oh, could they flip him?
09:43Ottawa tried to get rid of him for months and it no one would take him.
09:50And so, again, like if they stuff him down in the AHL, they save a little bit against
09:54the cap.
09:55But it's not going to do anything for any trade value.
09:56And if they keep him up here and he stinks and you have the idea of what do you do with
10:01Bussey?
10:02Because now Bussey has to go through waivers to go to Providence and he would just get
10:06claimed like that because he's a very confident, good young goalie.
10:09So that to me is the hold up with this deal.
10:11Now, would I have taken a second rounder instead of the first?
10:16I'd have to consider it.
10:17I mean, Ottawa does have the thirty ninth pick, which is only 14 picks away from twenty
10:24five.
10:25And like, you know, I don't want to diminish the twenty fifth overall pick.
10:28David Pasternak is a former twenty fifth overall pick like you can you can find someone good
10:32down there.
10:34But the reality is that the difference between the twenty fifth and the thirty ninth is not
10:39huge.
10:40It isn't.
10:41There are you know, you look at a lot of different draft rankings.
10:44A lot of those players that we'll mention in a little bit when we talk about who could
10:48be there at twenty five for the Bruins.
10:51A good number of them could also be there at thirty nine now, you know, not all.
10:56But the way the rankings work, I mean, it's very subjective.
10:59You know, look, I don't want to sound like NHL insider Evan, but talking to scouts throughout
11:03the year at different rinks and stuff when I'm asking them about prep prospects and local
11:08prospects, it's very subjective.
11:10Like after the first the top like 20 kids, it is so up in the air a lot of times.
11:17And you see it every year with, you know, people being like, oh, you know, so and so,
11:22you know, like Wyatt Johnson is the big one right now in twenty twenty one with the Brewers
11:25pick and Fabian Lysel before.
11:27And so I think it's very subjective.
11:30I like the idea.
11:31I still like having a first carries a little more value if you want to deal it, you get
11:37a better choice of higher end talent, but the solo contract like that's the and again,
11:42like one point one six five million in cap, you added like that's not a heck of a lot.
11:48And I just I'm underwhelmed by that.
11:52You know, that's what that that's the holdup.
11:54If it you know, that's the part where I just I don't understand the what changed there
12:00because they didn't want him initially.
12:01I don't know what changed.
12:02Yeah.
12:03I mean, I think that's just the biggest thing.
12:05Right.
12:06I don't want to grade it right now when we don't have the full picture yet.
12:09Like, I mean, Don Sweeney, I don't think he's speaking to the media until Thursday.
12:12So I mean, whatever he says, that doesn't mean that's going to you know, he could very
12:16well be like, we fully think that we can, you know, corporate solos, a reclamation project
12:21and he can you know, we like how he plays and his athleticism and Bob Sands will work
12:26with him.
12:27I guess they all those right things, too, and maybe that gives a little bit more clarity.
12:30But you're right.
12:31Like they do have options in terms of you to bury him down in Providence, which, again,
12:35only says, I think, one point one five million against the cap.
12:39You could buy him out, which the cap savings this year would be pretty good.
12:42I think you only pay two hundred and fifty K against the cap.
12:45But I think it bumps up.
12:48It carries through, I think, twenty thirty one is what you'd have him on the books for,
12:52which is not good.
12:54And again, like, I don't think it's anything beyond I think the highest.
12:59Like, I think it's like twenty twenty eight.
13:00One of those random years, I think the most it'd be is like one point seven five
13:04million. But then it's a lot of like one point two, one point five.
13:07And I think the last four years will be one million each, which so
13:13it's not great just having that dead cap stretch over almost a friggin decade for a guy
13:18that you're acquiring as part of moving on from a Vezina goalie winner.
13:24But, you know, maybe that's the plan the Bruins have, maybe they try to find another
13:29team to take him, as you said, has been trying to move him for a while now.
13:32So are you tossing another pick away just to get him off the books?
13:37Right. Like it's just again, maybe the Bruins just think they have something with him.
13:42But I just think you look at the money is the biggest thing.
13:45Right. Like if I were as much risk as it probably is, it's probably not feasible and not
13:51smart to do it. I'd rather you roll with Swayman and Bussey and ends up being
13:56eight point eight, you know, eight point seven five million total as opposed to 11 million
14:00with a guy like Corpora Solo, who you look at the track record, it's just not that
14:05great. And you make a good point mentioning it earlier, like it's not like I
14:10think people expect the Bruins with their personnel and they do have a better defensive
14:14personnel than Ottawa. There's no doubting that.
14:16But they were prone to quite a few sustained stretches of giving them grade A chances.
14:21And it sure helps when you've got two great goalies in all mark and
14:26stream and that will bail you out like they were.
14:29They were flirting with disaster quite a bit and play with a lot of fire last year in their
14:33own zone. And the goalies were the biggest difference.
14:35It's not like you put Corpora Solo in there.
14:37It's automatic, like he's going to have a nine twenty one save percentage in January.
14:42Right. The Bruins, maybe that's what you hope for.
14:44And you have this guy that, you know, can eat up some of the minutes as women's
14:49expected to have or you flip them later on after the year.
14:53Corpora Solo shows that he has more to give, but there's a whole lot of risk involved
14:57with that. And if it's not like it's a thing where if he's a one year flame out, you
15:02take the cost and you move on.
15:04You sign through twenty, twenty seven, twenty eight.
15:06Like it's not, you know, a risk that you can just roll.
15:11You know, it rolls off your shoulders after a year or two.
15:14You're kind of stuck with this contract unless you want to buy it out or do something else
15:18like that. So, again, I like some of the returns.
15:22It's so tough to gauge the goalie market, but.
15:26I think the biggest priority should have been that cap flexibility, and the fact you need
15:30as much money as possible to, you know, add those players are going to move the needle
15:37on, I think a lot of it has to do with moving the needle up front in terms of having goal
15:41scorers. So, yeah, like, you know, let's say you sign Elias Lentol and Jeremy Swainman,
15:46and that's fifteen million right there.
15:48You don't have all that much left if you want to.
15:51You know, if you if Jake DeBrusque walks in free agency, sure, you can maybe sign to
15:56Foley, but I'd sure feel a lot better if you could sign to Foley and.
16:00Do Claire or, you know, or someone Bertuzzi or like, I don't even really like Anthony
16:06Mantha, but like if he's available for two, seven, five, three, I'd rather spend the money
16:10there than have it tied up to Corporisolo, right?
16:13Like I think you need to leave no stone unturned with adding forward depth and guys that can
16:17score goals. And that's slightly again.
16:20It's not derailing everything, but might be the difference between, you know, signing a
16:26bargain bin guy for one, one and a half million that maybe moves a needle and a guy that
16:31could get you 20 goals and declare someone else like that.
16:34Well, you know, like we've said in the past, we've said for a couple of weeks now, you
16:39know, the big part of this is we know the trade itself, unless it includes Chickren or a
16:44Shane Pinto for some reason.
16:46Um, we knew that the Bruins probably weren't going to get the best player in the trade.
16:50You know, they were going to get a first round pick, but the cap savings was the big
16:54element. You were going to get, you know, whoever you signed with that 5.25 million in
16:58cap space was how you improved, as you mentioned to Foley.
17:02You don't have that here.
17:03Like you're a worse team now with this.
17:06And again, I think it comes down to Omar not signing that extension, you know, and me.
17:10I don't know. Did Omar was Omar's last laugh like, yeah, I'll go to Ottawa and I'm not
17:14going to sign an extension.
17:15And then he goes up there and like July 2nd size extension.
17:18That would be the ultimate just like F you to the Bruins.
17:23And I think that, you know, when we saw the Elliott Friedman tweet right before the cup
17:27of, hey, you know, he's not signing an extension.
17:30It was like, all right, we know what the return we know the return is going to be
17:34underwhelming. I think the empty netters podcast, Mike Grinnell had tweet both tweeted
17:38out that they, you know, Bruins fans are going to be pissed at the at the at the trade
17:45package. This is true.
17:47People were pissed.
17:48And again, I mean, look at Corpus, all those numbers, even games played.
17:52I mean, since coming into the league, 31 in 2015, then 14, 18, 27, 37, 33, 22, 39.
18:01His only real like great stretch was that little bit in L.A.
18:08Yeah. Two year in 2022, 23, when seven, three and one is a deadline mover, two point
18:13one, three goals against average 921 save percentage.
18:16He's mostly been under 800 for like every year, it feels like.
18:21I mean, he's a career 901 save percentage.
18:23But I mean, he's been so up and down, completely inconsistent.
18:27I don't know what Ottawa was thinking when they gave him a long term deal that just
18:32goes to show you how desperate teams are for goalies.
18:34And you just gave one away for not a heck of a lot.
18:38There's more to this.
18:40Well, you know, the Bruins got a first round pick.
18:41We're going to get into some of those names.
18:43Marcus Delic, people saw the video of him beating up Tom Wilson.
18:47So now people like, all right, I like this guy.
18:49I like this guy.
18:51And we have the element.
18:52Your colleague at the Boston Globe, Kevin Paul DuPont, wrote an interesting story
18:56this morning on if this is just the start for the Bruins.
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20:30Now let's get back to the show.
20:32I was I was just scrolling through Twitter.
20:34Obviously, you know, Monday night, the Panthers did win the Stanley Cup.
20:38Hell of a game.
20:39Hell of a game that I don't know how Edmonton did not score
20:43in some of those sequences at the end, I thought like that Panthers net front
20:46defense kind of reminded me of remember that last minute of game four against
20:50the Penguins in 2013, when just guys are diving everywhere,
20:54blocking shots, just not letting anything through.
20:57That was that.
20:58But there was this video of I think it was Matthew Kachuk on the street.
21:03It was from the elbow rooms like camera
21:05just kind of chilling on the street with the cup and cars just kind of passing by.
21:09And granted, it's it was earlier in the morning.
21:12But, you know, no one is stopping.
21:13No one like if that was Boston,
21:15you could not walk the streets with the Stanley Cup in that you would get just
21:19mauled. Yeah, you could not.
21:22I mean, someone to just take the guys who stole the Red Sox.
21:25Was it the Red Sox pennant?
21:26Red Sox ban? No, they found it on the they found on the highway.
21:28They were good Samaritans.
21:30And they were doing a good thing there.
21:32They had to find the Red Sox banner and they just went a little reward
21:37for finding it, which is totally fine.
21:39But that makes sense.
21:40I mean, in the bag, I mean, look at like, yeah.
21:43So like the photo of Mike Napoli walking
21:45shirtless, like with a cig in his mouth is still like an iconic moment.
21:49Like if you have like a random Bruins player walking down Newbury, walking down
21:54causeway, walking out of like the greatest bar with a Stanley Cup,
21:57like it's going to be an iconic photo.
21:59Iconic. And you're not getting the other end of the street.
22:01No, it's not happening.
22:03I did just see a video of Matthew
22:05Kachuk jumping in the Atlantic Ocean with Stanley Cup, which is which is quite fun.
22:09And there are some people around him.
22:11So there were people that did care.
22:13But I think if that was here, imagine
22:15jumping into like the Charles River, jumping into the harbor with Stanley Cup
22:19would come out green and be like the Statue of Liberty, like completely eroded.
22:25Day one, not even 24 hours.
22:27And Phil Pritchard is just like, oh, my God, how did they do this?
22:31Um, so, yeah, Panthers obviously pulled out a win last night.
22:36Um, yeah, whatever.
22:37Um, anyways, uh, so the Corpus Allo thing is is one thing.
22:43Um, Castellic, I think everyone kind of went like, who?
22:46Who is that?
22:47He's from Arizona, former Phoenix junior coyote.
22:52That means anything to anybody.
22:53Um, played in the W.H.L. for a long time.
22:56Uh, six foot four, 209 pounds center.
23:00Good on draws. Very physical.
23:02Um, bottom six guy.
23:04This is not someone who's going to elevate or doesn't seem like he's going to elevate
23:08into the top six, but a depth piece, uh, cost controllable.
23:14And I think someone that, you know, I think I forget who I saw tweet.
23:18This probably means Pat Maroon is gone, um, just based on the money.
23:22They're going to have a very young bottom six next year.
23:25But I think he is reliable and he's going to be good on draws.
23:28So I don't mind this throwing.
23:29Didn't you mention him yesterday in Brewersby?
23:32Uh, I don't think so.
23:34Are you going to do something different?
23:36Yeah, I mentioned a few like prospects they had who like I think were viewed as
23:40kind of similar, like third, fourth line players that, you know, will rack up a lot
23:45of hits and Castellic's more or less that kind of player.
23:47Right.
23:48Like it's unfortunate because I do think the Bruins need kind of a veteran.
23:52I think the Ty Anderson calls a cage
23:55rattlers, guys that will command the room will call you out, those kinds of things.
23:59But in terms of just the actual production, um, Castellic's what the price is.
24:04I think it helps. Right.
24:05Meaning six, four, two hundred and sixteen pounds, um, lands a lot of hits.
24:10He's a physical player and not like a guy that even with that size is, you know,
24:16going to be losing foot races. You look at his highlights.
24:19He's always kind of involved on the floor check.
24:21You listen to what Cam Neely mentions
24:23earlier on this season, mentioning like need for more speed, more guys that can win
24:29puck battles, a guy like Castellic should help you in that regard.
24:33So again, like a fourth line of it's him,
24:36Beecher and Brezzo, a lot of intrigue there, like a lot of like kind of fits
24:41the mold of what fourth lines are kind of becoming, I think, moving forward.
24:44And you have some more upside there with
24:46all three of those guys in terms of they haven't really hit their ceiling yet.
24:50So I do like what that fourth line could can provide.
24:53I think a player like Castellic will help you out, but
24:58I think it all comes down to like how much does it move the needle?
25:01It helps. He's a good, solid player that should be
25:04able to add a little bit of a different element to your fourth line.
25:08But still, like it's not the headliner by any means.
25:10And nor do I think all of a sudden, look at this and we're in January
25:14and he's already got eight goals or something like that.
25:16The Bruins would love for that to happen.
25:17But like, again, good fourth line foot soldier, which you'll take.
25:23Yeah, it's fine.
25:24You know, I have no issue with it.
25:26Again, it goes back to the Corpolo thing.
25:28I think that is what Sauer Sauer's this.
25:31The athletic gave the Bruins like a C for this trade.
25:34They gave the senators an A.
25:35And I think that's accurate.
25:37And I would even go I would even say like
25:39a C minus because the salary, the cap space, you just don't have.
25:44But, you know, I think Castellic could be a fan favorite.
25:46That could be a guy that people like.
25:47I mean, they took to Brazo this year and he's not even that physical.
25:52You know, if Castellic can be good on draws, I think it's the other thing is
25:55like be good on draws, responsible in your own zone.
25:57Maybe this is a guy who transforms that fourth line into being someone
26:00that can go up against other teams, top lines, you know, like
26:04I don't know his game that well.
26:06I don't know it outside of things I've read and heard from people.
26:08But, you know, if that if that's what he is, then that's what he is.
26:12And I think, you know, you live with that.
26:16But again, first round targets,
26:18I think is an interesting one, because when you get to 25, it's very much
26:23what's left, is there is there a best available?
26:26Do we go for a certain position?
26:28I want to get into that.
26:29But first, quick word for friends over at game time.
26:32The Stanley Cup final is over.
26:33And what a thriller it was.
26:36The Celtics are NBA champions with hockey and basketball playoffs over.
26:40Attention turns to the MLB.
26:42And is there a better activity to do during the summer than hitting the ballparks?
26:46Nothing beats a summer night at Fenway Park.
26:50A Fenway frag, an ice cold beverage and the crack of the bat.
26:54It's a nice change of pace from the heart pounding intensity
26:57of the NHL and NBA playoffs.
27:00Just pure relaxation, good weather and great vibes.
27:04It's like every year I make a slew of fond memories at Fenway.
27:08For me last year, it was in Chicago watching the Red Sox
27:10take down the Cubs at historic Wrigley Field.
27:13Got to say, Cubs fans, very nice people.
27:17Want to go to a game this summer?
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28:12Now back to the show.
28:14So picking a 25 is interesting.
28:16I think there are possibilities there.
28:21Do you have a preference?
28:22I mean, this is the thing we're we're not super prepared
28:26to talk prospects in terms of, you know,
28:30we don't know the intricacies in everyone's game.
28:31There is one center who's a candidate to go around there
28:35that I actually saw a lot of this winter.
28:37So I can offer some insight into this guy.
28:40Listen, you lead off then, dude.
28:41You know, the one who's the other.
28:42You're the you're the pro here.
28:44Well, I don't know about the pro and I don't.
28:46This is what I'm reading.
28:47I feel like I'm like the episode of The Office when they find out that
28:52Charles Minor is like a big soccer fan and it's like they're reading off names
28:56like, oh, I'm a fan of Maradona.
28:59That's how I feel right now.
29:01Michael Hagee, I love him.
29:03He's great.
29:05Dean Letourneau.
29:06This is a name you're going to hear a lot of in the next week.
29:10Dean Letourneau is six foot seven, 214 pounds.
29:15Very skilled.
29:15Centerman was initially committed to Northeastern.
29:18Decommitted there when they wanted him to go to the USHL for a year.
29:23B.C. picked him up.
29:24B.C. actually was going to have him go to the USHL for a year next year.
29:27And then Will Smith went to San Jose.
29:29And in comes Dean Letourneau.
29:32So big center, very raw,
29:35very high upside.
29:38I think the one knock on him is there were a lot of shifts.
29:42I did not notice him.
29:43There were a lot of shifts, whereas play away from the puck just wasn't that great.
29:47Not overtly physical.
29:48And you don't have to be.
29:49I mean, he's very skilled.
29:50He's a great shot.
29:51Good hands like all those things.
29:54It's the rawness.
29:55It's I mean, if you're if you're six, seven at 18, you are as raw as they get.
30:02The thing with him is like I've seen different rankings.
30:04You know, the athletic has had him going somewhere in the late 20s.
30:09Some rankings of other, you know, other prospect rankings
30:11don't even have him in like the top 100.
30:13Some have him like 40 or 50 because he's a project.
30:17He's a project.
30:18And I don't know what he's going to look like at B.C. this winter.
30:20I think he could have used another could have used a year in junior.
30:24I mean, he spent the winter.
30:25His numbers are crazy.
30:26St. Andrews College.
30:27So up in Canada, they do call colleges like high schools
30:30or they call high schools colleges.
30:33So they play a lot of New England prep teams.
30:36They play a lot of they play like Mount St.
30:38Charles and different events.
30:41And so some of those numbers get inflated because,
30:44you know, a kid of his size probably could have easily been playing in the USHL
30:50this past winter.
30:51And, you know, nothing wrong with what he did.
30:53I just felt he could use another year or junior.
30:55So I'm very intrigued to see what B.C.'s plan for him this year is.
30:59What kind of impact he makes?
31:01He's definitely not a one and done.
31:03I don't think there's any way he's a one and done.
31:04I think he's going to be a guy that needs a lot of seasoning in college.
31:07There's going to be a lot of growing pains.
31:09To me, he's not someone the Bruins should pick,
31:12because I think the Bruins should want someone that.
31:15Is a little more of a sure thing, like if if Letourneau hits
31:19and Letourneau is like Tage Thompson down the road, then like, obviously, yeah.
31:24But that's a huge swing to take.
31:26And to me, for a guy like Letourneau, I think that should be more of a team
31:31that is set, like a New York Rangers has been a popular team or like a team
31:36that is good.
31:36Carolina, the Carolina things on those kind of players.
31:40They either take either day to take five, six defensemen or like six, eight forward.
31:44Yes, there's no in between.
31:46And that's the kind of team.
31:48If you have a pick there at the end of the first and it's like, all right,
31:51we're in a good spot as a team or if you have two picks.
31:55There are a bunch of teams
31:56that pick in the top ten that also have a second pick later on.
31:59The senators were one of those teams, not anymore.
32:02They have a number one goalie instead.
32:04Then maybe you try that as a project type, as a, you know,
32:08hope this hits type pick.
32:10I don't think it's a Bruins pick.
32:11I don't think this is a guy that Bruins should be taking a swing on.
32:15I think there are other options there.
32:17There's other centermen that should probably still be there.
32:21That's where my expertise goes out the window.
32:24Sasha Boy, there is headed to be you this winter, though.
32:27And that's one used to play for Mount St.
32:29Charles.
32:30That's a guy who might be around there.
32:33He's projected to be picked somewhere low in the, you know,
32:35in the 10 to 19 range, maybe high 20s.
32:39Maybe he's sticking around.
32:41But would you be mad if they didn't pick a center?
32:44I mean, I feel like that's a spot where if you're
32:47I think it's all about right now trying to find like some high upside there.
32:52So I actually would be fine, honestly, like taking a swing on a guy
32:56that could have that boomer bust potential. Right.
32:58And again, there's other guys.
32:59They got Bovera's.
33:01You said they got Cole Baldwin, who's in the O.H.L.
33:05I think he's six to already two hundred and like ten pounds.
33:08And I think they kind of view him as one of those guys that, you know,
33:11maybe is a third line solid defensive two way player.
33:17And like, again, there's value there.
33:18If he's a guy that you can project the floor, maybe that's who you value.
33:21But also, if you're the Bruins and we've talked about this and again,
33:25it's the number 25 pick, so you have to operate
33:28with the expectation of what you're getting there.
33:30But what do we mentioned before?
33:31If you're the Bruins and you're trying to find an impact
33:35legit, you know, top six forward, maybe this is the chance
33:38where you can swing on a player like Letourneau, who, as you said,
33:43maybe he's a guy that doesn't even touch the NHL.
33:47Maybe like the tweener that isn't able to translate to the next level.
33:51Or maybe he's Tate Thompson.
33:53Like you could make the argument like if there's a time to do it,
33:55it's now as opposed to true, as opposed to a guy like Baldwin,
33:59who again, like seems like a pretty safe pick.
34:02But, you know, I guarantee you like
34:05and it's not to say that this all revolves around what Bruins fans think
34:08or what the consensus on Twitter is, but if they get a guy like Baldwin
34:12and their reports like, ah, great third line for the 25 pick,
34:17whereas like Letourneau is like, again, there's probably some guys
34:20who are like, I didn't even have this guy in the top hundred.
34:22There's also people who are like six, seven forward who's a good skater
34:26has room to grow, you know, like you can make that argument as well.
34:30So, I mean, again, it's a good problem to have.
34:31And it's something that you're able to now weigh where you have a first round pick.
34:35But if I'm the Bruins, I might go more for even if it's more risky.
34:39I go for the higher upside.
34:40I almost feel like you have to be like one of these teams like Carolina
34:44where they'll draft a guy who doesn't even make it,
34:47you know, doesn't even make the trek from Europe to North America.
34:50Or they get these guys who all of a sudden light it up.
34:53Wow. How the hell do they get these players?
34:55So it's like if
34:57it's almost like, you know, the Bruins are in a spot
34:58where they should be contending a contending team anyway.
35:01They've got a good framework.
35:03It's all about whether you view it.
35:04Do you go more for the upside or you go more for the guy that in 2027
35:09is fighting for a spot, right?
35:11Like that's kind of what you have to weigh, I think.
35:13And it's a good problem to have the Bruins.
35:15And so, you know, it's something you're able to a problem
35:18that you manufacture for yourself by having a first round pick.
35:21So, yeah, I agree with that.
35:24I mean, that's why I think like
35:25I don't know a ton about some of those other players.
35:28I think the curse is that I know a lot about Letourneau.
35:30I've seen him play so much that you're like, oh, I know the holes.
35:33I want to be fully convinced that he's a first rounder.
35:36And and you're right.
35:38Like I saw him make some crazy plays like
35:42and that's the area where it's like there's that boom.
35:45But then it's that other part of me where it's like,
35:47oh, he's going straight to college.
35:49He's probably maybe not going to have the best freshman year.
35:52And then it's like, OK, is that going to hurt his development?
35:55Now, I trust those guys at B.C.
35:57You know, like the Brown people like, you know, Greg Brown.
35:59And I trust I know you don't.
36:02I don't know the biggest B.C. band, but I trust him.
36:04I trust. Yeah, it's a good program.
36:05It's a great program.
36:07We can get that.
36:09But, you know, I mean, again, like a Sasha boy there is another one
36:12like his high. He has a high upside.
36:16Like he's someone, you know.
36:17But again, I don't know if he's going to be there at twenty five.
36:21And I do wonder, like when you get to that twenty five range,
36:23you mentioned like
36:25Cole Boyden as someone who has like a kind of a,
36:28oh, he could be a third liner in the NHL.
36:30And again, this is just projections.
36:31You know, he could be more.
36:33But if that's what it is,
36:34you're going to have some of those kinds of guys there at twenty five.
36:37And you do wonder like, all right, to the Bruins, just take the best available.
36:41Do they go with a defenseman?
36:42Do they just do they go with a winger?
36:46One name that is interesting and people are going to scoff at maybe Teddy Stiga.
36:52He's from Sudbury, and he had a great year at the program
36:55this year, played at Belmont Hill.
36:57Fell girl hate it because he's a local kid.
37:00Five ten left winger can play the middle.
37:04You know, I think probably more of a second rounder.
37:07Like if the Bruins were picking thirty ninth, that would be like, oh,
37:09that's a really strong thirty ninth pick.
37:13Could be a first.
37:14But I don't think the Bruins are going to outstretch themselves for that.
37:17Be cool. Be cool story.
37:19But I don't think that that's the route they're going to take.
37:22But I do wonder if there's a best available one guy,
37:24one name that's been tossed around a lot that's fallen in the draft
37:28is Trevor Connolly.
37:30So Trevor Connolly is a Providence commit
37:33has had some trouble in the past with some different things.
37:35There's a big story in the athletic.
37:38You know, there was some bullying issues back when he was in youth hockey.
37:42There was an issue with a Snapchat story he posted or reposted
37:48when he was younger.
37:51I've read the story.
37:52I believe he deserves a second chance.
37:53He should play, you know, and he's he is.
37:56This is a this is very different from the Mitchell Miller situation
38:00because he has spent the last bunch of years proving I'm a better person.
38:03And I you know, and all these different things and and giving back
38:07and of that thing of that stuff.
38:08So I wonder how far he falls.
38:11And now there are teams that aren't going to pick him
38:13because they don't want the headache.
38:14They don't want the bad PR.
38:16I get it.
38:17He's very talented, very, very, very talented.
38:22And I do wonder, I don't know if he falls to 25.
38:25I think some would pick him up before.
38:27I mean, you look at the Kings or 21, the Predators at 22,
38:32the Leafs at 23, the Avs at 24, Vegas is at 19.
38:37Like those are teams that it's like, oh, my God,
38:40a guy that skilled is going to fall to me.
38:43I'm going to take him.
38:44So I think that, you know, that's another interesting case of if he's a 25,
38:51the Bruins had the Mitchell Miller problem a few years ago.
38:53I'm not equating them.
38:54But, you know, I do wonder if there's any pushback.
38:56But again, like I give his I give him and I give his kind of group credit
39:02because they've spent the last bunch of years saying, hey, look,
39:05he's not a bad kid. He made a mistake.
39:08You know, and I think that, you know, there's a lot of debate around him.
39:12But I wonder if he's going to be there.
39:14Twenty five will be at Providence this this this fall.
39:17So, yeah, that too.
39:20So I don't know.
39:21I think it's going to be interesting what they do at 25.
39:23We'll get more into it.
39:24We got to we got to sit in the film room.
39:25That's we got to do. Yeah, exactly.
39:27A couple of days of just cramming for for for the first round.
39:33Another interesting thing, though, is your colleague,
39:36Kevin Paul DuPont, wrote, are the Bruins done or not done?
39:39But, you know, I hope this is it.
39:43I misspoke. He didn't write that.
39:44He wrote, is this the start of more?
39:47And he mainly referred to free agency.
39:50Sam Reinhart, you know, Jake Gensel, John of the Marsh.
39:54So guys like that.
39:56But do you see any world in which they flip this pick?
40:00I mean, they could, right?
40:01Like if it leads to, you know, I'm just trying to spit
40:05ball like is that part of a deal that if you want like Marty Natchez?
40:09And that's like, again, you're trading a first round pick and pieces
40:13for a first round talent like Brad to give up more, obviously. But
40:18that could be an option, right?
40:20If you're trying to flip the pick for a scoring winger or someone else like that.
40:24I don't know if you're getting an impact top six forward for a number 25 pick
40:28without giving more pieces on top of it.
40:30But no, it's absolutely an option.
40:32That's why, again, like I think it's tough right now to like,
40:36I think we're all pretty underwhelmed in terms of the return,
40:40mostly because of the corporate solo contract.
40:42But if you're the Bruins and all of a sudden you, you know,
40:46we're looking at the state of the roster on July 8th or something like that.
40:51And Freight Agency is done and you've got
40:54a Marty Natchez or someone like that with Elias Lindholm and Swayman locked up,
40:58you know, a whole lot can change.
40:59Or it could be 2021 where you signed Omar, which was a great signing,
41:04but you had, you know, 22, 22, 23 million.
41:08And you used it on, you know,
41:09re-signing Mike Riley and Derek Fulbert and Nick Foligno and these guys that.
41:13Eric Holler.
41:14Yeah, like helped a little bit, but not really move the needle.
41:17So whether it's whatever they do with that first round pick,
41:22whether they trade it or keep it, whether they buy out or move
41:26corporate solo or make a commitment to keeping him here.
41:29And, you know, helping him kind of
41:32get a rebound season, whoever they sign, like a whole lot of it.
41:36I think this was kind of the first step,
41:38but we don't get a full grasp on until probably a couple of weeks down the road.
41:42So I think it's right now it's probably underwhelming.
41:45But if it leads to more money being shit, if you move that contract
41:49or if you have an impact player that you acquire with that first round pick
41:54or you just sign guys like Lindholm or Toffoli or how like the rest comes back
41:59like a whole lot can change every now and then.
42:00So I'm going to overall reserve most of my judgment, even though
42:04it does seem like most of this podcast is me being like, I don't I don't like this.
42:09We know it's interesting.
42:10I was just thinking about this, like in our time of podcasting together,
42:13which is now five years wild.
42:17They've never had in that time.
42:20We've never talked much about first round picks
42:23because it's never been a big deal.
42:242019, they just come off the cup.
42:27The 30 30th pick, whatever it was, was not really something we talked much about.
42:33And then in 2021 with Lyselle, it was like, oh, they have this this pick.
42:38We weren't like talking about it a ton.
42:40I don't remember.
42:42They haven't had a pick in two years now or first round pick in two years.
42:44And I think this is an area where you can improve.
42:48But also we expected a higher pick.
42:51That's the other thing we were talking about, the devils for the number
42:53ten pick and things like that.
42:55And then, you know, 25 is fine if they do flip it.
43:00I'm OK with it, like as long as it's for the right deal,
43:05for the right kind of player.
43:07But I also wouldn't mind them making the pick.
43:10And bolstering the prospect pool.
43:11I wouldn't mind taking a taking a chance.
43:13And, you know, if it is a lotorno type player.
43:17I'm OK with the boom, you know, but if it like I just like boy,
43:21there is someone who I look at who has that higher upside.
43:25Maybe more of a sure bet.
43:27Like I, I don't know, I want them to hit on this pick.
43:30You dealt a Vesna goalie.
43:33I want them to hit on it.
43:34And maybe that's me being, you know, safe.
43:37But I just wouldn't mind that.
43:39Yeah, in terms of all Mark's legacy.
43:44We can touch on that quick
43:45because we can do that in other future podcasts to one of Esna scored a goal.
43:50Never could really get it done in the playoffs.
43:52Wasn't really given a huge shot this past year.
43:55So you got to, you know, but again, the two years prior,
43:59not so great.
44:00But again, regular season wise, I think he's a big reason
44:02why they had a lot of success the last couple of years.
44:04And then they're in that historic 2022, 23 year.
44:08He was one of their three best players.
44:10So got a hats off to him.
44:12And he was a great guy, too.
44:13Yeah, absolutely.
44:14Great signing.
44:15A guy that really exceeded expectations.
44:19It's funny.
44:19You look at probably what the the sentiment was right now on Bruins Twitter
44:24and you look back at where we were in 2021.
44:25We're like, they signed this guy on that bumass Buffalo team.
44:29Turns out he was far from the issue with that, with that Buffalo team.
44:33One of the few good pieces on the on those teams that left a lot to be desired.
44:37But lots of good pieces went on to just win a Stanley Cup.
44:41Also true. Yeah.
44:42Buffalo continues to take L's.
44:44But no, I mean, great goalie,
44:47great guy to cover you, a guy that is as pressure
44:52filled as it is to play one goalie, but especially in a place like Boston
44:56to have a guy like Omar, who seemed to always do things glass half full,
45:01which you don't see all that often in any any kind of profession,
45:04but especially amongst pro athletes.
45:08Really good guy.
45:09But also just in terms of his impact, like beyond his own individual
45:13production and the awards and all that stuff,
45:16like I think his role in helping Jeremy Swainman, you know,
45:20find his own footing and further develop, I think can't be kind of understated.
45:25Like if, you know, the Bruins have a number one goalie now
45:29in a franchise fixture in Swainman, but who knows how much longer
45:33that development curve would have been if it wasn't for a guy like Omar
45:37to support him, help him kind of navigate through these last couple of years.
45:40You know, give him the rest he needed as well to not tax him.
45:44Like as much as, you know, it hasn't been perfect for any one of these goalies,
45:48as it is the case for every every player throughout a long season.
45:52There also wasn't a stretch where like if Swainman was struggling
45:54to find his game where the Bruins had to trudge him out there for a five,
45:58six game stretch where he like wasn't, you know, at his best
46:01and the numbers weren't reflecting that.
46:03He never got a goal mark.
46:04You could put Swainman on the back burner for a couple of days,
46:08Swainman on the back burner for a couple of days,
46:10have him find his game and go back out there when he's ready.
46:14That was a luxury, one that, again, wasn't feasible to continue moving forward.
46:17But I think it was something that relationship
46:20and just having that ability to have a goalie like Omar.
46:24I think it helped the Bruins in the standings, but I think also put,
46:28I think, Swainman on the path to where he is now, where moving forward,
46:31he's your number one goalie and hopefully your franchise fixture moving forward.
46:35You nailed it.
46:36You nailed it.
46:38Great career.
46:38I also I do wonder if they expected him, Lena Solmark, to be here longer
46:44because, you know, when they signed him, you want like, you know,
46:48Swainman was sort of a young goalie with high upside,
46:51but you don't know when that's going to hit and it hit fairly quick.
46:55But yeah, great career here for Lena Solmark.
46:57Wish him the best in Ottawa.
47:00And yeah, that's this week's episode of Poke the Bear.
47:04Conor, what can people look forward to from you at The Globe and Boston.com?
47:07Yeah, well, have you covered every step of the way this offseason,
47:09whether it's free agency now looking at the draft and first round picks,
47:14you know, other moves, trades, all that stuff.
47:16We'll have you covered every step of the way over at Boston Globe and Boston.com.
47:21If you want to follow me on Twitter, you can at ConorRyan underscore 93.
47:24Go do all of that.
47:26That's Conor Ryan.
47:27I'm Evan Marinovsky, Poke the Bear listeners.
47:29Have a great rest of your week.