Evan Marinofski and Conor Ryan discuss the moves made by the Bruins and around the NHL on the first day of free agency. They go over the potential impact of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, and the implications of the loss of Jake DeBrusk.
Bruins Beat is presented by:
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
Bruins Beat is presented by:
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00And we are live. We are live, Connor. This is a real live podcast. Usually, we just go up on
00:07Twitter. They're not really live, even though they say they are. A little inside secret there.
00:13But this is truly live. I'm Evan Maranofsky. That's Connor Orion. This is Bruins Beat presented
00:17by PrizePix. And game time, go use that promo code at PrizePix, CLNS, to get up to $100 cash
00:23back on that first deposit. And go to game time, use that promo code CLNS to get $20 off your first
00:29purchase. Terms apply. Connor, what is up? Evan, I'm doing well. How are you doing?
00:36Doing great. Doing great. Anything big happen today? Anything of importance? Anything?
00:41Anything interesting you could think of? Actually, it was a big day. When I got my
00:46Dunkin' order this morning, there was actually an extra hash brown in my daily hash brown order. So
00:53the vibes were, I think, pretty good going into it. And then one thing led to another,
00:57and all of a sudden, the Bruins have a 6-6 Russian and a new top six center all of a sudden.
01:04So I'm not going to say it's all Dunkin's. You can blame Dunkin' for, or credit Dunkin', rather.
01:09But I think there's a little bit of a correlation there, if you ask me.
01:14And that extra hash brown, suddenly John Henry knows the Celtics. So it just all comes together
01:20perfectly, as you would want. Big day for the Bruins and free agency. And we'll dive right in,
01:25because I know people want us to get into this, and I want to get into this.
01:29Bruins do some big things. They go out, they get Elias Lindholm,
01:33like we expect. Seven years, 7.75 million per. That was one, and then Zdorov was with it. Nikita
01:41Zdorov, a 6-foot-6 defenseman, played for Vancouver last year with Lindholm for a little bit.
01:48Six years, 5 million per. In the process, DeBrusco's out the door, Heinen goes out the
01:53door. Forbert, Maroon, they're out the door. Jesper Bokvist is out the door. He wasn't even
01:58issued a qualifying offer. Gryzlik is out the door as well. What's your initial reaction to today?
02:05Yeah, I mean, I think you give credit to the Bruins in terms of they're identifying the
02:10key needs, or what they view as their key needs, and get two guys that I think shore up critical
02:15areas of your lineup, right? As much as I think Lindholm, we could probably dive into whether or
02:20not he's a true number one center, like is he maybe more of an elite 2C or something like that.
02:28He's still, he signs here, he's automatically the best guy down the middle you have. It gives you
02:34options now where you can roll with Pavel Zaka on the wing. You can move Charlie Coyle further down
02:40the lineup, something like that. So I think that one was a given. I think we were all kind of more
02:44or less expecting them to come with at least one guy down the middle, whether that is Lindholm,
02:51Chandler Stevenson, who signs a seven-year deal out in Seattle. I don't think anyone had that
02:55on the bingo board in terms of what was going to happen in free agency.
03:01So that one's not surprising, Lindholm, and then we'll dive more into him. But the defense,
03:06and especially Zadorov, is intriguing in terms of, I think, how the Bruins mapped out what they're
03:11going to do with this other contract. We mapped it out like, yes, a good portion of the Bruins
03:16cap stays. We're going to have to go to Jeremy Strayman and that looming contract that he is
03:20going to sign. But you also look at, all right, you still had the means to probably sign a top
03:27six forward or defenseman to a deal around five, five and a half, six million. And instead of
03:34opting for retaining Jake DeBrusque or signing a guy like Jonathan Marchessault, who signed for
03:425.5 million per year, they instead opted for defense and added a guy that is intriguing.
03:50Nikita Zadorov is kind of controlled chaos out there, maybe not even chaos, but-
03:55Just complete chaos.
03:58Yeah. I mean, he is a really intriguing player. You can see the way he impacts the game,
04:05especially how he played down the stretch for Vancouver. He was arguably probably their second
04:09most impactful defenseman after Quinn Hughes. Super physical, does a lot of damage every time he
04:19hops over the boards on a shift, but also maybe sneaky in terms of how agile he is. Really good at
04:26puck retrievals, zone exits. There's a little bit more than just, I think you look at him and
04:31it's easy to put him in the same category as like a Joel Edmondson, right? Like 6'5", bruising guy,
04:38block shots. He can do a little bit more than that, which is probably why the Bruins are paying
04:42him 5 million. But I think that's going to be the biggest maybe question, not in terms of Zadorov,
04:48but what he can bring. So I think we know what he can bring and he's definitely a guy that you can
04:52see how he plays. And he's a player that could come in handy, especially when you get to the
04:57playoffs or you're playing against a team like Florida next spring. But in terms of just the
05:05Bruins' decision to sign a defenseman over a forward, I think that's going to be probably
05:10the biggest question mark because right now you're looking at it. You still have kind of a glaring
05:14vacancy in that top six that Don Sweeney mentioned that you're looking at maybe a guy like Fabian
05:19Lysell or Georgi Merkulov making the jump up there. But in all ways, would you rather have
05:25had Zadorov or would you rather have like a Marchessault or Toffoli or someone else like
05:29that? So I think that's going to be the biggest question mark in terms of just what path the
05:33Bruins took with kind of that second contract they could have handed out. That's the biggest
05:38question mark, as you said to me, is we knew Lindholm and we'll get into that in a second,
05:42but that's not a surprise by any means. Everybody had Lindholm. It would have been shocking if it
05:49wasn't. But then you look at Zadorov and they elect to add on defense. And I think my biggest
05:56takeaway from today is this is a very different Bruins team than it was last year. I mean,
06:02you look at Lindholm, not you have a, you know, a number one center. Whether or not he's a true
06:07number one center we can get into, but you signed him to be a number one center. Don Sweeney alluded
06:11to it multiple times. He's going to play with David Pasternak. That's a new look. Zadorov,
06:16six foot six on your back end, bruising guy that hits everything that moves.
06:21You know, I think there's an element to his game as quite, you know, shown itself fully yet in
06:28terms of pop movement. And, you know, that element of the game he mentioned it today, a lot of that
06:34sense. He's only, you know, he's 29. And again, we see, we talked about this with Dean Letourneau,
06:39Connor, like those big guys take a while to develop. It's not an immediate thing. Rarely
06:45do they just show up? Zdeno Chara took a long time to develop. People forget that.
06:50And I think Zadorov is an interesting case of like, okay, if he still has lots more to his game,
06:55this 5 million could look great in two years. On the other end, he could be Derek forward 2.0
07:01and that 5 million looks like a complete albatross. And it's like, why were you not going
07:06for a forward? And so there's that end of it too. But you even look at like the bottom six guys that
07:11they added today, big bruising guys. These are, you know, these are hard to play against type
07:17players. So this Bruins team, and you look at the guys going out to right to brusque Heinen
07:25grizzly, obviously as well, you know, these guys going out except for for Burton Maroon,
07:32you know, even Boquist, you know, more speed, a little more skill, not a lot of, you know,
07:39physicality to it, right? Like, and so I just a different team. They're a different team. They're
07:45clearly, I know Sweeney said they weren't intentionally going for this identity. I think
07:49they kind of were, you know, obviously these guys can play, but I do think, you know, you look at
07:53the heights, you look at the weights, you look at how this team's going to be constructed. They're,
07:58they want to be hard against my biggest question is, and, you know, we've kind of hit on this,
08:05what's their scoring going to look like? Have they fixed the scoring issue?
08:08Because I don't think they fully have. I think Lindholm helps no doubt, but you and I were on
08:13the same page the whole time. They needed a top six wing, especially if big to brusque was going
08:17to walk. And they still don't have that. It doesn't seem like it's really in the cards. Maybe
08:23it's a, a cheaper on like a cam Atkinson down the road. But again, I, a, a, a true like a Toffoli or
08:32do Claire, I mean, do Claire signed a pretty reasonable deal four years, 3.5 million per
08:38with the Islanders. Like a guy like that could have used, um, but they're a different team.
08:43I think there are much different team and that they have a clear identity as a, as a hard nosed
08:48physical team that isn't going to get pushed around. Yeah. I mean, I, I think it's something
08:54where you look at, uh, especially the way the post-season went this past year, I guess maybe
08:58the last two years against a team like Florida, like having a guy like Zdorov can loom large in
09:04terms of just having a guy that is so physical. Um, and, and not even just like the hits, right.
09:09The hits of the things everyone points to when you look at the door of his highlight,
09:12where it was him just obliterating guys, sending them into next week. But like, I think you just
09:18seen the playoffs, right? Like these, uh, you know, larger defensemen who are able to just,
09:24uh, clear guys out of grade a ice, uh, win puck battles, you know, kill the clock, uh, when they're
09:30fighting for a puck, uh, in the corners or anything like that, those kind of the small details that
09:35you maybe take for granted that I think get magnified once you get into the playoffs and
09:40the ice shrinks so much. I think that's where the value of those guys, um, really kind of shines.
09:46And again, like you're paying them 5 million a year. Like, I think they, as you said earlier,
09:49they think he has more room to grow. Like, listen, he's not gonna, I think be a 40 point
09:54guy or anything like that, but he was originally like a first round pick off of his kind of
09:59blend of being an offensive, offensively gifted six foot six guy. And again, he's not going to
10:05be that, but, um, he has more, you know, dynamic play than, than one would think in terms of what
10:11he can provide. And I mean, you saw it in that series, those two series with Vancouver, right?
10:15He had four goals and eight points in 13 games, um, was, you know, had an end to end goal. Like
10:21he can, he can do a little bit more than he's not, he's not a pylon or he's not this guy that
10:25you're going to see him. And it's, you know, like, you know, like a forward where it's like,
10:29you know, not flashy, um, not the fleet of foot, like Zdorov can, can move a little bit and has
10:35some of that. It's just, um, you know, I think for me, it's, I don't really have an issue,
10:40especially like I thought when the Bruins were linked to Zdorov, right. That it was going to be
10:44like six by six. And I was like, nah, that's too much than I want to give five is still a sizable
10:50investment. But if the Bruins are banking on him being more of what you saw in that, in the
10:55playoffs for Vancouver, I can see it. It's just, I think for me, it's all about how you wanted to
10:59allocate that money. Um, but as you said, like you add in a guy like Zdorov, you add in guys,
11:05um, you know, like Castle Lake, uh, in the all March trade, you have, you know, Max Jones,
11:10who's really physical draws a ton of penalties. Like you have these guys that again,
11:14it remains to be seen how exactly that bottom six kind of, you know, play itself out. Cause
11:18you have guys like Castle Lake and Beecher and Rezo and, and, uh, you know, Jones and all these
11:24players. Um, but you have guys that all kind of fit the same mold. These guys move very well.
11:30They're physical. That's kind of what you need. Like, again, maybe for the Bruins, it's like,
11:34all right, we have a pretty glaring vacancy right now, right. In the top six. But if a guy
11:40like Lysel or a guy like Mark, you'll have hits. If it's something that we can address in the,
11:46uh, middle of the year in terms of a trade or something like that, um, they could also,
11:51you know, go that route. They, you know, regardless, you know, depending on whatever
11:56Swainman new contract is, he's gonna, Bruins will have some cap space left to have some of
12:00that wiggle room, which is good to see. Um, so they do have the means to address that later on.
12:05If plan A, B, C, and D of, you know, Lysel, Merkulov, Geeky, Frederick, all these internal
12:12guys don't pan out. They can adjust it later on. Um, but in terms of the identity, yeah,
12:17you're seeing a team that even if maybe the Bruins weren't looking at fully bulking up,
12:22you look at just the way these guys play on the blue line and up front, it does seem like you're,
12:27you're kind of, you know, reinforcing your team ahead of what will, you know, once again,
12:32be another grueling playoff run. Like where I think we're fully expecting a trek back down
12:37to Sawgrass mills in South Florida next year, again, in the spring. Right. And if you're the
12:41brain, of course, but you feel a whole lot better about going up against the Kachuks and the
12:49Bennett's. If you've got a six, six Russian who sends people in next week, every time he's out
12:53on the ice, right? Like you do feel a bit more, again, it doesn't, is this moving the needle of
12:58like the cup, the cup watches on? No, but it's, you feel better equipped for the playoffs, right?
13:04I feel like you had, you decided to study for the test the day, the night before you just feel a
13:08lot better about how equipped you are. Once you get to the playoffs with guys like is a door up
13:13and maybe a few of these bottom six, bigger bodies, if they can really hit and take another
13:17step forward this upcoming year on paper, they're better than they were last year. They've upgraded
13:23the Bruins have upgraded. I think in the way this roster is now the one area that we've had
13:29glaring spot on the second line wing, right? Like you, you assume it would be Zaka Lindholm
13:35pots or not. Cause your first time then it's Martian coil and who, and that's, that's my big
13:43question mark, because maybe you try a Frederick trial. I saw a lot of camp, a lot of average
13:50parts there that could work, but I, you know, maybe a Frederick jumps in there. Maybe it's
13:57geeky. Maybe they, you know, futz around it. Maybe it's Patra. Maybe they tried, they try
14:02Matt Patra on the wing. Like, you know, maybe you do patron on the middle of oil on the wing,
14:06whatever it is, you do also have to account for Brad Martian. Like Brad Marsh, you have to put
14:11guys with Brad Martian that he wants to play with too. Like as much as you want to satisfy posture,
14:16you also Marcia, it's a cap defective when he's with good players. I mean, he's effective on his
14:21own, but he's also really effective with good players. Just that's my one area. And it's like,
14:25I like Zdorov. I like, you know, what you can bring. I like the idea of them. I like where
14:30his game could go. Cause again, like if he turns into a top pairing guy with Mack boy, who can
14:36make a big impact in his own zone and make a, you know, an impact off of the zone to
14:405 million is a steal for that kind of player for a guy that can, what he can do.
14:45The problem is like the reason you couldn't be floor is cause you couldn't score and we can get
14:51to Lindholm a second, but like, that's one line. That's one line. And that, you know,
14:56definitely boost things, boost posture, not expression that boosts his own production.
15:00That'll boost Zaka's production. That's great, but you need a little depth too.
15:04And that's my one area where it's like, I just, I thought that was a little more glaring of a need
15:10than, you know, left shots. I liked, you know, Brendan Dillon and he, like his contract pretty
15:15palatable that he got with New Jersey. I like the idea of that a guy that can play on top pairing,
15:21but also slide back down and play a third pairing of low-rise earns his right to be up there.
15:27Now you wonder about like low-rise too, right? I mean, Lindholm's locked up long-term Zdorov's
15:31locked up long-term, you know, is there a spot in the top four for low-rise if he's to
15:37progress and if Zdorov doesn't pan out and he's on your third pair, that's a very expensive
15:43left shot D on your third pair. But again, like I like the idea of it, but then also it's that part,
15:48it's the wing. Like I just, that to me was a more glaring need than going for a guy like Zdorov.
15:56But again, if it works out, it works out right. Like if they can get past Florida and they,
16:00you know, out muscle them and all that, that's great. I just don't know how
16:06the scoring end of it on the wing, I think was just a little more glaring
16:10of a need and to fully go to San Jose and good for, I mean, it's good for him, right? Like
16:15play with a Smith and Celebrini he's had, and he has his cups, um, make your money.
16:20We're all pro get bag. Um, but so, yeah, and I just, I don't know, I expected,
16:24I was more looking forward to them going for, for scoring on the wings.
16:30Yeah. I mean, I also think you look at it right where I think they have around like
16:35ish million, so 11, 10 million left in terms of cows. I know it kind of fluctuates in terms of,
16:41yeah, Kevin, I'm very sorry. I don't have the white board. I can't be, I can't be Kyle. I'm
16:48not, I'm not as adept of a hockey mind, a hockey Maven as Carl is. I just, I just yell into a
16:53microphone, but, um, uh, but no, I mean, I think you look at it right where you have that cap space
17:01and the fact that I think we were all bracing for like, you know, six and six with, uh,
17:05what's the door off when you had to kind of this extra cap space, all of a sudden you do have that
17:09spot where you're like, Oh, you know, they won't be able to sign a March or so, or, you know,
17:13to Foley or someone else like that. But you mentioned it before, like Gallic do Claire,
17:17who signed, you know, pretty reasonable deal with the Islanders. Like that's the guy that even if he
17:22has, you know, he had that Achilles injury, which you worry about long-term impact of that
17:27defensively, he's, he's a little bit more, maybe one dimensional, but could give you 20 goals.
17:32If he's healthy, has speed. If you like signed declare, uh, with that remaining cap room and
17:37you still had, you know, eight, eight and a half million left for whatever Strayman's deal is,
17:42I think you feel a lot better about yourself. Clearly the Bruins not deciding to kind of go
17:47fishing for, you know, these guys who may be a tier below the, the established top six, uh,
17:54wingers out there on the market. I think probably one just shows the Bruins are comfortable in
17:57terms of what their internal options are. And again, if they don't pan out, whether it's
18:02Lysell or Murkulov or Frederick getting a promotion, geeky, any of those players,
18:07then it's something they address further down the road. Now, again, like you, you don't want to go
18:12into the routine because it can stretch for a couple of years. How many times were we looking
18:16for, uh, were we talking about who the Bruins could have to put on David Tracy's wing? Talk
18:21with him for a couple of years where it actually happened. Right. So, but there's a lot every year.
18:26It felt like they, they tried it. It just never really worked. Yeah. But, uh, I think that you
18:31look at the Bruins and again, you have multiple kinds of contingency plans in place for now,
18:36at least. And then if it doesn't work out and, you know, my chance production craters or coils,
18:42not driving play with kind of the rotating cast there, then maybe you re you readdress things in
18:47the, uh, at the deadline or something like that to see who's available or how you can kind of
18:52bolster that group. So, um, you do have options again, you probably just wish there was a little
18:56bit more certainty. Like again, it's good to query, like, all right, do you have a guy that,
19:00especially like, I think when you put someone with Martian and coil, you need someone who can
19:05score goals, right? Like you got a lot of guys that can distribute, do the little things,
19:09have really strong two-way games, you know, that just fires the puck with that group. So again,
19:15it could be a great opportunity, right. For a guy like Lysel to who's kind of been
19:19stagnant in Providence for awhile to show what he can do. Uh, if that, if that is someone that
19:24takes a huge step forward, that would be great in terms of a cheap guy that, um, has skill has
19:29finishing ability, but if it doesn't, you at least have other ways you can kind of turn to, to kind
19:34of find that, you know, or maybe manufacture that top six production. It might be a rotating cast.
19:40It's not the luxury of having just one guy that you can stamp into that lineup from October
19:44through April, May, or June. But, um, the Bruins at least have options. They have a lot of
19:50solid players that we saw last year can play up and down the lineup. It's just, can they
19:55find the one guy that can kind of complete that top six grouping for the long haul?
20:00You mentioned Frederick, Frederick's an interesting case because he's going into a
20:03contract year. So like, this is a big year for him in terms of getting the bag. And you wonder
20:08if there's a little extra motivation players tend to do well in their contract. The other thing is
20:12like, you know, do they put coil, uh, do they put Zach on the way? Like, I know Sweeney mentioned
20:18that today, but like, he also mentioned, you know, the chairs could shuffle. You could move Zaka to
20:22the middle. You put coil on the wing. Um, you know, there's Patra there too. Like, do you put
20:27Zaka in the middle of Marshad and, you know, uh, coil and then have, you know, uh, someone like
20:34Merkuloff up with Lindholm or like, I think you're going to see a lot of trial and error with that
20:39top six. And they're okay with that. Cause I think they're better defensively, which
20:43for like, you need to be better. You're not going to have the goalie tandem. So Swayman,
20:47you know, was going to have some off nights here and there. I like the idea of defensively. I just
20:51felt like I'd rather not be playing musical chairs with the top six, um, all the time.
20:57But again, like this, this could work as a door off could end up being something. And this,
21:02you know, the, the money looks cheap. Um, but again, I just, I, I, you know, um, and then
21:07Lyselle, it's a huge opportunity for Fabian Lyselle. Like this is, they have, I don't want
21:12to say rolled up the red carpet, but this is a real chance, a real chance to be an effective
21:18toxic player in the NHL. How long have we said, Oh, they could knock him up to the fourth line.
21:23It's not a fourth line player. Maybe, you know, put them on the third. They're a spot in the top
21:28six. It's his for the taking, if he wants it. Like, and I think this is time to go reach for
21:35it. Now, again, you know, do you do Marchand coil Lyselle? Maybe you try that out. Like I'm for it.
21:41You know, like if that's going to be, if you're not going to go out and sign a top six guy,
21:46let's see what Lyselle has. I know that the, you know, the stock is low and all that stuff.
21:50I want to see what he's got. So that's something we're going to talk about a lot this off season
21:54is Fabian Lyselle. What could he bring? Uh, is he ready to step into a top six role? Um, and you
22:00know, our coil and Marchand offensively good enough to elevate Lyselle and to, to help him
22:06along with that. Um, and I think that that, uh, element of that is important. Um, I want to get
22:10to Lindholm because this is something I I've seen more and more people being like, he's not a real
22:14one center. That was a waste of, of a contract. I see that more actually than was the door off.
22:19Because once people see the door offs, like hitting highlights, it's like, Oh,
22:22he's worth it. This was a perfect move. They're already printing the t-shirts.
22:28They're going to be selling them on causeway street. So, Oh, they're already starting them
22:32there. The bootleggers are gonna make so much money on causeway street with the door off.
22:37It's crazy. Um, but first I, a quick shout out and a word from our friends over at Stanley cup
22:43final is over and what a thriller. It was the Celtics or NBA champions with hockey and basketball
22:49playoffs over attention turns to the MLB. And is there a better activity to do during the summer
22:55than hitting the ballparks? Nothing beats a summer night at Fenway park, a Fenway frag,
23:01an ice cold beverage and the crack of the bat. It's a nice change of pace from the heart pounding
23:07intensity of the NHL and NBA playoffs. Just pure relaxation, good weather and great vibes.
23:15It's like every year I make a slew of fond memories at Fenway for me last year, it was in
23:19Chicago, watching the red Sox take down the cubs at historic Wrigley field. Gotta say hubs, fans,
23:26very nice people want to go to a game this summer. Go check out game time. The authorized
23:31ticket marketplace of major league baseball, which makes getting tickets faster and easier
23:36prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch.
23:41That's right. They go down. I love how easy to navigate the app is the flash deals are awesome.
23:46If you want to go to a game last minute, it's the perfect place. Save up to 60% off
23:52buying last minute tickets for sports, concerts, comedy, theater, etc. Not to mention the views
23:59from all seats in the venue. Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with game time, download
24:04the game time app, create an account, use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply
24:10again, create an account and redeem code CLNS for $20 off download game time today.
24:19Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Now back to the show.
24:25So I think there's a lot of interesting lineup maneuvers you can make with that six just pop,
24:31you know, we don't know what the status of pop will actually get a pretty good idea. But this
24:34week at development camp, because this is also development camp, and always gets overshadowed
24:39by free agency. But, you know, we'll see what he, you know, what he'd like to start the year.
24:45But Lindholm, Elliot Lindholm, seven years, 7.75 million per, I was actually surprised. I thought
24:51this would be over eight. I thought there'd be so much teams, so many teams go for him and bidding
24:58that it would go over eight and you'd get into like 8.25, 8.5 range. It's under that 7.75.
25:05I know a lot of, a lot of Calgary is like, Oh no, you don't want this guy. You know,
25:10the Bruins, what an overpay. I think for what he could be for what the role he's going to fill,
25:17right. Playing with David Pasternak, being the number one center. Has he fully proven that he's
25:21the number one center in the NHL? No, but the traits are there. Two way guy has had success
25:28playing with good line mates in the past. Can play the bumper on the power play, which is
25:32something you needed desperately. You needed another option other than Pasternak. To me,
25:37this is sort of like, you know, I'm not going to say, you know, he's Bergeron, but you're replacing
25:42the Bergeron kind of number one center you had before. And I like it. I like this. What about
25:47you? Yeah, no, I agree. Right. Like, is he again, like a bonafide top line center and probably not.
25:54But like, you look at the skillset, what he brings, especially like in the Bruin system, how
25:58much defensive responsibilities they put on their, their sermon. I got like, Linda makes a lot
26:03of sense. And again, like, is he the 42 goal 80? What was it? Eight, 42 goals, 82 point a season
26:11he had in 2021, 22. No, I don't think so. But can he be a 65 point guy who plays great defense
26:18can win 55, 56% of his face-offs and not just his production alone, but his presence in terms of,
26:25you know, pushing a guy like Zaka to the wing or moving coal further down the lineup. Like just
26:31having another guy that you can slot in there just puts all the other pieces in place, right?
26:35Like, it's even like you looked at, you know, not comparing them as players, but when like David
26:40crazy came back for his final year, just having a guy that you could slot in makes it the rest of
26:45the team that much better of like, all right, we can put Zach over here. We can move coil down
26:49and keep them at three. See, like, I think just having another proven guy in that lineup,
26:54in that top six spot just helps out the rest of the team, regardless of, you know, beyond just
26:58what I think Lindholm can provide with his own game. So yes, is he a, a guy that all of a sudden
27:04is going to break out and have an 80 point season? I don't think so. But you look at what he provides
27:11and the fact that he's probably going to be stable to David Pasternak's hip, pretty good way to boost
27:16your numbers up a little bit. Like, I don't think you look at what his, this past year was for him
27:20of, you know, 44 points in 75 games where, and he kind of alluded to it, right? Like you're going
27:25to the last year of your contract, you're stressed out with that. You kind of know early on Calgary's
27:29going to trade you, you go to Vancouver where you play a lot on the wing and not really down the
27:33middle. He gets bumped down to like three seats. They've got Pedersen and JT Miller up there. Like
27:38was kind of in a weird kind of limbo spot for most of his time in Vancouver. And then played
27:45really well down the stretch and the playoffs for, um, for Vancouver as well. So, uh, yes,
27:50is he a guy, is he like, you know, this isn't Leon dry sidled. This isn't like a guy that
27:55you're going to be like, all right, we're set. Well, who gives a fuck, whatever, whoever else
27:59they sign. Right. Like, this is a guy that is, is a piece of the puzzle, but he moves the needle
28:04forward for what your team is and what you're trying to get out of your lineup. So yeah, is he
28:08a franchise fixture? No. And you can look at that money and be like, he's not worth, you know,
28:13he's not a top line seven. Why are you paying them top line center money? 7.75. You look at
28:17this cap and the fact that it's probably going to hit a hundred million, another two years,
28:21could get up to 110 million. Uh, and another two years after that, if you look at Lindholm
28:27in four years from now, he's maybe a three C that's what most, uh, third line centers are
28:31going to be making in four years is probably seven, six and a half, $7 million. So again,
28:36like you look at just, especially the way the cap is growing in the ceiling is getting these
28:41teams more leeway. If you're signing guys like Zdorov now and Lindholm now, and, you know,
28:46looking at Swayman's deal and you have Pasternak and McEvoy signed longterm, like committing this
28:52money now, I think goes a long way towards, uh, you know, giving yourself more flexibility
28:57because all of a sudden these deals that maybe look pricey now can look pretty good in a couple
29:01of years. Once you have this cap, that's going to keep on rocketing up with every new year.
29:06And the other thing is like, you're signing to be your number one center now, at least for the next
29:11two to three years, most likely 7.75 is not bad for a number one center. Like for what you want,
29:18I don't mind that. Um, and it was, Kevin says, no, but like you've said, since the beginning of
29:23the show, he will be an improvement over last year. He'll definitely be a three C in three
29:26years. Maybe. I mean, again, maybe I, you know, we'll see what, how Patra develops.
29:30We'll see if Leon Tricycle ends up with the Bruins. Like there's all these different things,
29:34you know, what else pops up. Um, Letourneau, right. He'll, he's another,
29:39a lot can change in a couple of years. Like again, like it's, I know it's dangerous to
29:44just be fixated on this year or next year, but like a whole shit load can change between now
29:49and a couple of, look at like the 2019 Bruins and how much changed a few years after that, or
29:53even just this off season. Like, again, it's one of the things where if you're better right now
29:58with a, again, it's your top line center. No, he is a top. He is a top six center,
30:03Elias Lindholm. And you, you roll with the punches and see how things change. Like hell,
30:07uh, Patra could be a guy that, you know, is a, a 30, 40 point guy this year,
30:12but he has a full year up there. Maybe he takes off and he's a 65 point guy out of nowhere.
30:16Right now, like a lot can change the way some of these guys develop is Lysell, a career AHL player
30:22or a guy that can't take the next step forward. Or are we going to look at this next off season?
30:26And all of a sudden Lysell had 21 goals as a, you know, 21, 22 year old player. And you got
30:32something there. You don't have to allocate more money down the road. Like there's a lot,
30:37again, it's every team has this same conundrum in terms of these players and who takes the next
30:41step forward. But, um, it's something that at the very least you're going to get some clarity
30:45and the Bruins have the means to, you know, get the most out of maybe these next two,
30:50three years was the door of, and Lindholm and options to adjust that and change it moving
30:54forward. Well, it's like we said, you know, like when, when I'll hear on the draft, like,
30:59oh, the, the sharks have their next center for a decade. That's like,
31:03you don't know that in 10 years, things change. What players last 10 years with one team? Not
31:08many, not many. And I think, you know, you look at how this, uh, you know, this, um, contract
31:13for Lindholm is going to shape out over the next seven years. You know, is he going to be the
31:17number one center for them in two to three years? Maybe not, but I still think he's valuable.
31:21And I also think he's an upgrade over Coyle and Zaka. He's an upgrade and he was, uh,
31:26arguably the best center available. He fits what you need. He fits your identity.
31:31That's the guy you go for. I didn't see, this is like a huge controversial thing.
31:35As some other people saw it, like, this is what you needed. You went out and got it. Like
31:40it fills a need. Um, and I think that's good. And you look at like, you mentioned like knocking
31:44everybody down here, the other centers they have Zaka, Coyle, Patra, Frederick, geeky,
31:50Beecher, Castellic, like you have all these other guys that are going to be vying for, you know,
31:56whether it's, um, the wings, uh, you know, second or third line center, fourth line.
32:01So I think it's gonna be between Beecher and Castellic for that fourth line.
32:04Are you geeky there as well? Like you have options there now, whereas if you didn't get Lindholm and
32:09I just put your hands in your pockets, um, uh, on the, during free agency, you know, guys are in
32:16places, maybe they shouldn't be. Um, and I think, you know, Patra is an interesting example of like,
32:20there's no pressure on him going into this year to be something just, there wasn't last year.
32:24Uh, but I think you want to see that growth, um, and, and all that stuff. So Lindholm's an
32:29interesting case. Um, you know, again, I think he's going to work with Pasternak. It makes sense.
32:33Clearly Pasternak must be excited because Sweeney mentioned it kind of immediately,
32:37um, as, as a guy to, for, for him to play with. Um, I want to talk about DeBrusque real quick,
32:43cause a lot of people in the comments are mentioning their sad Jake DeBrusque is gone,
32:47um, that he is off to Vancouver. He gets seven years. So he gets term in spades,
32:53seven years, um, 5.5 million per again, not bad for DeBrusque. Uh, and so I,
32:59I saw someone mentioned earlier, you know, I'm afraid Jake DeBrusque has become a star in
33:03Vancouver. Um, I don't know about star, but I think he works out there. Like, I don't think
33:08like, you know, you pair him with Miller or Pedersen. He's out in Western Canada. It's a
33:12new situation. He has that long-term stability that he's kind of always wanted here. Wouldn't
33:18shock me if he goes off out there for, you know, what was the season? Yeah. I mean,
33:23listen, Jake DeBrusque is a good player. I know he's very polarizing, right. But
33:27we wanted him back. Yeah, exactly. Because again, regardless of the fact that, yes,
33:32it's, it can be frustrating when you look at, when he's on his game, you see a player that
33:38has the means and the talent without a doubt to be a routine 30 goalscore, right? Like we see it,
33:44you see it in the playoffs, that's for sure. Um, and I get, that's why it can be a little
33:48frustrating, but you also look at the speed. He, he plays with, uh, his ability to elevate
33:53his game in the playoffs is I think especially his two-way game is something that, um, yeah,
33:58Rick talk it. That'll be interesting how that goes. Yeah. Uh, the one, that was the one holdup
34:03where I was like, Ooh, I don't know. Yeah. Uh, but no, I think you look at, um, just what he
34:09provides, especially just the way he grew as a two-way player, right? Like it's old thing is
34:13like, I think especially last year, yes, it was not a good year for DeBrusque offensively. Um,
34:19in terms of building off of the fact that he almost scored 30 goals the year before that,
34:23but he also like defensively wasn't a liability, like didn't mail it in defensively was good in
34:28the PK was did a lot of stuff where again, you could pencil them into the top six. Maybe you
34:33don't, he doesn't score every game or something like that, but you could, you could plug them
34:37in there. You do a pretty solid job and there's, you know, probably getting a seven-year deal as
34:41part of that is just the security of what he can bring as a top six players, a really solid
34:47two-way player. And he should do well in Vancouver. I was surprised. I thought like where
34:51Don Sweeney mentioned on Thursday in Vegas, that, um, that they're pretty much like, yeah,
34:57we're, we're not going to talk anymore. Like, uh, that's made me think like, Oh,
35:01he's going to sign for like, someone's going to give him like seven and seven or something
35:04crazy like that. I was thinking that five on five is like, I think we talked about that.
35:08If that's where the Bruins sign them to, I'd be fine with it, but whether it's other circumstances,
35:13um, in terms of maybe a fresh start, something like that, the Bruins, again, maybe I just
35:17identifying, they want to invest that in the defense instead. Um, really, really interesting
35:22to see how it kind of plays out. Cause that began, it could benefit both groups, right?
35:26The Bruins can have Zdorov who adds this other element and they give Lysell his opportunity.
35:30We finally get clarity of what kind of player he could be. And the breast goes, has a fresh
35:35and thrives, uh, on a, what should be a really good team in Vancouver. So, um, it'll be interesting
35:41to see how it all kind of plays out, but the breast good player, it is very funny how they're
35:45all the same thing going, Rick talk it. But, uh, again, the breast, uh, good Bruin had a lot of
35:52great moments, stepped up in some huge games and regular season and the playoffs. So, uh, we'll
35:57see how it all kind of plays out, but, um, yeah, we'll see with, I mean, you can't have any, maybe
36:03two more different players in terms of how you're diverging your spending than like the brusque or
36:08Nikita Zdorov. So completely different. Again, I just go back to like, they're a different team.
36:13Now they're a very different team. They're aiming to be a different team. Uh, they don't want to be
36:18pushed around anymore. We've heard them kind of mentioned that a couple of times. Um, and again,
36:22like I agree with you, I think to brusque was a great Bruin, you know, I, was he consistent?
36:26Was he frustrating? Uh, no to consistency and yes to frustrating, but I think the overall,
36:32like, you know, look at this, these playoffs, he was, he was good in, he was, I think you're
36:36leading point getter. Um, you know, there was always that, like you want him to take that next
36:41step. Um, and just sometimes he couldn't do it. Uh, but again, like the one hit from that 2015
36:47first round. Uh, so now they're done. They have no more 2015 first round picks anymore. It's
36:51official. The curtain has closed. I would love to know what the Bruins offered. Cause if, you know,
36:57again, was it 4.5? Was it five? You know, like what, was it four or five years? Was,
37:04were they not going to give him term? Were they going to, you know, three years?
37:08I'm curious about that. Cause again, like you're right. The 5.5 is not crazy. I think we both said
37:12like, all right, 5.5 is sort of the cap. You're not going over that, but like 5.5 is like the
37:17target zone. Um, and, and the Canucks hit that. Uh, and so I think that that's an interesting,
37:23uh, part of that element too. Um, yeah, I mean, again, I just think it's,
37:28it was a wild day for, for, you know, the direction the Bruins are going in.
37:32Um, they want to be tough. They want to be strong. And, uh, you know, Vincent,
37:36I don't think you're wrong. Like I think they do need a top six winger. I will say in the
37:40Bruins defense though, when you think about it like this, um, you, the washing machine upstairs
37:46is like, I'm losing my train of thought. I don't know what's good. It's like jumping up and down.
37:50I can't hear it. So I don't know. Unless it falls through like the ceiling, then,
37:56then it will give me a jump scare. Then that might be, that might be a little bit of an issue,
38:00but I will say the one interesting thing, um, uh, about, uh, um, um, about Dubrosk, um,
38:08in, in sort of where they're going is and what the Bruins have is, you know, you look at like
38:14the, the farm system, you look at the prospect pool, right? We said this a number of times
38:18after Watherspoon, like who else do they have on defense that can step in and play,
38:23you know, every night they don't really have, they didn't really have anybody.
38:26And that was our thing. Like, that's why I go out and sign a veteran third pairing guy that can kind
38:30of slot in this and that, but still like putting Lowry on that top pair would be a risk, but you
38:36look in the top, you look in the, the four group in the top six and it's like, all right, well,
38:39who do they have in the system that could potentially fit in the top six? We have
38:44Merkuloff and Lyselle. And just cause you don't sign anybody now doesn't mean you can never do
38:50that again. And Sweeney mentioned that today of like, you could address that mid season at the
38:53trade deadline if it doesn't work out, but like it is an option. It's an opportunity to give Lyselle
38:59and Merkuloff a chance to show themselves. So in that sense, I get why they went with Zdorov.
39:04I get why they invested in defense over offense. Um, I still would feel better though, if they had
39:10a little more offense in the top six for wings. I think that's the one area where I'm like
39:14a little bit, again, you said it Lyselle could end up scoring 22 goals this year.
39:18And suddenly it's like, all right, well, or you got something in Lyselle.
39:21Or, or he, maybe he's not, but you know what you get, you get clarity. We finally can see,
39:26like, I think even you look at, like, we mentioned this today at dev camp, like Lyselle was there
39:30last year, felt like he didn't want to be like in that spot of like, I'm ready. Give me a shot.
39:35We'll finally find out, right? Like maybe he is this player that, you know, was kind of
39:40stagnant in province that was some injury issues. And, you know, it's just waiting for an opportunity
39:44and maybe like they give him a runway to see what he has. And maybe he, he thrives with the ability
39:50to show his speed and his skill at the next level, or maybe it doesn't work out, but we'll find out.
39:54And I think at this point you get to figure out, it's like last year with guys like Johnny Beecher
39:58or like even Laura or these players where it's like, you see the intrigue, you got to give them
40:03some leeway and some time to develop and show what they can do. We didn't see anything,
40:06obviously Lyselle didn't play, but you didn't see anything from Merkuloff. He played a couple of
40:10games averaging eight minutes a night. You're not going to see what a guy who's got the potential
40:15of being a middle six scoring kind of player can do under those limited reps. So let's see what
40:20they can do because at the very least, you're going to figure out what you have in this kind of
40:25next wave of guys that are knocking on the door in terms of, you know, internal prospects.
40:30The only thing with that is I wonder the willingness of Jim Montgomery to play a guy
40:33like that in the top six to begin the year where it's like, yeah, you're going to have missed it.
40:37You're going to have growing pains. They're going to be mistakes. You have other options in the
40:40lineup who are not going to make those mistakes like geeky and Frederick and things like that.
40:45But yeah, Lyselle hatchet first floor to open the season. That's going to be a show. You're
40:49right, Ryan. That is a, that's exactly where it's going to be. And Zidora just fighting everyone.
40:53So Zidora is going to do the gritty over like Matthew Kachuk as he knocks them over.
41:00Or like when the Bruins play the wild, Billy Sweezy is going to draw the lineup just to
41:04fight Jakob Lauko again, which will just be, which would just be outstanding. By the way,
41:08I loved, didn't Don Sweeney mentioned the Billy Sweezy fights in and was like, oh yeah, by the
41:13way, like best wishes to Jakob Lauko. I had to make sure he had to make sure he checked it off.
41:20Yeah. We wish him well. That's my favorite thing. The team saying, well, we wish him well.
41:25Is Skinner still available? Skinner, I think just signed with
41:29Euler. So he'll probably score like 45 goals. I was going to say, I mean,
41:32yeah, but staple new McDavid and suddenly he's got a lot of goals.
41:36Was intrigued by the fact that he was still in the market. I'm like,
41:38is he going to sign a super cheap deal? Cause that's the guy that again,
41:41could give you 20, 30, I mean, 25, 30 goals, like an ideal kind of bio candidate.
41:47But if you're Jeff Skinner and you're still trying to get probably another new contract,
41:52go to Edmonton for a year, light it up in a top six role and revisit things. Maybe we'll go to
41:57the Bruins next year when dry side, I'll get sick. Yeah, exactly. And he'll get a ton of money. And
42:01now his second huge contract, uh, Tara Sanko is still available. I believe I haven't looked at
42:05Twitter in the last 42 minutes, but, um, I think Tara Sanko is also still available as we record
42:11this again. Some people might listen to the Bruins add one Russian player on defense and all of a
42:16sudden they're just like, they completely reverse course. That's all Russians moving forward,
42:20but they see my last name and they're like, we want to talk to him. And it's like, well,
42:24I'm not even Russians, but sure. Whatever. Sign them, sign them, sign them all. Um, yeah,
42:31it's been an interesting day though. Again, like I just read an article in the athletic that had
42:35winners and losers. They didn't have the Bruins in either category. Like I think they won today.
42:40I do not like overall among all the teams. I'd have to look like deeper into what each team did,
42:45but for what they had for their needs, like they solidified them. And I don't think they overpaid
42:49too badly. Like my only, uh, hiccup was like Zdorov's term, like six years is a long time.
42:55Um, and you wonder about Mason low Ryan, where he's going to slot in going forward, but like,
43:01they got better on defense. They got better up front. Did they get as good up front as I wanted
43:05them to know? Cause I wanted a wing, but like, they still upgraded. They didn't just sit on
43:09their hands and go, yeah. Well, and like sign guys that are lower down the dial, like this
43:15works, this works. And I'm interested to see, like, as Sweeney said, the roster is not going
43:20to be set going into next year. No one's is. Um, so again, I think the big thing now is you got to
43:26sign Jeremy Swayman. That's the big thing. You got to avoid arbitration, you know, put together
43:30an offer for Jeremy Swayman that works. Um, cause I think that is of utmost importance, uh, at this
43:36time, but we can get into that another time. Uh, we're going to cut this short here. I know
43:41usually live streams go like an hour and a half, two hours we're doing during the playoffs. I know
43:44we're over like a thousand people watching this total. So thank you to all who are watching.
43:48We appreciate it. Thank you as always. Um, Connor, what can the people look forward to from you over
43:53at Boston globe and boston.com? Yeah, you can, uh, we'll have you covered every step of the way
43:58in terms of, you know, obviously free agency, any other moves trades now looking at, uh, internal
44:04candidates, the Bruins might have as well. All that stuff is we kind of get through this hectic
44:08week and then hit once again, and probably another extended lull. We'll have covered every step of
44:12the way over there at the globe and boston.com. So read my stuff over there. Um, and you can
44:17follow me on Twitter X, whatever you want to call it, uh, at Connor Ryan on discord 93,
44:23go do all that. By the way, Vincent, how much money you think sway is going to get
44:27over $8 million per eight. Yeah. I think it's going to be right around eight by eight,
44:32eight by eight. That would be a, that would be ideal. Anyways, we're presented by prize picks
44:37and game time. Go use the promo code CLNS at prize picks to get up to a hundred dollars off that
44:41first deposit and represented by game time. Go use the promo code CLNS to get $20 off that first
44:46purchase. Connor Ryan, Evan Marinovsky, Bruce beat listeners. Have a great rest of your week.