How Will Jeremy Swayman, Bruins Perform This Season? | Pucks with Haggs - video Dailymotion

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Pucks with Haggs host along with Mick Colageo and James Murphy break down things for the Boston Bruins as the regular season has begun, and talk about expectations for Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins roster on the whole.  0:00 - Intro 2:20 - Swayman Expectations 5:12 - Player performance analysis 7:12 - Tyler Johnson update 9:51 - Sweeney's veteran strategy 11:54 - Press conference insights 14:10 - Future goalie market 16:15 - Lysell's team status 18:56 - Not ready for NHL 20:39 - Poitras's potential excitement 23:20 - New contract discussion 26:30 - Criticism of salary 28:10 - Proving his abilities 32:57 - Bruins' playoff strategy 34:36 - Impactful player analysis 36:11 - Conference final expectations    Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!   Gametime - https://gametime.co Take the guesswork out of buying MLB 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.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.  For the CLNS award winning Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, College hoops, NBA History, go here to featured channels- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP7KyKodc3OHuN_XhEyPPw?sub_confirmation=1

Transcript

00:00Pucks with Hags is brought to you by Price Picks and the Game Time app.

00:05Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast powered by Prize Picks,

00:08the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network. I believe this is 130,

00:13130th episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast. I'm your host, Joe Hagerty. You can find my work at

00:18joehagerty.substack.com. Subscribe and get a premium membership. Get all of my NHL and Bruins

00:24writing sent straight directly to your inbox. I also write three columns a week for the Boston

00:29Sports Journal. Check out bostonsportsjournal.com. I have longtime friends and colleagues,

00:33Mick Colaggio and Jimmy Murphy. Mick and then Jimmy, please tell everybody where they can find

00:38your work. You can find my work at rankrapmc.com. I link to it on X and on Facebook, and I'm in the

00:46seasonal issues of the Hockey News, and I do keep on a relationship with Boston Hockey now.

00:52Very good. And you can find me at rg.org and also Murphy's Hockey Law Substack. And of course,

00:59I host the sick podcast, The Eye Test with Pierre Maguire.

01:04How is Pierre doing these days, Murph? He's doing great. He's in heaven. Once

01:08hockey's back, Pierre is loving it. But I mean, he's on the ice all summer as well,

01:12coaching college kids and prospects. So he is a rink rat, and he's, I think,

01:17already got four college hockey games under his belt this season.

01:20That's awesome. Was it Belmont Hill A's to see him all the time?

01:24Yep. His kid Ryan was playing there, and Ryan has actually now just

01:28transferred through the portal to Northeastern from Colgate. So he is playing for Northeastern,

01:32and you can see him over at Matthews Arena now. I'm sure Pierre will be at every game.

01:37I was going to say, I'm sure we'll see him over at Matthews. That's fantastic. All right.

01:41Let's get a little shout out to our sponsors. We'll give them some love as well.

01:45PrizePix. Download the PrizePix app today and use the code CLNS and get $50 instantly when you

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02:02Also, take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app,

02:06create an account, and use the code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply,

02:12but again, download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code CLNS for $20 off

02:16your first purchase. What time is it, Mick? Game time. Game time. All right, guys. Let's get into

02:24it. The roster I thought was a little interesting. Cole Koepke, Riley Tufte, both on the opening

02:32night roster, both made the cut after training camp. Matt Potras-Hurt,

02:38Tyler Johnson, is unsigned to this point and still in Boston, did not make the road trip

02:44with the Bruins. There's a couple of defensemen, Regula and Ian Mitchell,

02:48that are hurt too as well and kind of hanging around. But for my money, the forwards are where

02:54it's most interesting. And it looks like Cole Koepke is going to be on the fourth line to start

02:57the year. And really, he had a good training camp and showed his speed, kind of was embraceful of

03:04the tenacious fourth line role in addition to the speed. Kind of reminded me of like what Anthony

03:09Richard gave the Bruins a little bit. Maybe not quite as fast, but both like high speed,

03:14willing to do what it takes to be on the fourth line, professional kind of players,

03:18got some offensive upside. Mick, your thoughts just on who you see on that roster, how they

03:23performed in training camp, and if you think these are all the right calls? Well, there's no doubt

03:31that they envision Jones being ready to go when they signed him. So I think that the Koepke and

03:41Tufte situation is sort of a backfilling way to make sure that they get a good look at this new

03:47bottom six. And to that end, they signed or acquired a bunch of guys led by Kastelik. And

03:55these guys are included in that. And we saw our evidence in some, you know, bang-bang plays to

04:00start off some preseason games at home that, you know, these guys have brought a lot of energy.

04:06They happen to be big bodies, and they really want to get a look at this one way or another.

04:12So I think these guys were definitely going to fill in any which way they were going, you know,

04:17make sure that presence is there. No doubt. And like, this is more examples of a

04:25I give the Bruins a lot of credit for this. I think they've earned the credit, and they've earned

04:29sort of the leeway with these kind of players. They do a very good job of identifying players

04:33that are stuck in other organizations that haven't quite gotten the NHL cracks or found

04:38the NHL traction in those organizations, bring them to Boston, and then all of a sudden they

04:42start performing, and they carve out a role here, and they really flourish with a different, you

04:47know, change of scenery in a different location with different coaches, different situation.

04:52Kepke was behind a very talented crew in Tampa Bay with the Lightning for a long time,

04:58and he had pretty good AHL seasons, and, you know, he didn't really translate it to the NHL

05:02when he came up there. Tufte's a former first round pick, also got, you know, got a lot of

05:06talent, more of a big body, not quite the speedster that Kepke is. But Murph, your thoughts just on

05:11the roster right now and keeping those two guys and where we're at? I would agree 100%

05:16with everything you guys are saying there, too, and I'd point out, too, in terms of Tyler Johnson

05:20and the PTO that he's on and the fact that he's not on the roster, guys, we saw a similar

05:24situation last year with Denton Heinen, where, you know, he had to sit behind because of salary

05:28cap reasons, and you look at the Peruvians right now, according to Park Peter, $145,261 in cap

05:35space. I mean, there's no money for Tyler Johnson right now. That's the problem. So, you know,

05:40as Sweeney said when he announced the Swingman signing, he's going to have to do some cap work

05:44magic here and figure that out, but I think Tyler Johnson, based on what I saw, now you guys were

05:50there way more often than me, but from afar, from what I read, from the video I saw, from

05:54his performances in the preseason, I think he earned a spot. Yeah, I think he earned a spot.

05:59So I do expect him to eventually find his way into this roster, and then we'll see what happens

06:04with this other mishmash of guys that they put at the end of the roster there that you guys just

06:09mentioned. Yeah, I think Kepke might be able to stick around. That's the guy I look at and say,

06:15the speed, the way he was, you know, okay playing a fourth line role in the preseason and seemed to

06:21embrace that and play that Artie Braveson style. Like, he's a guy that if he does well enough and

06:26he pops in a few goals, he may end up finding a role with the Bruins and sticking around in some

06:31form or fashion, but to your point, Danton Heinen last year signed on October 30th. It was eight

06:38games into the regular season, so it took a while for them to figure out the numbers and make

06:42everything work to get him on the roster. Heinen was patient. I do think if they didn't have

06:47intentions of signing Tyler Johnson, he'd be gone by now. They would have cut him loose and let him

06:51try to hook on somewhere else, so I do think they are going to end up signing him. Part of the

06:55byproduct of Jeremy Swayman signing for more than the Bruins originally intended was, I think,

07:01changing sort of the dynamic of the salary cap and changing their plan a little bit and forcing them

07:07to have to uncover that money or figure out a way to get it done with Tyler Johnson, but like

07:12I am in full agreement that he would have been the perfect 13th forward to start the year if

07:17they were able to sign him, all things being equal. He's going to be an excellent addition

07:20when they get him better, I think, than Kepke, better than Riley Tufte, a guy that can help

07:25them and also will probably battle with Patra for playing time, but like skill, can play top six,

07:32can play bottom six, smart, two-time Stanley Cup winner, like definitely showed he's still got game

07:38in training camp in the preseason. I think he can play with guys like Pasternak if he has to,

07:43and he can play with guys like on the fourth line if he has to, and that with the resume he has

07:48offensively in almost 800 NHL games, like I think as long as he can still skate and still play and

07:53still process the game quickly, which he showed all that in the preseason, I think it's a no-brainer

07:58that eventually they're going to sign him. They're just going to have to see who gets hurt, what

08:02happens with the salary cap, like what's going on over the next few weeks to a month, and then get

08:07him in there when they can. But like Mick, I think we talked about it before, he'd be somewhere else

08:12right now looking for a job in another organization if they didn't think they'd be able to get him an

08:17NHL contract at some point. I didn't make that point, but it's an excellent point. The one that

08:21I was thinking about was is that he will have a very Shattenkirchen presence on this team.

08:28You're picking a guy who's out of positional context here, and also something I hadn't

08:34thought about until now is they don't want Patra to feel like he's being handed anything.

08:38So this is really status quo for Don Sweeney to take a veteran player and park him in the

08:44view of a player like Patra, who is coming back after an encouraging but obviously shortened,

08:51truncated rookie season, and saying, okay, don't think you're a secure veteran here, don't get

08:57comfortable. This is the way he always does business with young players.

09:02No doubt. And this kind of all answers one of the questions we had from a listener,

09:08what's the plan for Tyler Johnson? I thought he had a great camp. I was a bit surprised

09:12to not see him signed today, and that was from Neely82010. And yeah, I think all of that,

09:20but like I said, and this has happened a couple times. Remember when Jay Pandolfo had a PTO and

09:24he ended up signing with the Bruins like 10, 12 years ago, whatever it was? He was there for like

09:28a month, a month and a half before they finally signed a contract, maybe even more before they

09:32finally signed a contract. He was in that weird limbo where he was kind of practicing when they

09:36were at home, wasn't going on road trips, very similar to what's going on with Tyler Johnson

09:40now. So there's a track record of when these guys do the tryout, the veteran tryouts,

09:44that it takes a while to sort it out. But I think eventually he will be a Boston Bruin.

09:51All right, let's dive into Swayman. Some interesting stuff there. Certainly he said

09:57and did all the right things after he signed. I even saw, I think it was Pierre Lebrun wrote

10:04a piece where he talked to Louis Gross, and Louis Gross was crediting Cam Neely

10:08for sort of kickstarting the movement towards getting the contract done by dropping the $64

10:14million line during the Bruins Media Day press conference. So it seems like everybody's

10:20shaking hands and slapping each other's backs and trying to make up and get the marriage back

10:25together again after it was clearly some sniping back and forth while negotiations were going on.

10:32But I liked what I heard from Swayman at pretty much every corner about, I'm going to earn this

10:38money. I know the pressure's on me. The Bruins fans, giving them a lot of credit in the community

10:45and all that stuff and wanting to be a big part of that. I think he gets and understands now that

10:50he's put himself into a high pressure situation where if he doesn't perform well, he's going to

10:54hear it. And I think it was encouraging to hear a lot of the stuff that you heard out of him.

11:00And it also felt like to a degree, it was probably a couple of days before camp. He didn't want to

11:06miss the flight to Florida. He didn't want to miss the first game in Florida. And he probably said

11:11to Louis Gross, it's time to get the deal done and get the best deal we can

11:16and get going. Murph, your take on all this stuff with Swayman, where we sit right now,

11:22what he's had to say, and where he's put himself as far as a position where he's going to be under

11:29a lot of scrutiny to start this year, especially after missing all of training camp. I know he

11:34gave a lot of credit to the BU training staff for helping him to get ready for the season.

11:39But let's face it, that's not an NHL training camp for a 25-year-old goalie that doesn't have

11:44too many of them under his belt. And I think we're going to see some adjustment periods and

11:48some pains from missing camp. Yeah. And look, going back to what you said about everything

11:54he said in the press conference, I would like to see his tongue because I would think there's

11:57some bite marks on it. There was a spot where I think Dupes was pressuring him pretty good,

12:03asked him three point playing questions, kept going at him. And he finally said, look,

12:08we know the truth. And that's that. We're moving on. But the fact that he's not disagreeing with

12:13what Gross said in his statement that was released a few hours after Neely's jab, it's

12:19interesting. But he's now got 66 million reasons in eight years to forget that. So now it's on

12:24to Hockey. But I look, guys, in terms of the contracts he got, it's pretty much what I heard

12:30it was going to be for a while. It was about two million more. But I think that was fair for both

12:37sides, considering where the market's headed, where we are now, what he's done. It's almost

12:41maybe, in my opinion, a little too much, considering the lack of games that he has under his

12:47resume and the fact he hasn't been a number one yet. But I think it was a good deal for all

12:52sides involved and they should be happy going forward. Yeah, I think as far as the deal goes

12:57itself, I think a few years from now, as long as he plays like we think he's capable and he

13:02fulfills his potential and does exactly what the Bruins think and I think and Swayman thinks and

13:07everybody thinks, it's going to look like a bargain when Shusterk and Bobrovsky and those guys

13:12really push the goalie market into double-digit million a year, 10, 11, 12 million a year

13:18on the contracts that they're going to sign and rightfully so, given their resumes.

13:22Yeah, I mean, he skipped a step, let's face it. He skipped a bridge deal step, like a three-year

13:2915 to 18 million dollar contract step that Saros had done in Nashville before he signed the deal

13:36that he just signed. And frankly, I don't think Swayman should have gotten a bigger contract than

13:40Saros got in Nashville. I'm with you, 100%. Saros was coming off three straight seasons where he

13:45played over 60 games and played really well. So like, you know, and you get played a little bit

13:49more, so like... Behind a lesser defense too, Joe. Right. You know, there's much more structure in

13:54front of Swayman. Totally. So credit to him and Lewis Gross for, you know, getting more and,

13:59you know, he did set a higher bar for the goalie market for guys that are in his situation that

14:03are still under team control. There's no doubt about that. But I do think, you know, it's going

14:10to be looked at, as long as he plays the way he's supposed to, it'll be looked at as a bargain two

14:14or three years down the road and they've got him signed for a long term. So as long as he can

14:19play 60 games a year and maintain his performance, I think the Bruins are set and they're in a really

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16:14from listeners. Araxmus on Twitter slash X. So is Lysel a bust? Why isn't he up with the team?

16:22Murph. I'm sorry, say that again. He said, so is Lysel a bust? Why isn't he up with the team?

16:31Oh, I think Cap Reasons could be involved with that again. I thought he had a better camp than

16:37he's had, but I'm with, you know, if what I'm thinking is true that the Bruins are just, we need

16:42to see a little more. We need to see a little more, you know, oomph from him, a little more two-way

16:46hockey from him. I'm with them. I just, I, unfortunately he hasn't done it on a consistent

16:52basis. And that's why, in my opinion, he's back there and same with Murkuloff. I think they're

16:57both very skilled players, but I think in terms of what the Bruins are looking at, we started off

17:02talking about the bottom six. Do you want those guys really in the bottom six where it's not their

17:08style of hockey, where they're not going to get as much playing time and as much opportunity,

17:12or do you want them playing a more prominent role for a bit to start the season down in Providence?

17:16I'd go with the latter. Yep. Mick, Lysel. I was underwhelmed. I know that he was better last

17:24season than he had been the year before. I know his season gets cut short, came back, tried to

17:29play in the playoffs. It wasn't going to, it wasn't going to work. Good for him that he tried

17:35for this off season. I was hoping for more. I think that the Bruins can live with any young

17:41wingers, defensive lapses, if they do what they do well and they do it hard. And that's what I

17:50didn't see from him. I didn't see him playing through the game. I saw him playing around the

17:55game, looking for open space where he could go fast that led to nowhere. And it just, other than

18:02that one power play goal, you know, Patrick Brown scored a gorgeous goal against the Kings in

18:08Quebec City. It was a head man pass, I believe by Zadora. He goes in, he splits the defense. This

18:14is a guy without NHL speed who's hanging around because he's a great role model. He's the Chris

18:19Wagner of the era. And he goes in there and he scores this gorgeous goal. Had Lysel been the

18:25player on that highlight reel, this would have been talked about, this would have blown up X.

18:30And instead it was a guy who everybody has already, there's no shine on that player.

18:35So nobody's reacting to it. So, so much of this stuff is subjective. For me,

18:40the fans are going to be disappointed that we don't have a shiny new toy.

18:43You know what? There's a lot of shiny new toys on this team. They're just not shiny new to the NHL.

18:48So I'm eager to see this team as constructed, play hockey. Lysel's not ready to play with the

18:54hockey that they need to play. Yeah. The shiny new toy was not ready to be opened up yet by

18:58the kids. That's basically what it comes down to with Lysel. You know, the toy wasn't ready to be

19:02played with. And like, for me, when I asked Marshan, like, I don't know, it was a week,

19:0810 days ago, that question about like Lysel and Merkulov doing pretty good.

19:12That was a great answer.

19:13In the preseason. And then, and then Marshan went into that like long soliloquy about

19:18pretty good, not being good enough. That, that told me all I needed to know that Marshan was

19:23not given the stamp approval of approval for Lysel playing on his right wing on his line.

19:28And telling everybody that those guys were not ready for prime time. They were not ready for

19:33the NHL. They were not ready to beat out veteran players, experienced players. And they weren't

19:38ready for, you know, the, the warfare of the NHL regular season quite yet. That, that, at that

19:43point, I said, neither one of those guys was making the team. And I think they were sent down

19:46pretty shortly afterwards on mass with the rest of the players down to Providence Bruins training

19:52camp. So like they were okay. Maybe they were a little bit better at spots, but I still don't

19:57think they were good enough to win jobs and to really threaten for the Bruins to like ship other

20:04players off somewhere else in order to make room for them. And that's fine. They're still really

20:08young. And maybe this one last year of, of seasoning will make them ready. Maybe they'll

20:14be ready in the middle of the year when somebody gets hurt and there's an opening and they can come

20:17up and play. And I would expect to see both those guys at the NHL level at some point this year.

20:23But I think it's way too early to call either of them a bust either. Like what is Lysel 20 years

20:27old. He's definitely got some time still to develop. And for the AHL, he's been a super young

20:32player in that league for the last couple of years. So like he's gotten valuable development

20:37time where he's had to play up against older, better, more experienced players. And I think

20:42that's continued to make him better. And he's gotten good coaching Ryan Mugenel. I think he's

20:46handled them really well. Like that old come to Jesus moment in the middle of last year where

20:50they kind of called them out and they played better after that. That was an encouraging sign,

20:55but I just don't think we still don't see them like completely seizing the opportunities in

21:01front of them in these training camp situations, which you have to see a Matt Potra. Like I am

21:06going to leave no question. Like last year, I'm going to make this team. I'm not going to give

21:10them a decision. I'm going to force them to put me on this team by the way that I play.

21:14Neither one of them really did that. Like, like Patrick did last year. And frankly,

21:18I thought Patrick was better again, this training camp than they were like the issue

21:22with Patra now, I think, is, is he going to be able to stay healthy with like a smaller frame

21:26and a smaller body to play consistent minutes and play top six consistently in the NHL where

21:31he seems to get banged up a little bit. You know, he's hurt again now and not ready to start the

21:35regular season. So we'll see with him, but like, I think Patra is the guy to get excited about

21:41more than Lysell and Merkulov at this point. This from Keely MA on Twitter. I feel like we

21:49just paid 8 million a year for a mystery box, Murph. I mean, I wouldn't call him in a mystery

21:56box by any means. I think that, you know, the mystery has been shed. He's a good goalie. He's,

22:01he's poised. He, he won a playoff round, you know, you got to give him credit for that. I know it's

22:07one round, but yeah. He's won a playoff round. Only Bruins going to do it since Tuca.

22:12Yup. So yeah, we all know how half Bruins nation felt about Tuca though. Right.

22:17Uh, you know, I, I just look at, look, I think the whole thing, you know,

22:22when going back and I'm not trying to bring up everything that was said back and forth,

22:26but I think if the fans, if that's what a fan is thinking, I don't think he's the only fan

22:31thinking that right now. I think there is some angst amongst the fan base. I don't think he's

22:35going to get booed by any means on Thursday if he's in the net, but I think there might be a

22:40little less patience though. If he gets off to a bad start, he could hear it a lot sooner than

22:44maybe he would have. Yeah. I think, you know, he just picked a wrong spot. He took like you

22:48referenced, Joe, he took a stance to set the goalie market. I think he forgot who the owner

22:53of the Bruins is and the reason why there's a salary cap. And you know, when Jeremy Jacobs

22:57read those comments, I'm sure there was a call made to cam and Don being like, what is this?

23:03Who does this guy think he is? And so I think he ticked off some people, both within the

23:08organization and amongst the fan base. And it's going to be a little of that as we navigate

23:12through the first month or so this season to see how people react to his performance. If it's not

23:18up to where it needs to be with that shiny new contract. So I think that'll be interesting there,

23:22but he's no mystery. This is a good goalie and it may take a few games to shake the rust,

23:27but I think eventually he's going to be one of the best goalies in the league this year.

23:36Yeah, I think I agree with you. I do think he's going to be under a bit of a microscope

23:42to start. And I think not only missing training camp, but also being the number one guy for the

23:48first time, having all the pressure on his shoulders. If he struggles for a couple of

23:51games, there's going to be no Lena Solmark or Tuca like next to him to go in there and take

23:56the pressure off. Like it's going to be on him and he's going to have to stop the losing streaks

23:59and he's going to have to play all the best teams. And he's going to have all of that stuff

24:04on his shoulders without anybody really there to help him out. Like it's been in the past.

24:08And I think that's going to be an adjustment. I do think he's going to struggle at times

24:11this year. I don't think he's going to statistically have the same kind of season

24:14he did last year. And I think he's going to hear it at times because of all that,

24:19because the fans are going to put two and two together and say,

24:22you skipped all the training camp and that's part of the reason you're struggling now.

24:25And there's the whole part of it where him taking a bigger piece of the pie and a bigger salary,

24:31makes it harder for you to build a stronger team around him. And fans will be like, look,

24:35we couldn't get this player or that player because you needed $8.25 million a year and

24:40you couldn't take, you know, the six that you probably should have taken for the next two or

24:44three years. Like, I think all of that is going to be like part of this calculus of a lot of

24:49pressure being on Jeremy Swayman and him potentially like hearing some stuff from fans if he struggles

24:56a little bit. And I think at times he probably will struggle just given that all the circumstances

25:00involved. This is from Mike Doherty, Mick, on Facebook. I was always a Swayman fan until now.

25:05Going to be tough for him in Boston if he does not produce. Would have given him some flexibility

25:10before now, but I want results. May have tied our hands for getting, keeping other players. Mick,

25:15your thoughts just on what Swayman is facing and sort of where we're at right now.

25:20I think it goes with the territory. I've already heard people turn on McAvoy because of the money

25:25he makes. Plenty of them. So I think Swayman's no different. And I don't think it's going to

25:31matter whether they lose seven to five or two to one. I think that the criticism is going to be

25:35there because you're making the money. I want the result. You've got to have that, you know,

25:40and that's saved there. It's not going to matter what the score was. So slow and steady wins the

25:46race is Don Sweeney's kind of style of management where you play very consistently. Neely kind of

25:54jumped in and kind of did more of a Mike Milbury where he stirred the drink. And Lewis Groves

25:59giving him public kudos for that and making, getting this done somehow and breaking the

26:04stalemate. Somebody had to speak and somehow it all worked out and patting each other on the back

26:10and saying all nice things. And maybe that's Lewis Groves who really trying to piss off Donnie

26:16because, you know, he's the guy who's been trying to be steady, steady Eddie, keep a tight lip,

26:22keep it out of the press, do all these things. And even Lewis Groves said, I don't negotiate

26:26in the press. So now all of a sudden he's crediting nearly, nearly for negotiating the press.

26:30Yeah. Everybody's forgetting everybody. You know, the only guy here who's probably

26:35wondering why he kept his mouth shut for two months is Don Sweeney.

26:39Right. So, so he's, uh, well, cause it's going to be a sane person in the room,

26:43Mick. I think that's what I guess. He said spitting up on yourself podcast and he got

26:48his digs in too when he wanted to. So like he was, he rolled around in the mud a little bit too.

26:52All we needed was Harry Sinden, Mick, right? I think, I think he's, he's the Michael blue

26:57for the Bruins. So, um, Murph just sent this to me. Uh, Kevin Weeks, our good buddy on Twitter,

27:04just reported that, uh, the Rangers offer of 88 million over, uh, 11 million a year.

27:11So 88 for eight years, uh, to Shusterkin was rejected. Um, so, you know, that's,

27:17and that would have been the highest goalie contract in NHL history. So this is what I'm

27:21talking about. Like when Shusterkin signs for like 12 million a year and when Barofsky's up

27:26and he signs for like a massive deal, um, the Swayman contract is going to look a lot better,

27:32provided that he can prove that he can maintain his performance mentally and physically, uh,

27:38playing 55 to 65 games. That's like the only hurdle. The only thing he has to prove he's

27:43already proven he can play in the playoffs. Although I'm not going to give him a full

27:46check Mark for only one in one round and beating the Leafs and then getting to the second round.

27:50So, you know, he's still gonna have, I think he can't give himself check marks until, uh,

27:56you know, full check marks until the Bruins win the Stanley cup. There's only one team that gets

27:59the check in the playoffs and that's the team that's lifting the cup at the end. But he did

28:03really well for a month last year, played well in a couple of rounds. Uh, and I think I still

28:08fully believe in him and his abilities and the attitude that he brings to like, I like, I like

28:14that he has swagger, you know, and it played into like the negotiations and his stance and all that

28:18stuff. But that's part of what makes him great and what makes him so good as a goaltender as well.

28:22It's part of the whole Jeremy Swayman package. So I'm like, okay, with all of that stuff,

28:27he just has to go out and prove it. That's the only way, like people can talk to me about how

28:31efficient a goalie is, how all these fancy stats, like he does this, he does that, dude, I don't,

28:35you can throw all that stuff at me. I don't care until he actually goes out and does it for 60

28:40games a year. When that happens, then I'm a believer. Cause there's only certain kinds of

28:44goalies that can do that. Lina Salomar couldn't do that. Tuka Rask really couldn't do that.

28:49There's a lot of goalies out there that can't like perform consistently and maintain with that kind

28:54of a workload. It's very difficult to do. And there's only a few goalies that the unicorn

28:58goalies that can do it. So Swayman has to prove, uh, he's one of those guys, but I certainly think

29:03he's talented enough to do it. We'll be back to show in a minute, but let's thank our sponsors

29:07right here. Uh, and then right now we've got game time. Do you remember your first NFL football game?

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29:33And I honestly remember this game very vividly because I was 11 years old at the time.

29:40And after the game was over, all the fans stormed the field, ran down, ripped off the goalposts and

29:45carried it right out of the stadium. I wanted to go down and do it and join the crowd. My dad said,

29:50absolutely not. There was no frigging way you're going down there. And that was my first memory

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31:20What time is it? Game time. Uh, Mick, we'll start with you. Just your thoughts on the Bruins at the

31:27start of the season here, what your expectations are, what you believe they can be, uh, strengths,

31:32weaknesses, just sort of your breakdown or your, you know, your, your three minute breakdown of the Bruins.

31:38I love that they got a centerman. I love that they got a left shot defenseman who's physical.

31:44Um, I feel like these are critical elements. Every team's playoff strategy since the Islanders in 2021

31:50has been to throw missile hits at Charlie McEvoy on their retrievals and Zdorov will not have to

31:58go out of his way to run some picks. He can do it without looking like he's doing it,

32:05not take the penalties. If you take a penalty, keep on playing your game,

32:09accept the penalty, keep on playing your game, win the war. Even if you get to lose some battles,

32:13Lynn Holmes going to give the Bruins along with Charlie Coyle, two very solid presence,

32:20two way three zone presence that you can take into the playoffs. Last year, they tried to do this

32:25with one guy and reinvented. Zaka was on left wing. Now he's on the third line. Now he's this,

32:30now he's that. And he got Morgan geeky playing second line center in the, in the Florida series.

32:35You know, this is a whole different animal. I'm not worried about the right wing situation. They

32:39can keep on trying to figure that out. I think that the, I think that what we got, and I'm

32:43looking forward to the four checkers and seeing if these guys can sustain it for all game.

32:48Um, I seen it really a lot in first periods. I haven't seen it looking good in seconds. So

32:55I want to see that the Bruins take that next step as a club. They're a young nucleus,

32:59but one that's coming of age and Marcian is the outlier. He's the old man here.

33:03And, uh, and this team is now the right age to contend for the Stanley cup.

33:08They're the players are old enough. They've been around long enough. They still get their wheels.

33:11If this team can do it, this is when they do it. Yeah, this is the time. There's no,

33:16no doubt about that. Especially after investing heavily into the roster,

33:19like they did last summer with Zdorov and, uh, and Lindholm and just Zdorov like on him alone,

33:28more skill than I thought he had. Uh, definitely the vision is great. The passing and the way he

33:33sees the ice in the offensive zone and coming up the ice really, really, really, really good.

33:40And the one thing I love about him watching him now, cause you know, the hits and the

33:43physicality and like all that stuff is going to be there when he goes back and retrieves the puck.

33:49He keeps guys on his hip and on his back and basically carries them down the ice while he's

33:54carrying the bug. He looks like a lion. That's got like a couple of hyenas on him. And he's just

33:58like shaking them off as he's going down the ice with the buck and like, doesn't bother him at all.

34:03It's like, you get away from me, you gnat. And then he just keeps going. And like, just to watch

34:07how strong and powerful he is with the puck on his stick and the way he's just like, you cannot,

34:12um, you cannot get him to panic or get him to do anything like speed up what he has to do.

34:18Like he does a calmness and just a confidence in his game when you're watching him that I think is

34:23like contagious. And it's something that's going to be really good for this group. In addition to

34:28sort of his mentality and his physicality and you know, the attitude that he's going to bring is

34:32like the big bad sheriff on that back end. Um, so I really think he's going to make a huge impact on

34:37this team, whether he's third pairing with Andrew peak or whether he's top pairing with Charlie

34:41McAvoy, I think he's going to be a very impactful player, uh, for this team. And I agree with you,

34:47Mick. I think this is like, now that Swayman's in, I said, if Swayman's not a part of this

34:51equation, they're a playoff team, not a legit Stanley cup contender. Once you add Swayman back

34:57in with the group that they have right now, this is a legit Stanley cup contender. This is one of

35:02the best teams in the East. This is one of the best teams in a very, very, very strong Atlantic

35:06division that has some teams coming on and some other teams that have traditionally been good,

35:11that are getting older and a little weaker. Uh, and it's going to be really interesting to see

35:14all that shakes out, but I think the Bruins are going to be absolutely in the middle of it again,

35:18this year, Murph, your thoughts, you know, three minutes or so on the Bruins, your expectations,

35:22what you've seen, what you're watching. Well, I'm going to agree with a hundred percent of

35:26what you're saying there, Joan. I'm glad you brought up the, the, the Atlantic division,

35:29because that is probably in my, uh, my eyes, the toughest neighborhood in the NHL right now.

35:33I think it's the hardest division in the NHL. It's the biggest division. You know, we remember

35:38the years, uh, you know, like seven years ago or something, we're always talking about the Western

35:42conference, central division being rough and, and big. Well, now that's the Atlantic division.

35:48And obviously you look at the moves that Sweeney's made, whether it's been his big splash moves in

35:52Zdorov or it's been some of the depth moves he made in acquiring Kostelik. Uh, size is,

35:58is a concentration here and it's, it's come into focus and the Bruins are doing a good job of

36:02addressing that. But I look at this team too. I mean, I think if they don't make it to the

36:06conference final, they're a bust. That's, that's what I look at this team as right now. They're

36:11definitely need to be in the final four, at least if not in the final. And, but that's still a tough

36:17thing to do with this division in this conference. So we'll see what happens if it all comes together.

36:21But I like what Mick said about Zdorov and Lindholm in the fact that I think both signings

36:28help players fall more into their natural roles. Some would argue, Charlie Coyle still should be

36:34a three C not a two C, but it is what it is. I think he's proven he can be a legit two C. So

36:40it just lets guys not have to overcompensate for what the team doesn't have. You remember

36:44Charlie McAvoy during the playoffs last year and Mick mentioned how some people have been hard on

36:49him. He was getting a lot of flack for kind of running around and not having much structure at

36:55times. I think now he's allowed to just freelance a little more out there and that's not going to

37:01be as noticeable because he's going to have a guy like Zdorov to compliment or a guy like campus

37:05Lindholm. And it gives Montgomery and the guys running the defense, it gives them so much more

37:10flexibility. You mentioned switching Zdorov from the first pairing to the third. You can do the

37:15same with Lindholm too. I mean, you can do that within a game, game to game. So it throws so many

37:20different options to prepare for for the opponent that I think it puts the Bruins in a much better

37:25position than they were in last year. Yeah. And I think McAvoy is dynamic enough offensively that

37:30they want him to freelance a little bit. I think that's what I'm saying. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. I just

37:35think that there were times where he wasn't able to do that and he was trying to compensate for not

37:39having that big guy there. Now he doesn't have to worry about that. Yeah. And there's also times

37:44where he was beaten by Austin Matthews for a game winning goal because he was caught napping and he

37:47let him get behind. Like, you know, he made some mistakes too, but like, I think he, he definitely

37:53like, I think they want him to freelance more because he's a very skilled offensive guy. And

37:57I think frankly, we're going to see more of that on a Mason Lowry too, as we move on, because I

38:02think he's got the skill to be able to do that and really create and to make things happen in

38:07the offensive zone. I think the players that have those kinds of skills on D and on the backend,

38:12you're going to see them do some unconventional things to create offense and to make things

38:16happen. And I think that's something that Montgomery and this coaching staff wants.

38:20So I think all that's going to be interesting, but yeah, I, you know, you're going to have a

38:24lot less people taking runs at McAvoy, taking runs at Pasternak because the door of his around,

38:28that's just the way of the jungle in the NHL. And you have that six foot six defenseman that

38:33scares the bejesus out of everybody. You're going to see a lot less liberties being taken. And I

38:37think that's why everybody is happy to see him. That's on a Bruins roster right now. Cause he's

38:42going to be a chara like presence, even though he's not Zdeno Chara on that team. And I think

38:46you have to have a guy like that. If you want to be a good team and you want to keep your players

38:50in one piece. All right, Murph, Mick, thank you very much. Let's thank our sponsors prize picks,

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39:10take the guesswork also out of buying any kind of tickets, comedy tickets, concert tickets,

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39:19nightmare of an offensive line, try to protect your Kobe percent, which has been pathetic and

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39:34apply, but again, download the game time app, create an account, use the code CLNS for $20

39:39off your first purchase download game time today. What time is it? Mick Murph, Mick, thanks for

39:47joining us. Always a pleasure. R.I.P. El Tiante. Oh, no. Louis Tiante? Oh, what a tough way to close

39:58out the show. All right, Mick. R.I.P. Louis El Tiante. I'm sad to hear about Louis Tiante.

40:03Rest in peace. Everybody else, thank you for listening. We'll see you at the ring.

How Will Jeremy Swayman, Bruins Perform This Season? | Pucks with Haggs

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