Bruins Sign John Farinacci + The Legacy of David Krejčí w/ Mick Colageo & Kevin Paul Dupont

CLNS Media Sports Network

Dive into the newest episode of "Pucks with Haggs" as Joe Haggerty welcomes the Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont and The Standard Time's Mick Colageo to react to the Boston Bruins signing Harvard Center John Farinacci, David Krejci's retirement, and more! Tune in to a jam packed episode that Bruins fans cannot miss!  TIMELINE:  0:00 Intro  4:00 John Farinacci reaction  29:30 The Legacy of David Krejčí   35:00 Bruins defense  Pucks with Haggs is brought to you by:  FanDuel Sportsbook, exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Get a NO SWEAT FIRST BET up to $1000 DOLLARS when you visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON! That’s $1000 back in BONUS BETS if your first bet doesn’t win.  21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See full terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino, LLC. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MI, NJ, OH, PA, IL, TN, VA), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), Gamblinghelplinema.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support (MA), visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-522-4700 (WY), or visit www.1800gambler.net (WV).    Factor. Visit https://factormeals.com/HAGGS50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.  FanDuel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network! Visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON to get up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in bonus bets! Take your first swing at betting MLB on FanDuel and get TEN TIMES your first bet amount in bonus bets - up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS – win or lose.

Transcript

00:00 with Hags is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNF media network.

00:04 Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast. As always, I'm your host, Joe

00:10 Haggerty. You can find my work at joehaggerty.substack.com. With me today, we have long-time

00:16 hockey scribes, guys that I've spent a lot of time with on the road, in the press boxes all around

00:21 the NHL, the Standard Times, Mick Colaggio, the Boston Globes, Kevin Paul Dupont, who actually

00:27 had their own radio show. What was that, going back about 14, 15 years ago, you said, Mick?

00:31 Yeah, the great Eric Siemens of New England Hockey Journal fame took out two hours in the morning,

00:38 and the second season, he paired me up with dupes. The first year was former Trinity player Bob

00:46 Lobert, who was a teammate of the agent for Jason Allison and Byron Defoe, and the catalyst of the

00:56 whole reason Willie O'Ree is a big deal in the NHL these days. That was our man from Vision,

01:03 and Bryant McBride is his name, great guy. They combined with Eric Siemens in the Hockey Journal

01:11 to do the radio show, and out of the Brockton radio station at the top floor, in downtown,

01:16 the top floor of the Enterprise, that is. The next year, they put us to 1510, the zone,

01:22 and that's where I paired up with dupes, that first season up there off of 128 in Burlington.

01:29 Yeah, I remember that.

01:30 Not long after, we met Kevin from Melrose, and we've never looked back.

01:35 And we are all NEHJ alums, are we not?

01:40 Yes.

01:40 And then Matt Cowan joined us in Boston at Charlestown in the Schrafs building,

01:49 when we came back on after the two-year hiatus of the lockout year.

01:52 That was the 890 ESPN days, right?

01:55 That's correct.

01:56 Yes, I remember those very well.

01:59 So yeah, so that was the last few. Yeah, and met a lot of people through that. It was pretty

02:06 awesome. Dupes got us a lot of great guests, and we had fun.

02:13 We had fun, yeah. And Matt Kelman now is in some rubber room at the

02:18 what used to be Shea Stadium.

02:20 That's right. City Field and carting around his protege Mason,

02:28 who like Haggs, is a young fella, is a hockey player.

02:33 Yep, plays for Woburn, I believe. I've seen the pictures. Pretty cool.

02:37 I mean, that's the fun part, you know.

02:39 Yes, seeing the next generation try to learn, not learn too much from us,

02:45 learn from the real coaches out there, the guys that know what they're doing.

02:49 I hope to live long enough to commiserate over their NHL retirements.

02:52 There you go. All right, before we go any further, just real quick, want to thank the sponsors.

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03:50 All right, let's get down to business. And Dupes, I'm going to start with you since Mick has gone

03:56 in a sojourn over there. Let's just start with the news of the week. Harvard's John Faranaci

04:04 two-year deal, $910,000 cap hit. Former third round pick of the Arizona Coyotes. The Bruins

04:10 wait until the rights the Coyotes had on Faranaci expire and then sign him after the August 15th

04:16 deadline. How much for each of you does this measure on the Richter scale of potentially

04:22 having some kind of impact this year? Well, for me, I wouldn't count on impact this year.

04:27 And I may be underselling him, but I haven't seen, I have to be perfectly honest, I haven't seen him

04:33 play. But I'm just going by standard rule here, which is so very few of these kids make the jump

04:41 from, but whether it's top end junior or top end college, and that may not be giving him enough

04:49 bona fides, but we've seen it too many times, Hacks, and we get all excited about them. And

04:55 some of these kids come out after sophomore, junior year. What I do like that he's done here,

05:01 and I'm still amazed that the players, well, the players wouldn't close it, but the owners would

05:07 certainly try to close what amounts to a loophole. It really is. That's what the CBA allows. If you

05:13 play four years of amateur after your draft year, you're free to go, you're free to go UFA

05:18 as of August 15th. That's exactly what they did. And that's what happened to Blake Wheeler,

05:24 if you remember. Jimmy Vesey. And it seems to happen a lot with the Arizona Coyotes, right?

05:30 Out of the playbook of the Coyotes draft picks, if they don't want to play there, just wait it out

05:34 and go sign with whoever you want after that. For an organization that maybe isn't the most

05:40 desirable in the NHL, it puts them at a disadvantage. Right. And the yin and yang of

05:45 that, as you all know, Hacks and Mick, is yeah, okay, you run from that fire, but maybe there's

05:53 an opportunity there. There's a hell of a lot worse options than to be 22 years old and be

05:59 stuck in Arizona on an NHL roster, right? Making 900,000 on your entry deal. So it's always a

06:07 balance. And yeah, no, I agree with you Hacks. They've run it like, I don't know, a high school

06:15 glee club for too long out there. And now it's a 5,000 seat stadium and I could tie up the whole

06:20 show about having covered a game out there. But it's, you know, it's the other side of it is,

06:27 and I'll get off this and go over to Mick, is that as the student, because that's typically

06:33 where these kids are, they're in college, it also works in their favor in that clubs don't want to

06:40 lose the asset of a pick. So they're very eager usually by the players' second or third year at

06:47 college to get them under contract. Also, double-edged sword might not be the best deal.

06:53 You know, should Ryan Donato have stayed another year at Harvard? Probably. True of many of their

06:59 college picks who they've signed after two or three years. So it's dicey and it just underscores

07:06 again, even though you've played the four years or you played three, but he played four years

07:11 amateur Faraday, even though he played those years and you're 22, it's still a pretty good leap.

07:18 It is. And I, you know, the one thing I would say about his choice, Arizona versus Boston and

07:23 potentially make an impact to this year. And I did see him a little bit, I covered the beanpot.

07:27 I was there watching the games, you know, and I watched a couple of Harvard games, decent player

07:32 for sure. He obviously had a really good world junior a couple of years ago in the bubble in

07:37 Edmonton when team USA won the gold, but the Bruins situation at center, I feel like that

07:43 had to have played into it as well. You know, he did play at Harvard. Yes. So he

07:47 has some kind of local tie and we all know how much Don Sweeney and Cam Neely love hockey East

07:51 and Harvard players and, you know, guys that have played college hockey in this region.

07:55 That's one of the big boxes that gets checked or a lot of these kids when they sign or draft them.

08:00 But like there is, you know, a lot of open real estate as far as the center position goes

08:06 on the Boston Bruins and the NHL this year, you know, obviously Pavel Zaka and Coyle are going

08:12 to factor into the biggest roles to start, you know, but after that Morgan Geeky, Jesper Boquist,

08:18 you know, like Patrick Brown, Mark McLaughlin, maybe Johnny Beach. There's going to be, I think,

08:24 a potential there. If somebody pops or flashes to, you know, come in and seize a spot, it's much more

08:30 open this year than it's ever been before. And I'm sure that factored into the decision making

08:34 the sign with the Bruins too. Mick, what do you think? Mick, I can't hear you.

08:41 Can't hear you, Mick.

08:44 But I like the props.

08:49 Yes, he came with props. He's the carrot top of NHL writers.

08:53 Here we go. Can I talk, Mick?

09:00 Okay, how about now?

09:02 Yes, good.

09:02 Okay, see, I didn't do anything. Back when this was our scoreboard and I had hair and you guys

09:08 weren't gray. Back then, we didn't have this kind of issue. But when we got to the new building,

09:25 the thing that we're talking about happening in the Coyotes started happening to the Bruins.

09:28 And in a few years before the salary cap, the Bruins were a team that would lose these guys

09:37 to other teams. And then when things turned around and the Bruins suddenly found their new

09:42 currency through their successes, and all of a sudden Boston became a destination again.

09:50 It seemed like they were in the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes or the Andrews Bjork sweepstakes.

09:57 These were big ticket college players. And so, yeah, I understand Duke cynicism there.

10:06 It's a little like development camp. I think that the guy can look, I remember,

10:11 I think it's Paulson was Peter Forsberg, number two. But it's who you're doing it against.

10:16 It's who Brian Spooner was turning in that. That, excuse me, that really, you know,

10:24 it's makes it hard to measure.

10:26 Yeah, Jared Knight is the one I always think of. Remember him? Jared Knight. Remember that

10:31 kid from the London Knights? He was, I think, a second round pick. He looked pretty good in

10:35 development camp. He never even got a day in the NHL.

10:37 There were so many fans who were so on the Jared Knight bandwagon that they were trying to find a

10:46 scapegoat for when it didn't work out for him. Oh, Cassidy ruined them, you know, or this or that,

10:53 or the other thing, you know, there was always somebody had to be blamed for the Jared Knight

10:58 situation, you know, and we just don't know. And I think that's one of the things with the Bruins,

11:04 you know, the drafting here, we have more years down the road and 15 doesn't look as bad as it

11:10 did five years ago, you know, because other guys on other teams aren't holding up as well as they

11:16 did at that time. And yet here comes Dubrask, you know, up until his two broken bones in the

11:22 Winter Classic, that guy was a house of fire. So, I mean, you know, this situation here is a lot

11:31 difficult, very difficult to say, but I think that adding, I like the idea, the concept of adding

11:39 more candidates. So Faradaci, you know, a guy they want to look at and puts them in the mix.

11:47 And I love the Bruins, the way they think this, that like Team Canada, let's get as many centers

11:53 as we can. And it can always be make those in a winger as you can't make wingers in the centers.

11:58 Yeah. Well, they have to, I mean, a couple of things, they have to sign guys like Faradaci

12:04 because of the lack of draft picks that they have that they've traded away. This is absolutely

12:09 the method they have to use to replenish their prospect cupboard, given all the asset draft

12:16 picks, draft pick assets that they've traded away in trades to go for it, you know, past,

12:21 present and future, you know, they don't have first and second round picks until like 2026.

12:25 So this, you know, they're going to be, I think doing this and going this route and trying to

12:29 scavenge college free agents, unsigned draft picks, all that stuff for a while. So like credit them

12:35 for at least using this stream and this method to bring in some extra players. I am glad though,

12:41 that we, I don't think we really hear sweepstakes with these guys anymore after the Jimmy Vesey

12:45 situation, because I think people learned a lesson from everybody rolling out the red carpet,

12:50 flying them all around, trying to turn it into this like NFL, NBA thing, where it was this

12:55 superstar player that they're trying to woo to their franchise. I still remember David Creechie

13:01 in captain's practice while that whole thing was going on, kind of rolling his eyes and like,

13:06 let's see what the guy can do at the NHL before we get too excited about Jimmy Vesey. And he was

13:10 as so many times with David Creechie, and we'll talk about him later, a hundred percent bang on

13:15 accurate, thoughtful, you know, said what he meant, meant what he said and was totally right

13:19 about that situation. And at least it's returned back to sanity with these players where they get,

13:24 like, you know, they get a contract. It's not a big, you know, brouhaha and then maybe they fit,

13:30 maybe they don't. But I think Jimmy Vesey really changed that whole dynamic of how it's viewed

13:34 based on, you know, decent NHL player, but certainly not what people thought he was going

13:37 to be coming out of our, but. - Yeah. I think Andrew Bjork as well,

13:42 but without as much of the drama at the finish line. Yeah. I think that both of those guys were,

13:48 but yeah, Vesey one, that was a bit of a, hey, at least the egg wasn't on the Bruins face at the end,

13:55 but I did feel kind of ashamed on their behalf for having participated in that fawning.

14:00 That just embarrassed me. - Hey, come on. The fawning part is all,

14:05 it's partly our fault too, though, right? Like, you know, the media getting excited about it.

14:09 - I'll sign up for guilt on a lot of things, not that one.

14:13 - Anything, do you feel, what about Jay O'Brien? That's another guy that's out there, a Hingham

14:22 native, former first round pick. The Flyers are getting a compensatory second round pick because

14:26 he's not going to sign with them. Had a pretty good career at BU. You know, I don't think he

14:32 lived up to maybe the first round pick that the Flyers used for him, but could that also be a guy,

14:37 I think he's a center too, that the Bruins potentially take a waiver on.

14:40 - Yeah. I don't have the exact math in front of me, but I take it as a little bit older,

14:47 a little bit more experienced. And sure, absolutely. If you will, it's another log on the

14:54 Flyer. I was going to add two names to this whole mix, one being Frederick, who is a center,

15:00 and we've watched Trent Frederick for two or three years. Would any of us sitting here today

15:05 feel comfortable with Freddie being plugged in as the third center or the fourth center?

15:10 And there's a kid who's got size, he's got grit. I'd like to see a little more of that. I'd like

15:16 to see a little more fire in a lot of guys, especially the college guys, which also gives me

15:23 a bit of an anti-bias on the college side because they don't come with enough hiss and vinegar in

15:29 their game. - Not as much as the OHL boys, right, Dukes?

15:32 - Well, that's right. Or the Western guys. - The Bruins went far away from the OHL boys

15:38 until recently between Nick Boynton and the goalie that had the double hip surgery and

15:45 played with Pete Bruins and recently resurfaced, the left stick, can't remember his name right now,

15:49 but they went like eight years without picking in the top three rounds from the OHL. And I think

15:54 the only one exception was an American player who happened to be in the OHL. So they just,

15:59 because their operation was so, in British Columbia was so much where they were all the time,

16:05 the OHL, which was still the heartbeat of NHL prospects, got ignored by the Bruins for a long

16:11 time. That's no longer the case and that makes me happy. - The other name I was going to add,

16:16 and I spoke with him at length this week, I'll be using him in Sunday notes is down in Providence,

16:21 Merkeloff. So Merkeloff was, a lot of people forget here, he was the number two scorer in

16:28 the AHL this past season. He's a center. So if I'm kind of playing dark horses here, which is,

16:36 I guess what we're doing, I'm going to put him ahead of Farinacci. And again- - Merkeloff might

16:42 wind up between Marchand and Dabrowski, in my opinion. I just think that he got a bad rap for

16:49 not being a defensive player. And Mugenel, Brian Mugenel, the Providence Bruins coach,

16:56 got to sit with him last winter. And he told me, "He's my best defensive forward." He says,

17:02 the rap on him was he didn't play defense, but he never had to. People don't know how good he is.

17:07 He says, "This is guy is probably Boston's, I have him in the top four prospects in the organization."

17:14 Is what he said. And he's the guy who's with them every single day last season. So this guy here,

17:21 is he a lightweight? What are they listing him at? 165 or something? - He says he's a buck 80.

17:28 - Okay. So if he's a buck 80, then- - And he can play at that.

17:32 - I think, absolutely. And I think that he and Letary, by the way, were interchangeable as

17:38 centers and wings on that situation in Providence. They were flipping back and forth and could do

17:44 whatever they needed to do. So, Merkeloff could find a home on this team in a couple of ways,

17:49 but where they need him, might be, maybe he's the best possible guy to go in,

17:56 in the top six when all is said and done. Let's face it, the elephant in the kitchen here is the

18:05 mind of Charlie Coyle. Everybody knows Charlie Coyle has all the auto parts of a tractor that

18:13 can play in the top six and be a monster. But for him, he's never sustained confidence in that

18:21 situation. So he's always at home as the captain of the bottom six, and that's where he's thrived.

18:28 And with the luxury of the Bergeron-Creachy era, you could put him there and he could augment them,

18:33 take the Z-Zone face-offs and kill some penalties and take away some of the heavy lifting as those

18:40 guys got older. That was the theory. It was the theory with David Backus. That didn't work out,

18:44 but Charlie Coyle did. But now Charlie Coyle's in a position here where at age 31 or whatever it is,

18:52 he could take a giant leap in his career and start doing it because they need it and not because

18:57 his glass is half full. Maybe it's time for him to be that leader on this team and earn himself

19:05 a letter on a sweater and get himself a bigger role. He could be a perfect bridge player here

19:11 for them, but it's never been his mental mindset to take on that kind of responsibility. And to me,

19:17 it's all... You know what, Dukes? I mean, you know what, Mick? I don't even know if it's a mental

19:21 thing with him. I think it's like from having talked to people that have played with him before

19:26 that it's a physical thing where he can't maintain that level that he sometimes plays at all the time

19:32 through an 82-game season. It's easier for him to do it over a shorter spurt in the playoffs when

19:38 they're playing every day. And we've seen that. 2019, he was a horse. He was a great player for

19:43 them as they went to the Stanley Cup Final. But it seems to be more of the physical. He can't live up

19:49 to his physical capabilities and his physical skills and what he flashes over the long course

19:55 of an 82-game season. And that's kind of been what at least people that I've talked to have said

20:00 about him, that played with him, and that have seen him up close every single day. And I feel

20:05 like... I do feel like I'm kind of on the other side of it with you where I feel like a guy,

20:11 once they've hit 31 years old in the NHL, especially a forward, they are what they are.

20:16 I don't expect big leaps or big changes from a player once they've gone past the 30-year-old mark

20:22 when it comes to forwards. I would love to see it happen because Charlie's a great person. He's

20:27 paid his dues. Certainly, they need somebody like that to step up. But I'm a little more of a

20:32 doubting Thomas when it comes to that. I hear you. I hear you. And this is one, just as a very short

20:38 aside, this is one of the reasons Patrice Bergeron was as great a player as he was. He developed his

20:45 one-timer in his 30s. He kept sizing up the game throughout his career and figuring out ways to get

20:50 better. I remember when Doopson cornered Sweeney after one of those season-opening pressers at

20:55 Warrior and tossed at him a comparison of careers between him and Ray Bourque in the most general

21:03 way and what special things that they have. And one of the things Don Sweeney said that was Ray

21:08 could step away from the game. Bergeron never stopped thinking about how to be better, how to

21:14 keep on sizing up the game and figure it out. And he's one of the best players I've ever seen,

21:20 Don Sweeney said. And he played with Ray Bourque. So those are pretty high words. And I kept

21:27 thinking about that since that day, about how many ways that we've seen Bergeron reinvent himself

21:33 and do it. Here's a guy who picks up a one-timer. Why? Not because he wants to be a 50-goal scorer

21:38 someday. He would have done it when he was in his teens if he wanted to do that. It was because he

21:42 thought the Bruins needed it for them to win. That's the kind of player he was. And I'm hoping

21:47 that a lot of this is rubbed off on guys who are still here now. Hey everybody, football season is

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23:08 to, just go do it.

23:09 - Dupes, Murkulov, since you're writing about it this week, you talked to a bunch of people.

23:18 Like we didn't obviously watch him play too much. I saw the numbers, you know, we saw him,

23:23 you know, I think he came up to practice a day or two and certainly we saw him,

23:26 you know, development camp. But what, how much did he play center last year? I thought he played

23:33 mostly wing for Providence and they didn't have him playing largely center last year,

23:37 which would make it difficult for him to kind of, you know, talent-wise, obviously, I think if

23:42 they're looking for somebody that's going to be able to play skill-wise with guys like Marcian

23:46 Pasternak, he fits that profile offensively, no question about it, in power play. But how much

23:51 confidence did they have that he could play center at the NHL level? - He started the wing last year,

23:56 but by mid-season he was full-time center. And I'm sure some of that project, it was projection

24:01 that they knew where the number one centers were going here. So, you know, he's, I'm not going to

24:09 say he's like Berge, but he is like Berge. And if you stand back from Berge's game, there was

24:15 nothing, there was nothing double plus about Berge's game, the intelligence of it. I mean,

24:22 his speed, his strength of shot, all his stick handling, all of it, you know, all of it,

24:29 what, B plus, A minus. - Good, good, but not great. - Right, right. So, you know, which is to say

24:36 that's like 98% of the players in the league, right? That they just have their kit and that's

24:44 where they go. So I'm not saying, and Mick's not saying, although Mick, you did have him on the

24:49 first line there for a second, which I really... - Let the Murkulov era begin, let's make it

24:56 an epic. - I think what we're saying there is he has the skill set to take a look at that,

25:05 you know, and I don't see it, but, you know, there's a whole thing, and I've dwelled on this

25:17 a lot lately. When Marchand came up, most of us saw him as a bottom six guy in perpetuity, right?

25:25 - Yep, yep. - We were all wrong on that. Bergeron, first year on the wing, competent, good, solid,

25:34 you know, anybody projecting even after a year, this is where it was going to go? No. So it's

25:40 really incumbent on the player, and often it is the intelligence factor, that they just plot what

25:47 they need, they can deal with it, and they get fluent. - Well, it's the same thing with Postin.

25:53 I think Krejci referenced this the other day when we talked to him, that, you know, we all knew he

25:57 was talented when we saw him come on the scene that first development camp and, like, break into

26:01 the NHL as the youngest player in the league. Bergeron did the same thing. He was the youngest

26:05 player in the league when he came in that first year, but, like, did anybody see Postin becoming

26:09 a 60-goal score and, you know, one of the most dynamic players in the NHL? No, that comes down

26:14 to the players and them, you know, working their craft into that, for sure. - And there's just no

26:19 knowing that. I mean, especially when you're picking in an 18-year-old draft, and one of the

26:24 scores you point, Joe, is look at where he got taken in the first round and look at all those

26:28 teams that passed him over. Look at Bergeron. Bergeron last of the second round, Habs had two

26:34 picks, passed on him both times. - They don't talk about that much up in Montreal, do they?

26:40 - No. - We'll save that for our French version.

26:45 - Yes, but, you know, to your point, I think we do talk a lot about Fabian Lysel,

26:50 Johnny Beecher, Mark McLaughlin, some other guys in Providence, and Merkulov does not get

26:55 mentioned that much, even though he put up, you know, the biggest numbers, I think, of all of

26:58 those guys. So, like... - Second in the league.

27:00 - Second in the league scoring, which is phenomenal. - And again, if you talk to Moujonel,

27:07 he's way ahead of all those guys. - Yeah.

27:09 - And that, well, and the other guy that really has a finger on the pulse of this,

27:15 and you should have him on sometime, Hank, just, unless you already have, my bad, Mark.

27:19 - Mark, yeah, I've had him on, yep. - Good, okay, so he just doesn't light up

27:26 when you say Lysel. - No.

27:28 - And he sees the Pee Bruins quite a bit. - Yeah.

27:32 - And, you know, if this guy's gonna turn the corner, there's a lot of turning to do.

27:39 There's, whereas I look at a guy like Merkulov and say, "Okay, what is he, 22?" So...

27:46 - Yeah, he's college age range, yep. - So here's a guy who, yeah, he does have

27:53 those numbers, like Kevin has alluded, and, but it's not because of that that I'm intrigued. It's

28:00 because of the ability he has shown to play with other skilled players, and the fact that he has a

28:06 better defensive game than was advertised, and why he wasn't drafted was because he was thought of

28:15 in a way that did not, you know, here's a guy way underweight, and he doesn't play defense.

28:20 Well, it turns out he's a really good defensive player. If Moujonel says he's my best defensive

28:25 player, I'm on the bandwagon to get a look at this kid in the skill spots and see what it looks like

28:32 when he helps them be better, and they help him be better, because he's got the acumen,

28:39 and he's proven at every level he's had to play at that he can do this, and they're in a desperate

28:45 situation to find the next guy. So is it possible that, you know, even whether it's a short-term

28:51 basis or whatever, you know, right now they just need to see if they got somebody here,

28:56 and they've lined up a lot of candidates. They can't all get the reps, you know, it's

29:02 they can't all get a lot of reps, but the certain guys you know are going to get bottom six roles,

29:08 the certain guys that really intrigued me for potential top six roles, and Merkuloff is one of

29:13 them. Yeah, now that I have helped frame the house of Merkuloff, you can guarantee he'll be in the

29:21 first cuts. That's right, he's going to be on the ice in Providence real early in September,

29:28 no doubt about it. All right, we talked plenty about the future, let's talk about the past a

29:32 little bit. We talked to David Crecci this week about his NHL retirement. I think this was very

29:38 much expected, not a surprise. I know it was really difficult for him this past season with his family

29:44 living in South Carolina, his wife and kids, and him being here basically by himself for long

29:48 stretches in Boston playing that last year, and you know some of the injury problems, other things,

29:52 but just you know your thoughts, your memories, your overall impressions on the legacy of David

29:59 Crecci as a guy that was a fantastic playmaker, definitely the number, I think the best number

30:05 two center in Bruins history on any of their great teams, certainly one of the best centers overall,

30:10 top 10 in assists and points, over a thousand games all with the same team. You know, was also

30:15 a guy that would be very honest and tell you what he was thinking, even sometimes to you know it

30:20 might ruffle some feathers, whether it was like he wanted to be on the penalty kill more, there was

30:24 one year he was put in a third center role towards the end of the year by Khloé Jullian and he

30:28 definitely was not happy about it, like things like that, you know, he knew he was a very good

30:32 player, he knew his skill set, he knew what could bring out the best in him and what he could do for

30:37 other players, but also just a great teammate that never had a problem with being in the shadow of

30:42 Patrice Bergeron to a large degree, given that they were both great centers on the same team.

30:47 So, you know, he's a guy that I enjoyed watching a lot and, you know, interacting and working with

30:52 over the last 15 years. Nick? Well, in the glory, in the, speaking of Khloé, in the Julian glory

31:02 days, Crecce's line was rolled out first. Yep. Once they no longer had Marc Savard, and that

31:10 lasted through that era, which you could say caps with what, the 14 playoffs. So, it isn't,

31:19 doesn't get, it isn't until after that, the deconstruction of Crecce's line through the

31:25 trade of Lucić, the obviously Horton went before that, but the Berge and Martian as a pair emerge

31:33 as the Gretzky curry of the Bruins. And, and Crecce then becomes your number two again, like

31:40 he was in around 2009 or so. And, but I look at Crecce like a guy that I always wished could be

31:52 a little harder on pucks. He left me wanting more. He left me wanting to see him skate a little

31:58 better, a little, a little more out of each stride, but then the playoffs would come and

32:03 he was an assassin. And I always thought he was at his best when he had physical wingers

32:09 who could create chaos. Lucić and Horton, absolutely at his best when he had those two

32:15 on his wing. And while Horton wasn't a hitter, he was more of a Glenn Murray type player,

32:19 big stride, get in on the four check quickly, make the defenseman wet their pants, like Marc

32:24 Messier bearing down, you know, and it's like the puck pressure there. Lucić would drive you

32:29 through the glass as we saw. But, but yeah, that was the, that was the presence. And that allowed

32:36 Crecce to just so calmly walk in there like the general after his army has gone in and let the

32:43 city on fire and just calmly decide what he's going to do. And he would just so deftly, and then

32:50 his celebrations were Bobby Oresk, almost nothing. It's just kind of like, it wasn't a jump over,

32:59 he wasn't jumping his ass off the glass guy, like, oh, bad. He was a no pulse kind of player

33:04 in the best way possible, you know, learn to love his game and we'll miss it greatly.

33:09 Yeah. From that demeanor standpoint, Middleton, also Middleton. Yeah.

33:15 Kind of, yeah, it's in the net and shrunk. So, you know, it's funny, quick side there, Kevin,

33:21 is I went to a game in the fall of '08 and Crecce scored a power play goal off the rush against the

33:27 Ottawa Senators. And as I was leaving the game, Rick Middleton was also leaving the game and,

33:33 and he was positively giddy about Crecce, which was really cool because that's a great comparison

33:38 of skill sets. Yeah. Yeah. I know he made me, you know, Crecce made me wish power plays were

33:44 three minutes because he would, he would have been out there longer on the power play. And I

33:48 think he would have scored more. So I think a lot of his I'm not going to say lack of production,

33:55 but under production is the fact that Bergey was out there. Bergey was out there more on the number

33:59 one line, more on the number one PP. So I think if that got more evenly distributed, their numbers

34:05 would be more sort of aligned. And of course then this, the year we went away or went back to check.

34:12 So all in all, I, the highest compliment I can give him is that I thought of him right there

34:17 with Bergey. You know, I think in, in some ways yes, a little less, some ways a little more,

34:23 but very cerebral, smart. That, that, that, what also is fascinating about when he did have

34:32 two lumberjack wingers. And I say that as a compliment you know, they, they were straight

34:38 line players and he was still East West. So that, that's, there's a, there's a real trick to that.

34:44 So there's a, there's a lot that I think in retrospect, we will grow to enjoy more about

34:51 Gretchey when he is gone. And now that he is, I think it's, it's going to dawn on some people

34:58 quite soon, just what it meant to have him as, as Bergey's support guy and also talent in and

35:06 of himself, which at least in two dozen NHL teams, he would have been the number one center.

35:11 - Well, and we've talked about this a few times, the last 15 years, a huge part of the

35:18 foundation of the Bruins roster and what they're built on is the two franchise centers. Like just

35:23 having those two as the bedrock of the entire team, obviously having Zidane O'Chara there for

35:29 as long as they did too, as a franchise, you know, shut down sort of all around defenseman was a big

35:34 huge component too. But I think the biggest thing that they had during this long run, when they were

35:39 a playoff team winning divisions, titles, winning a cup, getting to the Stanley cup finals three

35:43 times was having two legit frontline top six centers that were outstanding in all zones.

35:50 And, you know, it was a real treat for, I think us to watch those years when, as you referenced Mick,

35:56 when supposedly the Gretchey, Horton, Luchich were the number one line. And then it would,

36:02 it was Recchi, Bergeron and Marchand. And I'll never forget right before the 2011 playoffs,

36:08 it was one of the practices at the garden and it was fairly intense. This was within the last week

36:15 or two before the players were going to start. And I'll never forget, I think it was Horton

36:19 dumping Mark Recchi on his ass during a drill. Like, and that was kind of a statement. You could

36:24 tell by the look in Claude's face when he was coming off the ice after the practice, like

36:28 these guys are ready for the playoffs. That line wants to be number one, wants to be respected,

36:32 is ready for battle. And it was, that was fun to watch because it was two extremely good lines that

36:40 you knew were ready for a long playoff run. And at times the Bruins have had that sense, but I think

36:46 that's the best consistently they've had in two lines that I've covered in the last 15 years.

36:50 - Well, you have to look at one of these faces on the dot, two thirds of every hockey game.

36:57 It's a little like Pittsburgh's had it with Crosby and Malkin. And if you go back to the 90s,

37:02 you can go back as far as you want to Bellevue and Henri Richard, but you, but it's, you know,

37:08 whether it's Eisenman better off or Sackick Forsberg, Madonna, New and Dyke, you know,

37:15 the teams that were dominating in that decade and this carried forward. Sometimes there's another

37:21 model that the Bruins now have to transition to, which is the Montreal, New Jersey model,

37:26 which you base everything on your big three on defense. And then if you can get one really good

37:31 center and if you're heavy wing heavy, the Chicago model was this way with Keith,

37:36 John Larson and Seabrook and Waltez. How many people can name the number two center for the

37:42 Chicago Blackhawks in each of their copy hairs? It's, they were a big three team after the order

37:51 of Montreal, New Jersey and St. Louis the year they wanted, but even the gear, the caps wanted,

37:56 they were like the Bruins and the Penguins. It was Kuznetsov finally became a playoff player.

38:01 So it was Baxter and Kuznetsov. And that was really the strength of that club. And they finally

38:07 didn't have a disappearing act in the playoffs from Kuznetsov. And that was what, and since then

38:12 they've had health problems and they've never been able to get near it again, but they got it that

38:16 one time and that was why they were legit. And if you want to be legit, you got to do it one or two

38:21 ways and then build your team around that. And now the Bruins are going to have to change

38:25 completely what their foundation is. Yeah. Dupes, what do you think the path to competitiveness

38:30 is for the Bruins next year with Crecce and Bergeron gone? And how much do you feel like

38:35 fans should be bracing for a serious period of adjustment? Well, it's safe to say it's not going

38:41 to be the 305 goal team. Right. So I think they're going to have to take a step back here

38:47 on a defensive scheme and rely a whole lot on the goaltending and a whole lot on the defense.

38:53 And you know what? There's a whole lot of teams in the league that can't say that these guys

38:57 legitimately can. They do have skill back there. Whether they've got toughness on the day, I like

39:05 them more with Connor Clifton. Not that he's the difference maker, but I did like Connor Clifton's

39:12 toughness. I will miss him. Yeah. Yeah. And I think they will. I think that was a good pick up.

39:17 It will be in the division. Yeah. Really good pick up for Buffalo, right? So, but I'm-

39:23 Kevin Shattenkirk obviously is a much different kind of player. You know? Well, you know what

39:26 this is? That's for their power play. They know that their power play was iffy last year and this

39:32 is a distinct effort targeting the power play. There's no other reason why you want Kevin

39:38 Shattenkirk anywhere near this hockey team, unless you know you need to manufacture some offense

39:44 and they're going to need a better power play. And that's what that's all about.

39:47 Right. Dube, so in that light, back to your question, Joe, what do I think they're going

39:54 to be? I think they're going to have to grow into scoring. They're going to have fits and

39:58 starts on that. What I do like about that is that that's Jim Montgomery's calling card, right?

40:04 Yeah. He's he can be creative. He'll try. We know he'll try different combinations,

40:09 maybe to a fault in the playoffs. So, you know, that that is, I think I mentioned the other day,

40:17 scoring can evolve. You have time typically in a season for scoring to mature,

40:23 get the right combinations. You've got 12 guys in the mix defense. You've got you know,

40:28 technically you've got six guys in the mix. The truth of the matter is to shape a real

40:32 defensive unit. There's only four. So you've got to have those four. You've got to get those four

40:38 nailed, get them down. So I think they've got some you know, we know they've got one real question.

40:43 Is it going to be for Bert? Is it going to be Grizzly? Who's going to play with McAvoy

40:48 against which opponents since they got the both of these guys going forward, which was a surprise

40:54 to me? I didn't know that Evan Gold could pull that off, but they still got that intact. And we

40:59 know what three is. And now Shadon Craig Augment stay out of the power play. And we'll see if he

41:04 and Mitchell can take his spot before the season ends. And and and and Zaboral is next man up. So,

41:14 so this this is this is not bad. This was a very good defense last year

41:19 and a very good goaltending 10, which is still intact. So that back end is very solid. And I

41:26 understand that they've I can see why they prioritize. Let's keep that together. And then

41:31 while we score less, we'll figure that out as we go. But yeah, the bottom's not going to drop out

41:37 with the defense and the goaltending they have. I think that's still the bones of a playoff team

41:41 on this roster with the defense, the goaltending. They still have Pasternak, Marcian. They still

41:46 have some talented wingers that are going to be able to put the puck in the net while they're

41:50 figuring everything else out offensively. But I guess the question I keep going back to

41:55 is the center position. And, you know, we've heard a lot about the Calgary Flames,

42:01 the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, and we'll end with this. Do you foresee a deal with any of those

42:07 teams, Elias Lindholm, Mark Shifley, Ryan Nugent Hopkins? Maybe not now, obviously, because I think

42:12 what we see now is probably what we're going to see in training camp and October 11th when they

42:16 drop the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks. But are we all waiting for the shoe to drop on a trade

42:20 for one of those centers or somebody else we haven't even thought of as they watch over the

42:25 season if the center picture and the center position doesn't develop the way they want it to

42:30 and somebody doesn't step up and show the capability to play as a line driver in a top six

42:37 role? Even though I think I like Zaka a lot and I think if he can figure out the face-off thing,

42:41 he has a lot of the credentials to be able to do it. But do we foresee the trade for a big-time

42:47 center as a shoe to drop this year as we go into the season? Go ahead, Mick, I'm sorry.

42:56 No, I'm sorry. My thing is you just brought it up, Joe, Zaka, he's your X factor. He hasn't done it,

43:04 they think he can do it, they traded a good player to get him because they thought he could do this

43:09 and he's on the front side of his prime, his athletic prime. And I liked him last year,

43:13 he did a lot of very center-like things while playing on the wing last year that I really

43:18 liked and watched and said, I think this kid can play center in an important spot. And the good

43:22 thing is Pasta likes to have the puck, so clearly he's going to play with Pasta. So how you complement

43:29 those guys will be a big part of that and how you choose to do it, what's going to happen there.

43:36 Hey, sometimes a plumber works. Look at what Chicago did when the second half of the series

43:43 against the Bruins in '13, they brought Michael Hanzus, who had been a fourth-line center in

43:48 his career, a third-line center in his career, and made him the number two center on that team

43:52 because he had a big body, strength, could play with skilled players. If they think Morgan Gieke

43:59 needs to be a guy that they need to plug into a situation like this because of his overall

44:04 200-foot game and ability to grind and to support the skilled players, then they'll put him in there.

44:11 So I think that's a big reason why he wasn't like one of those other guys, many other guys,

44:17 who got like one year, one million, one year, one million. They looked at him a little differently,

44:21 and I think that that's another name that we need to keep in mind should things not go great or

44:27 should they need a certain kind of augmentation to this line to support Zaka. Who knows how this

44:32 is going to go, but I do like the idea that they're going to start from within, but if you

44:39 do decide that you don't need to get the nuge or somebody like that or when the Lindholm sweepstakes,

44:46 the Schaefeli thing doesn't excite me for some reason. Maybe just because the water is dirty in

44:52 Edmonton. I'm not sure. Winnipeg, Winnipeg. Sorry. Rick Bona certainly thinks it's dirty.

44:58 He felt like it was dirty after the playoffs when they were done last year. And Paul Maurice before

45:04 him too. And then Paul Maurice, not only through Florida's successes, but through what happened

45:09 to Winnipeg after he left, also redeemed him. People were blaming him for that, and that turned

45:15 out to be, you know, so yeah, but if you're in that spot, then you're in a world of hurt because

45:23 you won't have to give what other people could give. And how do you make it happen?

45:28 Doops, do you see us writing columns in November, December saying we need,

45:31 we're going to, the Bruins desperately need a franchise frontline center?

45:34 Yeah, I mean, I think we could write that now. I do. I think because I,

45:41 whatever their maturation is, I have a real doubts that Zaka or Coyle can be a true number one NHL

45:50 center. And I may be underestimating them. I underestimate a lot of people, but I like them

45:55 both. I'd have them on my team right now. It feels to me like Zaka's a number two and Charlie is best

46:02 at number three. Like trying to force them into one or two. You may be, you may be stealing from

46:08 a skillset in an odd, in an odd sense there. So frankly, if you could go out and find a number

46:15 one center today or tomorrow or three games into the season, yeah, I'd be really excited about that.

46:21 As we know, the hardest part now is, well, there's many hard parts. First of all, teams don't give

46:27 them up, A. And B, what do you do? You're going to have to send assets out. So the first asset,

46:35 always when I go into substantial trades, first asset is going to be Dubrask and second asset is

46:40 going to be Carlo. So do you want to, you know, it is, and frankly, if it's a true number one

46:47 center who you can plug into your lineup and he's age 26, 27, and you can see that as a five or six

46:53 year player, then yes, it's worth going on the assets. I think this is going to be an ongoing

46:59 conversation until it's resolved one way or the other. Kevin Paul Dupont from the Boston Globe.

47:04 Thank you very much. Mick Calaggio from the Standard Times. Thank you. We will definitely

47:08 do this again. I also want to thank quickly our sponsors, Fanduel.com, Fanduel.com/Boston.

47:15 Start earning bonus bets with America's number one sports book and the exclusive wagering partner of

47:19 CLNS Network. And who could forget America's number one ready to eat meal kit, Factor Meals.

47:25 Head to factormeals.com/hags50 and use code hags50 to get 50% off your first box. Mick,

47:31 next time you come, I definitely want you to bring the props again. Dupes, you can bring the wit and

47:35 wisdom, my friend. Thank you guys. Until next time, see you at the rink. Always fun. Thanks,

47:39 pal.

47:52 (upbeat music)

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