What does this Boston Bruins team need? w/ Mick Colageo and Kevin Paul Dupont

CLNS Media Sports Network

Today, Joe Haggerty is joined by Mick Colageo and Kevin Paul Dupont to take a closer look at this Bruins roster and find the holes that need to be filled. Can the young players step up to fill those roles? Or will these team seek outside help as the trade deadline approaches. That, and much more!     This episode of the Pucks with Haggs Podcast is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook. Fanduel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media Network! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED when you place a FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS in BONUS BETS – WIN OR LOSE! Go to https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON! The app is so easy to use and there are so many different ways to bet like:   ● Live Same Game Parlays  ● Find Bets in the NEW Explore Tab  ● Make a parlay in the Parlay Hub – the best way to find popular parlays  ● And more!   DISCLAIMER: Must be 21+ and present in select states. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino, LLC. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG in Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Virginia. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 in Arizona, 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, 1-800-9-WITH-IT in Indiana, 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com in Kansas, 1-877-770-STOP in Louisiana, visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland, visit 1800gambler.net in West Virginia, or call 1-800-522-4700 in Wyoming. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York.   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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices  More Episodes CLNS Media C/O North Station Media | All rights reserved | 2023 |

Transcript

00:00 Hey guys, the Montreal Canadiens are here Saturday. Can you believe it?

00:03 Yeah.

00:04 That's so sad.

00:06 Mick is sad. The rivalry is not what it used to be.

00:12 The schedule makers are idiots.

00:14 Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast. I believe this is the Heinz 57th

00:24 episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast. We will have no condiment talk today though.

00:29 We'll just be talking about Boston Bruins. I want to thank my two guests today. A good

00:33 friend and colleague, Mick Colaggio, a frequent guest on the show and also another frequent

00:38 guest on the show, the Boston Globes, Kevin Paul Dupont, the esteemed Hall of Fame hockey writer.

00:45 Kevin Paul Dupont joining us today. Gentlemen, thank you very much for being on the show.

00:49 The well-deserved Elmer Fergie for Dukes.

00:52 That's right. Elmer Fergie. Dukes can call it Elmer Fergie because he's in the club.

00:58 You could be Kevin.

00:58 I've been called worse. Elmer Fudd would be one of them.

01:03 Let's also thank our sponsors who are not Looney Tunes, FanDuel Sportsbook,

01:10 our CNS's exclusive wagering partner. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any

01:19 winning $5 Moneyline bet at FanDuel Sportsbook. That's 150 bucks. If your team wins, visit

01:24 fanduel.com/boston and kick off the NFL playoffs going into their second week, NHL action, all

01:31 kinds of good stuff going on. Let's also thank Factor Meals, America's number one ready to eat

01:35 meal kit, fresh, never frozen meals ready in just two minutes in the microwave. Delicious, calorie

01:40 conscious, chef-made meals. All you got to do is head to factormeals.com/hags50 and use code

01:46 hags 50 to get 50% off your first box. All right, gents, we are in that portion of the season. It

01:54 feels like to me, and it's going to be interesting. We'll talk about this, like what lays ahead,

02:00 what lies ahead directly for this Bruins team, but it feels like we're almost in that portion

02:05 of the season where it's like, lose a few, win a few, lose a few, and they're sort of going back

02:10 and forth depending on what's going on with the schedule, depending on their injury situation.

02:15 But we've hit that sort of point in the season where it's, you know, everybody's mostly stationary,

02:21 except for teams that get red hot and the Bruins are where they are, where they're going to have

02:25 some good turns and bad turns. Right now, they're obviously in a very good one. Mick, you mentioned

02:31 before we got on the show, and Monty said this after the game last night, he thought this might

02:35 have been the best three game stretch as far as the wins go, where they've consistently put together

02:41 efforts in the way that they're playing. Dupes, what have you seen in the last three games,

02:47 and do you believe, you know, this is just a good pocket for them or that they are, as Jim Montgomery

02:52 would say, sort of playing the more connected team game, playing a more complete game, and building

02:58 into a better team as we're seeing right now? I guess there's a lot of truth in all of that

03:04 in terms of, you know, parts. Right now, if you're not Edmonton or Philly, you are kind of in that

03:12 ebb and flow that you're talking about, Hags, because, and frankly, that's kind of the nature

03:16 of the sport these days. I mean, when you look, especially when you look in the east,

03:20 I didn't do the math this morning, but I've been doing the running math as we go.

03:24 There's about, I don't know, there's been five points that separate eight teams that are in the,

03:32 you know, I call it the wild card mix, and that wild card mix is the four or five or that day who

03:38 are south of the line, and then the two or three teams that are actually holding one of the top

03:43 three seeds, but they're, you know, they're liable to blink over a weekend and they're down in the

03:49 wild card mix. So it is somewhat the nature of the sport. What I will say based on what I've seen,

03:55 especially last night, I mean, the key to success being their goal tending, you know,

04:01 Swainman's been excellent. So, you know, we're going to have that question as we get to the

04:06 playoffs too, is it going to be the straight rotation or go with the hot end? One thing that

04:12 did strike me last night was the number of times, and I think this is because Colorado plays man to

04:19 man, is the number of times I saw the Bruins really was viable, good, if not a great shot,

04:26 great positioning around the offensive net, and a lot of freewheeling around the offensive net,

04:33 that I haven't seen. That was remarkable to me last night. Now, is that more concentrated play

04:40 that Montgomery's talking about, or is that just one opponent? I don't know, but the trend line

04:46 here is good, and I would say it's because of all the good things that are the foundation of the

04:52 team. You know, an excellent pairing in Lindholm and McAvoy, I say pairing, two good guys, not

05:01 necessarily paired, great goaltending tandem, and two great wingers. You should be in the mix with

05:11 those four, five, or six guys. Yeah, most definitely. It's from my standpoint, watching

05:17 that game, particularly last night, because as I would break down the three wins, like St. Louis

05:22 is a team they should beat, right? It was a tough game because it was the end of a road trip,

05:26 you know, they've been going through time zones, it was challenging. On some levels, they were

05:30 trying to break a losing streak, they've been playing, you know, overtime, shootout games going

05:34 into that. So, I thought that was a game they should have won, and they did win. The New Jersey

05:40 game, they obviously played well, but that was also a New Jersey team that was missing Jack Hughes,

05:44 missing Dougie Hamilton, definitely did not have their usual offensive pop and sizzle,

05:49 and the Bruins just kind of took care of business. That game last night, I think, was the one

05:55 I was most impressed by, I was most interested to watch how they were going to play it,

06:00 and the way that they finished that game, and this is a trend that we have seen with this team

06:06 recently, where they're finishing off teams in the third period now, where before they were kind

06:11 of hanging on for dear life, white knuckling with one goal leads, a lot of times teams were

06:16 scoring and pushing them into overtime. You saw them hold Colorado, I think it was to four shots

06:21 on net in the third period. They really held them down defensively, did not give them a ton of

06:26 chances, and then at the end, get that power play on the high stick, convert on it to get the

06:31 insurance goal, and really just, you know, throttle the avalanche towards the end of the game.

06:36 That was sort of one encouraging sign that I've seen that there's some progress there. I do agree

06:42 with you, though, that, you know, I think we're going to see ups and downs, and it will be

06:46 interesting over the next month, because they're in the midst of stretch where they're playing 12

06:52 or 14 games at home. Basically, from about mid-January until mid-February, they're going to

06:57 be in Boston and at home, except for a two-game stretch where they go to Ottawa and Philadelphia,

07:02 and that's it. Otherwise, they're at home, resting, recharging, and it's going to be

07:06 interesting to see if they can put something together and really separate from the rest of

07:10 the pack. I'm with you, Dupes, I think the East is completely wide open. There's not a lot that

07:15 separates the top to bottom. I think, in general, the Metro division's down this year. The quality

07:21 is down, and there's just no real clear-cut favorite, even though, you know, the Bruins are

07:26 at the top of the conference, but I don't feel like they're a favorite by any means, and I think

07:31 there are weaknesses on this team, even though they've played well and they've got some definite

07:34 strengths. But, Mick, anything you sort of liked or took from last night's game or this three-game

07:41 stretch that you think separates it from, you know, other winning that we've seen this year?

07:47 One is the belief, like you alluded to, the third period is a belief.

07:52 Yep.

07:53 There's a push. They're going forward instead of backward. The other thing is, is that,

07:59 from a hockey standpoint, the Bruins had difficulty getting into their system when teams would

08:06 imitate the Florida Panthers and rim the puck hard around the off-tacking zone. The Avalanche had one

08:12 good second period, and they didn't exactly do that. They set a lot of picks. They played physically

08:17 in front and at the corners of the net and isolated talented players to make shots from

08:25 good positions, and Swayman had to be very big in that period. Shot blockers had to be very big in

08:30 that period. A lot of shot attempts, and they were from quality spots. That was the one period that

08:37 the Avalanche looked good. The rest of the game, the Bruins made them look like a team that had it

08:41 too easy a couple of nights earlier in Buffalo and were a little tired with their trip and a

08:46 little disinterested and ranting. And the fans, the Colorado fans riding the subway after the game

08:52 were saying that Rantan had looked so slow. And I'm thinking the whole game, "What a monster this

08:58 guy is. He's a Martin de Jari Curry." But I love the way the Bruins, as Dupes alluded,

09:03 against their man defense. Bruins did a lot of plays that were really cohesive where they were

09:11 looking like they were going to skate, and they say, "They're going to let me carry. They're going

09:15 to keep carrying. I'm going around the net. Is it a wrap? Is it a goal-mouth pass? Is it a quick

09:19 stuff? Is it a back off to the circle and go out to the point or go to the slot or go at the net?"

09:24 It was like they were just so in sync with what they were doing. It was really fun to watch that

09:29 first period. The third period was so impressive because, and this comes back to the continuity

09:35 of these last three games, the Bruins are playing, they're competing harder. As Monty alluded, every

09:42 10-game segment of the season gets more like playoff hockey. And this team right now is

09:49 playing harder, competing harder, half-wall battles, supporting the puck, and battles around

09:56 the net, and even post-whistle stuff. They're not getting pushed around. It was really fun to see.

10:02 Miles Wood kind of snapped last night and went after Wotherspoon because he didn't like seeing

10:07 Wotherspoon push on one of his guys. Well, they're used to ruling the roost, and Wotherspoon's saying,

10:14 "No, I don't think so." So there's a lot of battle right now with the Bruins that helps them through

10:21 the hardest sledding parts of the hockey right now. And I think that's a big reason why they're

10:26 coming out on top in these close ones. Yeah. Something that we've seen recently that's adding

10:32 another offensive dimension to the Bruins that they frankly needed in the first half of the year

10:37 at times is Jake DeBrusque finally sort of finding his game. And Montgomery saying last night,

10:45 "It seems like every game I'm now saying this is Jake DeBrusque's best game of the season." And

10:49 certainly more engaged, definitely more confident offensively.

10:55 Great back check on Miles Wood last night. Yep. He stripped him from behind legally.

11:00 Awesome play. There were hustle 200-foot plays that he was engaged and involved in.

11:06 There was the play on the power play insurance goal where he feeds the puck down to Pasternak,

11:13 kind of drops it down to him at the net, was just a fantastic skill play. And just a great example

11:19 of the two of them and the way they can work together and some chemistry that those two players

11:22 do have together at times. And it was also a nice example of Pasternak winning a battle along the

11:27 sidewalls to create that whole sequence before he cut to the net. Where do you stand right now,

11:35 Mick, on Jake DeBrusque, where his game is at, what the prognosis is for him

11:40 the rest of this season and moving forward? Well, he had a great game. I've never seen a

11:46 Bruin at his age, his career stage, go to the contract, go to the end of his contract and stay

11:55 in Boston. So at the end of the day, my revert position, I keep going back to square one, which

12:07 is players in that situation don't stay. So if I'm the Bruins, I try to move them to somebody with

12:15 term because I'm not a believer. Unless they're privy that they've talked and they're going to

12:20 work it out and they want to and the sides agree. And I don't see it. So I'm like, yeah,

12:27 is he playing well? Finally, yes. Is he back to being that guy we saw before he got banged up in

12:32 the winter classic, winning the damn game at Fenway? Then, yeah, he's back to being that guy.

12:39 He's been inching closer for the last month or so, and he's back to being really viable for this

12:44 team. So to me, that makes it that makes him better trade bait, in my mind.

12:51 Well, the NFL season is wrapping up, but there is still time to get on the action with FanDuel,

12:56 America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers get 150 in bonus bets guaranteed

13:03 when you place a five dollar bet. That's pretty good math, right? That's 150 bucks in bonus bets,

13:09 win or lose. The app is so easy to use, and there are so many different ways to bet, like live same

13:14 game parlays. Buy bets in the new explore tab, make a parlay in the parlay hub, the best way to

13:19 find popular parlays and more. So visit Fanduel.com/Boston and make your first bet of

13:25 layup. FanDuel official partner of the NFL. Dupes, what's your feeling, gut instinct on to

13:37 the direction that we're headed with Jake Dabrowski now that he seems to finally be

13:42 finding where he, you know, since the since the holiday break, since he came back, he's back to

13:46 the player we expected him to be in. The numbers are starting to get back to, you know, where they

13:51 should be. Yeah, which is to say he's playing like a top six forward, right? Top six forward,

13:58 they pay four million dollars a year. It's difficult with Jake because he is he is the

14:05 perfect example of the love hate player. And I'm sure the three of us love him today. Two weeks

14:11 from now, the three of us could hate him today. It's just it's very difficult. So, you know,

14:17 exactly what Mick had said there about, you know, terming out and usually those guys leave here.

14:23 Sometimes they don't want to leave here. And is the case with Torrey Krug.

14:27 You know, I'm I don't know, I which which the Bruins made the right call on Torrey Krug.

14:36 And I think that's, you know, on the way things have gone in St. Louis and they were trying to

14:41 trade him this past summer and, you know, everything else. Yeah. And again, you know,

14:46 that that's the Torrey Krug we're seeing play in St. Louis with that lineup, which,

14:52 as we know, is compromised. And they've they've let a number of people go. Maybe if Torrey had

14:56 stayed here to put up the same numbers that he was putting. So it's very difficult. This whole

15:01 discussion is difficult. And I suppose I'll I'll weave Jake into this in that, you know,

15:07 there's the hum of the regular season, which we're talking about. And you've expressed right up front

15:13 in terms of when a couple lose a couple, get on a three, three game hitter heater, go back to 500.

15:20 That's the hum of the regular season that we were judging everything on the hum of the regular

15:26 season, when in reality, the playoffs are the rattle and hum. And I don't really know if they've

15:32 got the rattle in them. I don't think Jake has it. I don't think Jake has ever had it. I think

15:37 Jake's a great player when when the temerity from the other side is is at par or substandard.

15:47 But as we know, it where is he going to be if they play Florida? Yeah, well, yeah, I mean,

15:53 that's that's it. And he's not alone in that. Right. I Linholm, too. But when I when I look

16:00 when I look at the whole DNA composition of the team, it's great. It's great for six, six and a

16:07 half months here. It's fun to watch and people get excited. But everything's got to be filtered

16:12 through the hum of it and and trying to come up. OK, where's the rat? And I'm not saying go out

16:18 and mop the ice with guys. That doesn't exist anymore. But I think you've got to have the guy,

16:23 you know, the spit, the stirrer, all of those guys. And I still don't see it in this bunch.

16:29 I don't. I see I see a lot of there's a nibbling at the edges and you don't at the edges. It's a

16:35 culture that gets into your top six. That's where it is. That's where it has to be. And that's not

16:40 where it's not. Yeah. So Brad Marsh in thirty six being your toughest forward. Right. So to your

16:47 point where Wetherspoon pushes back and says, I'm not going to, you know, you're right. You know,

16:53 Colorado's got that sort of verve in it. This team doesn't. Wetherspoon steps up and that

16:59 distinguishes himself. They should have five guys doing that. Bingo. Right. I mean, we've we've

17:06 talked about this a little bit, and I feel like that's what the you know, a lot of people want

17:12 to talk about Elias Lindholm centers. They need a center like whatever. Charlie Coyle has been

17:17 outstanding this year. Like, I think he's filled into a spot where the need to bring in a guy like

17:23 Elias Lindholm is not as strong as it might have been in the summertime when you were worried about

17:28 Creechie and Bergeron sort of riding off into the sunset and what you were going to do with that

17:32 position. I would just watching this team in the first half, I think you're absolutely banging on

17:37 dupes that what they need is a fourth line Garnett Hathaway type guy that will actually play that

17:45 kind of game in the playoffs, as opposed to Garnett Hathaway, who's kind of disappeared in the playoffs

17:50 and didn't really play the way you expected him to when they played Florida, when they traded for

17:54 him. But that kind of player on your sort of bottom six, fourth line that has presence that

18:00 will bang bodies that other teams have to think about when you put them out there and the same

18:05 on the back end. Somebody that's got snarl and some mean and nastiness around the net and will

18:11 push back or push first, you know, and make you react to what they're doing rather than trying to

18:16 constantly wait for you to make a move and then defend yourself. And, you know, Wetherspoon's been

18:22 nice as far as the way that he's played. And he's obviously hungry. And that's probably part of it

18:26 because he's up from the HL and he wants to stay. But I think they could use a veteran defenseman

18:31 guy, defenseman type that plays that way. And I think those are their two big needs and they're

18:36 doable needs. You know, they're not things you're going to have to go out and spend a ton for to

18:41 get, as opposed to this, you know, big ticket item at the trade deadline that they don't have the

18:45 assets for anyway, as far as prospects and draft picks go. So like, you know, I think the element

18:50 that you're talking about that they're going to need in the playoffs, as opposed to the nice,

18:54 polite game that they play during the regular season is exactly what they should be going after.

18:59 And what is a clear need? Otherwise, they're not going to have a long run in the playoffs.

19:03 Yeah. And I think what we're criticizing them here for is true of most every team in the league.

19:12 They go through this, they sort out the 16 seeds, and then they, you know, then they do have it or

19:19 they don't have it. And again, that game in and of itself doesn't win for you because that's not

19:26 the way the game is played anymore. It's not the broad street bullies and all of that. And I'm

19:32 glad it isn't, but you do have to have that sort of consistent shift to shift sandpaper threat.

19:39 And they did it last year. They went out and got halfway. He wasn't as much as we thought he would

19:44 be, but that addressed it. Orloff too. Orloff, everyone thought, and he did, he delivered on

19:49 points. He had the eight assists in the playoffs, but Orloff had a real nice little nasty niche of

19:56 stepping up on the guy from just above his defensive circle toward that, toward the,

20:03 toward the other team's offensive blue line and putting on a smack. You know, when you've got that

20:09 threat back there, as we saw when they had with Seidenberg and McQuaid and, and, and Z.

20:14 When you've got that, you know, that rattlesnake threat back there, it changes the complexion of

20:22 what the other team is. Absolutely. Absolutely. You box out with more authority, you protect

20:28 your crease with more authority. And the other thing is on the forward lines, Bruins used to

20:33 wear down defensemen going back on their retrievals. That was not been present in any of the

20:39 last few playoff series. Montour, as good a player as he is, should never have had enough left in the

20:46 tank to tie game seven in the final minute, like he did. He should have been beaten double pulp.

20:53 That's what the Islanders did to Charlie McAvoy in 21. They, they, they just, they just set out

20:59 to beat the crap out of him for six games. And Barry trots hugged him so hard afterwards. I

21:05 thought he was going to stick them under his suit coat and bring them down the visitor's aisle and

21:10 put them on their plane because he loved them because he stood up to it. But it was a brutal

21:16 series for him. And that's why I would love to see the Bruins get up complimentary left shot D

21:22 who can ease the game for McAvoy because he does it all, but it's an awful long way to,

21:29 to where they want to go for him to do it all without having a compliment that eases parts

21:35 of the game frame that allows them to be the best he can be. There's one element. I'll just throw

21:40 this very quickly because one element in today's the day of, of, I believe Milan Lucic should be

21:47 in court today. So, you know, they, they were addressing it with Lucic in part, in part,

21:55 he, maybe he was the fourth line guy we're talking about. And, and, you know, maybe so,

22:01 you know, Hey, if the, if the three dunces doing this podcast can figure out, they figured out the

22:08 front office too. They should. Yeah. And I try, you know, when we've talked about this before,

22:12 I've tried to give them at least partial credit for like, they, they tried to address it, you know,

22:18 with, with signing him in the summertime and thought they had, and now they're sort of like

22:22 dealing with it on the fly to try to resolve the situation and re re resolve the problem.

22:27 Try to find somebody else of which there are not that many players out there to begin with

22:32 that have those kinds of credentials. So that can be challenging. And, you know, while we're talking

22:37 about trade deadlines and so, and we mentioned Orlov and Hathaway and you know, this was

22:41 something I tweeted about, and I do want to give Don Sweeney and the Bruins some credit for, they

22:48 were, they've got crushed around free agency time for not bringing back Tyler Rattusi and, and not

22:54 finding a way to bring him back. And, you know, now in hindsight the way that he's, he's really

23:00 struggled in Toronto. And, you know, granted I'm part of it, I'm sure as there's not enough pucks

23:06 to go around for all those players that want the puck on their stick all the time. But he, you know,

23:12 has, it does not look like the money where he's worth the money that Toronto signed him to,

23:17 or that he wanted from Boston. And they went out and got a guy that's putting up similar five on

23:22 five numbers in, in James Van Riemseck and similar production numbers for a million a year. So I,

23:28 in the hindsight people's court, I'd like to at least give the Bruins a little bit of credit for

23:34 not going overboard, trying to keep Rattusi in what might've been a big mistake and made this

23:38 team a lesser team this year. - He would have been a better Bruin, but.

23:43 - Probably. - But, but I think the Leafs

23:46 play too fast for him. He's really got ingenuity with the puck and he's got a lot of P and V,

23:53 but he's slow, point A to point B. Which brings, which reminds me of another player who might be

24:00 available is Tyler Toffoli. He's only 31. He can still find the net. He's kind of a poor man's

24:06 Brett Hull. He's not much of a skater, but he's got a great nose for when to put the puck at the

24:12 net. And he's pretty good at it as we once saw with what, was it one second left? And, and the

24:19 face-off play that Kopertown wanted back to him and he beat Tuca. That was a tough one to see.

24:27 But yeah, Toffoli can still, I think he could still help this team and, you know, give him a

24:33 right-handed shot. I don't think he's worth Jake DeBrusque, but I do think that if you can't get

24:40 the guy that trends you to being more of a Tom Wilson kind of presence, then maybe you can get

24:47 a Toffoli who will go through the game. He will play through. So, you know, I think he's still

24:55 good hockey in him. I would add to your point, Hags, that I think the front office did an

25:01 excellent job with all those bargain million dollar guys. And not that any of them is

25:07 overly consequential, you know, but, but to go in and, and, and patch the holes in the wall

25:15 with million dollar spackle, they did a good job with that. I mean, Shattenkirk is what he is,

25:21 you know, he's, he's got none of that kind of push we're talking about.

25:25 He's got a lead hockey IQ.

25:26 He does.

25:28 In his role, he's terrific.

25:30 And I still contend, I mean, I know this, I get laughed out of the box on this one, but I think,

25:35 I think Grislyk might be their best point man, right? You know, if you're going to use Shattenkirk

25:42 as a point man and McAvoy, I'd like to give them three games where they roll out Grislyk on PP1

25:48 and see what happens. I think there's more there, but that's, that's a different discussion.

25:52 He certainly has the, he certainly has the parts and the skillset

25:56 dupes to do the things that you can visualize him doing when he's had those opportunities,

26:03 the results haven't quite been there. It's like, I was going to say, I feel like I never

26:08 stay with Grislyk, but he was a genius at the left point. Yeah. I feel like the risk had

26:15 chances to play point on the power play before, and we've seen it with not, you know, it's left,

26:21 it's left me wanting anyway. And I think it's probably left the Bruins wanting, and that's why,

26:25 you know, he doesn't get that shot again. It's too bad that he's, he doesn't have more of that

26:30 Krug-like sort of creativity, acumen, you know, shot threat, all those kinds of different things

26:36 that he had from the point on the power play. But I also like, I, you know, I watched the third

26:44 period last night, Grislyk was struggling big time and it was hard to watch, you know, they were

26:49 three or four shifts in a row where he had bad turnovers and it was a one goal game. They were

26:54 trying to protect. And, you know, I've seen, I feel like we've seen more of that from Grislyk

27:00 this year than we've ever seen before. Well, the U2 illusion by dupes there, the rattle and hum,

27:06 when the rattle comes in the playoffs, that's where Gris gets beaten up a bit. And one of those

27:12 plays last night in the third period looked like that. Yeah. But, but again, I, as I said, it's,

27:18 it's kind of a sub discussion here. I think he can handle the point if your criticism is,

27:25 there's criticism as a lot here, the criticism specifically to the point is point duty is that

27:30 he doesn't have the big shot. He doesn't get the, who does on that team? Yeah. You get,

27:34 name me a point man they've used where you really figure that's a point threat. It doesn't exist

27:39 with this team as it's presently constituted, but overall, all those million dollar guys,

27:45 you know, they've proven JBR, all of them, they could all be better of course. But I think for

27:54 the role they were in brought in as space holders in hopes, and this is the other side of the

28:00 discussion that some of these kids Merkel off, you know, we can go through that whole Providence

28:06 roster. Yeah. Patra is on the cusp. Patra, you know, at game, almost game 50. Now I wish some

28:15 of, some of these kids had bubbled up more to me. That's Merkel off his point. His, his numbers were,

28:24 he didn't get offense in Providence until the middle of the season. When he finally did,

28:28 they brought him here and he looked really timid. He did. He did. He did. But again,

28:34 yeah, he looked like he wasn't ready. Exactly. I think we see that a lot with guys the first time

28:38 they come up and in part of it too, was, you know, he was thrown into some third,

28:44 fourth line situations too, where he's not going to be able to show exactly what he can do. And it

28:48 was, I think it was a little bit of both. As far as the point goes, like the one guy, we have not

28:53 seen there a lot of these defensemen. And I, you know, I don't know if the trust is there to put

28:58 them there that much yet, but it's probably the most well-equipped to do it is Mason Lowry,

29:03 given his skillset, given the shot that he has given all the things that he can do creatively

29:08 with the puck. I would like to see him. I think that's where he would shine more than any of these

29:13 other situations while he's up with the Bruins is if you put him with the other skill players on the

29:19 top power play unit and said, go play and show us what you can do. Now that's a tough sell to put

29:25 him at the top, number one power play point ahead of Charlie McAvoy, ahead of Hampus Lindholm,

29:30 like that, that would be difficult to do. I think just given the egos involved, given

29:34 everybody wants to be in that position, you know, sometimes they have to live up to what they say.

29:39 And then, and then locker room banter is that it's all about what gets us wins and everybody's

29:46 equal in here. And so sometimes you got to live up to that with some tough decisions and

29:51 Lowry, I think if anything, they probably look at him and say, yeah,

29:55 we love the fact that he is unabashedly confident with the puck and he will make plays to keep the

30:02 puck and stick handle around people. And while the crowd, not for that purpose, but that's the

30:07 result when he does it. And because he's got that skill and he can skate like hell and it's fun to

30:12 watch. I think they envisioned him in a long-term in that role. I just think that they feel like

30:17 he's a little turnover prone right now for lack of experience. And he says, you go higher increments

30:23 of, of situations and you're looking ahead to playoffs. They're probably thinking,

30:28 why, why dabble that way? If we're not going to ultimately go that way.

30:33 Right. And I think that, but I think they should, because I think the upside is so high. And I think

30:38 if you could get him reps doing that in the second half of the year and have him in a good place by

30:44 the time the playoffs come, I think your power play is going to be all the better for it, you

30:49 know, and I think they should at least give it a look, but given the circumstances involved,

30:54 I can understand why that's going to be something that might not happen. You know,

30:57 just given all of the factors at play here, I think that would be a bold move to do that.

31:01 Wasn't even a power play player at BU.

31:04 I just, I don't, I like Charlie McAvoy is a very good all around defenseman. One of the

31:10 best all around defensemen in the league at doing everything. I don't think he's a power play

31:15 quarterback point. He's not the ideal guy to put in that position. He's got a lot better at it.

31:19 He wasn't that player in college and it took a while as a pro to get it to integrate it.

31:25 Do have factor meals to help us out. America's number one, ready to eat meal kit. When it does

31:32 get busy, when it does get crazy, when we do need a quick meal, they fuel you up fast with flavorful

31:38 and nutritious, ready to eat meals delivered straight to your door. Takes less than two

31:43 minutes to cook them. They're fresh, never frozen meals ready in two minutes. Like I said,

31:47 they have calorie conscious options going upscale with some of the things they're offering now,

31:52 like surf and turf, surf and surf meal options, roasted garlic, filet mignon and shrimp and Cajun

31:58 spice shrimp and salmon, which is like right in my wheelhouse. This is the kind of stuff I'm all

32:03 about. So it's got everything for everybody. There's 34 plus chef prepared dietitian approved

32:09 weekly options for meals. You can get snacks, you can get breakfast items like it's a great deal.

32:15 So if you want to get factor meals, go to factor meals.com/hags50 and use the code hags50 to get

32:23 50% off of your first box. It's a great deal. I've tried it. It's fantastic. I recommend it to you.

32:30 We love these ready to make meal kits, especially when we're on the go with our kids. So one more

32:35 time, that's factor meals.com/hags50 to get 50% off your first box. You won't be sorry if you go

32:42 to factor meals, it gets the hags thumbs up seal of approval. - I'm glad you brought up Laurie

32:49 because I agree, not just because I agree, but what, you know, you can see the fancy stick

32:56 handling at times, you see it in very small windows, but what strikes me right away about

33:01 him is he's shot ready. He's kind of like, and I hate to even draw this analogy because people run

33:07 off with it, but kind of like Bork, you know, as soon as the elevator door opened on the third

33:15 floor, he's shooting, right? He's shooting all the way down to the dressing room. He's shooting,

33:20 coming out of, shoot it. That's the point of this exercise. We got four guys up here. It's coming

33:26 to you. Shoot it, unload. - You sound like that guy in the balcony dupe, shoot that thing.

33:33 - Yeah, the leather lugs in the balcony. - Right, and it's going to backfire. It's

33:38 going to go off and that sometimes it's going to get wrapped around. It's going to turn into

33:41 a shorthander. - Guys, we can't get out of here without mentioning that the Bergeron put to the

33:47 rumors. - Oh yeah, that's right. Well, you know what? I mean, the rumors were kind of ridiculous

33:53 to start with, to begin with, like they were running rampant. Like anybody that knows Patrice

33:59 Bergeron knows he's not going to be that guy to say I retired and then start hedging and say,

34:04 maybe I'm going to come back in February. You know, he's just not that type of person.

34:09 - Well, hanging on that, my body can't make it through 82 plus playoffs anymore. And so

34:14 he was at this point and so. - But he's been very consistent with every time he's been asked about

34:20 retirement, I'm at peace with my decision. You know what I mean? Like he's one of those guys

34:24 that thinks about all of this and then does it and puts his all into his decision. And then,

34:29 you know, there's really no like looking back for him. He's just that kind of person. He always has

34:33 been. - That's right. So it's been all about the buzz of circumstance and people wondering

34:38 rather than knowing him. - I almost feel bad for him that he is going to have to probably deal with

34:44 this once a year for like the next how many years where people want him to come back if he still

34:50 looks good and still looks like he could go on the ice and play 15, 18 minutes and win a Selkie.

34:54 People are going to continue to stoke this up if he goes out at Warrior and decides to work out on

34:59 the ice and get a skate in, you know, it's going to turn into he's coming back. You know, but that's

35:05 just, I guess, the nature of the beast. As long as he lives around here, Dupes, he's going to

35:09 hear the questions about, you know, why don't you come back? You look like you could still play.

35:12 - Yeah, it's a symptom of being adored, right? And rightly so. I mean, people loved him for who

35:18 he was and how he played and, you know, it's a sport that, as all sports are,

35:24 deal in nostalgia as an equity and he is, he's that guy. So, I haven't felt he'd ever come back.

35:35 I didn't even consider it, you know, a better chance that he'd, I don't know, end up playing

35:42 senior league in Quebec or something just to... - Hey guys, the Montreal Canadiens are here

35:46 Saturday. Can you believe it? - Yeah, I know.

35:48 - It's so sad. - Yeah, the rivalry is gone.

35:53 Mick is sad. The rivalry is not what it used to be and hasn't been...

35:56 - The schedule makers are idiots. - Yeah, but it doesn't, you know what,

36:01 as long as Montreal's irrelevant and they're not in the playoffs and they're, you know, languishing

36:06 at the bottom of the Atlantic division, it's not going to be a rivalry until they get back into

36:10 the postseason and they're an adequate threat for the Bruins. - I don't disagree. However,

36:16 they've had some wins lately against decent teams and I'm not saying that there's any

36:21 chance of a push here for them, but they're not as easy and out as they were a year or two ago.

36:27 - No, no. And Marty St. Louis has got them pointed in the right direction in the front office there.

36:32 Like they're going the right way. There's no question about that. One thing I wanted to hit

36:37 before we sign off, Jeremy Swaman played a sixth game in a row last night. I would suspect that

36:44 Lomar's going to get the next start. But, you know, he's obviously, that's the most he's ever

36:50 played in a small amount of time. He was able to maintain a pretty consistent performance,

36:56 really still play at a high level, even though he was playing, you know, a handful of games over,

37:00 you know, less than two weeks. And I thought it was interesting what he said the other night,

37:04 not after last night, but after the win over the shutout over New Jersey. You know, I asked him

37:11 something along the lines of if this is something he wanted to do, play all these games to kind of

37:16 show everybody that he wants to play and he can play a lot of games in a short amount of time.

37:21 And he could take on more of a sort of number one goalie workload. And he said, I want the net every

37:26 night. That's what I want my teammates to know. That's what I want my coaches to know. And that's

37:30 what I want this organization to know. I actually love being in the net. That's where I'm most

37:34 comfortable and it's what I was born to do. Every opportunity, I don't take it for granted. I enjoy

37:38 it to the fullest. I have a smile on my face every time and look forward to more. How does this play

37:45 out dupes in the second half of the year? You think that given that he's played well, given that

37:51 he's an all-star given that his contract is up after this year, given sort of all the factors

37:57 involved, all marks entering the last year of his deal. How do you think this shakes out down the

38:03 stretch as far as playing time goes and into the playoffs? I think Swainman is going to start game

38:09 one. If he plays well, I think he's going to keep playing. He has not been afforded that opportunity

38:13 yet in these post seasons. It's been all marked game one. And then he has to come in later on as

38:18 in a tough spot as the relief pitcher later on in the series. I think he's earned the spot and

38:25 the consideration of starting the playoffs and seeing what he can do with it. And I think the

38:29 Bruins are going to have a really difficult decision in this off season as far as what they do with him

38:34 and what they do with all mark. And I really don't see a lot of scenarios where all mark and Swainman

38:40 stay together after this year. And I think it's going to be Swainman's net moving forward after

38:44 this year, my opinion, a real, a great question and a real difficult one to answer. And because of,

38:51 you know, for all the factors you've just put on the table money being principal among them, right?

38:56 Because it's clear he'll want to be paid. I think he should be paid. He's let it be known. I'm not

39:03 going to say disgruntled, but he's, he's got that arbitration award in the back of his head.

39:08 So there's a lot in there. And the discussion we're having here in mid January could be

39:15 totally different from the discussion we're having in mid April when it's about to start

39:20 right now. 38 games is a long way. Yeah, it is. It is. And they can get hurt. Oh, Mark got hurt.

39:26 You know, we're assuming he's going to plug right back in and be back at full health.

39:32 We'll see. I hope so. No reason to think otherwise, but there's, there's, there's a lot

39:38 of variables in that right now. The money the questionable deployment of his two goaltenders,

39:47 Montgomery and last year's playoffs. You know, you can, you can make a case for just going with

39:53 a straight rotation because it was so successful. Ultimately I can talk around the subject for an

39:58 hour and a half and I won't come up with a really good cogent answer for you. Other than I believe

40:06 Swayman is a franchise goaltender. He's the goaltender of the future, whether that is

40:13 established and manifested in this playoff. I don't know, but I think he is the guy as much as

40:21 Marchand is the guy, Pasternak is the guy, McAvoy is the guy, right? When it, when it actually gets.

40:30 The future is now. And the question is, is whether the Bruins, which they typically look at their

40:36 team season and decide based on the season they're having and they're having that season,

40:43 to do something at the deadline in order to elevate the possibilities off of the basis of

40:49 what they've done in their body of work. And right now, even though this team wasn't supposed to be

40:55 that in the position it is, they are there 44 games down the road. And so if this continues

41:02 to the deadline, then I start wondering with limited ships, I'll mark the brusque, if they

41:10 will make moves to try to upgrade themselves significantly and, and either acquire a back nine

41:20 backup who can spot duty at an NHL level, or if they feel strongly about Brandon Bussie at that

41:26 point or D Pietro and go with that as the backup and give Swayman the net and say, this is the one

41:36 way we can elevate. And then it's compelling to me only because they're having this season

41:42 and that's how the base did in the past. So you're Mick, you're saying trade,

41:48 I'll mark at the, or before the deadline, is that what you're

41:51 I'm saying the Bruins are probably considering this because traditionally and the Dawn Sweeney

42:00 era, they based their deadline acquisitions and the significance thereof on the,

42:05 how good their record is. And they're holding up 44 games in, if they're still holding up when we

42:11 get near the March, was it March 4, March 8, the deadline, then I think that if they're holding up

42:19 at that point, then it's a live wire. It's something that could happen. The brusque could

42:25 happen. I'll mark could happen. Something could happen that would allow them to identify a way

42:31 that they can think that they can bolster their team's chances in the playoffs and take a run at

42:36 this thing again. If they think that they could, if the, if the, if the bait, if what's out there,

42:42 they assign that value to. Yeah. I continue to contend. I think goaltending is so paramount

42:49 to what they're doing this year. And so baked into the DNA of this team, having success.

42:55 Um, that I don't know that they're going to mess with the goaltending situation

42:58 in season because of that, because they're so reliant on all it would take is one,

43:04 you know, if they trade away all mark, all it would take is one swayman injury to really torpedo

43:09 everything. Um, you know, that they're sort of built around as far as the post-season goes this

43:13 year. Uh, and I also think they just need both of those goalies this year. I think it's just the,

43:19 the makeup and the DNA of this team. And to alter that would be to significantly alter who they are

43:25 and what they are for this year. I also don't think, uh, goalies get net that much in trades.

43:31 And I don't know that you would get value in season. Um, like you might in the summertime

43:36 for him, uh, when maybe there's a little bit more of a goalie trade market, I I'm just not

43:40 sure it's going to be there. I guess the question is, if you're going to identify a team that would

43:44 consider itself a contender, if they could acquire them, I just, I just don't know if it would be

43:48 worth it, worth your trouble for whatever you would get back. If you were to, you know, mess

43:52 with the team at, to that level. But, um, I think it's all going to play out into a very interesting

43:58 situation. I don't, I know the theory of rotating goalies is nice in the playoffs and, you know,

44:05 it's a, it's a nice thing to say, Oh, we rotated goalies in the regular season. Let's just do the

44:10 same thing in the playoffs. I don't know any hockey coach that could adhere to that. Especially if the

44:16 a goalie comes out of the gate and starts playing well, I don't know that, you know, if, if Jeremy

44:20 Swain had started game one and had a 40 save shutout, are you really going to start lean this

44:25 all mark in game two? If he was brilliant, like, I don't think you would, I think you would stay

44:29 with Jeremy Swain, especially if it was an all-star and he like was having a breakout year,

44:33 all that stuff. So I think there is like at to do point, a lot of factors at play here, um, that

44:38 make it tough to predict now what's going to happen in April. But I think Swainman is the guy

44:44 and will be the guy in the playoffs next year and beyond. And I think he's shown that this year,

44:49 as he continued, as he took another big step forward this year in his, his NHL career quickly,

44:54 before we go, um, Twitter question of the week, F gen 74, where is the pasta love around the league

45:01 for a heart trophy, putting up these numbers on an average offense with three on his line, give

45:06 a Mitch Martin to play with. Let's see his numbers. Uh, just real quickly, dupes and, and Mick,

45:12 who's in your, uh, heart trophy, uh, discussion, uh, who, who do you have in the mix for that at

45:18 the end of the year and how prominently this pasta play, uh, play into that mix.

45:21 Dupes go ahead. Go ahead. He's certainly in there. You have to, I mean, six, six, when it was 61 last

45:27 year, he was earlier on the pace for sixties, he's mid to high fifties now after, after last night's

45:33 hat trick. And, and, uh, you know, we appreciate it all the more here because he's doing it without,

45:40 without Bergeron, without crutchy. So, uh, he's changed his game somewhat. Uh, he is, he is,

45:47 he is more of a competitor than he has been. So all of it, he certainly has to be in there.

45:52 Quinn Hughes, I think you have to have in there, uh, you know, given the way Vancouver is playing

45:57 again, it's, it's judged on most valuable to your team. I think you take when he was out of that

46:03 equation, it doesn't collapse. Elijah Pedersen is having a great year too. Uh, you know, McDavid's

46:10 always in the mix and, and, and really should be, I think Zach Hyman should be in the mix. He's

46:15 having a tremendous year for them. Uh, as I was saying on a podcast yesterday, he's the player

46:21 Toronto wishes they had, they had him. So you can always come up with goaltenders, uh, uh, Kucherov

46:30 again, yet again, that, that Tampa, we didn't touch on this. I was going to bring up earlier.

46:35 Tampa has sagged. Uh, I don't know whether it's fatigue as it often is, as we, as we've seen with

46:40 Pittsburgh, but Kucherov is having a hell of a year. So he's been unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah.

46:46 Yes. I think we saw last night and McKinnon. Yeah. He's he's second in scoring to Kucherov.

46:54 He's a plus 10. I think you take him off that Colorado team and you have a giant hole.

47:00 I think as good or greater player as Kucherov is boy. I don't, I don't think it changes the

47:08 lightning nearly as much as it changes the avalanche. If you don't have McKinnon,

47:12 the other guy that, that we haven't talked about here. Um, and we'll see what happens to their team

47:20 down the stretch here, but Sidney Crosby is just carrying the penguins on his back

47:27 and they're in the playoffs when this is over. Uh, I think he's going to be in the conversation.

47:33 Yeah. I think he should be in the conversation for a couple of things. I haven't looked at the

47:37 numbers lately, but I remember, uh, Greg Wyshynski asked me earlier in the year to do with one of

47:42 those awards sort of, you know, where you're at as far as your favorites. And like I had them in

47:48 the conversation for Selke too, which he's never won and never, I even, I don't even know if he's

47:52 ever been, even been a finalist before, but I think Sid deserves consideration for something

47:56 like that as well. I mean, he's, he, he's always been a great defensive player, good face off guy,

48:02 good center, like all that. So 200 foot players. So I think he deserves a little bit more love

48:06 in the heart and that as well. Um, thank you very much for the time guys. I appreciate it. Good

48:12 stuff. Uh, Mick Colaggio, Kevin Paul DuPont, uh, appreciate you both. Let's also, uh, thank our

48:18 sponsors. Factor Meals, America's number one, ready to eat meal kit, uh, delicious meals ready

48:23 in two minutes. Uh, uh, chef made calorie conscious meals. Fantastic. Uh, go to factor meals.com/hags50

48:36 and use code hags50, you get 50% off your first box. And let's also thank, uh, the exclusive

48:42 wagering partner of CLNS network, FanDuel Sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $150

48:48 in bonus bets with any winning $5 money line bet. That's 150 bucks. If your team wins, the app is

48:54 download, easy to download, easy to use, uh, spreads player props over, under so much more

49:00 at FanDuel Sportsbook. So if you haven't gotten involved with the get in, start spending some

49:04 money, starts winning some money. It's all good. Uh, visit FanDuel.com/Boston and kick off the NFL

49:10 playoffs that are going on right now. Kevin Paul DuPont, Mick Colaggio. I will see you both at the

49:15 rink. Thank you very much for the discussion boys. All right, lads. Good to be with you.

49:19 And, uh, dupes kudos to you for mentioning, uh, Quinn Hughes. He's, he's a plus 33 and,

49:25 and that's a, uh, that's a defenseman for the heart. And I, I love the idea. I don't think

49:30 they get enough love. I agree. And he will definitely get consideration for the heart.

49:35 All right, everybody. Thank you for listening. We'll see you at the rink.

49:50 (upbeat music)

Category

Transcript

Recommended