Host Joe Haggerty and the New England Hockey Journal's Evan Marinovsky discuss the Bruins goalie situation, Marc McLaughlin signing a deal, and whether the B's should consider trading Mason Lohrei.
The podcast scrutinizes Mark McLaughlin's role as a depth player and the uncertainties surrounding his future with the team amidst roster dynamics. The discussion extends to Jeremy Swayman's contract negotiations, exploring the complexities of deal-making for young talents like him. Additionally, the podcast sparks debates on the Ottawa Senators' defensive performance and the impact of solid goaltending on team success. Join the conversation for insights on player development, team strategies, and the evolving landscape of professional hockey.
0:00 - Intro
3:00 - Bruins' fourth line identity
5:09 - Importance of offense from fourth line
7:52 - Potential offensive upside
10:37 - Comparing contract options
13:20 - Concerns about premature high salary
15:00 - Long-term money strategy
20:59 - Concerns about goalie aging
23:13 - Importance of goalie blend
25:27 - Expectations for Ottawa Senators
28:28 - Blind allegiance to stats
30:06 - Importance of goaltending
37:30 - Dress code controversy
39:36 - Destination wedding benefits
41:15 - Player selection concerns
44:24 - Favorite player to watch
48:48 - Mason Lohrei trade rumors
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.
For the CLNS award winning Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, College hoops, NBA History, go here to featured channels- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP7KyKodc3OHuN_XhEyPPw?sub_confirmation=1
The podcast scrutinizes Mark McLaughlin's role as a depth player and the uncertainties surrounding his future with the team amidst roster dynamics. The discussion extends to Jeremy Swayman's contract negotiations, exploring the complexities of deal-making for young talents like him. Additionally, the podcast sparks debates on the Ottawa Senators' defensive performance and the impact of solid goaltending on team success. Join the conversation for insights on player development, team strategies, and the evolving landscape of professional hockey.
0:00 - Intro
3:00 - Bruins' fourth line identity
5:09 - Importance of offense from fourth line
7:52 - Potential offensive upside
10:37 - Comparing contract options
13:20 - Concerns about premature high salary
15:00 - Long-term money strategy
20:59 - Concerns about goalie aging
23:13 - Importance of goalie blend
25:27 - Expectations for Ottawa Senators
28:28 - Blind allegiance to stats
30:06 - Importance of goaltending
37:30 - Dress code controversy
39:36 - Destination wedding benefits
41:15 - Player selection concerns
44:24 - Favorite player to watch
48:48 - Mason Lohrei trade rumors
Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS
Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.
For the CLNS award winning Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, College hoops, NBA History, go here to featured channels- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP7KyKodc3OHuN_XhEyPPw?sub_confirmation=1
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Pucks with Hags is brought to you by Price Picks
00:04and the Game Time app.
00:07Welcome to the Pucks with Hags podcast.
00:09I believe this is the 108th episode
00:11of the Pucks with Hags podcast.
00:13I have with me today, New England Hockey Journal's
00:15Evan Maranovsky.
00:16I'm sure we'll be talking plenty of Bruins,
00:18maybe a little prep hockey today as well.
00:19You never know what we're gonna talk about
00:21when Evan is on the show, but I thank him for joining us.
00:24Let's get into this.
00:25Evan, let's start with the nuts and bolts news of the week.
00:29Mark McLaughlin signs a one-year, two-way deal for 775K.
00:35That leaves the Boston Bruins with only Jeremy Swayman
00:39as an unsigned, restricted free agent.
00:41At this point, everybody else is signed and locked in.
00:45The result, we've had plenty of questions,
00:47at least a couple, about Mark McLaughlin on the podcast,
00:50just from fans, from Bill Ricker residents, obviously,
00:52with a strong rooting interest, some of them,
00:55but just in general, sort of Bruins fans wondering
00:58where Mark McLaughlin is, how he's gonna fit into things.
01:02Is he ever gonna get a chance with the Bruins?
01:04And obviously, with the two-way deal,
01:06it looks like it's probably gonna be more of the same
01:08this year for him, where he's gonna provide
01:11really good depth, where he's gonna be a guy that I think,
01:15if they need a bottom six spark or somebody to come in
01:18and give them solid play, he's gonna be able to do that.
01:20Penalty killing, winning face-offs, good two-way play,
01:23just hard, gritty player, will give you everything he's got.
01:26But I just don't know if, long-term,
01:30he's gonna end up in the Bruins picture.
01:32And this may be, if he gets to free agency after this year,
01:36it may be that he's best served going somewhere else
01:38and getting a real shot with a team
01:40that maybe doesn't have the depth and the expectations
01:43and sort of the Stanley Cup aspirations
01:46that this Bruins team does,
01:47so he can get some years under his belt.
01:49We see this very often in professional sports,
01:53in hockey and baseball, where you're a good player,
01:56you're an NHL or MLB or whatever level player
01:58you can play in the league,
01:59but it's just a numbers game in an organization,
02:02and it seems like you may never get another
02:04sort of extended shot unless you go somewhere else.
02:08Yeah, it's funny.
02:08Diver and I were talking about this last night at Foxborough
02:12about how, clearly, we'll someday,
02:15hopefully, be an NHL player.
02:17I think so.
02:18But I just don't think it's with the Bruins.
02:19And you look right now, even identity-wise,
02:23of that fourth line, Kostelik, Jones,
02:27throwing even like a Breazeau or a Beecher,
02:30obviously, gives that speed and the left-shot face-off man,
02:32but even take just Breazeau, Kostelik, and Jones,
02:37and Jones and Kostelik, big, hard to play against,
02:41hard on four-checks, all those things, very physical.
02:45McLaughlin doesn't really fit that mold.
02:48It's not a bad thing for him,
02:50but I just don't think he fits that mold of a fourth liner
02:54for the Bruins right now.
02:55And obviously, it's his hometown team.
02:58Everybody's rooting for him to be a full-time Bruin.
03:00It would be a hell of a story,
03:01especially Bill Ricker residence.
03:02I mean, I root for him because he's a hard worker.
03:04He's a good kid.
03:05He's a good player, all that stuff.
03:07And really, I think what it comes down to,
03:09and I talked about this with Diver the last time
03:11he was on, too, is a couple years ago,
03:13he had an extremely strong training camp
03:16where he should've won a fourth-line job
03:18to start the year on that team,
03:20the Bruins team at the NHL level,
03:22and he didn't start the year.
03:23He ended up down in Providence, and it's like...
03:25That was that 22-23 season, right?
03:27Yeah.
03:28That was the big presidential year.
03:29That was, I'm sure, a blow to his confidence,
03:31but I'm sure that was also a statement from the Bruins.
03:33Like, it almost doesn't even matter how good you are.
03:36Like, we just see you in a certain way,
03:38and we're gonna be looking for certain things
03:41on our NHL bottom six and fourth line
03:43that you can't provide.
03:45And also, just like, I think that started me wondering,
03:48hey, is this the kid that needs to go to another place
03:51to get the real shot somewhere?
03:54I think that's kinda it.
03:55It's like, he'll get his shot somewhere else, hopefully,
03:58and we all wanna see it.
04:01Great guy and everything.
04:03I just don't think it's with the Bruins,
04:05and I think you nailed it with...
04:08I think they view him as a replacement fourth-liner
04:11up at the NHL level and a good option down in Providence.
04:15You need those guys.
04:16Diver can attest to that.
04:17You need those guys in Providence who are gonna be...
04:21He's been in the league now a couple years,
04:24can be kind of a mentor for the younger,
04:26even the younger guys coming to Providence,
04:29and just someone who's a good pro.
04:30He's a good pro, just a good pro hockey player,
04:33and there's nothing wrong with that.
04:34So I think he ends up going somewhere else at some point
04:40to get that shot.
04:41There are definitely teams around the league
04:43that would want someone cheap as a fourth-liner
04:47who's reliable and dependable, and that's him.
04:49So I don't think it happens here,
04:53just given their identity of that fourth-line,
04:55big, fast, hard to play against, tough, all those things.
04:59Not to say McLaughlin isn't tough and hard to play against,
05:02but it doesn't have the same...
05:05It's not the same as a Jones or a Kostelik,
05:08so I think that's important to note as well.
05:10No, and yeah, I think they're going in that direction.
05:14They've had to...
05:16They've plugged in some of their organizational depth pieces
05:19on the fourth line over the last few years,
05:21and it's gotten limited returns.
05:23The Jacob Lauko and Oscar Steens of the world,
05:27and trying those guys,
05:29and giving them extended looks on the fourth line.
05:32And I think what they've found
05:33is just that the fourth line's not enough of a factor
05:35when they're trying to do that.
05:37They need to have established real NHL talents
05:41that not only can play big, physical, gritty,
05:45like in your face,
05:46like kind of the crash and bang sort of fourth-line style
05:51that you want a fourth line to play,
05:53but also can put the puck in the net a little bit,
05:55and has a little bit of skill
05:56to make things happen sometimes too,
05:57and will kick in more offense.
06:00The one point in 34 games, or 32 games,
06:03or whatever it was from Oscar Steen,
06:04those kind of things you just can't live with
06:07at the NHL level.
06:08You need a little bit more from your fourth line
06:10as far as chipping in offensively,
06:12even though you know they're not gonna be like
06:14cashing in every single night.
06:15So I think it's definitely a mixture of both.
06:19But yeah, I hope we see him a few times this year.
06:23I hope he has a good camp.
06:24I'm sure he will.
06:25And I hope when the year is out,
06:29he's able to find some other place
06:31where he's gonna get more of a shot.
06:33Because I just think in a fair world, he deserves it.
06:36Like I think he can play at the NHL.
06:38I think he's got the ability to be a fourth line forward,
06:41fourth line center on an NHL team.
06:44It just may not be in Boston, and that's fine.
06:46That's just the way it works
06:47in professional hockey sometimes.
06:48It's so interesting,
06:49because you think about a guy like Parker Wotherspoon,
06:51right, who, prior to the Bruins,
06:53was kind of an AHL defenseman,
06:55just, I don't think he got much of a shot
06:58at the NHL level, if any.
07:00And like McLaughlin-
07:01Brazil was in that category too.
07:02Yeah, and the Bruins scouting staff
07:04did a really good job finding those guys,
07:07picking them out, and saying,
07:08hey, they might be able to play NHL minutes.
07:10If I'm another team's scouting staff,
07:12I'm watching like a McLaughlin and saying,
07:14do I think he's gonna be like a 30-goal scorer?
07:16No, but can he fit in, I'm speaking as the scout,
07:20on our fourth line?
07:21Yeah, probably.
07:22Like, whatever team you are,
07:24especially one that's probably
07:26in the bottom half of the league,
07:27you need a good, dependable fourth liner.
07:30That's a good guy for it,
07:31and he's not gonna be super expensive.
07:33So like, he kind of fits that same mold.
07:36Brazil, I think, has a little more offensive upside
07:39than McLaughlin.
07:40I must admit, I have not watched a ton
07:41of McLaughlin in Providence,
07:42so like, you know, Dipper has us all beat
07:44in that category by a large shot.
07:48But I do think he would be a good fourth liner
07:51for a different team,
07:53and he'd be a good find for scouting staff.
07:55No, no doubt.
07:57So this leaves, as I said,
08:00Jeremy Swayman is the only unsigned
08:02Boston Bruin at this point.
08:04Going into the year,
08:07and we've talked, every episode I've done
08:08the last few weeks,
08:09we've had the Jeremy Swayman chat,
08:12so we might as well have another Jeremy Swayman segment
08:15to our podcast here.
08:18Where do you fall in with where you think
08:20he's gonna get for a contract,
08:23and when do you think it's,
08:25when is your best guess as to when it's gonna get resolved?
08:28But like, more interestingly,
08:29like, where do you fall?
08:31Because I think there's a range here
08:33of what he's gonna get paid,
08:35and obviously that's part of the holdup,
08:36is I think there's some compelling arguments to be made
08:40about both ends of the spectrum
08:41as far as what he's gonna get for money in a contract,
08:43and wondering where you fall in that.
08:45Yeah, I fall at eight by eight.
08:47I know that seems like a lot now.
08:50You think it's gonna be less?
08:51Okay, so this is,
08:52so I think eight by eight is good.
08:55He's your guy, you've developed him.
08:58Eight million now puts you in amongst, you know,
09:01some of the top goaltenders in the league,
09:03I think down the line as the cap goes up,
09:06goalies get paid more,
09:07what does Shuster can make in New York?
09:09It starts to look a little bit cheaper.
09:11Obviously, goalies, it's tough to tell.
09:13We've talked about this before.
09:14Goalies, you know, they change all the time.
09:17I think eight by eight's good for all sides.
09:18Now, here's my thing.
09:20So I wonder if the holdup,
09:22and I don't, this isn't inside information,
09:23I'm just curious,
09:24like, I wonder if the holdup is more based
09:26along the lines of term, not AAV,
09:30in the sense that, you know,
09:32I wonder if Swayman says,
09:34hey, let's do a four or five year deal,
09:36make, you know, good money for that time,
09:38but then as the cap goes up,
09:39I want a relatively good contract for that time too.
09:41I don't want to be one of those,
09:43oh, as I just mentioned,
09:44eight by eight would look, you know,
09:46pretty, you know, somewhat expensive now,
09:48but much cheaper down the line,
09:50unless he completely fell off a cliff,
09:52which I don't think will happen.
09:54Whereas he might say, hey,
09:55do the Austin Matthews thing,
09:57four or five years, do the contract,
09:59then we'll do a new one four to five years from now.
10:01Now for a goalie, I think,
10:02and I'm not saying he's done this,
10:03but for a goalie, that's very risky,
10:05because, you know, we've, as I've said,
10:08goalies can change quick,
10:09and goalies' luck can turn,
10:11and injuries, and just overall play.
10:13Well, and it's also predicated
10:14somewhat on the team that's playing in front of you too.
10:16If the team goes south in front of you,
10:18and all of a sudden your numbers go up,
10:19you're not going to be commanding
10:20the same kind of money.
10:22Exactly.
10:23And there's some things that are out of your control
10:24when you're a goalie.
10:25Like, the one thing,
10:26and I would actually,
10:28I would think, in some ways,
10:31the Bruins might be amenable,
10:33or should be amenable,
10:34to a shorter-term deal,
10:36which I think would be lower money,
10:39because, and this is the problem
10:41with this whole contract thing
10:42with Jeremy Swayman in particular.
10:44Like, he's clearly the guy.
10:46He's clearly their number one now,
10:48after trading Allmark.
10:49Clearly, the fans are on his side
10:51after chanting his name
10:53at the end of the handshake line
10:55when the season was over and the playoffs.
10:57Clearly, he's proven that he can be
10:59a really good playoff goalie.
11:00Like, that's something that you want to,
11:02you know, reward and hold on to and value.
11:06But the problem is, there's no comparables for,
11:08there's no real comparable for Jeremy Swayman,
11:11getting paid that kind of money.
11:12There just isn't.
11:13And that matters in these contract negotiations.
11:16Like, you have to,
11:17if you're Jeremy Swayman's agent,
11:19you're his camp,
11:20you have to find a goalie that's,
11:22in his situation,
11:23has his numbers that got eight times eight.
11:26There is no goalie like that.
11:27There is not.
11:28There's, you know, Shostakian.
11:30Sorokin didn't really play much
11:32before he was 25, right?
11:33Like, I think Sorokin was, you know,
11:36didn't play until relatively later in his career.
11:40So that's even a tough comparison, too.
11:42Right.
11:43So, like, I don't see a goalie
11:46that you can sit there and say,
11:48this is the guy,
11:49and this is why you should get this.
11:50You know, there's too many examples of,
11:53and Saros is the great example of this.
11:56Saros was in the exact same situation
11:58as Jeremy Swayman
11:59when he was splitting time with Pekka Rinne.
12:02And he got,
12:03he's coming off the deal he signed
12:05when he was in Swayman's situation,
12:06which was three times five for 15.
12:10Like, if you're gonna go three or four years,
12:13I think it should be, like,
12:15four years, 64.
12:17Four years,
12:19I mean, four years, 24.
12:21I was gonna say, 64 is a lot of money.
12:24It's like, wait, what?
12:26Four years, 24 million.
12:27Four years, 26 million.
12:28That's the record.
12:30Somewhere in the six, 6.5 per year range.
12:32Like, you give him a little bit more than Saros.
12:35But, like, I don't think you can pay him
12:37$8 million a year
12:39based on never playing more than 44 games in a year,
12:42based on never being a Vezina Trophy finalist,
12:45based on never even being,
12:46one year he was even only in the top 10
12:48of Vezina Trophy voting this last year.
12:51Like, you're basically paying him like a number one
12:54based on no years proven that he's a number one.
12:58What happens, theoretically,
13:00if you give him eight times eight,
13:01and then we find out that he can't be a guy
13:04that plays 60 to 65 games a year?
13:10The signs point to that.
13:11I mean, you saw the playoffs,
13:12like, the amount of games he played in a row.
13:14And I know that's the playoffs
13:15everybody's up for. But it's only a month.
13:16That's just one month at one time.
13:19Like, I agree with you, the signs point to it,
13:21but you can't pay somebody
13:22based on like theoreticals
13:24and like, I think it's gonna work
13:25based on maybe we saw him for a month
13:27and he looked pretty good.
13:28So like, guys don't get paid that kind of money
13:32until they've put together at least a year or two
13:34where they've played 60, 55 to 65 games.
13:38They've maintained their performance level.
13:40They've been able to mentally and physically handle,
13:43withstand the rigors of being an everyday guy
13:45or being the guy.
13:46And they've been one of the best goalies in the league.
13:51Like, they've finished the Vezina Trophy finalists.
13:53They've won Vezina Trophies.
13:55They've finished in the top five of voting,
13:56like all that stuff.
13:57Like, and he hasn't done any of that yet.
13:59Like, I really like Jeremy Swayman a lot.
14:02I think he is going to be the guy.
14:04I think he is going to make a ton of money in his career
14:07and have a ton of success with the Bruins.
14:09I think the future is very bright with him as the goaltender
14:11and I think he's gonna be perfectly fine
14:13with Corpo Salo as his backup and Swayman as the number one.
14:16But I don't think you can give him that kind of money
14:19until he's actually proven it.
14:21Like, that's my issue.
14:22Like, if you're giving him that,
14:24if you're giving him eight times 64
14:25before he's ever played more than 44 games in a year,
14:28you're asking for trouble.
14:30Like, you're asking, you know.
14:31I see that, but I think there's the other end of it too
14:34where you give him the three or four year deal
14:36at the money you mentioned.
14:37And over those three or four years,
14:39he is outstanding and proves it
14:41and suddenly his next contract,
14:42even with the cap going up, is much, much bigger.
14:45And then, like, this is the thing I said about McAvoy.
14:47I remember back in like 2019 when there was the,
14:50I think he signed like right before camp
14:52or the very beginning of camp.
14:54I think it was like a three year deal.
14:55And I remember, you know, even at the time,
14:57I remember thinking, you know, why not sign him,
15:00if you can, to long-term money that looks expensive now,
15:03but probably cheaper later.
15:04Now, obviously, that's a position player.
15:06They did the same thing with Taige Thompson up in Buffalo.
15:09It's different than a goalie,
15:10but I think it's a similar idea of,
15:13okay, the signs are there.
15:14We know what he's most likely gonna give us.
15:17Let's pay for that and hope it gets cheaper down the road.
15:20There's a real downside to what I just said.
15:22You know, the downside is he is not the guy they thought,
15:26which would be a shock.
15:28I mean, that would be a surprise if that was the case.
15:31But eight million on the books for a goalie like that,
15:33if he is not a true number one
15:36who can play a lot of games, is a mistake.
15:39I personally don't think that's gonna happen.
15:41I think he is, he's shown the signs.
15:43I think he can be a legitimate number one.
15:46So I would be okay with eight times eight.
15:48But I would also understand the other end of it
15:52where that's a gamble.
15:54But I think both of our things are gambles
15:56because in your scenario,
16:00if over those three or four years he's not that great
16:02and he needs another goalie, well, then you can do that.
16:04And then he kind of screwed himself by agreeing to it.
16:09But you're at least safe in that sense.
16:11But I'm okay with them trying it.
16:14I've liked what I've seen.
16:15They've developed him.
16:16This is their guy.
16:17Lena Solmark from Buffalo three or four years ago.
16:21They've developed him.
16:22When do you think this happens, by the way?
16:23I have this weird feeling it's gonna be like camp.
16:25I would hope they're able to do it before camp starts
16:28because I think if it spills into camp,
16:30it starts to become,
16:31like what will probably happen
16:33is it'll get done the first couple days of camp,
16:35which aren't really that big a deal
16:36if he misses those anyways.
16:37But that's when the pressure starts to, I think,
16:40ramp up for both sides to get it done,
16:42certainly for the Bruin side to get it done.
16:45And that'll probably be, I'm sure,
16:47when there's more urgency from Swayman,
16:48like, hey, let's get this done too.
16:50I wanna be in camp.
16:52But longer term, if it's a seven or eight year deal,
16:57I could see it being in somewhere in the sevens,
16:59probably the low sevens,
17:01but low to mid sevens per year
17:03because you're buying out so many of his free agent years,
17:05I think they are gonna pump it up.
17:07But that's where a lot of the, I think,
17:10money is gonna come from
17:11is because you're buying out a ton of his free agent years
17:15if it's a deal like that.
17:17I think if it's a shorter term deal,
17:19you have to pay him less
17:21because not only do I think that's
17:24kind of the road you have to take
17:25is if you're the Bruins,
17:26I'd probably be less hesitant,
17:29more hesitant to do a shorter term deal
17:30for what you're talking about.
17:33But you're also, if you're paying him,
17:35if you pay him three times 7.5 now,
17:40you're gonna have to pay him way more than that.
17:41Like, just based on the money
17:43that you gave him the next time around.
17:45Like, you're setting yourself up,
17:46no matter what his performance is,
17:48if you wanna keep him after that,
17:49you have to give him a raise
17:50and you have to give him probably a significant one.
17:53And that's setting yourself up for real trouble,
17:55like down the line.
17:56So like, this is not an easy negotiation,
17:59I don't think, for either side.
18:02The other thing is he's 25.
18:04So if they sign him to a three or four year deal, Hags,
18:06like, as you said, let's just say it's 7.5 per
18:09or it's more on the lines of what you had mentioned before
18:11of what you wanted three years time.
18:13Six, six and a half, something like that.
18:15I think that's reasonable and I think that makes sense.
18:17Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets
18:20with game time, the Red Sox, Fenway Park.
18:23Jaren Duran putting on a show at the MLB All-Star game.
18:27So you may wanna dig into your pocket
18:29and actually like spend some money
18:30on some Red Sox tickets based on Jaren Duran
18:33and the season he's having.
18:33This is one of those seasons
18:35where I think you're gonna wanna watch
18:37cause he's in the middle of putting something together
18:39pretty special.
18:40I don't wanna say you were in the stands
18:42and you saw Jaren Duran like do something crazy
18:45when you were actually watching one of the games at Fenway.
18:47So go to game time, last minute deal,
18:50save up to 60% off buying last minute
18:52for sports concerts, comedy theater.
18:55Zone deal, save even more when you choose a section
18:57and let game time choose the seats.
18:59Lowest price guarantee
19:00or game time will credit you 110% of the difference.
19:02Take the guesswork out of getting Red Sox tickets
19:05at Fenway this summer with game time.
19:06Download the game time app, create an account,
19:08use the code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.
19:10Terms do apply, but again, create the account
19:12and redeem the code CLNS for $20 off.
19:15Download game time today, last minute tickets,
19:17lowest price guaranteed.
19:19The tough part about a short-term deal
19:22and you just mentioned it,
19:24is you bring him to age 28 or 29, which is fine.
19:29But if that's when he's going to want a long-term deal
19:32because that's the middle of the prime.
19:34Well, that's Saros.
19:35Saros is that example.
19:37And he just got paid, but he got paid seven point,
19:40whatever, five or whatever it was.
19:42Yes, and I think some of the issue though with that
19:45and the tough part for the Bruins is,
19:47then you're paying top dollar for 29 through 36,
19:5337 years old.
19:55And goalies age funny?
19:57Goalies can, as we've said-
19:59I think goalies age fine.
20:00I think goalies are actually the one position
20:03where they can maintain performance
20:05well into their late 30s.
20:06They're kind of like knuckleball pitchers in baseball.
20:08You think?
20:09Yes, I do.
20:10I think goalies can play and maintain their performance.
20:14Like maybe they can't play as many games.
20:17Like they need the backup to play a little bit more
20:19as they get older.
20:20But I honestly think that's a position
20:23much more than forward or defense
20:26that you can maintain your level of performance
20:29well into your mid 30s, mid to late 30s.
20:31I do.
20:32I still worry.
20:33I still worry about older goalies.
20:34Now again, you worry about,
20:35you can do the same thing with Elias Lindholm's deal.
20:37You know, when he's signing it and the end of that.
20:40And if you get a Stanley Cup somewhere in there,
20:42then it never doesn't even matter.
20:43But I do still worry about handing a long-term deal
20:48to a goalie who's gonna be 29 or 30 years old.
20:51Now these are problems down the road
20:53and they might not even come to fruition.
20:54They might sign someone to do a long-term deal now
20:56and whatever.
20:57But it's a decision they'll have to make
20:59and be comfortable with.
21:00Because as you said,
21:01I think after the short-term deal,
21:03he'll probably commit an even bigger one.
21:04And you know what?
21:05We're pro getting the bag.
21:06So, you know, good for Jeremy Swayman getting the money.
21:09No, I am definitely in favor of Swayman getting paid.
21:13Like as a person, as a player, I think he's, you know,
21:17he, I was his biggest advocate.
21:20And I was saying at the beginning of the year
21:21that like he should be their number one
21:23and he should get more playing time
21:24and definitely should be playing game one of the playoffs
21:27and let him get some run in the postseason
21:29and all that stuff.
21:30So like, I've definitely been on his side
21:32and an advocate for him for all this stuff.
21:34I just think like when it comes to negotiations,
21:37you gotta look at the numbers and the comparables.
21:39Like it's almost like real estate.
21:40Like you have to look at it very much
21:42from a cold hard business perspective.
21:44And I just don't know that there's an example out there
21:46of a guy that's gonna get Swayman paid what he wants
21:49because I just don't think there's a comparable out there
21:51to him that did get paid that.
21:53But it'll be interesting to see how it goes,
21:55especially when the pressure gets amped up
21:57as we get closer to training camp.
21:59So that does conclude our Jeremy Swayman segment
22:02for this Pucks with Hags podcast.
22:05If you want to sponsor the Jeremy Swayman segment,
22:09please reach out to Guy Neer or John Zanis
22:11and let them know.
22:12Like they can make something happen for you
22:14because this is quality.
22:15Jeremy Swayman segment.
22:16Yeah, that'd be great.
22:17This is quality podcast material right here, content.
22:19Yes, mid-July, nothing better.
22:20All right.
22:22So I got a little bit of a pushback
22:25from the Ottawa Senators fan group this week
22:27because I called the Ottawa Senators suspect
22:29defensively in front of Junius Corpuzalo last year.
22:33So-
22:34How dare you?
22:35How dare you?
22:36Kulik18726 on Twitter says,
22:38if Allmark does well in Ottawa,
22:40is Ottawa still a suspect group?
22:43What do you think, Evan?
22:46Is this based on, do you think the Ottawa Senators,
22:49because the Senators fans, like coming back at me,
22:52pinned all of it on the goaltending.
22:54And they were like, you know,
22:57churning out reams of fancy stats
23:00to say that like Ottawa was even better than the Bruins
23:02and their underlying stats were better.
23:04So they were better defensively, clearly.
23:06And the Bruins were just rescued by goaltending
23:09and the Ottawa Senators were just solely sunk
23:12by goaltending.
23:13And I just don't think it's that simple.
23:14I don't put, this is like the problem
23:18of putting too much stock into the underlying stats
23:20is when you start saying absolutes like this
23:23and you start trying to say ridiculous things
23:25like the Ottawa Senators were better
23:27than the Bruins last year, except in goaltending.
23:29Like that's bullcrap.
23:30That's not even close to true.
23:31I don't care what the numbers say.
23:34You need a blend.
23:35You need a blend.
23:36There were numbers that the Senators were better in
23:38than the Bruins defensively,
23:39but I still put the Bruins defensively better
23:41than the Senators.
23:42I don't think that's crazy to say.
23:43Yes.
23:44Yes.
23:46You know, I think Linus Allmark
23:47can have a really good season
23:48and the Senators can still play bad in front of him.
23:50And Allmark's just great.
23:52Now, I'm not saying that's gonna happen,
23:53but I'm saying like that could be a case
23:55where like Allmark's numbers are good
23:57and the Senators are better,
23:58but he's still facing a ton of high danger chances.
24:02He's still, you know,
24:03they're still not great in front of him defensively.
24:07You know, look, I think that won't help him.
24:09Like that would be an amazing season
24:11if he can put up like a 915, 920 say percentage
24:14and we're looking at the video and we're like, holy crap.
24:18Like everything's getting through
24:20then obviously that's the case.
24:21But I think it'll be more somewhere in the middle.
24:23I think they'll be a little bit better in front of him.
24:25I mean, you think about like they're a pretty young team.
24:28So, you know, a year under their belt,
24:31you know, some of those things come out.
24:34They have a new coach up there, right?
24:35Yeah.
24:36Like they have officially a new coach up there.
24:38Maybe that makes a difference.
24:40You know, but again, like I think goaltending,
24:42I think you'd agree with this.
24:44When goalies go to new places,
24:46it's not always a seamless transition.
24:48Especially with Allmark.
24:49He's like kind of a creature of habit,
24:51kind of a guy that needs to be comfortable,
24:52needs his family to be well-situated and comfortable.
24:55Like it took him a little while to adjust to Boston
24:58before he really became comfortable there.
24:59And I think it's going to be the same in Ottawa.
25:01Yeah.
25:02So like the thing with Allmark is,
25:03and this is the thing I would say to Senators fans,
25:05is it might not be this year.
25:07You know, he might be a bit shaky at times.
25:09The numbers might not be there
25:10as much as they have been in past years this year.
25:12Wait it out.
25:13Like that's the big thing with him.
25:15Now, again, he still has not signed an extension.
25:19He hasn't signed that new deal.
25:21So there will be a lot of incentive
25:22for him on this season to be outstanding.
25:26But, you know, I expect the Senators to be better.
25:28I just, do I think they're going to be a,
25:31like, you know, a playoff team?
25:33No, I think they'll fight for a wildcard spot.
25:34Like I think there'll be in the mix.
25:36Yep.
25:37But I don't, I don't foresee them moving
25:39into like the top three of the Atlantic.
25:41I don't see that.
25:42And Lena Stillmark can have a really good season
25:44and they're still, you know, a wildcard team
25:46or fighting for a wildcard spot.
25:48And I think that's still a success for Lena Stillmark.
25:50Just getting this team kind of into field goal range.
25:53Yeah.
25:54I think is worth it.
25:55So I've been playing college football 25.
25:57So my football, my football.
25:59Football terminology.
26:00Yeah, football terms are just like all on the mind.
26:03I have been watching the hard knocks giants
26:05off season thing that they're doing there in HBO.
26:07So I definitely have been a little bit more
26:10of a football mindset lately as well.
26:12That's funny.
26:13It's a good show.
26:14Yeah.
26:14I try to watch it when I can.
26:16It's a little,
26:17I think it's a little less compelling when it's off season
26:20and you're just basically sitting in an office
26:22with executives, like tossing around numbers and stuff.
26:26Like it's much more interesting
26:27when the game action is there
26:29and some of the practice stuff is going on.
26:31So I don't know if there's a long-term future
26:33for the off season hard knocks,
26:36other than trying to make the GM look like a rockstar,
26:38which like, you know, whatever.
26:40I don't really care.
26:42But-
26:43Well, I will say, just to talk about this
26:45for a quick second before we go back to the senators.
26:47Like, I do think like when the Bruins started behind the B,
26:51that was a little ahead of its time.
26:53I mean, there were other sports shows like that,
26:55but that was a little bit ahead of its time.
26:57You got to give the Bruins credit for like,
26:59and I know there was, you know,
27:00there was the HBO series, you know,
27:01Inside the Winter Classic, which was always phenomenal.
27:04And it was like, can you do this more?
27:07And you know, it's good that I think they're doing
27:09the Amazon series in the fall.
27:11You have the NFL doing the quarterbacks and receivers show.
27:15More of those, please.
27:16I think everyone likes those full swing.
27:19I love the behind the scenes stuff.
27:20Just as you said, the off season,
27:22when it's, you know, just guys sitting around,
27:25you know, chucking numbers and putting up trade proposals.
27:27Like, what's the difference between them and a podcast?
27:29Come on.
27:30Bunch of middle-aged dudes, executives,
27:32like giving each other fist pounds
27:34after they like signed somebody to a free agent contract.
27:36Yeah.
27:37Yeah, we got about a two-way deal at 775.
27:39Let's go!
27:40We're on another job, yeah!
27:42That's like, all right, well,
27:43I'll go back to doing other things, yeah.
27:47All right, so, we got another-
27:50You want to rip on Senators fans.
27:52That's what you want to do.
27:53You want to rip into Senators fans.
27:54No, it's partially that, but it's more,
27:57for me, it's more of like the allegiance,
28:02the blind allegiance to underlying stats
28:04and just looking at something and saying,
28:06this is absolutely what happened
28:07because this is what these two stats say,
28:10when it's like, no, you need to use the stats,
28:13but also use your eyes.
28:14And if you use your eyes-
28:15I agree.
28:15And you watch these two teams,
28:16there's no frigging way on God's green earth
28:19the Ottawa Senators were even close
28:20to as good defensively as the Boston Bruins,
28:23no matter what the numbers said.
28:24I really don't care.
28:25Like- I agree.
28:26It's obvious.
28:27Just watch the game.
28:29All right, so moving, but like,
28:31that's not to say the Bruins defense
28:32was like the best defense in the world either.
28:34They certainly made mistakes and had more odd man rushes.
28:37And like, part of that is definitely the style of play
28:40that Jim Montgomery preaches,
28:41which is, you know, much riskier offensively
28:44than a lot of the other coaches that have been here
28:46and is going to lead to those kinds of situations.
28:48So that's a part of it too.
28:51All right.
28:52With the proper goalie coach in our defense,
28:54I feel good about Junis Corposalo,
28:56says Art Adventure on Twitter.
28:59Art Venture on Twitter.
29:01How do you feel, Evan,
29:04about Junis Corposalo as the backup goalie?
29:07Well, I think his numbers will be better.
29:09That doesn't shock me.
29:10I think, you know, his numbers will be better.
29:13He won't be Linus Olmark, you know,
29:14and no one was going to be that.
29:18You know, I'm fine with it.
29:19Like, you know, I think the big question is,
29:21and I think you and Dipper talked about this last week,
29:24of like, oh, you know, if Bussie gets picked up off waivers,
29:26I mean, the Bruins might just view him as a backup
29:29in the NHL.
29:30Like, he hasn't played an NHL game yet
29:32in the regular season, so that's something to consider.
29:35And putting him behind Swayman,
29:36who's not played a ton of games in a season before,
29:40is a little bit risky.
29:41Oh, that's way risky.
29:42That is something that Cam and Donnie
29:45are very hesitant to do,
29:46is put a rookie backup goalie in there
29:49behind a guy that has never played more than 44 games
29:52and is going to be, like,
29:54shouldering the burden of a big contract
29:56for the first time in his career.
29:57Big expectations.
29:58Like, you're setting yourselves up.
30:00And like, the problem is,
30:02nothing will submarine your season as an NHL team
30:05more than bad goaltending
30:06or, like, a tough goaltending year.
30:08Agreed.
30:09And you're setting yourselves up
30:10for some high-risk situations
30:12if you put Swayman as the number one
30:14and Bussie as the backup going into the season
30:16with no, like, veteran sort of insurance policy.
30:20Well, that's the thing.
30:20And again, like, you know,
30:22you don't know what you have there
30:24with Bussie behind just Swayman straight up.
30:26It helps you with the cap, but it does not,
30:29you know, Corpozalo will probably, you know,
30:32just based off he's played on NHL games,
30:34is more of a reliable backup.
30:37Yeah.
30:38How do I think Corpozalo will be?
30:39Numbers will be better.
30:41You know, again, he's shown signs in his career at times
30:44where, you know, you look at that little LA stint.
30:47Columbus, you know, thought fairly highly of him.
30:49They liked him for a bit.
30:52So again, like, can he be a competent backup
30:54with easier matchups?
30:56Yeah, probably.
30:58You know, my issue with it was, you know,
31:00was more so the cap.
31:02And we've talked about this before,
31:03so I'm not gonna get back into it,
31:04but just the cap end of it.
31:06But in terms of, you know, can he be a reliable backup,
31:08which is what the Bruins need?
31:09Can he play, you know, 35 games, let's say?
31:14Like, I'm not crazy with 35, right?
31:1635, like around that, like 30, 35 games?
31:19Yeah, I think he can.
31:20Like, I think it'd be fine.
31:22You know, now if he's not,
31:24then it's a whole different conversation,
31:26but, you know, he's a reliable NHL goalie, at least.
31:31And I think, you know, when you look back at the offseason,
31:34it's like, well, it was kind of obvious
31:36they were gonna get probably someone.
31:38I thought it'd be, you know,
31:39they'd just find some veteran who was much older
31:41who would, you know, be cheaper.
31:43But Corposalo has that interesting bit of,
31:46you know, like could be better,
31:48like could be a lot better than he has been.
31:50So I think he'll be better.
31:51I think the numbers will be better
31:53than he had in Ottawa last year,
31:54just given where he'll be on this team.
31:56Yeah, and like, look, he's probably paying,
32:00he's probably getting paid 1.5 million more
32:05than you would pay a veteran backup to come in here.
32:07Like, you're talking about an extra 1.5
32:10that you're sort of spending when you made that trade.
32:13You know, like, we're not talking about huge money
32:15that's gonna cost you like an elite player
32:18based on the extra money you're paying him
32:20instead of a veteran guy that you were gonna bring in
32:22that's established to be like that insurance policy
32:26with Bussey and Swayman.
32:27So like the hand rigging that goes on
32:30about the Corposalo thing is I think misplaced to a degree
32:34just because it's not a huge amount of money.
32:36Like the capital-
32:37No, it's not, it's not a huge amount of money.
32:38Come on, like, it's fine.
32:40You know, you're gonna be okay.
32:41I remember doing the percentages of like how much
32:44that makes up of the salary cap
32:46and it was like 0.03 or whatever, it was small.
32:50And there's still, and there is still with him,
32:53what is he, 27, 28?
32:55Yeah.
32:57Like there's still a chance
32:58that there's a little more there.
33:00Get the best out of him.
33:01I have zero doubt that in the Bruins system with Goalie Bob,
33:05being there with Swayman,
33:07like being in a really good situation for a goalie,
33:09like what goalie, how many goalies have the Bruins brought in
33:13over the last 10 or 15 years that have flopped?
33:16Like not any at all, like pretty much.
33:19Like, you know, Niklas Svedberg is one that I think of
33:22that really like wasn't-
33:24I forgot about Niklas Svedberg.
33:26He was not really well cast,
33:28but I just don't think he was NHL material.
33:30I don't think he was cut out to be a backup NHL goalie.
33:32Like I think there was a lot going on there with him.
33:35Well, rookie goalies, they had a tough time.
33:37I mean, Zane McIntyre, Malcolm Subban, those were go-
33:41And again, like you can argue
33:42if those were really NHL caliber.
33:44Or two, if they were up injuries.
33:46None of those guys were like, you know,
33:48the guy that they said,
33:48hey, you're coming in and be in the backup.
33:50Svedberg was that guy.
33:51He was the guy pinned to be the backup that year.
33:56Was it McIntyre that they threw into a primetime game
33:59against the Rangers?
34:00Yeah.
34:01And then they threw Subban into, against St. Louis.
34:03St. Louis?
34:04I was there for that one.
34:05And then that was it.
34:06I remember that one.
34:07Oh my God.
34:07That was a debacle.
34:09Yep.
34:10But yeah, and those, you know,
34:11those are like situations where,
34:13those are the kinds of situations that the Bruins,
34:15I think the executives in front office remember
34:18and are trying to avoid.
34:19You know, that's why they made the Corpus Alo trade
34:22is because they don't want to run
34:23into those kinds of situations.
34:25Because like I said,
34:26the only, like the quickest way to be a bad NHL team
34:29is to just have a bad goaltending situation.
34:32That will sink your team faster than anything else
34:35in the hockey world.
34:36So I think they're trying to avoid that.
34:38And that's why Corpus Alo is here.
34:41And I think he's going to be fine.
34:42I think Goalie Bob will do a good job
34:45of bringing out the best in him.
34:46He's done that with every veteran they brought in here.
34:48I think the parallels being made
34:50between Halak coming in and being Tuca's backup
34:53and Corpus Alo coming in to be Swayman's backup
34:56are apt and I think makes sense.
34:58And I think that's kind of how they view
35:00this whole situation is him potentially being
35:02a little bit more of an expensive backup
35:04that has some upside and can play a few more games
35:07if they need them to.
35:09And gives them a good option next to Swayman
35:11who is going to be grappling with a lot
35:13for the first time in his career.
35:15You know, more playing time, more expectations,
35:17a lot of different stuff going on.
35:19His goalie hug partner is gone.
35:20Like there's going to be a lot
35:21on Jeremy Swayman's plate this year, for sure.
35:24And I think-
35:25Well, you want him to get paid peanut.
35:26You said earlier, you said,
35:27I hope Swayman doesn't make any money this year.
35:29He said he should play for free.
35:31So he's going to have to play for free too,
35:32making like stop and chop gift cards in your world.
35:35I hope he is playing for Milton's men's suit gift cards.
35:38Like I used to have to get paid
35:40when I went on Felger's show on 890 ESPN.
35:43I didn't get paid-
35:44He used to pay you in gift cards?
35:45That's great.
35:45Felger, I think, used to pay me in gift cards
35:47he had left over from doing like Sunday night final
35:51with Bob Lobel from like 20 years ago.
35:55He just had like probably stacks of gift cards
35:57like lying around from all the TV stuff he had done.
35:59And he started paying-
36:00He's like, I'm never going to use these.
36:01That's hilarious.
36:02I got suits out of it and suit jackets.
36:04I was perfectly fine in my twenties to be paid that way.
36:06That was early thirties, I think I was at that point.
36:10I would love to be paid in Milton gift cards.
36:11Cause then like you can pay me regularly
36:13and I'll just use that money towards like, you know,
36:15stupid stuff.
36:16Whereas like, if you pay me,
36:17the gift card, I have to use the gift card, you know?
36:19So it's not a bad idea.
36:21No, all of a sudden you have, it goes hand in hand.
36:23Cause now you've got better threads to like go on TV with
36:26and you actually, you know,
36:27look a little more stylish.
36:28I got a, like a camel hair sport jacket,
36:32I think with one of the Milton's gift cards
36:33that Felger had given me.
36:35And then it was funny.
36:36I saw Peter Shirelli walking around
36:38with the same exact jacket
36:40cause it was with that era of the Boston Bruins.
36:42We both started laughing at each other
36:43when we were walking around in our camel hair jackets.
36:47You need your Gucci sunglasses.
36:48Now the other, it's interesting,
36:50cause like something to get off my chest.
36:53I took a selfie of me and Connor at his wedding,
36:56Connor Ryan, and someone replied like,
36:58oh, you guys can't wear tuxes.
37:00Like I know hockey journalists don't make a lot of money,
37:02but like, and I'm like, wait a minute.
37:03First of all, you don't know what I make.
37:05So screw you.
37:06Second off, the dress code was like cocktail attire.
37:13And also tuxedos are so,
37:15like tuxedos are fun to wear once in a blue moon,
37:18but I'd rather not.
37:19Like I'd rather just wear a suit
37:20and be able to like be nimble and have fun.
37:23And like, you know, that's more fun.
37:26So screw you.
37:27I don't know if we can swear on this.
37:28I mean, I swear on Bruins.
37:29You're not there to-
37:30Fuck you, all right?
37:31I want to wear what I want to wear, okay?
37:32Okay.
37:34And Connor, Connor made the attire.
37:37So there you go.
37:39I think-
37:40There you go.
37:42You don't have to impress anybody
37:44on social media, Evan, you know?
37:45I know I don't.
37:46I know I don't.
37:47But I felt good about how I was looking
37:49and how we were all looking, you know?
37:50Like if I'm wearing this, it's different.
37:52You want to say this looks like my New Orleans shirt?
37:55The whole reason he said what he said
37:57was to get this reaction.
37:58That is the only reason he said what he said.
38:01He got it.
38:02Exactly.
38:03Don't give him the satisfaction, Evan.
38:04You wear whatever you want.
38:06You be comfortable.
38:07Screw that guy.
38:08I haven't worn a freaking tux
38:09since my senior prom in 1992.
38:13I don't give a shit.
38:14There you go.
38:14It's funny.
38:15You know what's funny?
38:16Now for my future wedding, jeans and t-shirts.
38:19Jeans and t-shirts.
38:20Just stick it to that guy.
38:21I'm going to invite him.
38:22Dude, I got married in the Bahamas.
38:23And make him wear a tux.
38:23I got married in the Bahamas.
38:25We all had like Bahama like sort of beach clothes
38:27at my wedding.
38:28It was like the summer breezy-
38:29That's fun though.
38:30That's awesome.
38:31Like suits and stuff like that, you know?
38:33It was like the summer-
38:34I didn't know you got married in the Bahamas.
38:37I did.
38:38That's awesome.
38:38Got married in Cable Beach in the Bahamas.
38:41Cable Beach Sheraton, I think it was,
38:43which no longer exists.
38:45And our honeymoon was at Atlantis in the Bahamas too.
38:49I golfed-
38:50Wow.
38:51At that golf course at Atlantis
38:52where Michael Jordan has his like celebrity golf tournament.
38:55And then with my wife.
38:57And she decided after nine holes,
38:59she wanted to like leave or she was tired.
39:01And I was like,
39:02this is like the best golf course in the world
39:04that I've ever golfed.
39:05Like, what are you talking about?
39:06I was not happy.
39:07We're finishing this.
39:08I didn't finish, because it was my honeymoon.
39:11I kind of had to leave it that way.
39:12You'll understand someday.
39:13When the wife wants to do something on the honeymoon,
39:15you kind of have to like take one,
39:17take another one and do what they want to do.
39:20But I remember looking like,
39:21driving like into the ocean,
39:23like a green in the ocean and the beach was beyond it.
39:25It was like the most beautiful golf course
39:27I'd ever been on before.
39:28And I was just like,
39:29I can't believe I'm leaving this right now early.
39:31Wow.
39:32That's a sick wedding honeymoon though.
39:34What's that?
39:35Yeah, that's a sick wedding.
39:36It's a very sick wedding.
39:37That's awesome.
39:38I'd give you this piece of advice.
39:40The destination wedding is totally worth it
39:43because they're smaller inherently
39:45because not as many people will go
39:48just based on the travel and all that stuff.
39:50But the people that do go are like in a great mood.
39:53Everybody's in a vacation sort of mindset.
39:56And it's the people that really care about you
39:58and that you really care about
39:59that end up going to the wedding
40:00and forking over the money to travel to be there.
40:03So like, it's totally worth it.
40:05And I think the actual wedding and paying for it
40:09was cheaper doing it in the Bahamas
40:11than it was in the US
40:12where as soon as people hear wedding,
40:13they jack up the prices on everything
40:15that you're paying for.
40:17And it becomes like 15, $20,000 you're paying for a wedding
40:21probably way even more than that now
40:24where it was definitely less than that in the Bahamas.
40:28That's an interesting point
40:29about the people who care about you will show up.
40:31Whereas like if I had a wedding here,
40:33it'd be a lot of people who I'm like,
40:35you'd invite like 250 people
40:37and like you don't even know some of them.
40:39You know what I mean?
40:40Like, yeah, it's going like, thanks.
40:43But yeah, you're right.
40:44That's an interesting point.
40:44I'll have to, I'll have to think about that.
40:46Yeah, put that in the memory bank for sure.
40:48But I'm married to the game hag.
40:49So, you know, no wedding for that.
40:52You are married to prep school hockey right now.
40:54That's right.
40:55That's a little dangerous to say, but yeah, married.
40:59Married to covering prep school hockey.
41:01Yes, that's true.
41:03All right.
41:04Any, by the way, any thoughts on what is it?
41:07The seven nations, five nations, whatever it was,
41:11the 16, 17, you can't.
41:13Oh, I do have a thought.
41:15I do have a thought.
41:16David Bosco got screwed.
41:17David Bosco is a Belmont Hill Junior Eagles kid, right?
41:21Yeah.
41:22Junior Eagles kid.
41:22Really good player.
41:24Went to the national development team tryout.
41:27Could have made the team.
41:28Didn't make the team.
41:29That was back in the, in the spring, different thing.
41:32Had a great select 16 camp.
41:34Was one of the top point getters there.
41:36Really good.
41:38Didn't make the five nations team,
41:39which I was shocked about.
41:40I thought because he'd been to the national team
41:43evaluation camp, the fact that he had done so well
41:46at select 16 camp, didn't make it.
41:49I was kind of shocked by that.
41:50And I wasn't there, so I wasn't, you know,
41:52I can't tell you how we looked against other kids.
41:54Right.
41:55But just given his standing in the 08 forward group,
41:58I thought, oh yeah, he'll make the five nations team.
42:01But it's a different group, I think,
42:03who picks the five nations team than it does
42:05the national development program.
42:08The other thing is like kids get screwed every year.
42:11I think the top point getter last year
42:12in the select 16 camp, Evan Hardeen,
42:15I don't think he made the five nations team.
42:17So like, I don't know, it can be a bit,
42:20it looks like it's a little bit of a crapshoot,
42:23but yeah, so I thought he got screwed.
42:24Thought he should have made it, but really good player.
42:27So shouldn't hurt him in the slightest.
42:29Yeah, I mean, in general,
42:31it seems like who's ever picking those teams
42:33is not in love with Massachusetts players.
42:36There was only one Massachusetts player on the team.
42:39There was only two New England kids on the team.
42:42There was more California kids than Massachusetts kids.
42:45Yeah.
42:46Like, you know, and some of that is obviously
42:48there's a changing, like it's a sign of the times.
42:51Like there's more good players coming
42:53from more different parts of the country
42:55and more sort of unconventional places.
42:57And, you know, frankly, we've been over this before.
43:00Massachusetts is not producing as many players,
43:03numbers wise, like the quality is still there,
43:05but the quantity may not be there like it used to.
43:07Agree.
43:08As far as that stuff goes.
43:09But like, by the same token, what you're saying,
43:11like, it sounds like that Junior Eagles kid,
43:14what's his name again?
43:16David Bosco.
43:16David Bosco is one of the best players in his age group,
43:20performed really well at the camps,
43:22like, you know, dominated offensively.
43:24He comes from a Junior Eagles program
43:26that like cranks out like lottery first round picks
43:29pretty much every year now, or close to it.
43:33Certainly first round picks, they crank out.
43:35Like, you know, what is going on there
43:38where you wouldn't put a kid like that on your team?
43:40I didn't get it.
43:41But, you know, again, like Will Bent made it
43:44from Mount St. Charles.
43:45He's from Dover, I think.
43:47And then Ryan Poirier from Salem, New Hampshire made it.
43:50He plays at Kent.
43:51So again, nice to see those two kids make it.
43:54But again, I was shocked that David Bosco
43:56didn't make it.
43:57But, you know, again, it's not everything, you know, so.
44:02And shout out too to my buddy, John Missouri.
44:05His son, JP Missouri, actually had a good camp
44:07out there too.
44:08Yeah, he did.
44:10You know, that's great to see too,
44:12that a kid that's in the MIA,
44:14that's playing public high school
44:15at Arlington High right now,
44:17is able to compete with all those other kids
44:19and had a really good camp as well.
44:22He is maybe my favorite player to watch.
44:24He's like five foot five, like 120 pounds.
44:27He's got some razzle-dazzle in his game too.
44:29He's got crazy skill and he hits everybody.
44:32Nothing stops him.
44:33He will knock over anybody.
44:36He will, he gets into it with kids at camps.
44:38Like he is just a fun player to watch.
44:41So I hope at some point a Division I school,
44:44and I imagine at some point they will,
44:46take a bite out of him and bring him to their school.
44:50Because he is a fun,
44:52it'd be a fan favorite wherever he goes, so.
44:55He and the other kid that he played with last year,
44:57Evan Jones, he's got a pretty bright future too, right?
45:00Yeah, Evan Jones is really good.
45:01I saw him, when I was in Buffalo,
45:02he was there for Select 17,
45:04and he was one of the better defensemen there.
45:07Came, again, out of the MIA,
45:08going to Belmont Hill next year.
45:10He's a Junior Eagle as well.
45:12He's really good, just a great puck mover,
45:14and a surefire Division I kid.
45:16So he'll probably commit in the next couple,
45:18when August 1 comes around,
45:19he'll probably commit sometime in August.
45:21So hopefully it's, good luck to him.
45:23It's a fun time for those kids committing,
45:25and all that stuff.
45:26That's what my whole life is dedicated to right now, Hags.
45:29Like, figuring out where these kids are going,
45:31looking at past commits.
45:32Like, I'm committed out right now.
45:35So, lucky me.
45:36Looking forward to that.
45:37Big part of the summer coming up for Evan,
45:39with the commitments.
45:40Oh yeah.
45:41Around the corner.
45:42All right.
45:43This is another tweet about Corpus Allo,
45:46and I'll just read this one,
45:47and then we can move on.
45:48I think he will have a bounce back season,
45:49having had LASIK surgery.
45:51I did not hear that he had had LASIK surgery.
45:53That's interesting.
45:53I didn't hear that either.
45:54And a much better defensive core in front of him.
45:56He will not fill the skates of Allmark.
45:58He will be a serviceable backup, in my opinion.
46:00I think that's a fair take.
46:02I think that's probably what's going to end up happening.
46:04I'm going to have to look-
46:05Well, I do want to add one thing to that,
46:06because I obviously, you wear glasses too, right?
46:09Do you wear contacts?
46:10I wear, like, distance glasses, yeah.
46:12Okay.
46:13So I have, like, glasses, and then I have contacts.
46:16But, if he's been wearing contacts,
46:19that shouldn't be that different from LASIK.
46:21Now, I don't know, like,
46:22I don't even know this LASIK thing, if it's true or not.
46:24But, if it is true, like, was he wearing contacts before?
46:27Has he just not been able to see?
46:28Like, there's a lot of questions there.
46:31Like, if he hasn't been able to see, then, like, holy crap.
46:33What a bargain the Bruins got.
46:35Yes.
46:36Like, you got this guy who could not physically see anything.
46:38It's like something out of a movie,
46:39where all of a sudden he has a surgery,
46:40and he becomes, like, this world-class goaltender.
46:43Yeah.
46:43We can see.
46:45I remember when my vision started to go,
46:47and then I put glasses on, and I was like,
46:48whoa, I can see the whiteboard again.
46:50This rocks.
46:51I don't have to, like, you know,
46:52squint and everything.
46:53I know.
46:54Well, I try to limit how much I wear them, though.
46:57Like, I wear them driving at night.
46:58I wear them when I'm at, like,
46:59Bruins games or sporting events.
47:01I wear them when I go to the movies.
47:03Like, but, like, I've, like, I haven't,
47:06my eyes have not downgraded vision-wise anything
47:10from when they were in their 20s,
47:11when I first, you know, started wearing those glasses,
47:14because I, like, am very selective about when I wear them.
47:17I feel like if you start wearing them all the time,
47:19that's the slow, slow, like, decline of your vision,
47:22you know, because your eyes get kind of lazy.
47:24That's my opinion.
47:25That is not substantiated by medicine or medical,
47:29you know, science by any form,
47:32but I've found that to be true.
47:33Yeah, mine was, when I was in high school,
47:36I went through a growth spurt,
47:37and my eye doctor told me
47:38that when you go through a growth spurt,
47:40oftentimes your eyes don't catch up
47:41to where your body's going.
47:42And so, they, like, they stayed behind.
47:46And so from probably, like, freshman year
47:48through, like, middle of college,
47:50every time I went to the eye doctor,
47:51my vision would be, like, a little bit worse,
47:53so I'd have to update the prescription and the contacts.
47:55And I'm like, you know, am I gonna be, like,
47:58am I gonna be blind at, like, age 30?
47:59Like, where am I going with this?
48:01And then it stops.
48:02So, like, once you kind of stop growing and whatever,
48:05so my vision's been kind of equally crappy
48:07for, like, two or three years.
48:09So I'm, like, negative three in my left eye
48:11and negative 3.75 in my right,
48:13which is, like, average, it's not terrible.
48:15Yeah, like, my girlfriend's, like, negative eight,
48:17which is, like, holy crap.
48:19I mean, you can't see anything.
48:20So if you take glasses off and you're negative eight,
48:22it's just, like, blurry everywhere?
48:24Yeah, I don't know what it is,
48:25because, like, this is blurry for me.
48:26Like, I can't really read, like,
48:28I'm not far from my laptop.
48:29I can't read my name.
48:31And, like, I know you're there,
48:33but I can't, like, make out your details
48:35or anything like that.
48:36Whereas, like, for her, it must be just, like, this.
48:39Like, you just can't see a thing.
48:40I don't know, like, how does that work?
48:42So, but yeah, thank God for glasses
48:45and corrective lenses.
48:47All right, here's an interesting one.
48:49Not trying to start a rumor,
48:50but I'm curious if you think Lowry, Mason Lowry,
48:52could be a possible trade option at some point.
48:55B seemed to lean towards a more veteran defense,
48:57and he is probably one of the players
48:59that could return that top six right wing.
49:01Just hypothesizing,
49:03and that is from Brett Is Yelling on Twitter.
49:06I don't see any scenario
49:09where they're trading Mason Lowry.
49:10I think the Bruins know, like, what they have with him.
49:13I think they know they have a potentially
49:16difference-making, impact-making defenseman,
49:19puck-moving defenseman, power play defenseman.
49:22Based on the size and the effort he puts into the game
49:25and that he wants to be a really good player,
49:27I think he's gonna be a good two-way defenseman
49:29that's gonna get better defensively.
49:31But, like, some of the skill that you see him play with,
49:34some of the things he can do offensively,
49:36I think he has the best offensive skills
49:38of anybody on that back end, including Charlie McAvoy.
49:42When you see some of the plays that he can make.
49:44Now, he's more high-risk.
49:45He's gotta learn when to, you know, pick his spots with that.
49:49And I think he's good about, like,
49:51trying to push the envelope, which you have to
49:53if you're a skill player and you're an offensive player.
49:55But, like, I think the Bruins look at him
49:57and they know they have something special.
49:59And I think they just brought in Zdorov,
50:01and they've set things up the way that they have
50:04because they want him to not have the pressure
50:06of being a top-four defenseman next year
50:08and be able to develop, like, at the NHL level
50:10without being thrown to the wolves right away.
50:12But I think they know that they have something good there
50:14and they're not gonna trade it.
50:16Yeah, I mean, I think Lowry, like, you know,
50:18on paper is your most valuable trade asset,
50:21but you're not trading him.
50:21That's why you're not trading him.
50:22I don't think so.
50:23He's such a valuable young guy.
50:24And everything you just said,
50:25and we've talked about this a lot before,
50:27six-foot-five defenseman who is extremely offensive,
50:30good skills, you know, all those things.
50:32Don't, you don't draft that every year.
50:34You don't, those don't grow on trees.
50:37You hold onto those guys.
50:38So, yeah, I don't see them trading.
50:41All right, I think we've solved
50:42all the Bruins' problems again this week, Evan.
50:44Thank you very much for joining us.
50:46We did it, Joe.
50:47We did it.
50:48Hats off to us.
50:49We're awesome.
50:50Evan, thank you very much for joining us, my friend.
50:52Of course.
50:53I'll see you probably around soon.
50:55I will see you when I see you, for sure.
50:57It will be soon.
50:58Thank you, everybody else out there for listening.
51:00And we'll see you at the Rink.
Comments