Which Bruins stay, and who goes? | Poke the Bear

Which Bruins stay, and who goes? | Poke the Bear

I don’t think either party is going to be happy when the games are you know the most important game so to speak you know like the playoffs like he’s not going to want to be a scratch for the playoffs you’re not going to want to sign a guy who you know or you have a good inkling that is going to be scratched in the playoffs like and so with the way that they are trending as a team with the way they are trending as an organization you know we’ve talked about this before the big body defenseman they keep drafting big defenseman it just doesn’t make sense seems like he’s a he’s a piece from a prior regime that maybe they no longer believe in structurally or or organizationally um he doesn’t fit their ethos anymore poke the bear is powered by prize pick the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the clns media Network and welcome into poke the bear episode 239 presented by CNS media and sponsored by our good friends over at prize picks and game time tickets my name is is Conor Ryan and once again we are joined by 985 the sports hubs Ty Anderson Ty how you doing what is going on how are we doing well Tai doing well I’m still uh trying to catch up on my sleep from uh the Celtics uh Championship celebrations it’s gone for a while Joe Maul is roaming around every filming location of the town it’s going to Boston sand and gravel next with the Larry O’Brien trophy um but it’s it’s a fun time in the city I would say I think even though this is a primarily a hockey podcast I think we’re all happy that that core of players finally gets their do gets put up with again in this city all comes down to if you want or not uh it gets you in the clear for the rest of your career it’s good to have so many players that are so key to this team finally kind of get their moment in the spotlight and get recognized uh for being some of the all-time greats within that franchise yeah for sure and and I will always say that summertime parades in Boston just hit different uh this will now be the third one uh of our lifetime uh they they just they’re just different you know it’s everyone gets to go to the city um there’s there tends to be uh no school or it’s so late enough in the school year where kids can skip it I think the Bruins one was on a Saturday which is crazy to me that they did that looking back on it it got to most people there possible but um you know there’s something about a summertime parade in Boston that is just it’s it’s more fan oriented or fan friendly uh than the ones you have for the Patriots you know there’s been six of those middle of January oh it’s brutal yeah even Red Sox ones you know like I remember the first Red Sox one in 04 it was raining you know it was spitting rain all day and it was just it was it was raw it was cold it was great but man that weather kind of stunk so uh I’m sure it’s going to be great on Friday it’s going to be incredible I’m sure the numbers going to blow our minds too you know what I mean like I remember 2011 you know being there in the morning for the parade availability and then meeting up with my friends down the road for the parade itself and I just remember like I like man these streets are hard to navigate right now you couldn’t walk through it and that was 2011 you know I feel like we’ve got probably three times as many people who live here now since then so uh it’s going to be wild I bet yeah absolutely and now the the Boston team the longest title drought amongst the big four the Boston Bruins yeah this is interesting to think about again they’re in the mix like next to the Celtics who like would not surprises me if they go back to back next year I’m getting ahead of myself but that team’s going to be in the mix for quite a few years now but ruins are probably the second closest team terms of the odds right it’s hockey a lot of [ __ ] can happen but terms of where they are where they should build off of next year they’re right in that mix right they are it’s just to your point though it’s like how can you project it right like hockey is just so hard to project uh there’s overtimes there’s bad bounces there’s bad penalties like I think it’s funny that I don’t think there’s a sport where a bad call can torpedo you more than hockey right and it’s never about the referees I understand that like you got to play through it you know teams get screwed all the time but it is wild that like one bad call or one bad sequence can completely shift a series like you know Bruins fans if if you’re going to spend the summer you watch the Panthers and the Oilers right now and you’re going to spend the summer going man if that call didn’t get called in game four and they hang on it’s two to two going back to Sunrise and you win game five I mean it’s wild right like it it it so that’s why it’s like yeah they should be next but who knows who knows what can happen right and so um this is all part of the the calculus that makes this summer and the summer after that so important for the Bruins like this is their chance to load up or to reset to reshuffle whatever you want to call it and if you don’t do it I don’t know man the Red Sox as weird as it sounds could overtake you the Patriots could overtake you they got a good defense if Drake May is what they think he’s going to be at number three you might be number three before you know it yeah that’s true and the Bruins as you said have a great opportunity to add to this team uh in a couple of weeks it’s it’s funny I think we lose track of it with like the Celtics and all that stuff how quickly the shit’s about to hit the fan with the NHL offseason I mean hell you got teams making trades in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs now that Series going on way too long that GM’s like we can’t wait anymore so yeah we have that we we do have that coming up very quickly but I think before you know next week we’ll start looking at actual free agent targets outside of you know players on the Bruin’s own team trade the draft all that kind of stuff I think uh for for this week let’s maybe look more internally right and kind of do a bit of a primer as to who the Bruins have on their Rost right now they’re going to hit the market um as ufas maybe we’ll talk at a few rfas as well but let’s maybe run down the list of quite a few guys who uh are going to hit frency and whether or not they’re going to be back with the Bruins next year so I haven’t I broke it up in terms of uh by position tie I feel like let’s get let’s get defense first because I feel like we kind of know how those ones are going to go let’s just get the the 3D out of the way now so uh leading off with Derek forbert uh and I’ll how about do I’ll do this I’ll I’ll po I’ll say the player you say whether or not he’s back or not and then we’ll kind of go from there as to whether we agree and what kind of the future holds for that player so Ty leading off Derek forbert he back he’s gone he’s he’s not back he is he is gone I think yeah no I agree and I mean for me I think it comes down to and I think we’re going to have the same probably script for most of these uh pending UFA defensemen but it just seems like where that player is it in terms of his career injuries and and where the Bruins can maybe upgrade at that spot it just just seems like it’s time to move on from a player that you know did kind of the dirty work for a lot of the these three years in Boston but I think you could either upgrade that position or even find a cheaper alternative for kind of what he brings in terms of those PK reps block shots all that good stuff yeah and I mean we’ve talked about him before in terms of like the Public’s perception of Derek forbert is not shared by the Boston Bruins for better or worse they like him whereas a lot of fans realize his limitations and they they don’t like him because of those limitations um however I think his fate was sealed once they acquired Andrew Peak a guy who you know does the same kind of role yes he plays the right side and he’s a right shot versus a left shot but same kind of guy you rely on his blocks you rely on what he can do in the PK and he’s also cheaper and he signed with term so I think once they made that move the writing was on the wall for forbert both on the 23 24 season and his Boston future personally yeah no I agree I think Derek forbert great Bruin we’ll always remember dala rest in peace a great Legend of Boston Sports lore but I think Derek 4 will be playing somewhere else uh this upcoming season yeah you know you know what’s weird I sorry real quick I a report today out of Minnesota that Alex golgowski is is not going to be back um he basically was like an extra D for Minnesota um he’s going to retire I think is what they’re what they’re s what they’re thinking or what they’re saying for’s from Minnesota I I doubt that given his injury history he’s gonna earn a full-time roster spot out of the gate next season I’d wonder if he’d go to Minnesota on a cheap contract you know go home um after a trying year obviously between the injuries the the situation with his dog you know like like he went through it this year right and I would just wonder if Minnesota would say you know what look we could take a a cheap flyer on a guy who has been good on the PK things of that nature like I I I’d wonder if he would go home at that point yeah that would seem to be a good fit for him and yeah again a full-time you know stating spot out of the gate probably not but still like when he’s on his game and playing those kind of minutes that no one really wants to log in terms of PK and blocking shots and all that stuff that’s where his value does kind of shine so to do hope he lands with somewhere where even if it’s maybe not cut and dry in September in the middle the start of the year um he can he can eventually carve out a set spot there so best of luck to Derek forbert um another defenseman hitting the market Kevin shattenkirk is he back or not I don’t think he’s back um he’s he’s what he’s like 40 48 games away from 10,00 I think he wants to being a place where you can hit that hit that Milestone and I don’t think it’s going to be here um again their right side is pretty locked down you know like you got your pillars there and shaton Kirk can play on the left side but I I don’t think it’s where you get his best hockey consistently so I think he’s going to go somewhere where you can hit a thousand games and maybe call it a career but um I I shadon Kirk was a guy who you look at his production a lot of a lot of it was with David POS yeah kind of easy it’s easy to find those kind of guys all things considered yeah no I agree um you know solid veteran especially what the price tag is had his moments where he was able to inject a little bit more scoring punch on the blue line um you know stepped up in the playoffs at times gave that speech that all the players credited before game seven against Toronto which is again when you have a veteran guy making what you make like 1.05 million or something you will gladly take any of those contributions for a guy with that signing but as you said right side’s pretty locked down now you don’t really have you don’t have a a a vacancy there where a guy like uh Shad Kirk could step in and you look at where his strengths are in terms of playmaking power play those kinds of things it’s what we’ve talked about before when we mentioned guys like you know Chan or Krug at times uh with Mason lorai you know establishing himself and hopefully growing more into that role you don’t want any player in here or you’re signing any player especially that’s going to take away some of those reps even it’s on the second power play unit or what have you so again chadon Kirk good veteran but it does seem like he’s a guy that you’re moving on from yeah I just I I think that you know a lot of these guys that we’re going to talk about today like they’re veterans and they’re prideful veterans and and if their opportunity here in Boston is being a scratch or or being a spare part I don’t think they want want to do that and I think shaton Kirk you know like they’re kind of getting the band back the band back together in Tampa it feels like and and I would wonder if he’d go back down there for cheap money you know if they have an opening for a guy who they you know the caveat being hey just play me 48 games at least so I can hit a thousand you know and like like they tend to be pretty good with that kind of stuff so we’ll see what happens there but yeah like you alluded to it and you mentioned like the speeches like the veteran leadership like there’s always a market for that right it’s just a matter of are you trying to win a cup or do you want to hit a milestone right and sometimes you can do both but in a game that gets consistently younger and faster that may be a little bit harder for him than it was a year ago when uh you noted it he made an annoying 1.05 million I had to look it up every time we WR it I was never certain and it was so annoying because I was like I was like wait a minute is it 1.75 what what is it it was like NOC had an annoying number like that too I never remember exactly what it was wasn’t it like oh what was no6 was it like was it two like 2.125 or something like that oring that was I think that was holla I think that was hollow’s number yeah I I think noex was like one point see this what I’m talking about it was either like 1.75 or like 1.75 like it was something weird like that yeah exactly so uh I don’t think the Bruins have to worry about that uh that contract on their books in terms of having to sort through I I was going to say sort through cap friendly but if I mention that the Washington Capital is going to dmca my my they’re going to take my VPN and gonna shut down my computer all that good stuff so RP to cap friendly uh but uh the last defenseman Tai uh that’s hitting the marcket Matt grizzli is he staying or is he going probably the second most polarizing player in their internal free asan class I would say besides one forward who will talk about later uh I don’t see how he’s back and I say this because it’s now been two straight postseasons where they’ve scratched him in the playoffs and I I think that you know his best utilization for the Bruin moving forward is probably as a third pairing defenseman um but what Comfort do you have in doing that and then knowing that he’ll do that for 82 games and then they’ll lose a game in the playoffs and then it’s right back to the Press Fox right and so I I just think a clean break is probably best for both sides involved at this point um and he’s a guy that I think could help a team that struggles with their breakouts or or struggles with getting the puck out of Their Own Zone um you know if you got a if you got a defense that’s a bit too big and not mobile enough like he could help you in that regard but I just think a clean break at this point makes sense for both sides involved how do you feel about it yeah I agre agree and again I’m I’ve been obviously a big fan of grizzli and what he provides this past year was tough for him right he was dealing with an injury pretty early on that hurt his numbers like even when he was with makavo which you know you can talk about whether he’s built for the playoffs what have you but when you look at how good he was with makavo and just the the five on five buz saww that they were for years like he would take that just over 82 games and then you you get to the playoffs and go from there and I agree that he was kind of put in these bad spots where a lot of times was really even his fault of being tied like you know he’s had rough playoff runs but him getting scratched before game six against the Panthers for forbert and Clifton who just had to both have horrific games like like turnover five seconds later Puck sailing pass all Mark bad like uh situations like that um it it just seems like it’s something where if he’s not going to have the trust of the the coaching staff to be in those roles uh during those kind of years where again he was good at five and five play during the regular season you go into this year where his numbers decline in terms of both production and just the underlying numbers with maoy um if if you don’t have a guy that you know for what his past contract was where you could plug him next to makoy and you don’t have to touch that pairing in the regular season wasn’t really the case this season and again you look at his age he’s going to be 31 not the biggest uh biggest defenseman obviously he’s had injuries I just don’t feel like he’s a guy that now seems to be a clean break I think he can help help a team if he was to come back on a you know on a cheap deal you’d probably take him for just what he brings in a limited role but it just seems like how the coaching staff utilizes him how he can probably get a solid contract or carve out a set roll somewhere else I agree just seems like now is the best time to move on from a guy that’s been here for a sneaky long long time right like he’s been all across the lineup been part of some really good teams but it does seem like just now is the time to kind of move on and and see how you can kind of change that left side of your defense a little bit yeah and I think the other part of that is like you you you noted the injuries like it’s entirely possible that there just there’s too many now and it’s too much to overcome and it makes sense to move on and and to just kind of start start new somewhere else and and you go back to the shoulder injury you had a sports hernia injury this year um you know he’s he’s just he’s been through it man you know he’s he’s been through it and I just think that again it’s time it’s time it’s time to you know have a break and go somewhere else because I don’t think either party is going to be happy when the games are you know the most important game so to speak you know like the playoffs like he’s not going to want to be a scratch for the playoffs you’re not going to want to sign a guy who you know or you have a good inkling that is going to be scratched in the playoffs like and so with the way that they are trending as a team with the way they are training as an organization you know we’ve talked about this before the big body defenseman they keep drafting big defenseman it just doesn’t make sense it seems like he’s a he’s a piece from a prior regime that maybe they no longer believe in structurally or or organizationally um he doesn’t fit their ethos anymore it feels like and um I’m I’m very happy that you mentioned that he’s been around forever because I I I’m doing you know for the website I’m doing like a rundown of the free agent like we are um do you know how many games or let me put it this way do you know where he ranks for games played among Bruins defenseman all time blew my mind this blew my mind I’m not gonna lie is he like like like 14 or something like that or is it to 24 he’s 24 pretty impressive yeah 100 Year history of a team he’s top 25 like that’s wild to me from a kid from Charlestown it’s pretty cool so yeah it is absolutely you know it sucks that it didn’t end you know the the the way that all Hometown kids wanted to um but I also don’t think that he should be looked at you know as like a failure like no he again you carved out a 500 plus game career or whatever it is you know four like I think it’s 400 500 like you carve out that kind of career here you know as a 5 foot n defenseman drafter than what the third round fourth round like that’s a that’s a success man it really is yeah absolutely so wherever Grizz ends up next again we wish him well along with all the other guys we’re going to talk about who may not be back in a black and gold sweater um Ty we’re going to move on to look at other areas of the roster but before we do that take a quick break here from our good friends over at prize picks the NBA finals are over and the 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being all right I’m gonna say eight years I’m going to say 7.75 per that that’s what I’m going to say like I think that if I’m his Camp I’m angling for like 8.5 yeah um but I do think that they’ve been pretty good about getting guys to take just under market value and they’re going to say hey we have a internal structure here we got to try to get a center or you’re going to have you’re going to be back stopping some pretty bad teams and so I I think that’s kind of where they’re going to land um I might be completely wrong on this but I just feel like they’re going to get it just under eight per uh per season in my opinion what do you think yeah have eight uh 8 by uh 8 by8 64 million I agree that if you’re able to get anything under eight I think if you’re a Bruins fan you are very happy uh because again you look at just how much the Cap’s jumping up not not just this year but I think the next two or three years there should be a pretty sizable jump at least that’s the projections every year that we could be looking at this you know cap ceiling in 2026 27 you could be getting close to 100 million right where all of a sudden if you have a guy like Swan for under eight and you’ve got upcoming contracts for guys like ottinger right and Demco and some of these other goalies that just cing right if all of a sudden the next kind of threshold is are these goalies where the the market value is 8.75 9 million 10 million that’s the Benchmark for players it’s it’s kind of like how you have ponok now making 11 or you have makoy making 9.5 when another two three years an established number one defenseman is probably the Benchmark is 11 right the established franchise Winger who can score 50 goals is getting 13 million a year right like those contracts are going to continue to look better and better over time so if you’re the brones you’re able to get Swan for under eight million um you know you look at I think what uh soken has his contract signed for 8.25 but he’s got a vzna finalist nod under his belt I guess so that kind of helps him out um but if you’re the Bruins and you get him to eight and or under I think you take that and you are more than happy with kind of getting uh a pay bump you know secured for him but also something that over the next even year or two could look pretty good especially when all these other goalies end up signing their new deals yeah exactly and that’s something that and I apologize if we’ve talked about this before but you know one thing you have to consider with Jeremy Swan and one thing his Camp is going to probably be considering here is that he is setting the market for the guys like the next wave like you have Jake ainger in need of a new contract soon eigor shurkin needs a new contract next year um I want to say there are some other guys involved in that grouping I think I think Saros is I think two years away and he’s a little bit older I know but but again one of the best goalies in the league um so you know I think that when you look at um Swan he is kind of setting that market for that you know that next wave of the young Elite saying well yeah we can sign for a little bit less but you know if eagor is making 10 million a year from now and AER is making 9.25 do we look stupid you know and so I think there’s that part of it I don’t think that’s going to be a determining factor for Swan he likes it here he wants to be here um he wants to be the number one guy here and so and so it’s going to cost them but I just wonder I wonder you know where do they meet in the middle ground between San his agent and Don Sweeney like like what what you know Baseline do they get to and say okay we’ll concede here and here because we know this makes the most sense like they’re gonna have to do some haggling but it’s got to get done soon man you gotta know how much money you have right to play with so I I hope it gets done soon but I just wonder if they got to make the other move with the other goalie before they can actually put that pen to paper there yeah you don’t want to hit the point where all of a sudden you’re you’re thinking you’re going to sign Tyler T Foley or someone and all of a sudden you realize you’re 75 million that damn that damn shaten contract that damn 0.5 0.05 million screws you over so no you do have to know for a guy who’s probably going to be I’d imagine your your top signing in terms of just annual payout um you have to figure out how much money you’re actually going to be working with and again that also again as you said coincides with omark in terms of are you gonna have another five million off the books are you using that to acquire someone else and that in takes up some of your cap space so a lot of moving Parts there but you hope the Bruins do sign swimming pretty soon to what we expect and hope is a long-term deal worth a pretty sizable pay bump considering the year he had um Ty let’s move on to the final po here the forwards and might as well start off with the the one that has brought out the most discourse the most you know divisive player I would probably say on the Bruins Jake de brusk had a great playoff run didn’t have a great regular season All Things Considered um kind of polarizing to see where exactly his marcket is or what kind of player the Bruins have in in a player like Jake de brusk but what’s your what’s your take is he here or is he signing Elsewhere on July 1 I think he’s signing elsewhere and and you know to your point earlier talking about guys getting paid more in the not too distant future um you know it went up to it it it increased to what 88 million for this upcoming year they’re hoping next year it’s going to be 92 or 93 million and so we’re looking at a cap rise that by the third or fourth year of Jake de bruss next contract he might be making what your third liners make a and so that’s that’s the part that’s tough to project here but I do think he’s gone I I I think that the Bruins have a history here of when it plays out this long they’ve made their decision and it tends to be we’re walking away uh I think the leaves have been there and I thought the the language of Don Don Sweeney’s breakup day availability told you where they were leaning um he said we were aggressive we were aggressive in our in our pitch I was like okay so they’re not anymore or something happened and now it’s now it’s see you later so I think he’s gone I think he’s going to western Canada I don’t know where exactly but I think he’s going out there what about you yeah I agree um I just we it was one where you you mapped it out right and you hoped I think I think he’s a really good player that fits a lot of needs for this team and you listen to what Cam Neely says about how this team needs speed you got a guy right there in Jake de brusk who has that skating ability who performs in the playoffs wins Puck battles um can do a little bit of everything developed into a really really good two-way player where you don’t really even when he’s not producing and I know that’s why he gets paid those big bucks but he’s a guy you don’t really have to worry about he’s not going to hurt you defensively he’s not going to do those kinds of things um so he has a really good player but then you hear as you said Don Sweeny mentioned all the stuff during breakup day it does feel like hey we made you our best offer we want you here you’re not gonna take that deal [ __ ] man good luck all right like what do you what do you want us to do right like and again it it’s unfortunate because not to say that like oh like I wouldn’t take you know Reinhardt or anyone else like that like obviously but like in terms of where the Bruins are going to have in terms of if you’re allocating money towards Swan and you know and Elias Lind or someone else like that and you’re not going to most likely be in the running for a big fish top six Winger like a Ryan hutter gensel obviously a guy like the Press makes a lot of sense as being that really versatile top six Winger that can still you know do a lot for your team if he’s not going to be in in the the mix you have to now you know find are you replacing him in the aggregate are you looking for all right we’re GNA get you know a guy who’s off and on like a puszi but his defensive game isn’t up to P is it you get a guy like Tyler trollei who’s probably a a steady goal scorer can give you 20 25 goals are you looking at more of a value ad with a guy who’s you know a quick skater like Anthony duclair right like there’s a lot of ways you can kind of spin it in terms of how they can replicate his production but terms of his overall the package that he provides he does kind of check a lot of boxes to what this team needs so I could see why the Bruins are like all right the money’s not going to work we gave you our best shot we’re not We’re Not Gonna Keep On haggling with you we’re not going to keep on getting to a bidding war we have so much other [ __ ] to take care of but it is unfortunate that you look at what the Bruins need and now he would you know make life a lot easier if they were able to come to terms on some long-term deal for six six and a half or something like that I just I see him not signing that here in Boston now at this point barring something crazy happening right right and and there were there were times where you thought like I’m trying to remember a guy whose negotiations went this long and he signed and signed yeah like I think Taylor Hall is the closest thing but even that wasn’t like there was no doubt there there was like no no we’re going to find a landing spot we just haven’t done it yet like like I I don’t think there’s a case that compares to that in recent memory um you know like POS was signed at the trade deadline you know months before he went he was going to hit free agency so you know that that’s that’s telling in that regard and and I wonder you know again this might be more sports radio [ __ ] clanging around in my brain I wonder if Jake’s his open sort of I want to sign I want to get signed during the season was because he rejected an offer that was pretty decent you know in September or whatever and then had the miserable year he had scoring wise for a while and was like [ __ ] I want to I want to get signed man I want I want to sign like and if that and I wonder if that point the Bruins are like nope that deal is off the table now which is kind of similar to something that happened with Tory Krug where right they had an early season offer the crew Camp said no no we’re going to wait and see and then that offer was subsequently pulled and so I wonder if something like that kind of happened um and that’s why Jake got so open and was was was very transparent about the anxiety of not having a contract and what it does to him you know I just wonder if that was almost like a play on his part like no let’s just go back to that first offer I don’t care but again that might be just sports radio [ __ ] I’m inventing in my brain which I’m one to do you know on occasion sometimes so yeah I mean listen that it makes perfect sense in terms of where Sweeny has mentioned they’ve had offers out there for him like and if he’s not going to bite on a deal and like I could see the Bruins after that 20 you know 2022 23 season where if he doesn’t break his leg in the Winter Classic he probably has 35 36 goals like that was a he was fantastic that year um I could see the Bruins wanting to make a concered effort to sign him there they already stuck with him through the Cassidy stuff the trade requests they signed you know you thought he was going to get traded at the deadline a few years ago and they signed him to a bridge extension instead like the Bruns have made a concerted effort of keep of investing in this player that they drafted keeping H long term like I don’t think this was a case where it’s like fre andc all right good luck man see you later like there was clearly like they wanted to retain him so how that broke down uh how it kind of went fell to the Wayside and again like didn’t have a good regular season but performed well in the playoffs maybe that changed the approach maybe the Bruins circled back at the end of the year again we’re just kind of going through potential scenarios here but I could see the Bruins checking back in at the end of the year being like hey strong into the year like we want to keep you here he’s like yeah you see the playoff I had how about seven like all right man like whatever right Called Agent [ __ ] it like you know like that could also just be the case where it does seem like this isn’t like all right like godspeed Jake like best of luck to you like you know we’ve only invested in your career for you know almost a decade now we we’ve kind of stuck with you like this is not a player that at that age what he provides how good he is you know as a two-way player now that you just let him walk like I think something must have just Fallen to the Wayside over the last couple of months or earlier this year that just seems like that it’s time just to move on like I just don’t think the Bruins are wanting to engage in a a prolonged bidding war when again there’s so many other things going on it’s the same thing like bzi last year like would the Bruins like to keep berzi yeah if like they did if they realize his Market was going to dry up maybe they would have stuck around but they didn’t have that luxury you have only so much cap space you had so many bargain contracts that are getting signed early on you couldn’t wait a few with the Bruins that regard the Bruins can’t wait until July 3D or fourth for de bruss to make his decision when there’s so many other guys that are gonna get signed 30 minutes into the St for Agency on July 1 absolutely and that that’s that’s a part that is going to be really telling for Don Sweeney in terms of where he’s at as a veteran GM been on the job now for nine years right I I got to be one of the longest 10year GMS currently active in the league I would imagine um does he does he you know show some patience some restraint uh when names and guys start flying off the board um or or do they strike first you know like like sometimes there will be a guy there will be a talented player who was unsigned by July let’s say July 3rd you know July 3rd July 4th there will be a guy still looking for work who’s a good player happens every year can the Bruins be that team that strikes or do they blow all their money right off the bat and and you know I go back to 2021 remember how excited we were in 2021 they had like 30 million in caps space we like oh my God they got 30 million this is great and they got role players they got role players and Lena Sark and you were like uh all right I guess that’s fine yeah and so I I just if I’m the Bruins I I would love it if they could exude a bit of patience you know don’t race to re to to sign Eric Holla and Tomas noek as good as they were uh for your team and Nick f you know like like have a little bit of patience but at the same time does the market allow them to do that that’s the other part of the equation we’ll see yeah absolutely we we’ll see if it’s gonna be July 1 gonna be like whatever it is no when it starts since 1201 it’s like they’re gonna sign Brenan Dame I’m like okay yeah like he hits a lot of guys but oh [ __ ] all right guys see I thought you were gonna say that’s going to be 11:59 a.m. and Twitter’s going to be like why haven’t they sign anybody like it’s going to be like that will happen that will happen as well didn’t like Twitter break didn’t Twitter break or like was super slow one day during frency it was some big NHL day where like I think most of Twitter didn’t care because it was like a big NHL day maybe it was the deadline that sounds right it was down or something like that that that that [ __ ] will probably like put his grilled cheese on like the on like the hard drive and fried the the servers or some stupid [ __ ] concerning [ __ ] like that but yeah exactly looking into this just mozzarella just in the CD ROM case it’s that it’s that it’s that YouTube video where he like there’s beans in the hard drive EX yeah exactly so uh hopefully it does not happen again hopefully he doesn’t put any uh grilled cheeses in the I say on the radiator to fill leotardo line but but uh Ty before we further delve into the rest of the forwards that are hitting the Open Market on the Bruins take another quick break here from my good friends over at game time tickets quick break to tell you about my good friends over at game time I am very excited about the NBA playoffs and what’s awesome is here in Boston Celtics fans make TD Garden the best atmosphere for a playoff game game time is an authorized ticket Marketplace at the NBA which makes playoff tickets even faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to the tip off with killer last minute deals 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minute tickets lowest price guaranteed now back to the show shout out once again to game time tickets our tis run through these last couple of potential or pending free agents um up front D Heinen is he staying or is he going I think he’s going um I I feel like he might have priced himself out like had a really good year he’s a guy that I’d love to keep around for less than 2 million I don’t think he’s going to be making that though I think he might make two and a half for three so if the price is right I bring them back but I just don’t know if they can get that right price because going back to the de brus comments like a discussion rather you know I I thought that you don’t sign him you got to sign two guys that make the same amount of money right one to address the PK another one to address sort of the netf front power play you know top six maneuverability um but I just don’t know if they again similar to what we’re talking about with like not blowing your money on role players I just wonder if the price point is a bit too high for him at this point I’d love him back I just don’t know like this Market might get him paid a little bit better than than maybe we think yeah exactly I think you know he obviously deserves a pay rise from what he was making he making peanuts this past year but like again if you sign him for one one you know one and a half million that’d be great but he’s worth more than that right like I feel like he’s going to get two and a half 275 three somewhere from some team and again like ideally like to keep him because he’s so good that he can play in the top six on the spot role he can be a great you know third line guy a fourth line guy ideally but I think you look at where the Bruins have to allocate the the money that they have um and you look at like that bottom six right now where you do have you know the brezos the beachers uh you know the Loos the geeky the Fredericks you know is Coyle in that mix this upcoming year if they get another Center uh you got ptra it does seem like they do have options in the bottom six where it’s like there’s not as much of a a major need there again you’d love to have Heinen like he does so many things well but not at two and a half three million right I feel like he could be and I’d rather him go to a place where he’s maybe a featured staple to the second or third line making three million off the year he had like dude had a rough off season and made the most of it all the credit to him but um I think he can go somewhere where he can actually carve out a pretty solid role and get paid a corly for the year he had yeah that’s where I land with it I just I I don’t know if it makes a ton of sense for the Bruins to allocate him a bunch of money like that and I also don’t know if there if there’s a scenario in which they do that and they don’t have buyers or Morse when he’s inevitably playing on the third or fourth line because he hasn’t scored in nine or 10 games because who he is and and so I think that that is sort of like I’m down to run it back with him it just the price has to make sense and as we get closer and closer to July 1 um I know David pagata from the fourth period had that report I want to say a week week and a half ago now that they were going to sit down and talk and nothing has really come out of that that tells me that the price point between the sides just is a the bridge a little bit too too uh too too vast there so I I don’t I don’t see them coming to terms before July 1 and maybe they Circle back on maybe he’s the guy that we were talking about on July 5th who was looking for work you know maybe that’s how they sign him exactly yeah so that that’s definitely someone worth keeping tabs on a useful player they’d love to have him but again just depends on what the overall contract is going to be so um we’ll see how that plays out there another guy hitting the market James Van reik veteran player performed pretty well pry kind of ran out of gas a little bit there um dealt with an illness that had him drop a whole bunch of weight at the worst possible timer for the playoffs um where do you where do you see him is he staying or is he going I think he’s going but I’m not a hard out on him um and I only say that because if you lose to brusk you’re going to need that net front guy right and before he you know got an alien inside of his body uh James Van reik was on Pace for 20 goals right and he was one of your better yeah that xenom more virus yeah yeah it the one from Spaceball that pops out and starts hello my baby hello my darling um it it it was it was a it was a rough ending to the year for him but if you look at how he was at the by week you felt pretty good about that signing so I’m not a hard out again it’s the money has to make sense but what’s his market like where could he go you know and if you’re going to lose Heinen who can play the left and the right side and if you’re going to lose de Brusque who can play the left and the right side but also plays on the power play netfront like jvr a guy who can play left hand right wing who’s a netfront guy it makes sense to keep him around it’s just a matter of can he make even less money could you give him you know he’s 35 could you give him that kind of contract where hey we’re going to pay you a base of 800,000 and then we’re gonna we’ll give you another you know we’ll give you a million bonuses if you can hit 20 goals like gives him something to work for right and it can can be a pay raise but if it’s not you feel better about it and so my only concern though he’s slow and and like he he’s slow and and watching this Florida and Edmonton series the game is so fast what what the game the pace at which the Bruins play feels almost alien you know compared to how the rest of the league has been moving speed wise so like most guys I’d bring him back but it’s a caveat and it’s got to be on your terms and affordable so but so right now I’m going to say he’s gone yeah I agree and again I think it just comes down to the overall fit you look at again perfect world you’d love to have him as a veteran pick up with not making a lot of money because again you put a guy with that net front capabilities in a spot to succeed he’ll probably produce right you can still get 15ish goals 30 points for a guy who’s not making a whole lot of money just depends on how the Brun is going to allocate the rest of that money and whether it’s just more of a identity shift that kind of augments how the Bruins change things like when when ne le came out was you know instead of every year it’s usually been got to get to the hard ice got to get bigger him like saying like speed is the big thing like is is a bit of a change from how they’ve approached things so if that’s going to be their all-in approach doesn’t seem like it’s it’s not just the the players themselves but the identity of the team that they’re trying to augment a little bit you look at how Florida skates you can kind of see why so I think I agree like ideally not ideally but a guy that you could have back for the right price but just doesn’t seem like um it makes a lot of sense right now so I agree I think he’s another guy that again going through this list a lot of these guys are not going to be back but I think we kind of more or less saw that coming but um I guess wrapping this one up in terms of another free agent Pat maroon yay or nay want him back or not I I want him back I I do and I think that when if you’re going to reintroduce Matthew ptra to this lineup next year I would like guy that if you even touch him you know he’s coming at you and I I I do believe that there’s something to be said for Pat maron’s influence in his locker room intangibles um I I think that he’s a cage Rattler right and I think at times this Bruins team this organization they need a guy who’s going to walk in and say hey no this is [ __ ] like wake up like you know what I’m saying and I think that guys like Pat maroon you know him being that guy it carries weight he’s a three-time Stanley Cup winner um he’s been through every scenario humanly imaginable at this point in his career and so I would like him back and and I think he does fit the model of their fourth line of having a big body who can win pucks along the walls along with two speedsters you know if your fourth line is is a combination of beer loo or boquist and Pat maroon like that’s that that checks that box and so I I I don’t think the Bruins got the best version of him at the same time with the back injury um so I just think it makes sense to bring him back like I would I would do it and because I think it’s G be low money he made 800,000 a year ago like yeah you know he loves it here um talking to him he was very he he loved being a bruan and he didn’t feel like he got the full experience of being a bruan um he didn’t get into a fight in his time here like and that seems so silly to say like that’s what he cares about like no but like you’re going to need that kind of guy at some point over an 82 Game season you just need those kind of guys and so I’d keep them around personally I think for for the low money factor and the leadership and tangibles all that yeah no I agree and again like we we just went through talking about uh uh James Van re iing he’s not very fast Pat Maron is also not very fast but when you look at the money and what he brings outside of it if he’s not going to be playing 80 games a year but he can chip in when needed add that physicality I think just the value outside of the off the ice is you know as you said a cage Rattler right like a guy that you know people are talking about Maroon in the playoffs like why isn’t he fighting Bennett him to be like hey idiots everyone get your [ __ ] [ __ ] together like he’s not gonna fight me like right it’s like you kind of need some of these guys either you know be candid with us use us to kind of send those messages out or anything like that and just being like listen we know how the [ __ ] game is played this is the rule this is what’s going on like I I think you see why he’s like you know a guy like that who’s really Frank and kind of control the room and has that winning kind of pedigree has value especially on a team that you know it’s still anchored by a guys who been here a while but I think having an outside presence who’s fought through many playoff runs um has the respect to the team and when you’ve got so many other young guys that are you know on this team that are carving out roles whether it’s ptra or beeer or lorai or some of these other players having someone else outside of the organization that’s not just marshand right um or Pono or Carlo or someone else like that I think there’s value to be had there and especially if he’s signing for 800,000 or what have you I think there’s a lot to like there again we’ll see how his back is that’s kind of the first thing Sweeney mentioned where I’m like uh you know we said they have to check how his health is so I’m like do they not like what the wild wrote on their on his medical report before they got him right I mean this is a guy that um as much as you kind of view his his career and where is now is like is he just like a physical Winger he was like on Pace for like 35 points I think last year for the wild for he got hurt like not say that he can be that but like he’s not a guy that if he plays 80 games he’s gonna have three goals and four assists and that’s kind of not his real value uh is is he gonna be a 30o guy no but he can give you 15 20 points if he’s healthy and engaged and winning Puck battles and doing those little things that may not look like much but they can lead to a secondary assist or a greasy goal or something like that so I do think he has value and yes for I think what the price is especially there’s ever a guy that you want a sign that goes against ne’s you know new approach in terms of speed it’s the three-time Stanley Cup winner who can beat the [ __ ] out of guys commands the room and and just adds a different element uh both on and especially off the ice so I think the brunes would like to have him back and I think it make a lot of sense considering just what the price tag is going to be yeah and that’s sort of the name of the game here but as you can tell between us going through every guy it’s like the money has to make sense so if the money’s going to make sense and you’re somewhat of a depressed asset in terms of your Market or your age whatever the case may be like I think your odds are coming back or greater and so that’s why you know I’m I’m out on guys like Heinen and de Brusque not because I don’t like them as players I think they have tremendous value as players but you don’t want to get bogged down paying premiums or what you May view as premiums when you have so many glaring needs elsewhere left shot d a high-end Center a scoring Wing somewhere in your top six I don’t care if it’s left side or right side you need another one like you can’t kind of pay for guys that may be at their very best on the third line while also paying them substantial money so like veteran guys like like Maroon like jvr like they just feel like they’re more fits for what they want because they’re going to be cheap right like like the Bruins are in that era of we got to get veteran Talent that’s cheap but still effective you know Tampa was great at this um Pittsburgh was great at this like like you got to bring in those kind of guys and so if you’re older and you you have some intangibles and you can be had for a million or less I like your odds of coming back greater than a hinen or de brusca feels like yeah no I do agree yeah and it’s something where again we we do look at does seem like a lot of these players are going to be um playing elsewhere but it’s all about finding where the money Works who one of the one or two guys that are worth investing in and again IDE like to have a guy like d Rusk it just doesn’t seem feasible so the onus now falls on Don Sweeny the Bruins to find other players to to kind of either replicate that production change the identity of what they’re looking for um and we’ll see how that kind of all plays out uh in the the weeks ahead but well like like real like like sorry like real quick like yeah so like when you have posto making 11 .5 right that’s what it is or is so you have make 11.5 you have MAA making 9.5 you’re going to have San making probably eight you know somewhere thereabouts like every time you sign a guy to one of those kind of contracts it it stresses the need to hit a home run with your $800,000 signing or your 900 your 1 million you know like that kind of threshold right there right and aias slen Holm in Vancouver we think rejected a contract for what seven million per year I think was the reporting I think so yeah so let’s assume he’s going to get eight let’s say the Bruins are that team that gives him eight now you have to find even more of those guys who make league minimum or up to $1 million and they got to be home runs and so that’s the part that the Bruins kind of have to nail and we’ll see if they can do that internally or externally uh but I think that’s going to be the name of the game like when they have these high-end sort of openings like you’re Bobber of the roster you got to have the young players or the cheap veterans that are just that are giving you value on value on value which you got a year ago now you got to see if you can either keep those guys or bring in new guys who can do the same thing it’s always that’s a difficult game really is yeah we’ll be fascinating to see how it all does kind of play out it’s not going to be easy again you look at how much cat the Bruins have but it’s not an easy game in terms of picking the right players balancing the books and also leaving some room maybe for the upcoming years as well to to build to this team it’s not it’s not really as fun as it is to now look at it you look at like the actual work that needs to be done from the Bruins it’s tough to find the right guys and where they do fit so and it’s also like that money can dry up quick like I I I think people kind of gotta be got to temper it a little bit if you make one big signing oh there goes half of that almost you know like that it’s it’s it’s not a ton of money like it’s enough to make a a good move here or there but you’re not getting getting three Superstars for this cap space like you’re just not doing it it’s one of those ones where even if let’s say they they free up omark’s contract and they have 26 million or what have you and you have like you know Bruin’s cap space who’s always on top of things like has the new updated number and it’s like 26.2 or something they sign allmark uh sway to an 8 million a year deal it does feel like different when all a sudden bumps down to 18 million you’re like oh yeah oh [ __ ] all it does drve quick oh you got Elias lindol oh you’re down to 9 million in cap space yeah 11 million in gap space like oh oh okay and then you break it down by opening you’re like oh you can spend two and a half million per opening oh that’s not great like it can happen quick man yeah so we will see how it all plays out uh Ty this was fun we’ll talk more about uh free agents and targets and all that stuff uh next week that are outside of the Bruins organization but um as we kind of get ready for what should actually be some thankfully tangible news in the next couple of weeks uh where can we find all your stuff related to the Boston Bruins uh you can find me on 8 Sports hub.com you can also find me on xor Ty Anderson and how about you yes you can find me over at uh boston.com in the Boston Globe we’ll have you covered every step of the way there this off season you can also follow me on Twitter X whatever it is at Conor r93 so this was episode uh 239 of poke the bear that’s a lot of a lot of episodes let’s keep it going wait wait till the episode 500 Extravaganza we have you and Evan on at the same time BL hell yeah talk about that’ll be like episode 500 so that’ll be like we’re one year into the Leon dry settle era and he’s like he only has 91 points and we’ll say he’s a bust or something like no we we get too far ahead of ourselves but anyway this is episode 239 of poke the bear I’m Conor ran that is Ty Anderson you fans have a great rest of your week [Music]

In this episode of Poke the Bear, Conor Ryan and Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub roll through all of Boston’s pending free agents and discuss whether or not they’re staying or going in this summer. That, and much more!

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