Bruins Management End of Season Presser

Bruins Management End of Season Presser

good morning everybody um I’d like to get ahead of a few questions that I’m usually asked at our season ending press conference uh I’ll start with the chairman uh he’s not here today uh still very much involved with Boston Bruins and of course chairman of the National Hockey League um he send his regards um and and and is empowered myself and the three gentlemen to my left to run the day-to-day operation of the Boston Bruins and the roster I um want to also mention that the three gentlemen to my left have my complete confidence we have no expectation of personnel changes coming during this upcoming off season um I also would very much like to thank Jack Edwards for his 19 years of being the voice of the Boston Bruins it was Bittersweet U i’ very much High hold high in regard for Jack and what he’s done on behalf of the franchise and how he’s brought hockey to the fans of New England um and finally I’d like to thank all of our Associates here at the TD Garden and the Boston Bruins for their wonderful efforts in helping us celebrate the Boston Bruin Centennial season uh this was a massive undertaking uh involving everybody from the front office of myself all the way down to our summer interns um and I feel very proud of how we presented our brand here um not only in Boston but I believe that we have paved the way for those franchises uh those other franchises us-based franchises that will be turning a 100 years old in the months and years to come thank you I’m going to hand us over to cam thanks Charlie I I too want to Echo um how great the Centennial season went off as far as all the Aon nights um I want to thank the alumni for coming to back to Boston a lot of them traveled uh great distances to be here it’s exciting to see the alumni I know our current players really enjoyed the various alumni that came through Boston this year um I certainly want to thank our fans we have the best fans in the league and they bring it every night so good on them um and I know I do a really good job of hiding my emotions uh so uh I do want to say I’m a little disappointed still um that we’re not playing but I’m excited about the offseason excited about next season I think U we saw some area of growth from players that we didn’t expect to this year which is encouraging for us so like I said still a little disappointed we’re not playing but excited about next year Don thanks cam uh I think everybody knows I have twin boys so I kind of look at things as in in twos that way really appreciative of uh of the organization and uh everybody involved whether you know obviously Mr Jacobs cam Charlie uh all throughout the uh the year of how we went about to to to put on a centennial season and I get a chance to be around the players and how receptive they were to it handle a lot of going on behind the scenes um with a lot of change and I think our players uh with new leadership accepted those challenges embraced those challenges um and carried it forward on the ice for a very very productive rewarding uh season the Twin Side the evil twin side of me says with Cam sitting next that you know we’re we’re bitterly disappointed that we did not push this to the very least to a game seven um to extend that series to continue to challenge um for what our ultimate goal is and it’s to win at the most important time of the year uh we put together a team that was was uh was very very competitive the regular season um we fell short in the playoffs in some areas that certainly this summer we need to continue to address uh again I’m proud of the leadership it was a bit of a passing of the torch for our players and and I’m excited for for the core group of guys uh as they continue to move forward and carry this franchise forward um I would say um I’m very grateful to be part of the Boston Bruins because of the three gentlemen to my right their leadership their vision and their commitment to Excellence which allows the communication not only with them but the players um I think which makes being part of the Bruin special uh when I look at the season I Echo all the sentiments that they’ve made um and what excites me about the potential of next year is the growth and um the experience that one our captain Brad maron’s going to have to grow as a captain um because he made it his team and having all summer to build relationships with his core leaders um I think is going to only make us better and he will um continue to grow in that capacity um the many players that establish themselves as core pieces and or becoming Bruins and the potential growth that they have within their roles and their individual growth to help the Bruins be better and the opportunity ahead of us thank you guys we’ll now open for questions again I ask that you wait for the wireless mic state your name and affiliation and who your question is directed toward scoring was an issue uh off and on all season and it really kind of sunk you in the in the playoff series against the the the Panthers uh how do you plan on going about addressing that do you target sentiment do you target Wings what what’s your approach there um you’re right it reared its head at the most inopportune time that we we weren’t able to finish in in in quality chances um and and in some cases guys that that that generally do finish in quality uh situations of that nature um I think at the onset of the Season you know what I tried to to to to communicate with the staff was I felt that our group would score enough goals during the course of the season I didn’t think we’d be dominant um offensively based on the the players that had uh exited our franchise um and retired and moved on um but we sort of set set thresholds that that we knew we needed to meet and I thought with guys coming in and providing the secondary offense we did a really good job during the regular season now did it manifest itself in the playoffs and our in our power play certainly in the Florida series uh went too dorment at at at important times and moments yeah and and we need to fix and address that um whether that’s Personnel um systematically you know these guys work hard every day to try and find the nuances that will shift that um um the margins are small they just are I mean the final three games of the series were 32 two1 one two so you know at the end of the day the other team’s having difficulty to score you know as as teams move through the playoffs things tighten up you have to find a way we didn’t get inside quite enough and rebound situations um that we might have been able to take advantage of so there are some things that we need to address um and and I need to address uh from a standpoint of free agency Andor grow internal growth I think Coyle zacha a bunch of guys were were able to step forward um and they were cast as a little bit of Misfits in that in that regard we didn’t see it in that way and I think they step forward and several other guys did too we have to compliment I have to be able to find some players that can come in and uh and and provide secondary scoring for us um you know at Key opportune times Jim McBride Boston Globe cam this is for you you mentioned production from some players that you weren’t expecting and wondering if you can be more specific and are you talking about the rookies there yeah um in particular I mean uh I don’t think we expected Mason L to step in and play as many games as he did same with Johnny beer came in and stole a job at camp we weren’t expecting him to to take a job at Camp so that was a good surprise for us so those two in particular I was thinking about go ahead Kevin dupon Boston Globe cam I look at these last the four teams now we in the Conference Finals it looks to me like they’re faster and they play harder I’m wondering if you agree with that if you do how how does that get addressed well Don and I have had a lot of conversation since uh since the season’s ended and certainly we talk every day during the season we talk about how how we want our team to play um a lot of its Personnel obviously you know this game is fast uh we’re not as fast as we’ like to be um some of that had to do with last off season what what we were were really kind of kind of hamstrung into into trying to accomplish and I think Don and and our Pro Staff did a really good job last off season and built a team that competed the way they did but there’s areas where you know we still need to improve that and we’re going to address that this offseason for sure um but yeah we need to get a little faster and we got a I like to see a little bit more um 50/50 Puck battle wins um and that’s an area where it’s just uh you know you have to want the puck more than the other team ay Boston Sports Journal this questions for Don um obviously you’re going to have a lot more cap space uh this summer can you just talk about the potential that that provides and also maybe some of the priorities as far as you know using that cap space and and utilizing it to go get some players yeah we are in a situation where we can uh we can look to add to our our our Core group of guys uh and that includes also some of the younger guys as cam mentioned I think Matty poer is another one that we’re going to hopefully come back as he’s healthy next year and see what uh what he’s capable of doing moving forward he has to come back in an Earnest spot like all of our young players and and even incumbent return e players um and how much they can push the group internally but we we’re going to be aggressive you know to be able to complement uh what we currently have in some areas um you know our team played hard um you know to Kevin’s point of whether or not we can play faster or whether or not we can find players that will uh you know create more anxiety in the forche and some of the situations that uh you know certain you look at the teams that are still playing they do a really good job of that and and pockets of time we did um otherwise we wouldn’t have still been playing you know the teams that are still playing are are are damn good they’ve earned the right to be there and we didn’t um it’s hard to get in it’s hard to continue to win but I’ve got to find the players that that compliment our current group and push us forward again if you’d like to ask a question please signal for the wireless mic Don or Cam whoever wants to answer this um a lot of change on the roster this year and I’m just wondering um if you can speak to to Jim’s ability to to mold new guys as well as younger players to the existing roster and make it work yeah I I mean Jimmy’s a strong strong Communicator so when you’re adding the players that we did and coming in and uh having a new captain I think it’s one of the strengths of his his uh his coaching ability to unite players of that sort you know to clearly identify the areas that that we’re looking for our group to uh to carry forward you know if that’s Puck possession if that’s uh the ability to generate you know ability to break out and can keep hammering home on those those uh ideals and structure playing within structure I think that’s a really fundamental part of what we try to do as an organization is bring players in here that fit into that but can push us forward and in several instances you know Kevin shaton Kirk you know for all the right reasons we we brought in our power play went dormant for a little bit he steps in that role he steps up in a uh as our players acknowledged you know in a leadership fashion in a game seven before a game seven to talk about his experiences and and jvr and Danton Hein and playing roles that uh you know Monty gave him confidence to play in um but it’s also allowing the younger players to hopefully um feel like they’re not boxed out they get opportunity they make a team they might have some setbacks and communication is a big part of the the the readdressing those needs and Johnny beer went through that this year and uh you know again it’s the strength of our staff overall and Jimmy leads that to to to clearly identify where the roles are and where our needs are as a group and uh I think communication is a big part of that Don Matt votor Mass Live Jeremy talked a lot during the season about how the arbitration process affected him he said after the season he thought that uh that you guys were on a pretty good path toward a uh a long-term contract can you speak to where that process is and how much of is that a priority to to get him locked up long term especially after the postseason the well it’s clearly a priority and Jeremy knows I’ve told him this he took us to arbitration just just for clarity sake um and again that part of it no different than Trent Frederick and being there and being able to settle sometimes those things happen in the course of business and and uh it’s it’s not an indication of whether or not we didn’t believe in Jeremy San whether or not we don’t think he’s a big part of our future we clearly engaged in conversation during the regular season to to find a longer term extension we haven’t gotten there yet it’s a priority now it’ll continue to be a priority until we we get that across the Finish Line he’s a big part of our our our current team in the run that he went on in the playoffs and our future and and you know our goal tending is arguably one of the best tandems in the in the National Hockey League and uh and they proved it during the you know the course of this season they put us in a situation most Knights to have an opportunity to win um and you know but but the priority will be you know to to to find a landing spot with Jeremy uh Mick kajio rank rep blog uh this is kind of Donnie slash Jim um Charlie McAvoy uh is kind of a targeted player in the playoffs by teams trying to be uh over the line physical on him and try to disrupt the Bruins Breakout by breaking him down uh how do you see lowai really played well at times with him and I’m wondering if you feel like you found his partner going forward uh somebody that you have you identified Lura as that guy are you thinking more a physical player to play with Charlie because that’s went that way at the end of the series um just wondering what your thoughts are what kind of partner Charlie functions best with and because it seems at times like you know he gets drawn into trying to be Scott Stevens and Scott neem which as you know as a defenseman Donny is very very difficult to do yeah I think that uh you know part of your question Charlie McAvoy wanting to be be and having the ability to be Scott neem and Scott um Stevens is why he’s so valuable and so talented and that’s why I think he can mix and match with a lot of people um you know as far as who’s going to be his partner next year I think it’s a little premature to be looking at that whether it’s lowai lyol you know those things will work itself out you know once the roster is more complete coming towards training camp we’ll have a better idea I mean I can follow up with that I mean I played a long time with Raymond the other team targeted Ray Bor every goddamn night like let’s be honest that’s what happens you know in the playoffs they they know what key components of other rosters are and they’re going to try and attack them um and that’s an opportunity for other players to you know to either step forward and and uh but Charlie Embraces that opportunity to to play against best players and and to you to hopefully stare it down um and that that’s a continued Evolution pasta faces you know arguably the hardest matchups that he’s gonna he’s gonna place that’s what the playoffs are and we’re trying to do the exact same thing on the other side of it you know in Tonto’s case we we we persevered and against Florida we fell short um and you know that’s why we’re not playing and we need to continue to do a better job in that regard this is for both Cam and Don Ty Anderson 95 the sports subub uh Lena hmark has made it pretty clear that he loves being here and if he has his say he wants to stay here uh Is it feasible is it realistic to have potentially 12 mil 13 mil in goal tending given the needs and the aggressiveness that you’ve talked about displaying at other positions this summer well I appreciate you negotiating for Jeremy in terms of doing the math reverse engineering of math um but again those things will take care of themselves no conversation I’m going to have you know with a player uh in terms of what we’re trying to do until we we have to have a conversation is really going to get public and I hope you all respect that because ultimately that’s that’s what a player as a former player I would hope would happen we’re going to find a landing spot with Jeremy San and and if we can make the math work we’re going to have the best hand them if we can’t we’re going to explore or Andor lenus you know may come to us and change his mind that may they may that may occur as well right now he’s really happy we were very happy to sign lenus and and in a perfect world we would we would keep the tandem because I think it’s it’s damn good um but we’re going to explore opportunities I my phone’s going to ring I’m going to make calls that’s just what the job requires and you know fortunately at at times unfortunately things start to leak out that’s your job you guys do a hell of a job of of figuring those things out or piecing together some guys are really wrong but but it doesn’t stop you from from throwing it out there and that’s okay it it’s good for the business overall it’s good for hockey in terms of drawing you know attention and eyes to it so I understand it Sophia yich nesson this question is for Don Sweeney we asked about the leadership and the role that Brad marshan had in his first year as Captain a lot this season so I’m just curious about your take he himself admitted that it was a lot more responsibility than you know he thought at the at the beginning and uh felt pleased with his first year how did you feel Brad did as a captain in the first year and did you notice anyone else emerge as that co- Captain Brad uh Patrice had Brad Chara had Patrice did you notice other players emerging into those leadership roles thank you I mean everybody knows Brad’s personality he’s going to going to look to embrace everything and shoulder everything he possibly can I think you know Cam and I Jimmy we all tried to have conversations with Brad and saying you know you’re not doing this alone in any way shape or form you know you’re anointed as our leader he sets the tone in practice every day everything is is sort of Amplified with Brad which is such a positive attribute of his um he had resources to be able to tap into you know with Patrice and and other leaders that he’s learned from um but he has to be his own person and he had to navigate that on his own to some degree um but we had a lot of good conversations about you know or he would ask you know just in terms of more tone of things and what direction you know he ultimately wanted to take his team now he’s got he’s not doing it alone and and David and and Charlie and other people we have a leadership group Brandon Carlo like we have a leadership group that does a hell of a job to support those efforts and publicly they’ve acknowledged that the culture in that room is an extension obviously what’s was formerly created but it’s it’s continued and other players that are coming in if you you know Pat maroon speaking glowingly of of walking into that room and being welcome Andrew Peak being welcome uh shaten Kirk standing up in the game seven and feeling empowered to be able to make that it wasn’t just Brad making that speech that’s indicative of of a guy who’s growing into leadership you know not feeling like he has to suffocate the room that it’s an extension of what he’s trying to accomplish as a leader himself uh flu ocean out the athletic um one for Don and one for Jim first uh logistically can you go to arbitration again with Jeremy again this summer y you can okay I I don’t plan on it but again he might file and that that’s how that’s how the system works but yeah could the answer to the question is yes okay uh just in general about the the goalie trade market um you don’t see number ones being moved that often but when they do the return is not commensurate to a high-end skater um why is that generally around the league that President usually says that the return Isn’t So good for a number one goal I mean I would disagree I I I think that golender trade hands you know in a draft scenario I think it went for nine overall one year so it’s really about what the market you know other teams need what the market will bear ultimately it comes down to supply and demand what another team wants and what you might have ultimately that generally shapes the trade market there there isn’t a lot of of goenda exchange so it’s a small sample size to begin with but you know arguably they change and and and uh what other teams need will set set the return and then one for Jim you had mentioned um before game seven speaking to Mike Babcock what has that relationship been like for you just how helpful that has been that he was able to to lend you uh support before that Toronto game seven yeah I mean it’s to me it’s not only Mike Babcock I remember calling before game five calling Harry cinden um who I you know I communicate with quite free frequently because of you know how much the Bruins mean how much he means to the Bruins history um you know and whether it’s um Scotty Bowman or it’s Craig buuy like I like to reach out to a lot of different people because there might be something they say that really connects or jars me that will allow me to be better and hence the team to grow um I think is you know it’s something that will help the Bruins um and that’s why I make those phone calls because in when you’re just communicating with someone that has been through it all and has seen it all I think a lot of times you forget because they’re not in the moment you are in the moment and when you’re in the moment sometimes it’s hard to see outside of the box and they help you see outside of the box Kevin DuPont from the globe uh first for Donnie and then Charlie uh don just housekeeping stuff here of the free agents have you told any of them that you’re you’re just moving on um I’ve had conversations with all of our uh impending free agents uh giving them an indication of where we’re leading but we haven’t made any uh any final concrete decisions um just telling them you know we have upcoming meetings that we have to go through and uh and put the jigsaw puzzle together as we see it and and how aggressive we’re going to be um but I’ve I’ve indicated some players the likely Direction but not nothing definitive okay and also anybody had of her surgery uh no thankfully at this time we we don’t have anybody have some follow-up stuff that uh a couple players need but we don’t have anybody uh on the docket okay Cam you you perked up like you’re having surgery no eventually uh Charlie a couple I I want to make sure I didn’t miss an important Nuance here when you talked about your dad you said lack of a better word here the the four of you are empowered to make decisions is that any change because that’s how I’ve always understood it no I just wanted to get ahead of any potential questions uh regarding that it seems to be when we have an end of season presser there’s always that question I just wanted to get ahead of it no change and also in the in the vein of no change you’ve had five straight years here of first or second round Knockouts you’re not making any Personnel changes so so from your perspective what changes it well I would well hold on there there was a change we let go of our coach uh and we have a new one sitting here this is there unfortunately a a second exit a little further this year than last year but we have had change Kevin I understand I’m not sure I understand could could you specify straight Chang you say it’s status quo going into this season I’m asking what what get you beyond first and second well I would leave that up to the gentleman the three to my left uh I wanted to as I mentioned in my opening remarks they have my utmost confidence I feel like we haven’t necessarily found our ceiling yet in terms of the opportunity of this team um I believe in them to find that ceiling and hence I they have my confidence and therefore no change I don’t foresee a change in these Personnel for this upcoming season any personel well I can’t speak for the people that report to cam and Don uh or Monty for that matter but no not from where I said so I’ll follow up there uh Jim from your perspective any changes coaching staff um again we haven’t finished all of our revision of last year but that as it stands right now um you know there is no imminent changes in our mind hily Benjamin nhl.com uh Don I just wanted to check in on two players um Jake debrus expressed some disappointment at nothing being able to be figured out yet contract wise do you see a path forward with Jake again negotiation is a two-way street um we’ve we took an aggressive position with with Jake um no different than other players that have chosen not to sign um and explore that’s that’s his within his right certainly at this time of the year do I see a path yeah there’s a path and I told him that at our exits that you know he’s been a big part of our group he elevated in the playoffs um and I I would prefer to have Jake Rusk on our team um but he has some some opportunity in front of him that that he may pursue otherwise so I don’t have a clear answer for you today but you know I know the position we’ve taken um we feel very very comfortable but you know it didn’t get it to the Finish Line either and then just on Brad he has one more year uh what kind of a priority would it be to um start talking to him in July yeah we we we’re GNA get to Brad um you know he’s learning patience as a captain as well so you know maybe he has to learn that there’s some ducks in a row as he advocates in terms of adding to our group and how his excited he was to add to that that those guys don’t have contracts that I’m going to add and eventually he’ll extend here and uh remain a you know in my opinion a lifelong Brewing because that’s what he should do um but we we’ll check that box appropriately as well Scott mlav and Wei this is for Jim after game six you said it was too early to reflect on any changes you would have liked to have made uh now a little bit removed are there changes you wish you had made whether playoffs or or even during the season um I felt you know throughout the year uh when we had or faced adversity because the outcomes weren’t what we would like I do think we made changes that made us better um I think if you look at you know the expected goals for halfway through the year the end of the year expected goals against halfway through the year the end of the year they’re really indicative of you know if your team’s progressing or not and we did press in both those areas so offensively and defensively we felt as a group uh that our team identity changed and that was you know the communication I talk about that comes you know from these gentlemen here to my right but also from the leadership Corp to me and the staff you know identifying how we can get better and I think we did a lot of that I think if you look within the series too both series we continue to get better within the series um so would I say we would do anything different well maybe we could have made those things that we recognized that allowed us to get better to do at a game earlier um you know but at the same time things come and you you don’t want to make changes just to make changes uh that sometimes is um a lack of patience and a lack of belief in what you’re trying to do and how you’re doing it um so that’s a long-winded question to say that we’re really happy with a lot of what we did and we have to continue to get better whether it’s creating offense or creating more turnovers defensively especially in the offensive and neutral zone not so much the defensive Zone those are things we’re going to continue to look at uh Mark Capello 98.5 The Sports Hub I guess this would be for cam Donnie or Monty the last couple years or last few years you guys have real problems winning home games you had a problem this year with Florida lost three of the four games why is that it’s really hard to say to be honest with you I mean I think across the League this year in playoffs maybe the home team is might maybe under 500 um so I don’t know if it’s particularly a Bruins issue but it’s something that we certainly want to talk about this offseason because when you get into this building as a player you know it’s going to be cranking um in our fans like I said earlier brought it every night and it’s something where I think you know when you’re at home as a player you really want to perform well and and you probably put a little bit too much pressure on yourself as opposed to on the road you know you just go out and play the game so that’s that’s just as a from a player’s perspective I think maybe sometimes you put a little too much pressure on yourself to perform your best at home Joe Hagerty Boston Sports Journal is for Cam and Donnie uh 72 any many the ice penalties uh during the playoffs just wondering your thoughts and view on that was it all sort of circumstantial game situation type stuff or was there something that you know needs to be improved going into next year well I mean seven is a lot there’s no question you got to kill off 14 minutes of penalties that you shouldn’t be taking I mean one or two you can you can understand but there’s clearly some miscommunication whether it’s uh you know players not not uh prepared to jump or jumping too early guys coming to the bench and then and then not and then not getting on the bench uh I think there was one in particular where Brandon came out of the penalty box so I think a defenseman thought it was his change because Brandon was a defenseman but I think it was a forward that needed to go so there’s there’s different there’s different reasons for it to happen but seven is way too many to have happen there’s no question about it U mck clao rink RP blog for Jim uh the faceoff game um post berser on post CR obviously was going to be somewhat of a challenge especially those left-handed dzone draws in that rightwing CLE Circle uh you guys won some a lot of games getting outshot you won a lot of games getting out uh one on the faceoff Dot and I’m wondering from your uh angle how you perceive all of that uh as far as what you did to mitigate it is that more important than whether or not you’re good in those particular stats um I you know the shot clock ever since I started uh being a head coach is something that I never uh put much emphasis on um you know if you’re not generating enough scoring chances or giving up too many scoring chances that’s where we really get concerned um you know and at times in a playoffs we weren’t generating enough scoring chances um and that’s the concerning part and where we tried to continue to get better throughout a series uh when it comes to faceoffs in particular I think that when you lose the that we lost that took so many important face offs I think that um you know um the one defense the other centerman that we lost too they were all over 53% um no sick and with and they were all old they all had many years in the league faceoffs you continue if you watch like a Crosby’s first three years you look at his face off percentage last three years it’s a learned art and I only expect our group to continue to get better at the tricks of the trade of how to win faceoffs how to communicate better with the people that are on the ice with you to understand where the for a lack of but this is the term we use is when a face when a center’s taking a draw against a certain otherhand at face off there’s a spray that’s going to go whether you win or lose and being able to communicate those guys to anticipate a little bit more is somewhere where we need to continue to grow as a team and win or lose be able to create possession off a win or a loss more often than we did this year is part of our team growth for next year for Don and Jim Pat maroon has won three Stanley Cups but he said his time here he put it high on his hockey resume do you see a path forward for a guy like that and Jim how much did he affect your team in the short time that he was here go yeah go um I think Pat was really instrumental for that second voice or third voice especially on the bench especially uh in moments um and I I think I’ve talked about and other players talked about it you know in the face of adversity um he had a lot of um has a lot of special qualities that give confidence to players um that we can or we will add attitude um you know so he was important in a lot of facets um to our team yeah I mean the intention obviously was to bring on uh you know winning experience in key moments and a voice of of reason that uh he’s able to calm things down he does uh despite the the role and and his ability to uh to diffuse some things um health will be probably the Paramount thing that uh that we factor in um you know with Pat mov anybody else all right well thanks again to everyone for attending uh our department will be in touch in the coming days with some key offseason dates and upcoming availabilities I wish everyone a great day and the rest of your week thanks again [Music]

Bruins management talks with the media as the ’23-’24 Bruins season comes to a close.