Boston Bruins Season Preview

If you're a hockey fan or pretty much New England sports fan you know that the Bruins season last year was a complete dumpster fire, there were very few high points for the B's. After the season they fired Peter Chiarelli and brought in Don Sweeney which I don't think the fan base as a whole was completely sold on. A lot of people think that Cam Neely will still be pulling the strings when it comes to most things. So now comes the draft, Sweeney trades Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames, a move that turned the head of every hockey fan out there. Who in the WORLD gets rid of a young stud defenseman that hasn't hit his prime yet? It turned out that Dougie wasn't happy in Boston and didn't want to play there. So in retrospect, while I would love to have Hamilton on the Bruins, if a guy doesn't want to be on a team or in a city, that's gonna hurt their odds of winning. The compensation in the long run wasn't completely unbearable either, the B's walked away with the 15th overall pick and two second rounders.

So next during the draft, Sweeney traded away Milan Lucic. I wasn't happy about this at all but i'd be lying if I told you I didn't see it coming. The writing was on the walls in my eyes ever since the infamous Montreal handshake line. Lucic was one of my favorite players on the Bruins since the day he came in. He played a great style of hockey that seemed to fit the Bruins system in my opinion. But you can't deny the fact that Lucic's play had dramatically decreased. He also only had a year left on his contract and most likely wasn't going to resign with the Bruins anyways so it was a great move by Sweeney getting something in return for him. I was actually pretty excited about what the B's got in return for Looch.

Colin Miller was the stand out to me in the trade. He's a young defenseman that has a mean slapshot and has some god damn wheels. I'm not sure if he will crack the roster right away but I think he'll end up being a stand out Bruins defenseman (if Peter Chiarelli was here, he would trade him right when he got nasty) but hopefully that won't happen and he'll be a leader on the team in the coming years. This was a super underrated part of the trade. The Bruins also got back up goaltender Martin Jones who they then sent to the San Jose Sharks for a 2016 first round pick which is a good move.

I'm gonna go ahead and say this was my favorite move of the off season by Sweeney, he traded Reilly Smith to the Florida Panthers for hometown boy Jimmy Hayes. God, I hated Reilly Smith. He was such an overrated loser. Jimmy Hayes is a guy that really wants to be in Boston (obviously since he's from Boston). He's not going to be a 1st line all star but he will be a HUGE asset on the 3rd line and anyone that thinks otherwise is an idiot and can suck brick. 

The addition of Matt Beleskey in the off season was also incredible. It came totally out of the blue to me, he was the most highly touted free agent this off season and with that being the case I did not expect the Bruins to go out and get him, but they sure enough did. The Bruins signed him for less than everyone expected him to go for which was another huge bonus. He also is pumped to be in Boston and to be apart of the organization. Beleskey had a solid season in Anaheim posting 32pts in 65 games so hopefully he can increase that number and add an edge for the black and gold.

To say I'm excited to see Pasta play this season is a HUGE understatement. He had a great pre season and I can't imagine he'll slow down as long as he stays healthy. Look for Pasta to be a contender for the Maurice Rocket Richard trophy. 

My biggest worry is how weak the Bruins d-corps are. Dennis Seidenberg is out due to surgery, Chara is hurt and old as well, so that means the Bruins are going to have to rely on a lot of young guys. Torey Krug is going to have to really step us as a young guy and I have faith that he can do it. My hope is that the Bruins will somehow make a move for a top 2 d-man. It sure would be nice to have Johnny Boychuk right now huh?

Here are my line predictions,
Marchand- Bergergon- Eriksson
Beleskey- Krejci- Pastrnak (This will be the best line in the NHL)
Hayes- Spooner- Connolly
Kelly- Kemppainen- Rinaldo

Krug- McQuaid
Morrow- Miller
Irwin- Trotman

Rask/ Gustavsson