Danton Heinen is the only free agent whom Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney is admittedly treating on a front-burner basis. Having talked with Heinen’s agent about re-signing the versatile winger, Sweeney noted when meeting the media in advance of the weekend’s NHL Draft in Las Vegas that there are no guarantees Heinen won’t join Jake DeBrusk on the open market starting Monday at noon eastern.
The rest of last season’s veteran newcomers signed to one-year contracts, James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shattenkirk (and deadline acquisition Pat Maroon) have been advised that the Bruins will be standing down at least until the dust settles.
Sphere on Day 2 of the NHL Draft Saturday in Las Vegas. Photo by Me
If the DeBrusk conflict factored in Bruce Cassidy’s 2022 dismissal, then it adds up to a four-point loss. His playoff stats have been held up as justification for keeping him as an “own rental,” but the far more important matter is the Bruins’ need to close the gap between themselves and the last two Stanley Cup champions where it concerns aggression on the forecheck and the long-lost ability to sustain offensive pressure, wear down opponents and, dare we suggest, make defensemen look over both shoulders on their puck retrievals.
In this regard, it would have made more sense to identify an opportunity to cash in DeBrusk for a player who would at least trend the forecheck in a rougher direction.
Jakub Lauko, ironically one of Boston’s better forwards on puck-hunting expeditions, but his was traded during the fourth round of the draft to the Minnesota Wild in a swap of draft picks that positioned Sweeney to draft defenseman Elliott Groenewold.
Over the past two postseasons, the Bruins have given us glimpses of their 2011 brand of hockey, but limitations thereof are a personnel matter. It’s not an indictment of any single player but a true reflection of what they lack enough of in their lineup.
Mark Kastelic, a NHL player acquired in the Linus Ullmark deal (along with first-round draft pick Dean Letourneau), is meant to be a positive step in that direction. Along with a handsome faceoff pct. in his young career, the 6-foot-3 center is familiar with the penalty box.
One question about Bet-On-Line setting the Bruins as the most-likely destination for Leon Draisaitl should the Edmonton Oilers trade him (as opposed to letting him enter the final year of his contract unsigned): Now that Ullmark cannot be at the center of such a deal, what exactly do the Bruins have that would compel the Oilers to send the German centerman to Boston?
We know Sweeney is not trading David Pastrnak, the Bruins (contrary to some opinions out there) cannot live without Charlie McAvoy, the 25th pick in the draft would not have cut that mustard, and the Bruins missed the window on sweetening any deal with Jake DeBrusk, who is going to the open market (if DeBrusk wants his dad Louie reporting live on him for Oilers’ television, all he has to do is sign on July 1).
I guess this is another way of saying that the Bruins are a great NHL organization in that they are greater than the sum of their parts. It also means that they don’t have the assets to go through the front door of the high-end shopping. The Bruins have four elite NHL players: Pastrnak, McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman and Brad Marchand. All four were homegrown draft picks.
One thing you’ll never read in this space: commentary on how the Bruins are going to replace Player-X’s statistical production.
As the Florida Panthers have proven, winning is not about aggregate statistics, it’s about foundational roster structure (in their case, Sasha Barkov and Sam Bennett in the 1-2 center positions) and a boatload of any-team essentials.
These would include but not be limited to intangibles such as teamwide grit and determination, an all-for-one/one-for-all battle ethic, goaltending (Bobrovsky), rigid, two-way defense (Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Brandon Montour), depth (Anton Lundell and Kevin Stenlund in the 3-4 center slots), and forwards who can put the biscuit in the basket when situationally needed (Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodriguez).
The Panthers were, like the 1967-72 (and 1976-79 and 2007-14) Boston Bruins, 1973-78 Philadelphia Flyers, the 1993-2003 New Jersey Devils, and the 2011-14 Los Angeles Kings, unlikeable for rival fans because of how they claimed the gray areas of the game for themselves, how they put their foot down, planted and challenged the opposition, how they rally in battle, how they took zero crap, how they could enter your crease but you can’t enter theirs, how they won the 50-50 pucks that mattered in the scope of four, seven-game series.
Are the 2024-25 Boston Bruins getting near that brand of hockey?
Upon the NHL Draft and the start of free agency, this is probably an apropos time to revisit the break-up-day comments made in Columbus by former Bruin Sean Kuraly, who was asked on breakup day to speak about his winning experience with the Bruins earlier in his career.
“It’s like a machine. It’s hard to start and it’s hard to stop,” said Kuraly, now 31. “No matter who’s coming in and who’s going out, it takes a helluva lot of work to get it going and build it, and it takes … less to keep it going than it does to start it. And that’s what they’ve got there, and that’s, as an organization, where you’re looking to go. And how do you start that is one piece at a time, and a little progress, so that’s what we’ve got to, we’ve got a ton of work in front of us, there’s no secret there. The results, the consistent results, come from consistent actions and … it can look amazing and … a miracle from the outside. But if you’re in those walls on a daily basis, it’s just one foot in front of the other. But each day you’ve got to take a step. So I think that we’re going to have to work to build. We’ve got a long way to go, there’s no secret there. And that’s where we want to go. You want to be a consistent playoff team, and we can say that all day – that’s hot air – so we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Alas, there is also work to be done in Boston.
Rink Rap with Mick Colageo 