Season Outlook: Boston Bruins Grading

[Derrick - Senators]

To gear up for the start of the season I thought it'd be neat to let everyone voice their opinions on the teams around the league. (point out strengths, weaknesses, etc.) The original "Draft Pairings" were good, but I don't feel like one single person should be the say all that ends all deciding a final "grade" for a team. This way, all angles can be discussed and an ongoing discussion can be formed. I'll put up a new thread for a different team each day until the start of the season. Next up, the Boston Bruins. Be sure to not forget about the teams listed in the previous days. Just because a new team is up does not mean the other team threads should die.

Roster


Center

Eric Staal**
Olli Jokinen
Craig Conroy
Saku Koivu

Left Wing

Erik Cole
Marco Sturm
Tomas Holmstrom
Andrew Brunette


Right Wing

Steve Bernier*
Radim Vrbata
Petr Sykora
Mark Recchi

Defensemen

Joni Pitkanen*
Marc-Andre Bergeron
Dan Hamhuis*
Steve McCarthy

Goaltenders

Kari Lehtonen*
Antero Niittymaki**
Robert Esche


Injured Reserve[/b]

Ed Belfour[/color]



Farm Team

Jonathan Toews*
Benoit Pouilot*
Carey Price*
Ryan Getzlaf*
Josh Harding*
Shea Weber*
Dion Phaneuf*
Brent Seabrook*
Alexander Radulov*
Nathan Horton*
Patrick O'Sullivan*
Robert Nilsson*
Michael Grabner*
Antoine Vermette*
Guillaume Latendresse*
Patrik Berglund*
Ivan Vishnevski*
Thomas Greiss*
Anton Babchuk*

[Andrew]

Centers: Impressive. Staal and Jokinen are fantastic, both top 5 centers I would say. Craig Conroy has been sort of forgotten, since his stats were about as impressive and consistent as the streaky Frolov and injury prone Demitra, but more often than not he'll pick up an assist or something. Same with Koivu, he's your standard top line center if healthy and would be simple enough to sub in if he hit a hot streak.

Left Wingers: Good. Cole should be good for 85 or so points this season, a handful of those being goals. Sturm could do about the same although I can't see that happening myself.. he's really the 3rd player on that line and might be excluded from some of the scoring IMO (see Knuble, Steen, Ekman). Holmstrom's crap, but could net some PPP I suspect and Brunette could play some top line ice time, but is still a fantasy team's standard 4th LW.

Rigth Wingers: Laughable. Sorry. All four RWs are 2nd line material, and rightfully so. Bernier is a gamble for this season, or a good keeper selection.. depends how you look at that. Vrbata: Overrated in my opinion. Sykora: Playing with Stoll and Torres or Pisani? I simply wouldn't get excited over Sykora at all at this point in his career. Recchi: Well, I'll give you that.. I think he could still be fantasy worthy, but all in all I think you're seriously hurting.

Defense: Average at best. Pitkanen is a solid defenseman at his age, fantastic number one D. Bergeron has a high upside as well I would say, which I suspect he should reach. Hamhuis and McCarthy.. eugh. Borderline FA material. McCarthy will be given opportunities, but I doubt he'll make good use of them and Hamhuis won't be given much opportunity, and should put up mediocre numbers. If there were a "surprise appearance" by an unnamed young farm defenseman, the D could actually be looking alright.

Goaltending: Adequate. Lehtonen's a keeper pick, and one I try to avoid. Injury prone and on a team in the middle of the pack that offers no defensive support. His youth is his selling point (well, talent as well) but this isn't his time to shine. Can't go wrong having two Philly goalies, they should do great whichever gets the starting job. But uh.. kind of seems like a waste of a roster spot having both, something that I imagine would change once Philly makes up their mind.

Farm: Insane. Toews, Getzlaf, Harding, Phaneuf, Radulov, Horton, Nilsson.. are you kidding me?! That's ridiculous. Team has unbelieveable depth, and if we're keeping farm teams then Boston's certainly got an edge there. On the other hand, and of these guys with RW eligibility (too lazy to look up but that could include Radulov, Horton, and Getzlaf if I recall correctly) could be called up during the season to help out in that department.


Overall Grade: Average (or B if that's what you prefer)

The top centers are great, but the offense on this team quickly drops out after that. Cole is a stud, but after him Pitkanen could honestly be catching up to his other forwards point-wise, no joke. His goaltenders won't hold him back, as Philly is always a winning team, and Lehtonen's save% is above average.. but in a 12 team league, it's on the weak side for this year in my opinion. Right now, I would put this team lower than a B (sorry) but with plenty of potential to improve with that wicked farm. In a year or two, the rest of the league could be in tears up against this team.

[Derrick - Senators]

Not a complete grading, but random opinions id like voice no less.

The Centers on the squad are more than solid, horton and o'sullivan accenting the starters. Staal and jokinen are no brainers. Koivu will be solid as well playing top line on a (apparently) very underrated montreal team. Conroy might see a bit of a fall off with kopitar and o'sullivan hanging around.

Left Wing isnt really that much of a concern. despite what others have said, i expect marco sturm to have a huge year. He will be the star of this squad, not cole...who i see having a significant drop off from last years "projected" numbers. Brunette should be a good 3rd LW playing with sakic on a hurting colorado squad. they will be the focal point of offense. Holmstrom seems to have been regulated to his grinder role down on the 3rd line once again with kopecky, franzen, and hudler all playing well.

Right Wing is weak, but could be servicable enough. Malkin + rechhi can only mean good things right? problem is...there isnt a malkin...
bernier is the best of the bunch. hes a lock for the second line RW with marleau centering. the same marleau who puts up 80-90 points.

Defense is borderline solid. phaneuf will obviously be called up to solidify the bunch. pitkanen, when healthy, is good for 60+. with pronger gone...its bergeron time in edmonton. they dont have a choice. which brings us to mccarthy, the best kept secret in boston (much like some of thsoe ottawa boys) is the key to this D. after being traded from vancouver last season he slides into the role of slidding pucks to hossa and kovalchuk on the pp. 10 pts in 16 games with atlanta last year...

Goalies Lehtonen has the quickest reflexes in the nhl, bar none. however, there are questions about his health, but a franchise goalie no less. The philly situation isnt always grand, but good for wins if nothing else. i personally feel niitty owns esche. As far as belfour is concerned, i dont see auld having that job on lock down. streaky play...injury, hello mr belfour.

*also note* josh harding + manny fernandez time share in minnesota

Farm Team i dont even know what to say, one of the top three in the league.

[Mark - Bruins]

Yeah, I know my RW's aren't that great. Most of the guys I have I picked up as sleeper picks, thus they are expendable. However, I think Recchi has a solid chance to do well with Malkin. Afterall, he did get almost 60 points in just over 60 games on Pittsburgh last year without playing on Crosby's line. I'm hoping that yahoo finally gives Horton RW eligibility. Radulov is my only other RW who might get time this year.

I agree my goalies aren't the best, but they should be servicable enough. Lehtonen will have growing pains, but I think he'll have more ups than downs. Like Derrick said, Philly's goalies should be at the least good for W's. Belfour does have the ability to be streaky (I mean that in a good way, I think). Also, I think Harding might see around 20 starts this season.

As for that "surprise appearance by an unnamed young farm defenseman," I'm sure Shea Weber will see some time this year