We Remain On Taylor Hall Watch & B's Signed RW Craig Smith To A 3-Yr Deal For $9.3 Million Dollars

 

    If the first two days of NHL free agency are any indication, it's going to be a very quiet off-season for the Bruins unless they make some legitimate trades. At least they did something notable today rather than just watching one of their best players (defenseman Torey Krug who got an extra large bag full of money in St. Louis) leave for way more money on a team that's just as good if not better than them. Unless you are a Predators fan, you are the rare person that plays fantasy hockey (you should, it's a blast!) or maybe you like college hockey, you are excused if you've never heard of Craig Smith before now. Boston fans will get familiar with him soon enough as the veteran right wing signed a three-year contract worth $9.3 million dollars.

    He was never a star in Nashville but when you look at his career stats-all nine seasons were with the Predators-you can start to understand why B's GM Don Sweeney targeted him once he hit the market. We all saw in the bubble how overly-reliant Boston had become on the power play leaving their 5-on-5 play to be described as rough at best. The 31-year-old Smith has scored 162 career goals in the NHL and 120 of them came when it was even strength and 42 of them were on the power play. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy doesn't have to decide his lineup anytime soon but you figure that Smith would fit well on the third line at right wing with Charlie Coyle at center and who knows at left wing (Anders Bjork?). 

    Smith has scored 20+ five times with a career-high of 25 in 2017-18. He's not just a goal-scorer either since he has also registered 168 career assists. He has notched 20+ assists four times including a career-high 28 in his rookie year (2011-12). His career plus/minus is plus-67 which is very solid with seven consecutive positive plus/minus seasons in a row including his best ever (plus-20) in 2017-18. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, he lived the life of a hometown hero as he played at the University of Wisconsin before getting drafted in the fourth round (98th overall) by Nashville in 2009. Under Sweeney, the Bruins have a great track record of finding the right college hockey alums who tend to be mature and dependable beyond their years (Krug, Charlie McAvoy, Coyle, Sean Kuraly, Matt Grzelcyk, etc.). 

    The Smith news dropped before noon today giving the B's plenty more time to make a bigger move, except they didn't. At Sweeney's press conference, he was asked about the two best free agents who still remain unsigned: defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and left wing Taylor Hall. Sweeney basically said that he hasn't talked to the former Blues' camp so he is not coming to the black and gold. However, Sweeney's Harvard businessman side came out in full force when he vaguely referred to Hall without saying his name but implying that they're working on it. Okay! I'm not saying that it's going to happen and honestly, Smith is a fine player but man these last few days have been mostly a wet fart for the Bruins. Oh and did I mention that Cap Friendly-the best NHL salary cap website-projects Boston to have $12.295 million dollars worth of cap space even after Smith's deal? Here's an idea Don, USE IT!

On The First Day Of Free Agency, Torey Krug Cashes In With Huge 7-Year Deal From St. Louis

 

    Whenever the 2021 NHL regular season begins (tentatively scheduled to be sometime around January 1), it will be so strange to see Torey Krug in a Blues jersey. NHL free agency opened this afternoon and the former Bruin scored by far the most lucrative deal of the day: seven years and a whopping $45.5 million dollars from St. Louis-the team that memorably had beaten Boston in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals in seven games culminating in that brutal Game 7 at TD Garden. Double ouch. As much as it sucks to see Krug leave the Bruins, I doubt there will be many fans that will blame him for getting out of town especially since it felt like a foregone conclusion. He goes from one of the best teams in the league to another top contender and got paid handsomely in the process, what's so wrong with that? 

    Torey grew up in Michigan and went to Michigan State but he became an honorary Bostonian the last few years as he morphed from an undrafted free agent into one of the top offensive defenseman in the league. Apparently, B's GM Don Sweeney did not make a final offer after Krug rejected their joke one last year so what else could Torey do for himself, his wife and his young daughter? I'm just happy that he didn't return home to play for the dreadful Red Wings who are years away from being relevant again. Krug is listed at 5-foot-9 but he's probably an inch or two shorter than that. Along with becoming a much more dependable defenseman in his own zone, Krug worked diligently over the years to sculpt his body into getting as strong as it could be. He's been short his entire life but he hasn't let that define him; rather, his hard work and effort helped transform his game into a skilled skater, passer and shooter. He's ultra-competitive too and winning obviously is very important to him as well.

    His career arc has been especially unique since he only had played in three NHL regular season games (two in 2012 and one the following year) before he quickly became a household name as the Bruins reached the 2013 Stanley Cup Final vs. Chicago. In 75 career playoff games with Boston, he piled up 11 goals and 41 assists which included six power-play goals and 31 power-play assists. In many ways, he was a new wave type of defenseman: the power play/offensive specialist. Through seven full seasons with the Black and Gold, he never had less than 39 points and if it wasn't for the pandemic, he would have reached 50+ points for the fourth straight season. His career-high in goals was 14 which he reached twice (2013-14 and 2017-18), his career-high in assists was 47 (in 2018-2019) and his most points was 59 (in 2017-18). He was also remarkably durable for someone his size since he played at least 64 games in every regular season (other than 61 in the pandemic-shortened campaign).

    Personally, it's a shame that Krug never won a Cup with the Bruins because he had two chances but Boston lost to a fantastic Blackhawks club then choked epically vs. the Blues as we all unfortunately remember. He became a force by 2019 with 18 points (2 goals, 16 assists) in 24 playoff games. His vicious hit against new teammate Robert Thomas (not the lousy Matchbox 20 singer) was a signature moment from that Blues series that would be an all-time play if the B's had won the series. He didn't fight much but when he did, he also had some instant classics in that area that you wouldn't necessarily expect. 

    Boston was eerily quiet today in free agency, their only move thus far has been re-signing injury-plagued defenseman Kevan Miller to a one-year contract worth $1.25 million dollars. Sweeney's annual free agency press conference that was scheduled for this afternoon was pushed back to tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. With perhaps the two other top free agents still available-defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (former Blue) and winger Taylor Hall (rumored to be targeted by the Bruins)-we can only hope that the B's simply needed a little more time to try to get either of those great players to sign on the dotted line. Krug is 29 so I understand why Sweeney did not want to commit for seven more years at such a high price. Still, it would be a real shame if they basically stand pat and don't at least try to improve a roster that is solid but as the champion Lightning showed in the bubble, not nearly good enough to win a Cup at the moment.

    Thanks for all the wonderful memories Torey, you represented yourself very well for your entire Bruins career. You were always an extremely easy guy to root for and you will be missed around here for all that you did both on and off the ice with the B's. Good luck with the Blues (puke). 

Soul-Crushing Losses In the NHL Playoffs? It's Called (Boston) Bruins

There will never be a more wide open path to the Stanley Cup than the one laid out for the Bruins in the 2019 NHL playoffs. The Lightning, Capitals and Penguins all went down in the first round which meant that after they survived a seven game first round series vs. Toronto for the second year in a row, they got Columbus in the second round and they eliminated them in six rugged contests before sweeping the overmatched Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals. Meeting up with the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final on paper seemed like a dream: this after all was a team that was in last place for the entire NHL on January 3. They were here for a reason but with home ice and a wealth of experience on their side, the B's surely would find a way to get their seventh Cup in franchise history and first since 2011, rectifying 2013's loss to the loaded Blackhawks in 2013.

The 2019 Stanley Cup Final is a perfect example of why we love sports: the team that nobody believed in all year (Blues) actually got the job done. Tonight at TD Garden in the first ever Game 7 of the SCF on home ice for the B's, they fell flat on their Black and Gold faces. St. Louis never trailed, scoring two goals in the first period before choking the life out of the Bruins en route to a shockingly easy 4-1 victory that clinched their first Cup in their team's long-tortured history (52 years). This series was unpredictable from start to finish so it was only right that the final chapter followed that same unpredictable route. Boston went 1-3 at the Garden vs. St. Louis, including three straight losses to close it out where they scored a grand total of four goals.

Boston had the top-ranked power play in the playoffs which is great but you can't always rely on that, especially in a Game 7 where only one penalty was called all night (delay of game on Colton Parayko in the first period). St. Louis was the better team 5-on-5 and their top defensemen (Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo and even ancient Jay Bouwmeester) completely shut down the Bruins' so-called perfection line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. Who knows if Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington will ever turn into a star but he just set an NHL record for most wins (all 16 in the postseason) by a rookie so it's tough to knock that. Center Ryan O'Reilly earned the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) with 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) which tied for the league lead in the postseason and the most points in the SCF (5 goals, 4 assists). Equally impressive, he helped make Bergeron (who has to be battling some type of injury given his ineffectiveness) turn invisible vs. the Blues. O'Reilly capped off his tour de force with the opening goal in Game 7 and an assist on the final tally which gave St. Louis an insurmountable 4-0 lead late in the third period.

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (16 saves) was a shoe-in for the Conn Smythe if he teammates hadn't choked this all away in the biggest moment. He deserved better as he was brilliant and it's tough to dump much on him this evening despite the fact that St. Louis scored on exactly half of its shots on goal (4) in the first. In front of its loudest crowd of the postseason (who paid undoubtedly the highest price ever for a sporting event in Boston), the Bruins came out on fire, outshooting the Blues 12-4 but they had nothing to show for it. Binnington robbed Marchand, he made a nice save on David Krejci's backhander and finally had a spectacular stop on Marcus Johansson. In soccer, they talk about goals that come against the run of play and that's precisely what the Blues got when O'Reilly tipped in Bouwmeester's shot from the point at 16:47 of the first period. Pietrangelo had the second assist (his team-high 16th) on O'Reilly's goal that extended the former Sabre's point streak to six games (5 goals, 4 assists) and that gave him 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in his last eight games.

For the most part, this was a low-scoring series aside from Boston's random offensive explosions in Game 3 (7-2) and Game 6 (5-1) at Enterprise Center. Still, 1-0 in the first period doesn't feel insurmountable. However, the Blues going up 2-0 with 7.9 seconds left in the frame was the definition of a backbreaker. For some unknown reason, Marchand decided to come off for a line change which left Pietrangelo all the time and space that he could ever dream of. The All-World Canadian and Blues captain beat Rask with a backhander for his third goal of the postseason, assisted by Jaden Schwartz who had done absolutely nothing all series. Going into the first intermission down 2-0 instead of the 1-0 it should have been (not to mention tied or even ahead) had to eat away at Boston's fragile confidence.

Boston showed that the pressure was truly getting to them in the second period as they played one of their worst stanzas of the entire season let alone the postseason. They outshot St. Louis 11-6 but there were no Grade A chances and Binnington hardly had to break a sweat. The Blues have to be one of the toughest teams in the NHL to play from behind against too because they love to just continually dump the puck in your end, make you chase it then continually pound you against the glass. The Bruins seemed flummoxed as to how to solve this problem. The team played nervy and you can't blame the fans for being equally on edge.

Comparing comebacks from other sports is silly but we had to cling to memories of the Patriots 28-3 Super Bowl comeback vs. the Falcons as if that meant anything for the B's. They huffed and puffed but could never gain any semblance of control in the game as Binnington extinguished all hope with a brilliant save on Sean Kuraly early in the third period. Brayden Schenn's one-timer at 11:25 made it 3-0 as the first wave of Bruins fans headed for the exits (who could do that after dropping so much money?). Vladimir Tarasenko and Schwartz had the assists on Schenn's fifth goal of the postseason. Salem, MA native and BC alum Zach Sanford had the honor of putting the last nail in Boston's coffin when he scored on a similar one-timer at 15:22. His first goal of the playoffs was assisted by David Perron and O'Reilly. The only thing that prevented Binnington from a joke shutout was Matt Grzelcyk's goal with an extra skater at 17:50 that cut it to 4-1 Blues. He returned to action after being out with a concussion since Game 2. David Krejci had the lone assist on the Charlestown native and BU alum's fourth goal of the postseason.

Earlier this week, Marchand talked about how that 2013 loss to Chicago still haunts him to this day and he already admitted in this postgame that this was the worst loss of his career, a sentiment echoed by another guy that's been a Bruin for a long time (Krejci). The toughest part to swallow from all of this is that St. Louis isn't a super team like the Blackhawks were in 2013. Unfortunately, I feel like in a few years, we'll look back at this Blues team as one of those fluky NHL clubs that somehow finds its way to a Cup that then proceeds to fall off a cliff never to be heard from again. Teams change every year in professional sports so undoubtedly at least one or two Bruins that we like probably won't be on the team next season. Sadly, it also is unlikely that the nucleus of Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Zdeno Chara and Rask that has been so productive in Black and Gold will ever capture another Cup, at least all together. This was their chance to really put a stamp on the franchise and the NHL as a whole. 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final looks a hell of a lot better than 1-2 and frankly 2011 seems like a lifetime ago. The Cup is the hardest trophy to win in professional sports but I have a feeling that this will always be remembered by the Bruins and their fans as the painful one that they left sitting on the table.

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With A Huge Boost By The Refs, The Blues Beat the Bruins 2-1 In Game 5 to Take a 3-2 Series Lead

There is nothing that puts me to sleep faster than complaining about referees or officials in any sport, at any level (kids, high school, college, pros, etc). It is the low-hanging fruit that any slob can grab onto when their favorite team (God forbid!) loses a game. With that said, when you see something like the clown show that transpired in Game 5 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final between the Bruins and Blues tonight at TD Garden, it would be a disservice not to at least mention what actually happened. St. Louis held on for a 2-1 win and took a 3-2 series lead thanks to a no-call (midway through the 3rd period) that Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy termed "egregious."

Wouldn't you know that turned out to be the game-winning goal as the B's finally got on the board late in the third down 2-0 but they ran out of time and ultimately paid the price for going 0-for-3 on the power play and wasting 38 other shots that were stopped (some barely) by Blues rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington. It is truly a shame that a tilt with such high stakes and that featured a ton of thrilling action between the hits, saves and top-notch plays on both sides had to be decided by a garbage goal by David Perron (who else?) that shouldn't have counted after Tyler Bozak tripped/slew-footed Noel Acciari right onto his head in Boston's defensive zone.

This also wasted a Herculean effort by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara who broke his jaw on Monday in Game 4 at St. Louis. Being the cyborg that he is, some dental work at the Enterprise Center followed by surgery between games allowed him to play 16:42 this evening. Cassidy dressed seven defensemen (Steven Kampfer made his first appearance of the SCF) and sat David Backes for the first time since the Columbus series. As was the case for much of this series thus far, the B's couldn't muster nearly enough scoring chances 5-on-5 and now that their power play isn't going 4-for-4 (like in Game 3) every night, they are shit out of luck and making Binnington look way better than he is, juicy rebounds and all.

The first period was one big wasted opportunity for the Bruins as the crowd naturally went bananas every time that Chara was shown on the Jumbotron and Boston came out on fire, outshooting St. Louis 17-8. Tuukka Rask (19 saves) wasn't tested nearly as much as Binnington in the opening stanza nor the entire contest but he made some big saves when he had to. Brad Marchand continues to be mostly invisible as the best he could was take a shot that deflected off the crossbar. Like a prize fighter that takes an opposition's best body blows then counter-punches their way to victory, the Blues followed the same recipe for their second win in a row (the 1st team to do that in this SCF).

Ryan O'Reilly has been a force on faceoffs all series (19-9, 68% tonight) but his offensive output has really picked up with a pair of goals in Game 4 followed by the opening tally in Game 5. BC's Zach Sanford has gone from a healthy scratch for most of the playoffs to a key contributor to St. Louis who squeezes all the offense that it can get from a team of many plumbers and few skilled laborers. Sanford won a puck battle behind Boston's net and backhanded a nifty pass out front to O'Reilly who swung around Rask and finished a backhander of his own 55 seconds into the second period. His sixth goal of the postseason extended his point-streak to four games (3 goals, 3 assists) while also giving him nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in his last six games. Alex Pietrangelo (who played 27:55) had the other assist-his team-leading 14th of the postseason-on O'Reilly's goal.

Boston outshot St. Louis 8-6 in the second but it was played at much more of a Blues pace as they basically are grinding the Bruins into dust before our very own eyes. The only real scoring chance for the B's was a great one by Marcus Johansson: he found himself wide open in front of Binnington but his backhander missed the net. Ironically given how the third period and game-winner played out, the Blues almost bagged what would have been another super controversial goal. With time winding down in the frame, goon Oskar Sundqvist held Torey Krug's arm which led to Pietrangelo having a lane to the net with Rask down and out of position trying to anticipate the shot. Major props to David Krejci who's done very little in the SCF but he pulled a Michael Ryder from the 2011 first round series vs. Montreal as he blocked a shot with his body that would have gone in.

Down 1-0 heading into the third, Bruins fans were understandably nervous since their team did very little to inspire confidence in them that they would figure out a way to cobble together some offense. Boston finished with 65 shot attempts (15 blocked, 11 missed net) which is an absurd sum when it only results in one measly goal. As you can probably guess even if you didn't see a second of the game, they were clearly squeezing their sticks too tight and not burying the looks that they normally would. Charlie McAvoy had a 2-on-1 but he missed the net, earlier on that same shift he had bumped into teammate Jake DeBrusk. Colton Parayko had a shot hit the post and Rask kept his team in it with a big save on Ivan Barbashev.

There is deflating (the Patriots have no idea what you're talking about) and then there's seeing such an obvious penalty go uncalled and then directly lead to a soul-crushing goal. Perron's seventh goal of the postseason was assisted by O'Reilly and the main offender-Bozak. There was a delay after the goal as plenty of water bottles and rally towels were thrown onto the ice. I'll never condone that type of idiocy but imagine paying hundreds of dollars to see that group blindness by some of the supposed best referees and linesmen in the league?

This being the Bruins, they couldn't just go quietly into the night. Nope, they were required by law to make it interesting with Jake DeBrusk's one-timer at 13:32 from Torey Krug (who got a high-stick in the face and Boston was about to go on another power play). DeBrusk's goal was only his fourth of the postseason and you can tell how much he and Krejci have been struggling that they were the line to lose a forward (Backes) in the lineup shuffle. St. Louis could have put this to bed earlier as Rask made a game-saving stop on Vladimir Tarasenko and after DeBrusk's goal, Perron had a breakaway but missed the net. After it took a couple tries, Rask was able to eventually get pulled for an extra skater and Cassidy used his timeout but Boston couldn't take advantage of multiple faceoffs in St. Louis' defensive zone with time running out.

So here we are: another Game 6 with the Black and Gold facing elimination (see 1st round at Toronto) this postseason. On the other end, St. Louis is bidding for their first Stanley Cup in 52 years of forgettable existence. Gee, do you think that you'll be tuning in on Sunday night (8, NBC)? Even through all of their success with this strong nucleus of players (Chara, Bergeron, Marchand, Rask, Krejci, etc.), I've always said that the Bruins will often find the most difficult path to get something done. Why should this campaign be any different? I have no idea what will happen in Game 6 but would it surprise you at all if the B's found a way to win to send it back to Boston for an epic Game 7 on Wednesday? Of course, before we start worrying and/or daydreaming about that scenario, they have to take care of business on the road in what should be a crazy environment of its own. All I ask is that whatever result happens on Sunday that the refs stay out of the spotlight and fade to the background where they belong. This is not the NBA, I never want to be focusing this much on them in the Stanley Cup Final.

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It Is Time to Give St. Louis Much More Respect, Because They are One of the NHL's Top Teams

The playoffs are a different story but for now at least, you can reasonably conclude that the Blues (21-11-4) are one of the best teams in the NHL. St. Louis came to Boston for the second night of a back-to-back (they choked away a 3-goal lead in a 4-3 loss in Philly) and they impressively beat the Bruins (19-10-4) 2-0 at TD Garden. It was Boston's first regulation loss since December 7 (3-2 vs. Nashville) and it cost them a chance at first place in the Atlantic Division after Montreal (20-13-3) lost 2-1 to Minnesota. Still, the B's are only one point back of the Habs with a game in hand. Who would have predicted that after their respective starts?

Goaltender Jake Allen made 32 saves for his fifth shutout of the season (tying him with Corey Crawford for the league lead) and 10th of his NHL career. Budding superstar right wing Vladimir Tarasenko tied Dallas' Jamie Benn for the NHL lead with his 22nd goal of the season and rookie Robby Fabbri added the insurance tally.

This was the first time that Boston was blanked in 2015-16 so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it was also the first instance where they didn't have a single power play. When you have the top-ranked power play in the NHL, not giving them at least one chance figures to be an issue. Additionally, they didn't crash the net with their typical fervor, meaning that Allen's shutout could not have been the hardest one of his life.

It was 0-0 after the first period and the only power play of the game occurred late in the second period when Brett Connolly stuck his leg own and tripped a Blues player. St. Louis' power play couldn't take advantage and it was 0-0 after two. There were some chances in that frame as Alexander Steen had hit the post, the Blues bungled a 2-on-1 and Allen stuffed Marchand's backhander following a juicy rebound.

Tyler Randell and Ryan Reaves had a heavyweight bout early in the third that got the crowd into it. A defensive breakdown by Boston led to a breakaway for Tarasenko at 7:35 and the MVP candidate did what he does. Magnus Paajarvi and David Backes (USA, USA, USA!) had the assists. Fabbri's goal at 12:50 was an absolute snipe over Tuukka Rask's (27 saves) shoulder. Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester had the helpers on Fabbri's seventh goal of the season. Truthfully there was nothing that Rask could have done better on either tally, they were simply outstanding plays by talented players.

The B's used their timeout with 2:38 left in regulation and they pulled Rask shortly after that but it wasn't to be. St. Louis earned a big two points that propelled them to second-place in the stacked Central Division and second-place in the Western Conference. The entire NHL is off for the next three days and Boston returns with a back-to-back on Saturday (7, NESN) vs. Buffalo (14-16-4) and Sunday (5, NESN) at Ottawa (17-12-5). It is surprising but they have yet to play either of those Atlantic Division foes so far this campaign, which makes those two particular games mighty important in the old Eastern Conference standings.

Happy Holidays everybody!

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