Tag: Mark Stone

Not Good Enough.

With regular 60 point scorer, Mark Stone on the move to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Boston Bruins laid another Trade Deadline egg yesterday afternoon.

Having been in the conversation to acquire Stone for upwards of two weeks, Donny Sweeney couldn’t get it done….again. Much like Hossa and Kovalchuk from 2008-2011 (that was Chiarelli but still, John Tavares, and Kovalchuk again this past summer. Most reported the Bruins were pushing hard for the Superstar Winger. Stone was unable to negotiate a contract extension with the Senators, which made him available to contenders.

Once again Donny failed. This might be criminal case of failure. How do you have an aging Bergeron, Marchand, Chara, Rask, and Krejci on your team, and not put all your resources you possibly could into maximizing their window? Instead they trade for Marcus Johansson who is simply not good enough. I shouldn’t be surprised, this is the Bruins “MO”. You’ll always find the Bruins associated with the biggest available trade targets, or Free Agents. They never have the balls to pull the trigger. This team had a chance to be something special, had Sweeney invested future assets. He was a afraid to trade a First Round Pick, because last year he pissed one away on the corpse of Rick Nash. Mark Stone is 26. They would be all sorts of dangerous adding a 60 point winger in his prime, but instead they add two guys who combine for 55. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Marcus Johansson is a pretty crafty player, loads of skill especially with the puck on his stick. More of a pass first player, I would think he’d be on the second line with Krejci and DeBrusk. Problem with MoJo is he took a cheap shot from Brad Marchand just last season:

The guy hasn’t been the same since, not many would be after taking that Bush League shot. We’ll see how he contributes, but I don’t think he and Coyle is enough to match Tampa. Not even close. The Bruins just don’t have the stones (no pun intended) to maximize their ever slimming Stanley Cup window. People will say, “They didn’t mortgage their future!”. To that I say, there is no fucking future. This is it, the next 2-4 years is about as long as Bruins fans can expect to compete with the aging roster. One more bonafide stud, and they woulda been a real threat. Instead, we’ll have to pray they go in some magical run with a string of upsets.

B’s take on San Jose today at TD Garden, where MoJo will make his Bruins debut. Put up or shut up time with just over a month left.

Bruins Aquire Center, Charlie Coyle from Minnesota.

In the midst of a Six game winning streak, the Boston Bruins added depth to their lineup by trading for Minnesota Wild Center, Charlie Coyle. In return, Minnesota received Ryan Donato and a 5th round draft pick. This is a solid trade for both sides. Donato really hit snag toward the end of last season, which he looked to be a sure fire fit in the Top 6. This year saw Ryan struggle mightily, traveling between Boston and Providence for most of the year.

Needless to say he was struggling. Barely amassing 12 points in 18 AHL games for a guy who is labeled as a goal scorer is fucking bad. Watching him play you can tell he has a wicked shot. Problem is he doesn’t have the hockey IQ, toughness, and willingness to get to quality scoring areas. Most of his shots come from around the perimeter. I still think he could do with finishing this season in the AHL and playing a full season down there next year. Sure seems like his development has been rushed. There is still hope for him, but a good amount of time in Iowa (Minnesota’s AHL affiliate) will be needed. Who knows, maybe they plug him in right away in Minny? Can see that happening too, and in typical Bruins fashion he becomes an All Star like Seguin, Kessel, and Blake Wheeler.

As for Charlie Coyle? Not a bad addition for the Bruins by any means. He is a solid player, who can play up and down the lineup. He play Center or Wing. I do think he has been brought here to be a Third Line Center, which is one of two massive holes in the Bruins forward group.

Charlie is good for anywhere between 35-50 points a year, which will bring much needed depth to the Bruins lineup. Hopefully, Coyle has been brought in to solidify the Third Line, and NOT to be the scoring Winger the Second Line needs. We’ll see, but Don Sweeney had this to say:

Fingers crossed they are still trying to pry Mark Stone from Ottawa. They certainly aren’t going to say out loud if they are, but this is worrisome. Monday is the NHL trade deadline, which will see a plethora of moves made by Playoff contenders. I would like to think the Bruins know they need one more piece, and I can’t think of a more perfect piece than Mark Stone.

I fucking hope so. In terms of the On-Ice stuff, the Bruins continued their winning ways with a 3-2 Shootout win over Vegas last night. It’s their 7th win in a row, which has propelled them to second in the Atlantic Division. Some of the struggling youngsters such as, Debrusk, Heinen, and Peter Cehlarik are coming alive. Next matchup is Saturday in St. Louis, who have won 11 straight. Can’t wait.