Best Team in the East?

Just in case you were wondering, the Bruins are still the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Wasn’t sure if you remembered.

There are a lot of people around who have been talking about how the New Jersey Devils are actually the team to beat in the East. Even the Devils themselves must have been thinking that they were destined to take over the number one spot.

That was until they faced the Bruins last Sunday.



Boston handed Marty Brodeur only his 2nd loss since his return to action on February 26, outscoring the Devils 4 to 1 and exposing holes in the Jersey defense.

For Boston it was a big morale boosting victory. For New Jersey, it was a segue to another key loss the following day to Philadelphia.

Boston has now stretched its lead over New Jersey to 5 points with only 9 games remaining. More importantly, the team finally has something to feel confident about. If you had taken a quick glance at the standings prior to last Sunday’s tilt, you would have noticed that over the prior ten game period, Boston was tied for having the worst record in the Conference.

Not exactly a confidence booster for the number one seed going into the playoffs.

Now the Bruins have close to a week to enjoy their big victory. They don’t play until the weekend when they’ll be taking on the Leafs on Saturday, and then the suddenly surging Flyers on Sunday. Yours truly will be play-by-play liveblogging that one at theScore.com; feel free to join me.

The break for Boston may be a blessing in disguise. Many of the team’s young guns, including Krejci, Wheeler and Lucic, have been slowed as of late as they continue to adjust to the hectic 82 game NHL schedule. The break also doesn’t hurt the team’s starting goaltender Tim Thomas, who has been known for showing signs of mental fatigue during the team's previous stretch runs.

Either way, Boston sent a message on Sunday and let everyone know that they won’t be just giving away the Conference lead.

If you want that number one seed, you’re going to have to come and get it.

Ryan D. MacIntyre
thejackass@hockeyjackass.com

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Too Much Honey in the B-Hive

To say that there has been a buzz around the Bruins this year would be a bit of an understatement. In case you haven’t heard, here are a few of the accomplishments to date:

•2nd most goals in the league
•3rd fewest goals against in the league
•6 of their players are in the top 10 of plus minus
•both goaltenders are in the top five in GAA and SV%
•the team boasts the best road record in the league
•and…..oh yeah, they lead the league in points.

Not too shabby.

Although all these are considered to be desirable qualities, none of them are as desirable as the problems that Bruins management will be facing this summer.

Boston has too much young talent and not enough cap space to sign it all.

As it stands right now, Boston has 16 players signed through next season and will have just over $17M in available cap space to fill out the rest of the roster (depending on Glen Murray’s case; long story). Given that the average team typically sports about 25 players on their active payroll, this would average out to $1.95M per player given the Bruins current situation.

While this doesn’t sound like a huge issue, the biggest thing working against them right now, are the exact points that were listed above. When a team has this strong of a year, the player values typically go through the roof.

Just ask the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bruins have a couple of super stars named Phil Kessel and Dave Krejci who have both had breakout seasons this year and are both RFA’s this summer. There are not many players in the league that can match Kessel’s speed and shot release and although he has been slowed as of late since his return from mononucleosis, other GM’s around the league are well aware of what this guy can do. As for Krejci, he has established himself as one of the great up and coming playmakers in the game and will only get better as he gets stronger. It would be fair to say that it could take a solid $11M of cap space to keep these guys on board for next season (assuming the contracts had reasonable terms).

Along with Kessel and Krejci, the Bruins also have a few other young guys to re-sign including two young puck moving defensemen in Matt Hunwick and Matt Lashoff, as well as hulking winger Byron Bitz. Fair to say that these guys could cost the Bruins a good $5M in cap space if they all were to sign reasonable second contracts.

Some quick math will tell you that this only leaves a million or two leftover to fill the other 4 roster spots. This leaves question marks around players like P.J. Axelsson and goaltenders Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez. The Bruins will need a veteran goalie to play in front of Tuukka Rask, but both Thomas and Fernandez may come in too expensive for the Bruins.

Moves will have to be made.

Things get even tighter when you consider the contracts that are expiring the following year: Milan Lucic, Blake Wheeler, Tuukka Rask, Vladimir Sobotka, and Petteri Nokelainen. Young star power, all looking to get the payday they deserve.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that there are going to be some serious names coming available in Beantown over the next two seasons. The big question will be whether the Bruins will keep them for the playoff runs and risk losing them for nothing, or will they try to realize their value on the trade market and re-stock their pool of prospects. Many of these decisions will be made for them based on the trade offers they receive.

The one thing that is for sure is that the list of untouchables in Boston is small. Aside from the Lucic’s, the Krejci’s and the Rask’s, pretty much any of these players could be had for the right price. There will be plenty of GM’s with sticky fingers waiting outside the hive to see what comes available.

Ryan D. MacIntyre
thejackass@hockeyjackass.com

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