Are the Bruins building their team for the playoffs? | Pucks with Haggs - video Dailymotion

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Joe Haggerty opens up the Hagg Bag mailbag for a Pucks with Haggs mailbag edition where he answers your burning questions.  Haggs dives into the Boston Bruins' strategic moves in preparation for the playoffs, shedding light on standout prospects from the recent development camp like Dean Letourneau, Oscar Jellyk, and Elliott Groenewold. Hagerty discusses the team's shift towards prioritizing playoff effectiveness over regular-season performance, leading to decisions like Danton Heinen's departure.  With a focus on enhancing scoring depth and chemistry, particularly Elias Lindholm's potential partnership with David Pastrnak, the Bruins are gearing up for postseason success. Stay tuned as we explore how the Bruins are building a roster tailored for playoff competitiveness and the future prospects like Dean Letourneau shaping the team's path to the Stanley Cup Final.  How do the additions of Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm prepare the Bruins for the playoffs? Would they be able to make it past the tougher teams like Florida?  0:00 - Intro 3:27 - Oscar Jellvik's performance at camp 6:32 - Matt Poitras' healthy return 9:02 - Bruins' playoff strategy 10:43 - Players moving on from Bruins 12:22 - Importance of physical players 14:28 - Bringing in intimidating force 19:24 - Scoring depth for playoffs 21:37 - Upgrading at trade deadline 23:20 - Offensive potential of players 27:49 - Matt Poitras' faceoff development 32:00 - Future prospects 35:11 - Determined mindset in games 37:27 - Importance of not giving up 39:01 - Developing a killer instinct    Prize Picks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS  Gametime! Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply. Go to https://gametime.co !  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.  For the CLNS award winning Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, College hoops, NBA History, go here to featured channels- https://www.youtube.com/

Transcript

00:00Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast, powered by PrizePix, the exclusive

00:10daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.

00:14This is the 105th episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast.

00:17Thanks for joining us.

00:18I'm your host, Joe Hagerty.

00:19You can find my work at joehagerty.substack.com.

00:22Also I write columns on the Boston Bruins for Boston Sports Journal, so go to bostonsportsjournal.com

00:28and check that out as well.

00:32As I said, this is the 105th episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast.

00:34It's going to be a mailbag episode today.

00:37We're going to answer some of your questions that you've sent in.

00:39All right, let's get into the mailbag.

00:43Not a ton at this point to really go over.

00:48Development camp finished.

00:50Solid development camp for the Boston Bruins this past week at Warrior Ice Arena.

00:54Well attended.

00:55Lots of kids there, which is always great.

00:57Lots of families.

00:59Lots of Bruins prospects.

01:01It was a wide array.

01:04Dean Latorno was there, an 18-year-old kid, fresh out of prep high school in Canada and

01:11going to Boston College next year.

01:12I think it was a bit of an eye-opening experience for him going against older players, going

01:17against men, in some cases 23, 24-year-olds, guys that were AHL veterans.

01:24But he held his own.

01:26He had some skill plays.

01:27He showed he can use that 6'7 body for puck protection and puck possession.

01:33He showed a really good shot as far as I was concerned.

01:36Some people had said he wasn't a Tage Thompson type because his shot's not that strong.

01:42I saw a very strong shot.

01:44That might have been the best part of his game that I consistently saw through the entire

01:48week was his ability to one-time pucks, his ability to get shots off quickly, and his

01:53ability to hit places on the net where he was going to score and do it with a lot of

02:00velocity and a lot of snap coming off his stick.

02:04I liked that part of his game, actually.

02:06I thought that was the most developed and the best.

02:09But I think I also come away from that camp thinking that it's going to be a slow ramp

02:15up for Dean Latorno at BC.

02:18I think going to Boston College and Hockey East is going to be a very big step up for

02:21him competition-wise.

02:24I think they're going to slowly bring him along.

02:28I don't think he's going to be playing with Oscar Jelvic and Gasso right off the bat.

02:37I don't think they're going to have some kind of Bruins prospect Boston College line going

02:40on there.

02:42I think he'll probably start lowering the lineup and work his way up.

02:46But it's going to be good for him.

02:48He definitely needs to be dropped into that level of competition, whether it was the USHL

02:53as originally planned or now Boston College with Will Smith moving on to San Jose and

02:59opening up a spot for him on the Eagles for next year.

03:02So I think it's going to be great to be able to watch him.

03:04It's good that the Bruins are going to be able to have eyes on him very regularly and

03:10maybe help him along in his pathway along with Boston College.

03:14I'm very encouraged by what you saw out of him, just knowing he was entering a camp where

03:20he was going to be challenged quite a bit and it was going to be some of the best hockey

03:24he's ever seen.

03:26A best player at development camp for me was Oscar Jelvic, skilled, extremely fast, created

03:32a lot of offense for himself and others when they broke into three-on-three competitions

03:38and small area games and things like that, game-like situations.

03:43Thought he was very good.

03:46A few other players too, I really liked actually Jonathan Morello, another draft pick from

03:52this past year and he was only 17 years old, the youngest guy in that development camp

03:57and I thought he did well and more than held his own and looked pretty good.

04:04Dons Lakmelis, I thought looked very good and made some nice plays.

04:08Elliott Groenewald, who was another draft pick.

04:11I liked a lot of the Bruins draft picks this year.

04:13I thought they got some good players and did well with the picks that they had.

04:18Elliott Groenewald, going to Quinnipiac, a Vermont kid.

04:22I thought he looked like a future NHL defenseman.

04:26He's just very smooth handling the puck, big, definitely played defense and didn't shy

04:32away from the physicality.

04:33Had a couple of times where he got time and space to shoot pucks and was roofing bullets,

04:39top corner and bar down.

04:42He's got a lot of skill and he looks like somebody to keep an eye on.

04:47Even better, a Vermont kid, he grew up a huge Boston Bruins fan, so being drafted by that

04:53organization, being part of that organization is going to be big for him and it's going

04:57to just encourage him more.

05:01Anybody else that I really liked or I thought stood out?

05:06I think that was about it.

05:08There were some other good players that did well also, but those are the ones that come

05:14to mind immediately.

05:15Obviously, there was a lot of eyes and a lot of people watching Latournell and that was

05:19the biggest person you were looking for to see how they did.

05:23I thought he fared pretty well.

05:25Even the two things I would say about him that he needs to work on are the competitiveness

05:30component.

05:30I saw him give up on drills a couple times before the coaches blew the whistle and the

05:34other player just kept going.

05:37That's something you can't do at any pro level and that's just being a pro.

05:42That's something he's going to have to figure out.

05:44I think that was one where there were times you would have liked to have seen a little

05:49more competitiveness out of him consistently.

05:54I think that was part of the reason at times I think you didn't notice him as much in some

05:58of the drills.

05:59There were shifts during the three-on-three where you really didn't notice him at all

06:02and you wouldn't expect that as much from a first-round pick.

06:06I think that is part of being young and figuring that out.

06:10I think that's what's going to change over the next couple of years.

06:14Part of it's being 6'7", part of it's being young, but I saw him multiple times getting

06:19knocked off the puck and just knocked on his butt completely off his skates, which I think

06:23he realized at the end of the week too that physically it was a much bigger challenge

06:29and he's going to need to meet that challenge.

06:32Also, I should mention Matt Potra was there.

06:34Looked healthy, looked good.

06:37Victory for him just coming back from shoulder surgery and being part of that camp and ramping

06:41up to NHL camp where much more is expected of him a few months from now.

06:49Did not take part in the scrimmage the last day of camp, purely precautionary.

06:54Didn't want him taking body checks or full-on contact after coming back from shoulder surgery,

06:59but no setbacks or anything like that.

07:02But he looked good, not great, not dominant.

07:06I would have thought somebody with that kind of NHL experience last year, where I think

07:11he was the only guy in that camp with NHL experience, would have stood out more and

07:15he didn't.

07:17But I also think that's part to do with just Ruston not having played much in the last,

07:21you know, or really at all in the last five months and just coming back from shoulder

07:24surgery.

07:25So he gets a little bit of a mulligan there, but it was just good to see him on the ice.

07:32Let's get some of the questions.

07:34From the Bruins Hagbag Mailbag Pucks with Hags podcast.

07:39How did the Bruins lose out on Danton Heinen?

07:42Seems like they really wanted to keep him.

07:43I know he is from Langley, British Columbia and supposedly took a discount to play for

07:48the Canucks, but I find it baffling that he chose the Canucks over the Bruins.

07:52And that's from BKKPKT on Twitter.

07:58I don't think it's baffling.

08:00I think he went where he got a couple of years and decent money and certainly going home,

08:05I think is an attractive option.

08:11I think the Bruins liked obviously what he gave them.

08:14Certainly they liked it at, you know, a guy that came in on a training camp invite and

08:20they got to sign for one year less than a million dollars.

08:23Like they, it was nothing but benefit for him.

08:26And he actually got, you know, top six minutes the second half of the year.

08:30Certainly he got favorable treatment from Jim Montgomery, his former college hockey coach.

08:38And he had a great year, nice bounce back year.

08:40And he parlayed it into a multi-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

08:45The one thing I would say about the Bruins philosophy and what I can gather from what

08:51they've done this offseason and just talking to people is that the Bruins are placing more

08:59and more emphasis, a much heavier emphasis on who has done what in the playoffs and who

09:06is going to help them in the playoffs, who's going to be effective in the postseason, what

09:11they've learned about the playoffs and the direction that it's going and what kind of

09:14players are going to be effective in the playoffs, say against an opponent like the Florida Panthers.

09:20And I think the determination was that Danton Heinen might not be the kind of player that's

09:24going to be a difference maker, is going to be really effective during playoff hockey.

09:28A good regular season player, versatile, you know, can put a few pucks in the net, has

09:33become a very well-rounded player, good two-way player, all those things.

09:38And helps them in a lot of ways last year.

09:40I mean, him playing with Pasternak and Zaka, that was a good line towards the end of the

09:44year.

09:45But I think the determining factor for a lot of players that have moved on from the Bruins

09:50and the players that have come into the Bruins over this year and over the last few years,

09:55frankly, is the Bruins are understanding with much greater detail what wins in the playoffs,

10:02what's successful in the playoffs, what you have to have to be successful in the playoffs

10:07and really push into the later rounds.

10:09And it's bigger, heavier, stronger, nastier players.

10:14You've got to be big.

10:14You've got to be physical.

10:15You've got to want it more.

10:16You've got to want the puck.

10:19You've got to want to be willing to blow the other guy up and hit him through the glass

10:24and take the puck from him.

10:26And the things the Florida Panthers were doing on a regular basis to win those games, you've

10:31got to be willing to do that just as much as they are and just as hard as they are if

10:36you're going to hope to win those kind of series against those kind of teams.

10:40And that's why I think you saw players like Danton Heinen moving on.

10:45You saw players like Matt Grizlik moving on.

10:48Jake Dabrusk is a good offensive player, and I think the Bruins would have liked him if

10:52it was a much lower number for a few years.

10:54But another player that is not a super heavy, dirty, mean, and nasty kind of player, those

11:02kind of guys moving on, a bunch of them, ironically enough, all going to the Vancouver Canucks

11:06at the same time, guys like Derek Forbort, Jake Dabrusk, Danton Heinen.

11:12And you see them bringing in players like Dan Kostelik, Max Jones, Elias Lindholm is

11:19a strong player.

11:20I wouldn't say he's super heavy, super physical, but I think he's going to be an effective

11:24frontline center in a playoff series.

11:26And he showed that, frankly, in the playoff performances he had for the Vancouver Canucks.

11:32Nikita Zdorov, super heavy, super physical, super dirty, mean, and nasty player, and the

11:39kind of guy that you could do a compilation video of 10 minutes of all of the crushing

11:44hits that he's had when he picks his spots to just blow somebody up as a defenseman when

11:50they're trying to come into the offensive zone with speed.

11:55What you're seeing is the Boston Bruins are loading up on those players.

11:59And it happened a couple of years ago at the trade deadline when they got Dmitry Orlov,

12:02when they got Garnett Hathaway, when they brought in players that were heavy, physical

12:07players, playoff-style players.

12:08Now, it didn't work out that year, obviously, but I think their understanding at Pat Maroon

12:15last year at the trade deadline, I think there's an understanding that you need to bring in

12:18those kind of players year in, year out in order to be effective in the postseason and

12:25in order to really score goals, get the inside ice, defend.

12:30All the things that you want to do in order to have success in the playoffs, you need

12:35big, heavy, physical players that are willing to play that style.

12:41Matt Gryzlik, a great puck-moving defenseman, a great story as a Charlestown kid that played

12:49at BU, was a hero in the beanpot, drafted by the Bruins, had a great career for the

12:55Bruins, had a nice long run for them.

12:57And I'm sure for the family, it's tough to move on at this point just because they're

13:04so intertwined with the Bruins organization, but you can't win in the playoffs with 5'8",

13:11175-pound, 180-pound defensemen.

13:14You just can't do it.

13:16You saw the last play that Matt Gryzlik will ever be on the ice for for the Boston Bruins

13:21was John Tavares picking his head up with the puck, seeing that Gryzlik was the only

13:27thing between him and the net, and Tavares just putting his head down and bullying his

13:32way to the net and just knowing that he was going to be able to get there against Gryzlik,

13:36trying to stop him one-on-one.

13:39And Tavares didn't score the goal, but it created the chaos in front that ended up leading

13:44to an overtime winning goal.

13:46And that's what happens when you have smaller defensemen in the playoffs.

13:52When you look at the Boston Bruins now across the back end, it's 6'1", 6'2", all over

13:58200 pounds.

14:00The biggest one's obviously Zdorov, who says, don't call me Big Z because I don't want

14:04to be compared to Char, and I shouldn't be compared to Char.

14:06Credit to him for saying that, by the way.

14:086'6", 250 pounds, maybe even more than 250 pounds, but just massive.

14:15Extremely physical, going to make you pay a price to get to the front of the net, going

14:19to pound you physically, going to wear you down over the course of a series.

14:23The Bruins needed that kind of intimidating force on the back end, and they had it to

14:28a degree in Charlie McAvoy, but I think it wore him down trying to be that guy and play

14:32that way all the time.

14:35And to bring in a bruiser like Zdorov that can play that way all the time and potentially

14:39play with McAvoy I think is a big deal, and I think is a great sign, and I think it's

14:43something where the Bruins fully understand now what they need to do with the players

14:49they have to get the best out of them and to have success in the playoffs.

14:52And I think that's what this is all about.

14:56And getting back to the Heinen question, I think that's what the decision was.

15:00The decision was, good regular season player, not going to be a great playoff player.

15:05We need to get better playoff players.

15:07We need to get guys that are going to be more effective in the postseason and not be a team

15:11that has these great regular seasons and then doesn't look like the same team in the playoffs

15:15when you start throwing them against the best teams in the league, when it's just a war

15:20for seven games and the team that has more will, more toughness, more physicality wins

15:27out at the end of the seven-game series.

15:29And I think they understand now that they need some more of that element in order to

15:34be successful, and they need to base a lot of their decisions personnel-wise on what's

15:38going to help us in the playoffs versus what's going to help us in the regular season.

15:41Because I just think based on, you know, Jeremy Swayman in net, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus

15:47Lindholm on defense, Insidorov now and Carlo, having Pasternak, Martians, Zaka, now Elias

15:56Lindholm, Charlie Coyle, like they've got enough talent there and they've got the goaltending

16:01in the defense where they're going to be a regular season playoff team.

16:06They're going to be a team that's going to get enough points to qualify for the regular

16:09season.

16:09They need to start fortifying and making damn well sure they have enough weapons to go in

16:15the playoffs and they're playing the style of play that's going to be successful in the

16:19playoffs.

16:19And I think they've got it now.

16:22I think they've figured it out to a degree.

16:24And these personnel moves are based on that.

16:29And they went from, I think a few years, they tried to pick up these players at the

16:35trade deadline and think that was the way to do it is give yourself, give the team a

16:40shot in the arm physically towards the end of the year to help them get over the hump

16:43in the playoffs.

16:44Now, I think they're just going to bring in these players from the very beginning of the

16:47year and let them help the team get through the entire regular season and not allow them

16:52to be pushed around and really physically play at a different level throughout the regular

16:58season.

16:59And I personally like that strategy.

17:02I personally think that that's the right way to do it.

17:05I would, I'm really looking forward to seeing Max Jones and Marcus Stelic on the fourth

17:11line as very physical, heavy players along with Johnny Beecher.

17:15I think it'll, that'll be a really effective and fun fourth line to watch.

17:20And, you know, I'm intrigued to watch this Bruins team.

17:24A lot of it is going to come down to Jeremy Swayman being able to maintain his performance

17:29for, you know, 60 plus games during the season and, you know, be the guy that he was last

17:35year for longer extended periods of time.

17:38But frankly, I think he can do it at this point.

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19:08All right, next one.

19:09Hey Hags, love the direction the bees are going, especially if we ink sway to a big

19:12long-term deal.

19:13We need to build the back end in front of him.

19:15If Lindholm doesn't have chemistry with Passa, do you feel like we have enough scoring depth

19:195-on-5 to compete in the playoffs?

19:21From MartinK3737.

19:26I do think they've got enough scoring depth to compete in the playoffs.

19:33There's a very strong school of thought that, you know, Elias Lindholm, the best season

19:40that he had in Calgary, the best NHL season that he had, he had over 40 goals and 80 points,

19:45was with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Kachuk as his wingers.

19:48And putting him with Pavel Zaka and David Pasternak, while not, you know, the same firepower

19:56level as Gaudreau and Kachuk, puts him in the category of a player that is, well, it

20:02puts him in the category of a center playing with one elite winger and one pretty solid

20:07winger where that's going to up his offensive game.

20:12Certainly, I don't think he's going to have a down year like he had last year in

20:15Calgary and Vancouver, where even he admitted, I think, the trade rumors and the trade speculation

20:20was bothering him and he was having a hard time with.

20:26And it affected his production, I think.

20:28And certainly the quality of players he was playing with, too, and the quality of teams

20:31he was on affected it as well, especially with Calgary.

20:34I mean, yeah, Calgary.

20:36I think that was just not great teams.

20:38And he was, you know, his production went down as soon as they sort of stripped down

20:42their roster through no fault of their own and tried to start over.

20:48So I think putting him in a position like he's going to be with the Bruins, having

20:52Coyle and Marchand together, and obviously a big factor is going to be who they put at

20:58right wing with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle.

21:01If it's Fabian Lysell, if it's Trent Frederick, if it's Morgan Geeky, if there's somebody

21:05they trade for at the trade deadline to come in and be, you know, a hired gun on the wing

21:12to score goals, I think that's going to be the place where they're going to look to

21:15upgrade at the trade deadline.

21:17That'll be the one area they're probably going to need players on the wing to put

21:21the puck in the net.

21:22And I'm sure there will be plenty of those at the trade deadline and somebody you could

21:27very readily plug in with Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand.

21:31But I think they're going to have enough scoring.

21:35I think having a high level of scoring, having an offense that can get you to the Stanley

21:42Cup final and win a Stanley Cup, I think it's going to be predicated on what they can do

21:47at the wing with Marchand and Coyle.

21:49Because I think Zaka Lindholm and Pasternak are going to be good.

21:53I do.

21:55I think that's a line that's going to be effective.

21:57That's a line that's going to play good two-way hockey.

22:00I just think if you want to be elite, you're going to have to have two lines that are really

22:06going all the time.

22:07And they're going to need help on the right wing with Coyle and Marchand.

22:11And if you have a third line that's at the end of the day is like Morgan Geeky, Trent

22:18Frederick, and a third player, if it's Breazeau or somebody else, Lysel, Patra, if he's there,

22:32whoever emerges on that third line.

22:35If you can have a third line that's got young talent, maybe.

22:38Maybe if Breazeau and Patra are there and somebody else, Trent Frederick or whoever,

22:42Geeky.

22:44I think that would be interesting.

22:46And I think that's when you start talking about, okay, they've got something here,

22:50especially if Jones and Kostelik really work on the fourth line and kick in some offense.

22:55You could see the potential for this being a much better offensive team than they were

22:59last year.

23:00And certainly in the playoffs, they could because a lot of the name of the game in the

23:04playoffs is just wearing the other team down physically, wearing down their defense.

23:08And that's how you get a lot of your offenses by just like pounding them into submission.

23:13I think you're going to have a lot of players that are going to be able to do that.

23:15And it's exactly what Florida has done to be successful the last couple of years.

23:18So I think just based on personnel, based on the way that they're going to play, based

23:24on the coach that they have, that's thinking offense all the time and continues to preach

23:28that.

23:30And based on, you know, Zdorov being there is going to free up guys like Lindholm and

23:35McAvoy, I think, to think more offensively and to create more offensively.

23:39I think that's going to be a big part of it too.

23:41And Mason Lowry, let's not even forget, like a year of him fulfilling his offensive potential

23:47with the Bruins in a low-pressure botting pairing role to start, like going to love

23:53to see that.

23:54I think that's going to be really good as well.

23:58So yes, long story short, I do think they have scoring depth five on five to compete

24:04in the playoffs.

24:05And I'm really interested to see what they're going to be able to do.

24:08This might be hard to get answered, but does Mark McLaughlin have any chance of making

24:11it with the Bruins or being an everyday NHL player?

24:14As a Bill Ricker resident, I've watched him and followed his career, and I'm hoping he

24:18makes it to the NHL.

24:19Thank you.

24:19That's from mspec1.

24:23I don't think he's going to be an everyday NHL player with the Bruins.

24:29You know, based on the way that they bring in fourth line players, based on the way that

24:35guys like Johnny Beecher have kind of hopped over him developmentally and getting those

24:40shots at the NHL level, I would assume that he's not going to consistently get that shot.

24:48I think he's the kind of player that's going to move up if there's injuries, if there's

24:55opportunity because of injuries, because of a numbers sort of game, that he's going to

25:00be able to come up.

25:03Obviously, he has played really well when he's gone up to the Bruins, and a couple years

25:07ago had a great camp and thought it was a shame that he didn't start the year in the

25:11fourth line.

25:12But I think there's a limit to what he can do offensively.

25:17There's limits to his offensive skill set, and his value is based around hustle, winning

25:24faceoffs, killing penalties, just being a good player.

25:30Just playing rugged, hard-nosed fourth line kind of minutes and being sound two ways.

25:38There's room around the NHL for players like that, but I think he probably needs to move

25:45to an NHL team with less organizational depth if he's going to be a regular at the NHL

25:51level, and that frankly means it's probably going to not be as good an NHL team.

25:55I think that's part of the problem here, is Mark McLaughlin's playing in a Bruins

25:58organization that makes the playoffs every year, that is very competitive, that the 12

26:05forward spots are all their legit players that end up making it with the Bruins, and

26:11they're really good at identifying NHL or AHL guys and other organizations that have

26:16NHL talent, the Justin Brezos of the world, and those kind of players kind of hop over

26:22you too depth-wise when they come into the organization.

26:25But trading for Mark Kostelik, that's kind of the kind of player that Mark McLaughlin

26:30would be at the NHL level, or viewed that way anyway, and when you trade for a guy like

26:35Kostelik, that basically puts a roadblock right in front of a player like McLaughlin,

26:40who I think does the right things, works hard, says the right things, goes about his

26:44business the right way, is a really stand-up guy.

26:48Credit to him and his hockey upbringing in Billerica, and also learning his craft at

26:54BC, and they always seem to crank out players like that, that are good, solid pros, good

26:58people, good organizational team members, all that stuff.

27:03So he's a plus for the organization, I just don't see him getting a long run here.

27:10I think the best run he had, will have ended up having with the Bruins, is probably the

27:16first run he had the first couple of years.

27:19And then they started to bring in more sort of depth players around him, and more waves

27:24of young players.

27:25I think people just passed him on the organizational depth chart.

27:29So a fresh start would probably be the best thing for him at some point in the next couple

27:33of years, and he'll get there.

27:35You just hope that the next place he goes, he's able to push through and carve out a

27:40role for himself at the NHL level, because I'm not sure it's going to happen for him

27:45in Boston, unfortunately.

27:47From 4or4, hey Joe, how has Patra been on face-offs this past week at development camp?

27:54Thanks.

27:54Well, he was fine.

27:56But two things, not a ton of face-offs taken at development camp.

28:00It's much more skill-based edge work, skating work, fundamental stuff for a lot of the

28:08practices.

28:09And in the last couple, they do more sort of battle drills and game situations.

28:13But really, even the three-on-three tournament at the end, not face-offs, no face-offs taken

28:22except for the very beginning.

28:25And the scrimmage, like a handful of face-offs.

28:28And not only were there not a lot of face-offs taken, but I would also say that you're not

28:36going to be able to gauge a guy like Matt Patra and his face-off ability and him taking

28:40face-offs until he's doing it against NHL guys.

28:44The reason guys like Patra struggle when they're 19 years old in the NHL on face-offs is because

28:48they're going against veterans that have been taking face-offs for 10 years and pros that

28:52know all the tricks.

28:53And you have to sort of learn who they are, learn what they do, have scouting reports

28:59on those guys, have a book on all those guys you go up against in the face-off circle,

29:03and have your own go-to moves that you know are going to win all the time and sort of

29:07develop your craft that way.

29:09So it's an uphill battle for young kids like Patra.

29:11I mean, everybody, like even Sidney Crosby, I think, struggled with face-offs when he

29:15first came into the league.

29:16It's a learning curve for all those guys.

29:19So you're not going to be able to tell much about Patra and whether he's improved in

29:23the face-off circle if he's going against Dean Letourneau, who is coming from Canadian

29:29high school hockey, basically, and is going to go to BC next year.

29:33Him winning face-offs against somebody like that is not going to help him at the NHL level.

29:37So not a way to tell anything about Patra in the face-offs.

29:41He did acknowledge a couple of things during the week.

29:45One was that he needs to get physically stronger.

29:47He said he added eight to nine pounds to his frame since the shoulder surgery back in February,

29:51which is great news because he definitely needs to get bigger and stronger.

29:55I think he also needs to get faster and he needs to work on his skating.

29:58And I think that's the biggest, and I talked about this earlier in the week with Mick,

30:01I think that's the biggest element that Patra needs to work on is because he's never going

30:06to be the biggest guy in the world, but his mind is great, his hands are great.

30:10He just needs to work on the skating and the edge work to make sure he's getting there faster,

30:14he's getting in and out of danger faster, he's separating from defenders faster,

30:19getting up the ice faster as a center.

30:21Like, he's going to need all that stuff if he's going to be effective at the NHL level.

30:25If he doesn't improve his skating speed and his ability to quickly separate from opponents

30:31and get the puck up the ice fast, even if he's got the counter moves and the east-west game

30:39and a lot of the stuff that he likes to do, you do need a certain level of speed

30:44in order to get there and be able to do that.

30:47And I just don't think he's there right now.

30:50A lot of Krejci in this game, and Krejci was never the fastest guy in the world,

30:53but I think Krejci increased his level of skating speed and his edge work

30:57as he went along in the NHL, enough to survive and move the puck up the ice as a center and

31:04consistently enter the offensive zone, even though he did play east-west as well.

31:09And you see Patra's going to need a little more of that, just like a little bit more

31:12separation speed and a little bit more skating speed and edge work

31:17in order to get himself time and space in addition to the creativity he has

31:22and the way he thinks with the puck and the way he's able to find open space.

31:26He does a good job of that when he has the puck,

31:28but skating speed is going to only help him in those areas.

31:32So I think that is a big part of it and working on the face-offs

31:36and getting physically stronger, all those things are going to help him.

31:42Didn't see a ton of that at development camp.

31:46I thought he was good, not great, not dominant,

31:48but now he's got the whole summer and he's healthy to be able to work on those things

31:52and really hone them in for, frankly, what's a big training camp for him

31:57and a big season next year for him, where the Bruins are hoping that he's going to be

32:03a third-line center, maybe.

32:05And if he's going to do that, he's going to really have to be like he was last year,

32:09where he hit training camp with a lot of momentum and ended up winning a roster spot

32:15and surprised everybody at 19 years old.

32:18He's going to have to have another camp like that to hold off the challengers

32:22and start the year in a very key spot as a third-line center on a team

32:26with Stanley Cup aspirations and continue moving forward.

32:31But he's 20 years old, so he'll get more chances if he's not up for the challenge this fall

32:38and if other guys sort of hop over him in the battle for those positions.

32:44He's also getting to an age now where he's learned it at the NHL level

32:49and he's seen what it's all about and he should be able to use that information

32:52and help himself win a spot and keep it.

32:56So it's on him and it's going to be fun to watch

32:58because the talent is there, there's no question about it.

33:02They could use an offensive playmaking center like Matt Potra,

33:05who could eventually even push up further in the lineup.

33:08So it'll be fun to watch and you hope he brings the same kind of magic

33:13and enthusiasm he had a year ago when they hit training camp in the fall.

33:20Joe, Dean Letourneau is great.

33:23Outside the box thinking.

33:25I was hoping Cam and Don would do this.

33:28The kid is 6'5", weighing mega range.

33:31Now if Cam can turn him into a beast, that would be awesome.

33:34The kid has range, 10 feet left, 10 feet right.

33:37Right, Thomas Blackington.

33:39I love the pick because they were taking a swing for the fences.

33:43They were overlooking the competition level.

33:48Saw the dominant 6'7 center with great offensive skills, headed to BC.

33:56Produced at the level he was at and really put himself on the map

34:01with the way he played up in Canada.

34:03And has the frame to put on a lot more weight, is going to be a much bigger pro.

34:08We're talking about a player that is going to be huge at 6'7 when he gets to the NHL level.

34:15And he was saying to reporters up in Vegas after he was drafted

34:19that he thinks he's going to be at BC for a year or two.

34:21I don't think that's the case.

34:22I think he's probably going to be at BC for three years, maybe.

34:26Because I think he's got that much development to do before he's ready for the pros.

34:31I think you could see that just physically and competitively.

34:35I think you could see that at development camp, that he's got some work to do.

34:39And he has to consistently play against better competition,

34:43against tougher, harder, faster, stronger players in order to steal himself

34:49and in order to really become that himself.

34:53But the talent was there.

34:54He made a bunch of great offensive plays.

34:58He certainly was noticeable at times when he looked determined.

35:04Like he was going to use his size and he was going to make something happen.

35:07And he was going to win battles.

35:09And he was going to be involved.

35:10When you saw him on a shift, when they were playing three-on-three,

35:13where you could see in his mind, he was determined.

35:15All right, I'm going to make something happen here.

35:16He usually did.

35:18There were just other times where you could see that he was not in the,

35:21I'm going to make something happen here.

35:23So I think he was a little bit more of a defensive player.

35:25He was not in the, I'm going to make something happen here sort of mentality.

35:31And maybe never touched the puck, maybe touched it for a second.

35:35And that was it.

35:37There was one play where he and Dons Lokmelis both went to the sideboards to battle for a puck.

35:44And Lokmelis just easily won the battle, won the puck away from him with momentum

35:48going the other way and turned it to a goal where he roofed it back in.

35:51I actually put the video on my Twitter account during the three-on-three.

35:56But that's a situation where you're six foot seven on long the boards.

36:01You can't be beaten by Dons Lokmelis that cleanly, where he could just pick the puck,

36:06go the other way with speed and beat everybody down the ice and flip one past the goalie.

36:12You got to put on more of a battle there.

36:13There was another play too, where Elliott Grunwald scored,

36:18spun off his defender behind his own net.

36:21Like, as soon as the defender got there, he spun off him and took off up the ice.

36:30And you could see, because it was three-on-three, it was man-on-man.

36:34And all of a sudden, it was Latourno's job to leave his guy and to kind of step up

36:39and stop Grunwald as he was skating towards mid-ice and towards the offensive zone.

36:46It was a really perfunctory, not even challenging him at all when he was skating up on him.

36:54And Grunwald just skated, sidestepped him and had enough time, space, confidence,

36:59knew he wasn't going to get hit or challenged and absolutely blasted a rocket top corner

37:06past the goalie because he knew he wasn't going to get stopped.

37:10Those are the kind of things that can't happen if you're six foot seven and you're strong

37:19and you're big in addition to being skilled offensively.

37:23You just want to see a little more compete in situations like that.

37:26And like I said, there was another play where there was a one-on-one drill.

37:28And the puck went away from the net, and he just basically stopped skating.

37:33And it was against Frederic Brunet.

37:36And Brunet just went to the corner, kept going,

37:38and then flipped the puck out of the zone because it was a one-on-one,

37:40and he was the defender and Latourneau was the offensive player.

37:43And it just looked like Latourneau just gave up on it.

37:46And the other player wasn't going to give up on the play until the refs blew the whistle

37:49and the puck was out of the zone.

37:50And for Latourneau, you want him not giving up on a play until the ref blows the whistle

37:56or the puck is in the net, and he just doesn't rest until the puck is in there.

38:00Now, you live and you learn.

38:01He's an 18-year-old kid.

38:02They're going to make mistakes like that.

38:03But it's just like when you've been watching enough and you see things like that,

38:07you're like, all right, he needs to have a little more doggedness to his approach,

38:13especially in an NHL development camp-like setting where you're trying to impress people

38:18and show them what you're all about.

38:20But talent is there.

38:22You can't manufacture that.

38:23He's 6'7", very skilled, and that's why he was taken in the first round.

38:28Somebody told me he's probably more like a Jumbo Joe kind of player than a Tage Thompson

38:32kind of player, which is perfectly fine.

38:34I take Jumbo Joe all day long, or even a poor man's Jumbo Joe.

38:39You just hope it's not a Joe Colborne-type player instead, who was kind of passive like

38:45that, too, and he was a big body.

38:46And that's why he never really consistently made it is because that fire just wasn't

38:50burning in there.

38:52And you hope that isn't the case with a kid like Dean Latourneau.

38:55And frankly, he's got plenty of time to prove that it isn't, that he has that fire inside

38:59and start doing it next year at BC.

39:02So that's why you can't judge too much by what you see at development camp.

39:08You can make observations about, OK, I saw this.

39:10I saw that.

39:11I like this.

39:12I like that.

39:12I liked Latourneau's shot.

39:14I liked his big frame.

39:15I liked his ability to possess the puck and use his body well against defenders.

39:20He knows how to do that already.

39:24Some of the stick skills were pretty good, but I would say the skating is OK, can definitely

39:30be better.

39:31The physicality definitely needs to, he needs to get stronger and bigger.

39:35And I just think he needs to have more of a killer instinct when he's like involved

39:40in game situations and in drills and things like that.

39:43Can't just sort of float offensively and wait for his opportunities, has to be really

39:48dig in offensively and defensively if he hopes to have consistent success.

39:53But either way, I like the pick.

39:57I like that they went for the big offensive upside there.

40:01Some people were mentioning this kid Green Tree, Liam Green Tree, I think his name was,

40:05that got taken right after the Bruins pick as somebody that might have been an option,

40:10might have been a good player, and looks like a pretty good player.

40:13But I like taking the 6'7 center that's going to BC, that's going to be kind of a

40:18long range project, maybe like three years, four years down the road.

40:22We'll pay dividends for the Bruins because I don't think they're in a hurry.

40:25I think they want to find the next great center.

40:28And you need to swing for the fences.

40:31You need to go for the big potential there if you're looking for the guy that's going

40:35to be your franchise center for the long term.

40:38And I think they lessened a little bit of that urgency by signing Elias Lindholm.

40:42So now they can afford to be patient with Dean Letourneau and watch him develop at Boston

40:46College.

40:46So I like the pick too.

40:48I agree.

40:49All right.

40:50That is it for questions for this week.

40:52Thanks for joining us.

Are the Bruins building their team for the playoffs? | Pucks with Haggs

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