In this episode of Bruins Beat, Evan Marinofsky and Conor Ryan take a look back at some of the signings Bruins GM Don Sweeney has made over the years, and pick their list of the best free agent deals in Sweeney's tenure. That, and much more!
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00:00I think that signing has paid off
00:02multiple years down the road, not just
00:04the two years that the Bruins initially signed
00:06Haula for.
00:07Haula's the perfect one. I think, you know,
00:09if Krejci didn't exist, or Krejci was
00:11if Krejci didn't exist, that would not be good.
00:13The Bruins would be in trouble.
00:15Yeah, Bruins would have, I don't know if you have the 2011 Cup,
00:17but if
00:19Krejci didn't sign that deal and never
00:21came back, Haula would have been mine. I think Haula
00:23was a phenomenal choice there.
00:25Bruins Beat is brought to you
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00:45I'm Evan Maranofsky. That is a
00:47honeymooning Connor Ryan.
00:49Connor, what is up? I don't know, Evan.
00:51Looks like I'm still in my office.
00:53But, yes.
00:55As this is dropping, I am somewhere
00:57traversing the globe, but I'm happy to be here right
00:59now with you talking Bruins, Evan.
01:01I'm doing well. How are you doing?
01:03I'm doing great. I'm doing great. So we have done
01:05some of these ahead of time
01:07because these are evergreen topics
01:09that you can debate with us.
01:11I will be around if you want to
01:13come at me about some of these.
01:15And I figure these are fun to do. It's the summer. We can't
01:17do, there's not a ton
01:19of new things, so this is the perfect time.
01:21You picked a great time. You should have done your honeymoon in November.
01:23That would have been a really smart move.
01:25Right at the beginning of the year. That would just be a
01:27brilliant idea.
01:29But in this episode,
01:31we're going to do the best Don Sweeney free agent
01:33signing. So Don Sweeney took over in 2015.
01:352015 was his
01:37first crack at free agency.
01:392024 was his...
01:41Was it 9 or 10? Is that 9 or 10
01:43free agency? I think it's 10 because you have
01:45the 2020 in there. So
01:4710 free agencies now for Don Sweeney.
01:49So we're going to take a look back
01:51at the best and how we're going to do
01:53it is we're going to do a draft. We're going to
01:55draft the best free agents
01:57signings that he has had
01:59in his tenure as GM.
02:01It's going to be a snake draft. So we'll start with
02:03you, Connor, because you were freshly
02:05married. And we will
02:07do, you know, you'll pick
02:09one, I'll pick one, then I'll pick one, then you pick one,
02:11and then you pick one, and then I pick one.
02:13We'll do three each. Pass them
02:15out. Talk about them. Reminisce.
02:17And then we'll do some honorable mentions at the end.
02:19Maybe ones we forgot.
02:21So yeah, let's
02:23dive right into it. What would you...
02:25Where do you want to start? Who would be your first pick?
02:27I mean, I'm going to go with
02:29a guy that, again, they gave
02:31him a pretty solid paycheck.
02:33A well-deserved, I think, raise from when they
02:35first signed him. But in terms of what the return
02:37was, I think you'd be very pleased with it.
02:39I'm going to go with Linus Allmark. Four years,
02:4120 million.
02:43This is a guy that,
02:45again, when Bruins signed him, people
02:47that offseason were like, what the hell?
02:49And you look at that offseason,
02:51where they had a lot of cap space.
02:53Spent it on a couple of guys that really didn't necessarily move
02:55the needle. I think you had to give props
02:57to the Bruins and their pro-scouting
02:59staff, and Bob Assenza, obviously,
03:01an identifying guy, and Allmark, who
03:03put together some really good underlying numbers
03:05on some pretty dreadful Buffalo teams.
03:07And not all the time were his
03:09baseline stats
03:11indicative of that.
03:13But I think they saw a guy that had a lot more
03:15to give and a different role and a different
03:17environment and a bit of a tougher defensive
03:19structure in front of him.
03:21The results spoke for themselves,
03:23in terms of what he provided his team.
03:25Winsor Vezina was
03:27part of the best goalie tandem in the league.
03:29And I think especially,
03:31I'm sure that down the road,
03:33if Jeremy Swinburne continues to develop into
03:35a franchise goalie, I'm sure
03:37he'll give a whole lot of credit to a guy
03:39like Allmark. I think it's always tough
03:41for any young player in the NHL
03:43to carve out
03:45their role. But I think it's especially isolating
03:47if it's a goalie. It's not
03:49like it's a forward or defenseman where you've got
03:51other guys you can lean on that know your
03:53same craft. It's like, you've got goalie
03:55Bob, you've got a few of the
03:57other kind of coaches, and you've got your other
03:59goalie up in the NHL ranks.
04:01And I think for Swayman to have a guy
04:03in Allmark who is really supportive
04:05of him, really helped him out along the way,
04:07helped him develop, and
04:09just kind of had that extended runway, Swayman,
04:11of being able to develop with this
04:13guy who was able to take those reps as well.
04:15I think that played an instrumental
04:17part in kind of getting Swayman to where he is
04:19now, which is hopefully a franchise
04:21fixture for the Bruins moving forward. So I
04:23think you look at Allmark's baseline
04:25numbers, his impact there, but
04:27also just how he, I think, impacted a guy
04:29like Swayman who has asserted himself
04:31as the next guy up for the Bruins. I think
04:33that's a homerun signing for what Don Sweeney did
04:35in 2021 with Allmark.
04:37Yeah, I mean, at the time, I think
04:39the reaction to it was kind of like, oh, that's
04:41an interesting signing.
04:43The future of Rask was very much
04:45up in the air. That was the same year
04:47that he had surgery and didn't really sign
04:49until January and then
04:51came back for two weeks and then
04:53was Bruins ambassador chugging
04:55Bud Lights in the luxury
04:57suites, which, in fairness, go off, dude.
04:59That is a hell of a job.
05:01But I agree. I mean, Allmark,
05:03you think back. I mean, he scored a goal.
05:05Really, I think
05:07he... I think if you're
05:09going out and acquiring a goalie,
05:11which a lot of teams did this offseason,
05:13that's the blueprint for how
05:15you hope it goes, where it's like
05:17solid first season,
05:19outstanding second season, where it's
05:21clear he fits in. He's a part of
05:23this team's DNA. And then he was great
05:25last year, too. Swayman just emerged
05:27a teeny bit more. And
05:29the one thing that hangs over
05:31Allmark was the playoff appearances were never
05:33terrific. You think about that
05:352023 playoff
05:37series against Florida.
05:39But for, you know,
05:41five mil a year for that,
05:43for a Vezna, like
05:45in an age when goalies are making more
05:47than they ever have and they're, you know, they can
05:49take up a lot of a team's cap.
05:51Allmark gave you a lot. And
05:53it feels like he was here more than three years. Like,
05:55I feel like he fit in. He was a fan favorite.
05:57He had the goalie hug.
05:59You know, we obviously wish him the
06:01best in Ottawa. Like, I just, to me,
06:03like, that was a home run signing.
06:05And, you know,
06:07he fit like a glove here. And I always love
06:09with those Sabres teams of, like,
06:11the late 2010s,
06:13even mid-2010s, like,
06:15with the Panthers winning. It's like, look at how many
06:17guys on this roster went on to be, like,
06:19legitimate Cup winners, like,
06:21contributors for those Cup teams.
06:23Yeah, they just, it's like that meme
06:25where the guy's digging and digging and he
06:27gives up, like, right away.
06:29It turns away.
06:31So I get the Allmark
06:33thing. So people
06:35obviously remember this because it happened less than
06:37a month ago. The Bruins went out at
06:39pick 25 and drafted a project
06:41in Dean Letourneau. They took a big swing
06:43on their first round pick. They're
06:45projecting. It's not a sure bet. It's far
06:47from a sure bet. And it's what I'm going to do
06:49with my first overall pick, or my first
06:51round pick. And I'm going to go with Elias Lindholm.
06:53I'm going to go with Elias
06:55Lindholm from this year.
06:57I have other value picks, but I want
06:59to, you know, I'm going to expect those are going to
07:01be around in the second and third rounds in this draft.
07:03I think what Lindholm
07:05could give you is
07:07big. Number one center.
07:09Fits your identity. Defensive.
07:11Great on draws. Hopefully
07:13unlocks more offense from David
07:15Pasternak. Is definitely going to unlock more offense
07:17from the number one center position.
07:19Slots everybody down so people are kind of
07:21more in where they're supposed to be.
07:23And if he hits, right, like,
07:25if they do start scoring more,
07:27they're much better on the back end now.
07:29They're better up front
07:31now. They're, you know,
07:33bigger in the bottom
07:35six. If he
07:37hits, and we talked about this on the last episode,
07:39like,
07:41is it crazy to think the Bruins win a cup
07:43in the next two to three years? Like, I'm going
07:45way far ahead of things, but like, if he
07:47hits, if he really pans out and there's
07:49value there, and he is a legit
07:51number one center and it just works,
07:53the East is open.
07:55The East is open. And if Elias Lindholm
07:57can help deliver you a cup
07:59in the next two to three years, because that's what we're
08:01projecting his prime of this deal
08:03is going to be, the next two to three years,
08:05that's a big thing.
08:07That's a really big thing. So, again, lofty,
08:09big expectations
08:11with me picking Elias
08:13Lindholm where I am,
08:15but to me, like, what he
08:17could end up being, it's also the most expensive
08:19free agent signing of Don Sweeney's tenure,
08:21so there's a lot riding on this.
08:237.75 per, but
08:25I just, I don't know.
08:27I think there's a real chance that,
08:29and I'm banking on this with my pick here,
08:31that he brings them
08:33two or very close to a cup,
08:35and that would be massive, obviously,
08:37but it'd be big for, like, Brad
08:39Marchand's career, you know, to have two Stanley
08:41Cups, and Charlie McAvoy
08:43and Poshnack would have their first, and I'm not saying
08:45Lindholm's going to be the sole reason,
08:47but he is a guy that performs
08:49in the playoffs, and he is a guy that works
08:51for that time of year. So,
08:53I pick him with my first pick.
08:55Yeah, I think for Lindholm, the most
08:57important thing is just about setting the
08:59proper expectations. Like, is he
09:01the 40-goal, 82-point
09:03guy he was in Calgary?
09:05I don't think so, but, like, he's
09:07more than what he showed last year
09:09in Vancouver, and I think Zidar even
09:11mentioned this on Monday, where, like,
09:13he goes to Vancouver and really wasn't put in the right role
09:15for him to succeed. Like, played on the
09:17wing, played at some points
09:19down at the third-line center because you had Pettersson
09:21and JT Miller in front of him. Again, two
09:23really good players, but, like, the whole
09:25Vancouver decision to get a guy
09:27like Elias Lindholm instead of waiting
09:29for, like, Gensel to be available
09:31really didn't make all that much sense, so
09:33I'm not really basing, like, his
09:35numbers last year, which obviously were a dip
09:37off of what I think should be the expectation.
09:39I think if you get 60-65
09:41points from a guy and look at how good
09:43he is defensively, how much he impacts the game,
09:45I think you've got a really good player
09:47if he's able to do that, and I think you look at
09:49just how he makes everyone else around him
09:51better, like, you look at
09:53how much teams the last couple years have been able
09:55to key in just on David Pasternak,
09:57whether it's that 5-on-5 play or
09:59on the power play. Now you have a guy, Lindholm,
10:01who can finish, you know, down low.
10:03He hangs around Grade A ice. He's really good
10:05in the playoffs because I think you see a lot of
10:07his plays, even with Vancouver.
10:09He hounds the puck in Grade A ice,
10:11creates turnovers, like, does a lot of these little things
10:13that can go a long way, and if you
10:15give him a spot on the bumper on the power play,
10:17and with David Pasternak, you should
10:19have, you know, there should be room to grow there.
10:21And again, like, can he be
10:23an 85-point guy? Can he
10:25take this huge step forward? I think it's probably
10:27asking too much, but can he be 65 points?
10:29It's pretty good for what
10:31you're getting in terms of a legit
10:33two-way player, so, yeah.
10:35Again, I think there is, you operate
10:37with some risk, as is the case with every big
10:39free agent signing, especially a guy who had it down
10:41here, but I just think you look at what's working
10:43in his favor, the supporting cast around
10:45him, and his own individual skill set,
10:47I think him getting back to what we
10:49expect of a 60-point guy
10:51should be the norm here, I think, with the Bruins
10:53moving forward, for at least the next couple years. And again,
10:55ask me about four or five years
10:57down the road later on, because if he's your 3C,
10:59a couple years when the cap
11:01jumps up to what it should be,
11:03third-line center is going to be making 7-7.5,
11:05so. Yeah, and also
11:07you have to consider, like, I agree,
11:09I think, you know, years
11:115-6-7 of that deal
11:13might not be everybody's favorite
11:15if, you know,
11:17deciding where the cap jumps, but, like,
11:19if they win a cup
11:21in the next three years,
11:23that ain't gonna matter. That ain't gonna
11:25matter, because, like, alright, well, we got our cup.
11:27So, again, I'm drafting him
11:29banking on a Stanley Cup, Connor. I got high expectations
11:31for this guy. I do. I do.
11:33So, with my second pick,
11:35I'm gonna, I don't know if people have forgotten
11:37about this. I hope they haven't,
11:39and I think once I mention it, they won't.
11:412018,
11:43Yaroslav Halak. Two years,
11:455.5 million over both years.
11:47At the time,
11:49you know, they needed a competent backup
11:51for Rask. This was when
11:53goaltenders really started to play less,
11:55keep them fresh for the postseason,
11:57and that's what Halak allowed them to do.
11:59First year, they go to the cup.
12:01Second year, they won the President's Trophy.
12:03He was phenomenal. I remember
12:05at that 2019 Winter Classic,
12:07there were legitimate talks that he would start
12:09that game. He was playing
12:11that good. He had some really good years
12:13here. It was very valuable
12:15to what they were trying to do with Rask.
12:17Got bumped by Swayman
12:19during that shortened 2020
12:21season with COVID
12:23and everything, but
12:25you know, for 18-19 and 19-20,
12:27Halak was
12:29really strong for you. Now, he did come
12:31in in that
12:33bubble playoffs, and didn't he win
12:35that first game against Tampa, and then they lost
12:37four straight? He did.
12:39But again, at that time, not many backups
12:41in the league could come in and even get
12:43a win. And again, it was a weird
12:45time, so there's a lot of things that went
12:47into that. There was Rask leaving the bubble,
12:49which is a whole other topic that we
12:51talked a lot about at the time.
12:53But I'd go with Halak as my two-pick. I think that
12:55was really just a good free agent
12:57signing. Wasn't flashy or
12:59sexy, but I think he ended up giving
13:01you a lot more than what his AAV
13:03ended up becoming. Yeah, I think there's
13:05the forward-thinking move from Sweeney,
13:07his staff, and I'm sure Bob Assenza, in terms
13:09of, I think at that point, you look at Rask's
13:11age, and he's a guy that you
13:13saw for years, right, where you would turn to
13:15and give him 60-plus stats. I think at
13:17some point, Assenza and these guys probably, like,
13:19unless you have, like, a Vasilevsky
13:21or someone like that who, in today's age,
13:23can continue to take on that workload,
13:25you've got to find ways to carve things out and make things
13:27just a little bit easier for
13:29your number-one goalies. So, signing
13:31guy on Halak probably could have started for a couple
13:33of other teams on the
13:35free agent market, giving him that contract
13:37and really cutting into Rask's
13:39workload. I think you saw it especially play out
13:41in 2018-19, where
13:43you could make the case that Halak was the better goalie
13:45for the first half, but I think
13:47having that workload and having
13:49it ease up for Rask, you saw what he did
13:51in the playoffs, right? He looked so much
13:53more rested, and how many times did
13:55we see Rask at the end of some of these long
13:57seasons get to April and just run out of gas,
13:59running on fumes? I think
14:01making that decision to sign maybe
14:03instead of going for the
14:05standard choose-your-pick
14:07veteran stopgap or
14:09journeyman backup goalie,
14:11investing a little bit more money. Again, it wasn't
14:13a huge contract by any means, but investing a little bit more
14:15in a guy that can be your
14:171B as opposed to just your straight backup.
14:19I think you saw how
14:21it worked for Rask and Halak, but
14:23it's been a strategy the Bruins have had for a couple of years
14:25now, and the results have
14:27spoken for themselves in terms of
14:29just how consistent the Bruins have been
14:31between the pipes the last couple of years.
14:33And if memory serves, they were one of the
14:35first tandems, and again,
14:37they weren't doing the goalie hug, and they weren't splitting the
14:39season 50-50, but
14:41they sort of helped usher
14:43in this era of, hey, we're
14:45going to have two legitimate goalies. We're not just going
14:47to ride one starter for 65 games.
14:49We're going to have two guys
14:51go, and it ended up working out. They went to the Cup,
14:53and they were great in that 19-20 season.
14:55What would be your second pick?
14:57I'm going to go with a signing
14:59from 2016, and I
15:01think Don Sweeney and the Bruins have had a pretty good
15:03run when it comes to identifying
15:05bottom six,
15:07especially fourth line, kind of glue
15:09guys who can give a lot
15:11more in terms of being
15:13put in kind of a featured role. You go down the list
15:15of the Wagners, the
15:17Shallers, some of these other
15:19players that have had more
15:21to give. I'm going to go with old friend
15:23Riley Nash, who played for the Bruins for
15:25two years.
15:27I think made 900K both
15:29seasons. Was really
15:31solid his first year. Just a standard
15:33fourth line role player.
15:35Had 17 points in 81 games.
15:37Second season, 17-18,
15:3941 points in 76
15:41games. At one point, I think he
15:43replaced Bergeron
15:45when he was hurt. So it was the
15:47feared line of Marshan, Riley Nash,
15:49and Dave Pasternak, and he was pretty damn productive.
15:51I think you look at what else he provided,
15:53he was pretty good on face-offs,
15:55if I recall correctly.
15:57Just seemed to do a little bit of everything.
15:59PK work, all that stuff
16:01that, for a guy making under
16:03a million, what he provided
16:05I think is exactly what you're looking for.
16:07If you're going to scour the region market
16:09for bottom six guys,
16:11finding guys like Nash who
16:13can do a solid job
16:15for what's asked of them, but when put in featured roles,
16:17can run with it and get 40 points
16:19out of a 900K player, I think
16:21that was a homerun signing.
16:23We stan Riley Nash on this podcast
16:25because that guy was an awesome player for a couple years.
16:27We always have. He was great.
16:29I agree with you. The way he fit in
16:31was kind of
16:33a definite bottom six
16:35guy that year they went to play the
16:37Senators in the first round, and then the next year
16:39just kind of was more used
16:41to the city, and it worked out.
16:43I think if you can get those guys, you take
16:45that every time, and you're right.
16:47I listed...
16:49We have a doc we're looking at right now of
16:51all the best free agent signings.
16:53A lot of these are just bottom six guys.
16:55I think when you're utilizing free agency
16:57correctly, it's getting those guys.
16:59Those are the guys you get in free agency.
17:01We've heard Barry Trotz
17:03tell his draft staff, his scouting staff,
17:05go take swings on guys.
17:07I can go out and find a bottom six
17:09guy in free agency. I can get those guys.
17:11I can't always get those high-end talents.
17:13Nash is a perfect example
17:15of a guy the teams would kill
17:17for in free agency, especially making
17:19$900k per.
17:21I want to get to our third picks,
17:23but first, quick words from our friends over
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19:03guaranteed. So your third
19:05pick, who are you taking with
19:07your third and final selection?
19:09I mean, I think you could go
19:11with a whole bunch of different players that deserve
19:13it, especially from this past year.
19:15And there are free agent signings. I'm going to go
19:17with Denton Heinen, a guy who made
19:19$775K.
19:21Was a
19:23guy on a professional tryout contract.
19:25Had to wait, pretty much, for the Bruins
19:27to, you know, find
19:29the loose change and the dollar bills
19:31under the mattress to get the money right
19:33to sign him. So we had to wait, I think, two weeks
19:35into the regular season for them to actually give him that
19:37contract. And you look at what he provided
19:39this past year. Almost hit
19:4140 points.
19:43Had 17 goals, I believe.
19:45Was as advertised in terms of just
19:47his versatility. Could play up and down the lineup.
19:49Was great on the PK.
19:51Just a little bit of everything. So I think you look
19:53at, listen, you could pick multiple
19:55guys from this past year. I think last year,
19:57free agency-wise, it's almost like
19:59Sweeney, you know,
20:01I think he had a really strong offseason
20:03this year in terms of just being like, we need these
20:05two guys, we're getting them. As opposed to, like,
20:07we swung and missed, we'll
20:09allocate our money in getting a lot of
20:11guys that maybe don't necessarily move the needle. They got
20:13two guys in Lindholm and Zdorov, and I think that's
20:15great. But last year, where they were so
20:17constrained by the cap, and they knew they had to kind of
20:19moneyball it to get through it, and they
20:21were able to find so many players. You could go with
20:23multiple guys they signed last year,
20:25but I'm going to go with Heinen, who I think, when you look at just what
20:27the pay was for a player like
20:29that, how much he impacts the game, and just
20:31the baseline production. Like, 17 goals?
20:33I don't think anyone had that on their predictions
20:35last year.
20:37Yeah, I agree with you. Heinen's a great pick.
20:39Fits anywhere in the lineup.
20:41Hell of a resurgence, too. I mean, a guy
20:43who, you know,
20:45was sort of written off,
20:47didn't really fit anywhere else, comes back
20:49here, kind of the JV kid,
20:51hanging around the varsity, hoping to get the call up.
20:53He does, and that hat trick game against
20:55Montreal in December was, like, stuff you tell your
20:57grandkids about. So,
20:59Heinen, for what he made last year,
21:01I'm going to go with someone,
21:03I don't know if people are expecting this,
21:05and I consider this free agency
21:07because he was not on the team the year
21:09before. I'm going to go 2022
21:11David Krejci, one year, one million.
21:13Think about how big that was at the time.
21:15People wondering, was he going to come
21:17back?
21:19They fired Bruce Cassidy, in comes
21:21Jim Montgomery, Bergeron
21:23comes back, and then everyone's like, alright, like,
21:25Krejci coming back? Does he want to
21:27play here again? He
21:29did, and he performed. Second line
21:31center, 16 goals,
21:3356 points in
21:3570 games, had four points in four
21:37playoff games. He was out for those first
21:39three, came back
21:41for the four losses, but still put up points.
21:43Like, I just think what he brought you,
21:45how special it was that
21:47in that, you know, all-time season
21:49for the Bruins, they had Bergeron
21:51and Krejci. It was the last year of those two
21:53together. He also,
21:55and we said this, we must have said this
21:57a hundred times, in and around
21:59that time, he helped them kick the can down the
22:01road, in terms of figuring out what they were
22:03going to do at center.
22:05And Krejci, to me,
22:07was the perfect guy
22:09you needed for that. He fit in well with
22:11Pasternak, fit in well with Zaka
22:13on the left, fit in well
22:15at times with Taylor Hall.
22:17So, to me,
22:19like, that signing, it's weird
22:21because, you know, he was there before, he'd never
22:23played with another team before, but coming over from
22:25the Czech,
22:27I gotta go with David Krejci on that
22:29spot.
22:31I think he was just fantastic.
22:33Anyways, honorable mentions.
22:35Some guys that we almost picked.
22:37I'm curious, one guy that, or
22:39one or two that you were
22:41jonesing to pick. So, mine's a little bit
22:43off the board a little bit, but I'm gonna go
22:45with Eric Haula for two years
22:474.75.
22:49I think, one, because of the
22:51expectations of what you had, the kind of
22:53tough hand the Bruins were dealt that year, and also
22:55just in terms of the asset management.
22:57I think it's also why the
22:59Olmark signing, as much as I think people probably aren't
23:01happy about Corporasolo, right? People wanted
23:03Chikorin, they wanted Shane Pinto,
23:05all things considered. If you, you know,
23:07sign this guy with no risk, and you're able to
23:09get a potential
23:11franchise guy, or even just a useful
23:13player in Dean Letourneau down the road,
23:15and we'll see what Mark Caslick does
23:17this year, you take it, right?
23:19Like, you're getting added assets
23:21on top of a guy you just had to sign, right?
23:23So, I think that's something that's useful, and I think
23:25you look at Eric Haula for
23:27what his contract was, two years, 4.75
23:29million.
23:31You don't have David Krejci, you had a
23:33huge vacancy down the middle. Guys like
23:35Potra and everyone were way down the, like,
23:37weren't even in the equation. Like, you had nothing
23:39coming up. To sign
23:41a guy like Haula, who I think had 44 points
23:43that year, was solid in terms of
23:45what the role was, like, for kind of
23:47what was a bridge-ish
23:49kind of year for what the Bruins had.
23:51Haula, I think, did an admirable job
23:53there down the middle for
23:55one year, and then you flip him for Pavel Zaka,
23:57who has, I think, a much higher
23:59upside, and is
24:01now kind of carved out a role as kind of a
24:03piece of this, you know, next generation
24:05of Bruins talent. So, I think in terms of just the
24:07initial signing, bridging the gap with a
24:09solid player, and then making the most
24:11of his presence with another year on his deal,
24:13and flipping him for Zaka,
24:15I think that signing has paid off
24:17multiple years down the road, not just the two
24:19years that the Bruins initially signed Haula
24:21for. Haula's a perfect one. I think
24:23if, you know, if Krejci didn't exist,
24:25or Krejci was, if Krejci didn't exist,
24:27that would not be good. The Bruins would be in
24:29trouble. Yeah, Bruins would have, I don't know if you have
24:31the 2011 Cup,
24:33but if Krejci didn't sign
24:35that deal and never came back, Haula would have been mine.
24:37I think Haula was a phenomenal
24:39choice there.
24:41I would want to go 2018
24:43Sean Corrale.
24:45Three years, 3.825 million
24:47over those three years.
24:49Just sort of what he
24:51gave you. He didn't come over in that San Jose
24:53trade, did he? He did.
24:55He did, okay.
24:57Wait a minute, did they sign him
24:59off an RFA deal? Was that how that
25:01came to be? I think that's how it was,
25:03yeah. Okay, so then maybe Corrale
25:05got it. I didn't include those guys, so I'm gonna
25:07pretend I didn't say Sean. Sean Corrale was a great signing
25:09for that price. Gave you a lot.
25:11Actually, I take that back.
25:13I had forgotten that Corrale was here.
25:15I believe he was part of that Martin Jones
25:17kind of deal. I think he was.
25:19I think that's what he was.
25:21So if I didn't go with him, and I shouldn't
25:23have put him on the list,
25:25Morgan Geeky, last year.
25:27Two years, 4 million over those years.
25:29What he can give you. His ability
25:31to slot all over the lineup. You guys heard
25:33on last week's Poke the Bear.
25:35Connor put him on the second line. I had him on my third
25:37line. That's a versatile guy.
25:39You'll take that anytime for $2 million.
25:41I'd probably go with
25:43Morgan Geeky as my
25:45fourth pick. Interesting other
25:47picks. I love going back and looking
25:49through these.
25:51Chris Wagner, two years,
25:532.5 mil over both years.
25:55That worked out.
25:57He had a couple seasons down there
25:59on that fourth line. Didn't really end great,
26:01but right after
26:03that signing, it panned out.
26:05Tomasz Nosek,
26:07that was a good signing.
26:09Good role player on that fourth line.
26:11JVR, one year, 1 million.
26:13I know he ran out of gas, but almost
26:1540 points for a guy making 1 million.
26:17You will absolutely take that.
26:19Wotherspoon for what he's become.
26:21That's just an AHL player.
26:23That would be like a Billy Sweezy this year.
26:25Someone turning out to be a
26:27legit NHL everyday player.
26:29I'd put Wotherspoon in there as well.
26:31I do think Max Jones is a guy that could
26:33have the potential of being a guy that signed
26:35for two years, 1 million each.
26:37I think he described his game
26:39as he likes to play with his hair on fire,
26:41which is not safe. I wouldn't recommend it.
26:43I feel like he's a guy that,
26:45if he's in a featured fourth line role, could be a pretty
26:47popular player for Bruins fans in terms of
26:49how physical he is and how much he
26:51relishes playing that style of game.
26:53I think he's a guy that could be
26:55joining that long list of the Wagners,
26:57the Tim Shallers, the Riley Nashes,
26:59these kind of guys that
27:01are put in a featured role and
27:03maybe a bottom six spot with the Bruins
27:05and thrive playing to that identity.
27:07I'm glad you mentioned that because
27:09I almost added him to our list and I was like,
27:11eh, I don't know.
27:13I don't know if we're actually going to pick him, but you're right.
27:15I think he has the potential to be one of those guys.
27:17I don't think we missed
27:19anybody. I mean, Tim Shaller was a good signing.
27:21The Granite Man.
27:23That's right.
27:25That's right.
27:27Anybody else?
27:29I think we've hit everybody. Because again, this is just
27:31Sweeney's tenure. This is not like
27:33Howard and Chara and any of those guys.
27:35This is current times.
27:37I'm not ready to put Zdorov in there.
27:39I don't think that's
27:41a sure thing or anything like that.
27:43But yeah, interesting
27:45signings. It goes to show
27:47the Bruins have predominantly signed
27:49guys that can bolster their bottom six
27:51and there's nothing wrong with that. I think that's how free agency
27:53should be played.
27:55Except when this year they needed
27:57a number one center. They went out and got the
27:59main number one center on the market.
28:01I'm okay with that too.
28:03We will have more of these. We're going to have best Don
28:05Sweeney draft picks
28:07of his tenure. We're going to have worst.
28:09I feel like we're going to have
28:11comments being like, where the hell are the worst?
28:13Don't worry, guys.
28:15Those are coming.
28:17We know Bruins fans. We'll dive into the negativity.
28:19Don't worry. Exactly. It can't be all one
28:21episode. We're going to spread them out.
28:23There will be a worst of episode.
28:25People are going to be like, yes. Mention the
28:272015 draft. Mention Matt
28:29Waleski. Trust me. Those guys will
28:31be mentioned. Then we'll have some other
28:33fun evergreen content that
28:35is previewing the upcoming season.
28:37That's been
28:39this week's Bruins Beat. Connor, you are
28:41on your honeymoon. Go back. Enjoy
28:43whatever you are doing.
28:45Go have fun. Go out to the ocean or
28:47go on your safari. You're going
28:49on a bunch of safaris, right? That's where you are
28:51right now. Yes.
28:53I'm just at Animal Kingdom in Disney.
28:55That's where I am. I just want to keep it under wraps.
28:57You're at York's Wild Animal
28:59Kingdom up in Maine where they have two tigers.
29:01Great spot.
29:03Especially when they have little Dippin' Dots out front.
29:05I'm telling you.
29:07I don't know if I've said this on air before. Maybe I have.
29:09I firmly believe
29:11maybe I have said this.
29:13People can remind me. You and I will talk
29:15off camera so I forget if it's
29:17what I said on here or not.
29:19I could raise tigers.
29:21I firmly believe I could raise
29:23tigers. Maybe I couldn't befriend
29:25a tiger that's middle-aged
29:27because it doesn't know me. It'll kill me.
29:29It doesn't know you. You're just making
29:31Seinfeld references to it. It's like, what the fuck? Get away from me.
29:33Tell it it's got to shut up.
29:35A young tiger,
29:37raise them, walk them around my house,
29:39have them in the backyard, feed them.
29:41I could do it.
29:43I even know how to communicate. I can chuff. I can
29:45communicate with them too. That's good.
29:47I think tigers I could be great with.
29:49This is Evan Exotic.
29:51I'm the next
29:53Joe Exotic. That's exactly what I am.
29:55What was his
29:57rival's name again? What was her name?
29:59It shows you how long ago the
30:01pandemic was that I can't remember her name.
30:03At that time,
30:05that's the biggest
30:07documentary has ever been. Everybody
30:09watched that documentary. We talked about that
30:11on full Bruinsbeat. Objectively,
30:13it wasn't even that. It was
30:15entertaining.
30:17The Last Dance, I think, was better for
30:19a pandemic era watch.
30:21Carol Baskins.
30:23At that time,
30:25it was the biggest thing. If you were
30:27that crew putting that out,
30:29that was the perfect time to do it. That was
30:31March 2020. Everybody's
30:33home. No one knows what to do. Let's watch
30:35the tiger documentary.
30:37The memes from that, I will never
30:39financially recover from this.
30:41Outstanding.
30:43Didn't they put out a
30:45second part to the documentary? I never watched.
30:47I'm sure. No one cared. It was
30:49post-COVID, so no one cared.
30:51No one cared. It shows. The Hawk Tua
30:53girl is going super viral right now.
30:55In two weeks, no one will remember her.
30:57Nobody will care. It's also not that funny.
30:59I got to be honest. I hate to pour water on it,
31:01but it's not that funny.
31:03All the
31:05people love it right now.
31:07Anyways,
31:09people are like, at least they're saving the
31:11non-Bruins talk for the end of the show.
31:13Exactly. People are already switched to something else.
31:15They're back to putting an R.E.M. on their radio.
31:17That's right. They're back to it.
31:19I don't know why I assume Bruins fans
31:21just blast R.E.M., but it just feels like
31:23everybody
31:25heard it. It's something to listen to.
31:27Exactly. We'll have to do
31:29a show at some point, maybe in
31:31August when you get back. If you guys have
31:33questions for us about the pop culture
31:35or something that isn't Bruins related, we'll do a show
31:37on that. You can ask us anything
31:39and we'll answer freely.
31:41Anyways, that's Connor Ryan.
31:43I'm Evan Marinovsky. We're presented
31:45by PrizeFix and GameTime. You Bruins will be listening.
31:47Have a great rest of your week.