On this episode of Poke the Bear, Conor Ryan is joined by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub. Conor and Ty sit down to discuss the top surprises — both good and bad — that we've seen so far this Bruins season. That, and much more!
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SportsTranscript
00:00Poke the Bear is brought to you by Price Picks and the GameTime app.
00:07And welcome into Poke the Bear episode 270 presented by Price Picks and GameTime tickets.
00:13My name is Conor Ryan and once again we are joined by the esteemed Ty Anderson of 985
00:18the Sports Hub.
00:19Ty, what's going on?
00:21I spilled a drink everywhere like a minute ago so I'm doing all right but now I'm thirsty.
00:25It's not great.
00:26It's not great.
00:29It's not ideal.
00:30You don't want to be patched during this podcast.
00:32Are you okay?
00:33Do you have a water supply or anything or are you going to try to gut through this?
00:37I'm going to gut through it.
00:38It's an overtime shift with a long change so we're going to have to just gut through
00:41it.
00:42Admirable.
00:43Admirable.
00:44We'll keep this one nice and tidy.
00:46Nice and brief.
00:47Obviously the Bruins have had a couple days off now after Wednesday's 5-3 win over the
00:52Avalanche.
00:53A game that going into it, you look at the matchup, I know Colorado is 0-3 going into
00:57it.
00:58A lot of firepower on that roster.
01:00You've got Jonas Corpusolo going in there.
01:03His second start with the Bruins.
01:04You have the feeling like those might be a long one beyond the fact that the game started
01:10at approximately I think it was 11.45 at night is what it feels like.
01:14A little bit of an arduous watch.
01:16I talked about this with Evan.
01:18Broadcast wasn't enjoyable.
01:20Was not fun.
01:21Was not a fun watch at all.
01:22No.
01:23Eddie Otek is terrible.
01:24I'm sorry.
01:25I'm just going to say he's terrible.
01:26He's one of the worst analysts that we have jammed down our throats for the last decade
01:30and a half.
01:31And it's the one thing that TNT kind of bummed me out about.
01:34I love TNT.
01:35I love their desk.
01:36I love their panel.
01:37I love most of what they do.
01:39Eddie Otek is painful and he's been painful for a decade now.
01:42It was such a great chance to start anew.
01:45He went out to the Kraken.
01:46He had the Kraken hire his entire family.
01:48Like whatever.
01:49Just go to the Kraken games, dude.
01:50It's fine.
01:51Like stay away from the national broadcast.
01:52My God, he's brutal.
01:54He had Martian being like, look at this guy flopping out there.
01:57Meanwhile, like Martian's literally in the room after that hit the entire time.
02:01Even like, you know, Albert, who I think is good, like was behind the play.
02:04I was talking about this with Evan.
02:06Like it was not an enjoyable watch.
02:07And I was telling Evan, it's like those late night games, like growing up, I would always
02:13watch the Red Sox West Coast games and it was nice and relaxing.
02:16You had like Orsillo and Remy, usually the Red Sox were like beating the crap out of whoever
02:20they were playing.
02:21It's like a nice ASMR way to like ease into the night.
02:24That game was so disjointed.
02:26The Bruins game was not fun at all, other than the fact that the Bruins came away with
02:30the win.
02:31Ty, when you look at that matchup, going into it, expectations, what have you, what were
02:36some of your big takeaways from how the Bruins fared and bounced back after that pretty disappointing
02:42game on Monday?
02:43Yeah, I'm not a gambling guy, but entering the game, the over-under was six and a half.
02:49If I were a gambling man, I would have said pound that.
02:52That's exactly what kind of happened there as that game went on.
02:54And, you know, Georgiev and the Avalanche, like they have their issues.
02:58They are not, they have not been a good team out of the gate.
03:02They look oddly human.
03:04Guys like Makar, who's, even though he's putting up points, he has multiple points, I think
03:07in three out of four games, I want to say, or maybe all four, but he doesn't look like
03:12the Kael Makar that we're used to seeing.
03:15And so you have that.
03:17McKinnon is basically a one-man show right now.
03:20You have Ronton in as well, but like, it just feels like they're missing some pop.
03:25And I thought the Bruins were going to see a desperate Colorado team in that game.
03:30And they may have, but they overpowered them.
03:33You know, I thought their puck possession game was great.
03:35I thought their cycling was, was, was really good.
03:38It reminded me of the second half of that game against Montreal.
03:42And so to bounce back in a big way, I think is important.
03:45I think it's only going to get harder from here because you have Utah in their building,
03:50which is going to be electric.
03:52And then you have Nashville after that.
03:53Nashville's 0-4 right now.
03:55So another team that's probably going to be desperate, obviously given the, the change
03:59that they made in the off season, adding all the talent that they did.
04:02So this is a good test for them to begin it with a win in arguably the hardest spot, I
04:08think is huge for this team.
04:10And when you look at the guys that have stepped up, right, I mean that fourth line, have you
04:15seen like a, a, a stat like this from the Bruins have had a lot of luck the last couple
04:20of years, right.
04:21Of guys stepping up and exceeding expectations, whether it's, you know, last year with Heinen
04:26or, you know, there's plenty of times where they bring in these guys that have really
04:30carved out set roles.
04:32Had you remember a time, which like a fourth line, especially with a guy like Beecher,
04:35a second year guy, Kastlik, whose career high is 11 points and Kepke, who what has 26 career
04:42games in the NHL before this year.
04:44Can you remember a time which these guys have gelled and not just gel, but produce at this
04:48level?
04:49The one thing in this fourth line was, you know, you know, getting a little bit of uptick
04:52in minutes, 12, 13, 14 minutes, becoming really reliable and in their own zone.
04:58The fact that the Bruins are scoring teams eight, nothing at five and five play when
05:01they're out there.
05:02I can't remember a time where it's really clicked to this degree.
05:05And again, some of that may be as puck luck.
05:07We know it's not, it's not going to carry on over throughout the year, but I can't remember
05:12a time which a line has clicked like this kind of out of nowhere.
05:14I did not see this coming at all.
05:17You're a hundred percent right.
05:19And I think you've sort of alluded to it.
05:21We've seen this in the past, but typically at the midway point of the year, like when
05:25the Bruins went on that run in 2019, you saw that fourth line come together in the second
05:30half.
05:31That's when Corrali, Chari, Wagner, Nordstrom there sometimes like that's when they kind
05:37of took hold and became a tone setting group for that team.
05:42Out of the gate like this, no, like this is, this is rare.
05:46The closest thing I can think of, and even that wasn't as good.
05:49That was one game.
05:50That wasn't a whole week was that opening night in 2017, when all the young players
05:54scored basically, you know, Dubrovnik and Bjork and I think Hein and they all got on
05:59the board that night with points.
06:00So like that's, that's, or McAvoy as well as in that group, like that is sort of like
06:04the closest thing I can remember.
06:06But again, that's one game versus a week, you know, five games of sustained pressure,
06:11five games of them being arguably your best line every game.
06:16I think the exception may be being the Montreal game where I think that the Pasternak line
06:20kind of went off.
06:21So, um, you look at it that way, like they've been unbelievable.
06:26And I think really what it is is, you know, Jim Montgomery talks about it after that for
06:30after that Florida game on Monday, like they just know their role.
06:34Right.
06:35And when you watch them, they're never changing how they play.
06:38They are playing their game.
06:40They're dictating the terms of that, of that game.
06:42And they're going out there and producing.
06:44And I think that's what's, you know, if everyone follows their lead, it's gonna be a really
06:47good team.
06:48Yeah.
06:49And I think it's something to where, yes, I don't think you're expecting, you know,
06:52we're not going to be in early December.
06:54If we're going to look at this forward line and be like, what the shit's going on?
06:57They're outscoring teams 21 to one when they're on the ice.
07:00Like, I don't, I don't see that being the case.
07:02Maybe they'll prove me wrong.
07:03But even if that that scoring regresses, or, you know, some of it's just been circumstances
07:09where they've been fortunate, like the Lindholm goal, where, again, they're playing simple
07:13smart hockey, they're screening the goaltender and the puck gets through.
07:17Even if that scoring regresses a little bit, the way they're playing, it's still a style
07:21where if you keep up that intensity, that motor that, you know, winning puck battles,
07:26yes, maybe you're not scoring at the rate, what is it 12 goals for per 60 minutes, something
07:31insane like that.
07:32You may not do that, but you're going to be hemming the other team in their own end.
07:36So like, you're still going to be playing winning hockey when you're out there.
07:39And that's the thing where I don't think we're expecting Cole Koepke to be a 20 goal guy
07:43or Mark Caslick to be a 38 point guy, you know, making a leap like that.
07:48But if they play this style throughout the year, you know, they're going to be one of
07:53the more effective kind of checking units out there because you look at even like a
07:56guy like Beecher, who even from the start of camp, Jim Montgomery said how much they've
08:01been impressed with the strides he's made when we have these players who are either
08:04unproven or have more to give, it seems like they're really relishing that opportunity.
08:08And it's leading to, again, maybe not lopsided scoring totals by the end of the year, but
08:13winning hockey.
08:14And that's what it's been whenever they've been on the ice.
08:15Yeah.
08:16But I also think the way that they play is conducive to teams not adjusting per se and
08:23limiting their scoring, because I think so much of what they do gets everybody else involved.
08:28If you look at the first goal that Kepke scores in the Colorado game, I mean, you have
08:34an activation from Zdorov who then sends it around and allows Peake to activate, and they're
08:38just going to the front of the net and they're creating traffic, they're creating chaos,
08:42and they don't quit on the play.
08:43And Kepke gets it, bangs it home, like, and then you look at the Lindholm one, just get
08:47traffic there.
08:48Like, I think that if they continue to play their game, the way that they're scoring goals,
08:53it's kind of hard work and pinball, you know?
08:56I don't know how you adjust that if you're in opposition, because you're accounting for
09:01five guys.
09:02If you want to flood the home plate area and try to deny that, you can.
09:07But ultimately, you're going to have teams, and I think this is the way that they want
09:10to play that fourth line, you're going to have teams just spinning around constantly
09:14going, okay, where are we going?
09:15Where are we going?
09:16Where are we going?
09:17Right.
09:18I think that's kind of what can make them so effective.
09:19And that's what might, you know, yeah, they're not going to score 12 goals per 60 minutes,
09:23but like that strategy and that tenacity might allow them to continue to score even
09:29after teams start saying, hey, we got to watch these guys because they know what they're
09:32doing out there, because it's not just watching them.
09:34It's watching the defensemen that activate as a result of them pinning teams down, grinding
09:39them down, maintaining possession, and then winning one-on-one battles.
09:43Yeah, absolutely.
09:44No, that fourth line so far, maybe we don't even call them the fourth line, so Jim Montgomery
09:48said after Wednesday, but whatever they are.
09:50The Castler Gline have been a bunch of monsters to start this year.
09:54Definitely one of the more pleasant surprises for this team.
09:56We're going to talk a little bit more about other surprises through the first five games,
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11:47All right, Ty, we obviously discussed the Catholic line and how dominant they've been
11:51through five games.
11:52What other things have kind of stood out to you in terms of either encouraging things,
11:56maybe a few things that need to be shored up?
11:58What do you think have been kind of the bigger surprises to start this season for Boston?
12:02I think that, and you know, we saw, we've seen him now for a couple of games, but Matthew
12:08Potra and the way that he's just like, he's refusing to go down to the minors essentially.
12:13And I think there are times like that LA game, I thought he looked good.
12:17The Florida game, I thought he looked good up until the shorthanded goal and his confidence,
12:23I think got rattled a little bit.
12:26But in the Colorado game, I'm watching him and I'm going, he's good.
12:31You got to get him some help though.
12:32And I think that's the biggest thing that I'm looking at and it's not, it's not a knock
12:35on Max Jones on a knock on Riley Tufte, but these guys are fourth liners or fill in types.
12:40And you got them playing with your 19 year, 20 year old, you know, future.
12:44What you hope is a middle six center, um, the present middle six center.
12:50Like you gotta get him a little bit more offensive help, I think, to get him going, to truly
12:54take flight.
12:55Because I think he's proven so far that he's worthy of that kind of investment.
12:59He's worthy of getting him someone who can legitimately help him and aid him as a player
13:04and further his own development along.
13:06So that's been a big surprise, um, in terms of just how ready he's been, in my opinion.
13:11Yeah, no, he's, he's been awesome.
13:13And I think even by that same, that same token, you look at some of these other younger players
13:17and it's been encouraging that you look at him.
13:20You look at Johnny Beecher, who is already halfway to what his point total was last year.
13:25He had 10 points in 52 games as a rookie.
13:28He's got five points already been a key cog as to why that Catholic line has been so effective.
13:34And even look at like a guy like Laurie, who again was kind of up and down, I would say
13:38during preseason, right?
13:40Like didn't really show that same kind of poise that you saw, especially at the end
13:44of last year against Florida, had a really rough go of it in, uh, the season opener against
13:49Florida and has responded to get scratched in the home opener against Montreal.
13:53And now he's got what four points in his last three games, sets up coil on the power play
13:57goal on Wednesday has a goal on Monday against the Panthers.
14:01I think overall you're looking at maybe that nucleus of young players, right?
14:06And they all have different roles.
14:07Patra has a potential to be a top six guy.
14:09Beecher could be like a bedrock, a fourth line guy for the long haul.
14:13And then Laura has got such a high ceiling, but for all three of those players, it's not
14:18just one.
14:19You have to roll with the ups and downs that are to be expected for these younger players,
14:23but there are guys that can contribute right now.
14:25And I think you're seeing that with all three of them.
14:27And maybe parts are the, it's more banking on right now, just potential of kind of getting
14:31him going.
14:31But you saw in that game against the Kings last week, like that poise and playmaking,
14:36he's a guy that should be able to make an instant impact with his team, especially at
14:40five on five play, I would say.
14:42Yeah.
14:42And I'm happy that you brought up low ride because like, I don't like for me, I just
14:46thought his camp was average.
14:48Like it was kind of like, okay, but he was looked upon as like a lock for the roster.
14:53Right.
14:54So it's a double-sided coin where you're like, all right, well, maybe he's pacing
14:57himself.
14:58Maybe he's not trying to get hurt.
15:00Like there's always, it's always weird things like that, that you wonder with guys
15:03who are locks.
15:04Um, but the way he's played since the scratching, uh, from the home opener, which I
15:10don't care if you're a first year guy or a 20 year guy, it's kind of embarrassing to
15:13get scratched from the home opener.
15:14You want to play in that game, especially the way that you ended your year, the year
15:18before as a playoff contributor in the top four.
15:22I think the way he's responded since that has been fantastic and that's a good sign.
15:26Right?
15:26Like we've talked a lot about the coaching on this team and kind of the, the, the
15:32unique situation that they're all in a lame duck head coach.
15:36They want to win now.
15:37They also want you to develop guys.
15:39So for Mason low ride to respond the way he's responded since the scratch, that is
15:44not only a good reflection on him, but Jim Montgomery as well, in my opinion.
15:48So that's, that's a pleasant surprise.
15:50I think for the Bruins is the way that he's responded since getting
15:54sat for that game against Montreal.
15:56Yeah, without a doubt.
15:57And I think he's one of these guys that is viewed as a dynamic player on that blue
16:01line, but I would say also another surprise has just been how dynamic, you know, the
16:05Bruins decor has been and how involved they've been in offense.
16:08And I think especially you look at a guy like campus Lindholm, who has that potential
16:13right of being this kind of two way guy can make an impact every time he's out on
16:17the ice.
16:18And, uh, you know, the Bruins, I think as an overall decor have five goals, 18
16:22points, really encouraging to stop.
16:24But Lindholm himself is second on the team and shot attempts.
16:27He's got 31.
16:28I think it's eighth overall amongst all NHL defensemen.
16:31Um, and I think you, you've seen, maybe it was either that game seven against
16:35Toronto was a nice reminder of like, Oh, I should get pucks on net.
16:38Look, look what happens when I get pucks on net.
16:39But you even see with his goal on Wednesday against Colorado, like if you've got guys,
16:44especially upfront that are converging at the net front, screening the goalie, make
16:48things difficult, see what you can do.
16:50Cause I think a guy like Lindholm, the fact that I think he's been leading the charge
16:53in terms of that shot first mentality and adding an extra layer of offense, I think
16:58that's really encouraging for the team, but also I think for Lindholm himself, because
17:01we saw two years ago, just how much of a force he can be.
17:05And I don't think maybe we should be expecting another 50 point year from the
17:08guy, but he's a lot better and a lot more impactful than I think what we saw last
17:12year. And I think so far it's been a step in the right direction for him.
17:16Yeah.
17:16And I think the biggest thing is that, right.
17:18So right now he's still playing a lot with Brennan Carlo.
17:20Like they are keeping those guys together and they're still beginning a lot of their
17:24shifts in the defensive zone.
17:26I think they're just under 40% in terms of ozone start, but the shot totals are great.
17:33Like they're out shooting.
17:34The opposition was three to one.
17:36They've been on the ice for four goals.
17:37I think only two against so far.
17:39So.
17:40Like they are like they're, they're, they're still in the same kind of role, but I think
17:44they are figuring out how to get pucks up and out of there quicker, maybe than the year
17:49ago.
17:49Maybe the roster is more built to get pucks up and out of there.
17:52I'd be very curious to see who they're playing with the most in terms of like their
17:56line mates.
17:56Is it with Lindholm, uh, Pasternak and Zaka?
17:59Is it more with Coyle and Martin and Marshan?
18:02I imagine it has to be, uh, the top line and the fourth line.
18:06So that's a good spot to be in right now, clearly.
18:08But, um, I think that utilization, how they, how they deploy those guys, that's going to
18:14be worth watching because if they're keeping them together, but they're tinkering with
18:18how, how often they're out there in the D zone, like maybe that is all they need to
18:22do, you know?
18:22Cause I've said it before that Carlos best years came with Torrey Krug, you know, and
18:27they got a ton of ozone reps during that time.
18:30Maybe that's how you do that.
18:31Right.
18:31And you lean on Carlo for key plays in the defensive zone, um, you know, on the PK or
18:36protecting a lead in the third period, mixing and matching.
18:39This is the value of their decor.
18:42You can mix and match based on situations based on timing of the game, all of that.
18:46And so, uh, maybe we're finally starting to see it now with, with, with the true
18:50value of Lindholm and Carlo, two good players, in my opinion, who I think got a
18:55really hard assignment a year ago, really hard assignment.
18:58Yeah, no, without a doubt.
18:59No.
19:00And they've, they've both taken steps forward, especially Lindholm, I think this
19:03year to start, um, Ty, before we wrap things up, we'll, uh, take another quick
19:07break here, here from our good friends over at game time tickets.
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20:24Now back to the show.
20:26Shout out once again to our good friends over at game time tickets, uh, Ty
20:30looking at, you know, in the same vein of, uh, surprises for this team through
20:35the first five games, uh, on the negative side, things that, you know, need to be
20:39shored up or tweaked a little bit.
20:41Um, what has kind of stood out to you in terms of things that might want to get
20:45it in order as the, the year starts ramping up here?
20:49Yeah, I don't know if it's a surprise as much as it's just sort of an
20:53acknowledgement that their Achilles heel is going to be their scoring.
20:56Um, and when I say that, I mean, their top six scoring and where they get goals
21:01from that second line, right wing spot.
21:03Uh, they were talking about it on July one saying that, Hey, this
21:07might be our, this might be our downfall.
21:10I think it's going to be, I think based on what we've seen right now.
21:14And it's great.
21:14Charlie Corley gets a goal on the power play the other night.
21:17Maybe that gets him going a little bit here, but you know, guys, like when you
21:21put all of your eggs in the basket of, well, Morgan geeky, Trent, Frederick,
21:27Charlie Coyle, they all had career years.
21:28That's who they are now.
21:29It's like, well, no, they might drop a little bit.
21:32They might come down a little bit.
21:34You know, Justin Brezzo at five goals and 19 games or whatever it was like, he could
21:38be good, but he might regress a little.
21:40Like, like there's always signs that, that, you know, a career year does not
21:44mean that's who that guy is from this point onward.
21:47And so when you invest so heavily in guys who had career years and you say
21:52that's going to be their norm, it might set you up for failure here.
21:56And so it's early, it's five games.
21:59I can't make a definitive statement either way, but as of right now, it looks
22:03like that might be their biggest problem.
22:05There's only so many ways that you can.
22:07You can rotate your current group, right?
22:09We saw Riley Tufte and Max Jones on the third line, Tufte takes
22:14two offensive zone penalties.
22:16The game before that, we saw Max Jones took two penalties.
22:18Like those aren't scores there.
22:21They can be good at, they can be good weapons, but they're
22:23not scorers for your team.
22:24So I just think that middle six scoring punch, it's not a surprise, but that
22:28might be their Achilles this year.
22:30Yeah.
22:30Maybe not surprised, but definitely maybe it's a validated concern.
22:35It was going into it.
22:35You're like, all right, this might be some tough sledding.
22:37And then you're like, Ooh, it's not good when you're five games in.
22:41And I think they've got seven guys on the team that don't have a five on five
22:45point in three of them are guys in your top six, Marshand, Coyle, and
22:49Geeky, who was scratched on Wednesday.
22:51I'm looking at like ways to get that group going.
22:54What do you think is probably the next kind of contingency plan?
22:57Is it putting Potter on the wing there?
23:00Or what do you think needs to be a guy that maybe can give them a little
23:03bit more of a scoring punch?
23:04Cause right now, as you said, it's kind of been, they've been good in their
23:07own end, all things considered, but black hole offensively so far.
23:11Yeah.
23:11It feels like the next move would be creating the cap space needed to
23:15sign Tyler Johnson, trying that.
23:18And if that fails Merkel of YSL, maybe, I don't know, like the way that those
23:23guys played in camp and the way they talk about them in terms of what they
23:27need to do makes me think we're not going to see them anytime soon, but.
23:32I think Tyler Johnson is the next move.
23:34Um, maybe in the, in the meantime, Matthew Potter does move to the wing.
23:39We saw that in camp for a little bit.
23:41Uh, we know it as an option.
23:43I'm curious how they view him.
23:45You're like, there are certain guys that like can play center and wing, but the
23:48Bruins are like, Nope, you're just a center.
23:50Charlie coil is a great example of that.
23:52Like, like everyone says, when are they going to put them on the wing?
23:54When like, they're not gonna, they don't view him as that.
23:57Like that's something that you only see in video games.
24:00Now, Charlie coil playing right wing.
24:02You don't see it in real life anymore.
24:04And so I think, I think ultimately Tyler Johnson is the next move.
24:09Um, but when is that, is this a daily cap space thing where they got to wait
24:14until October 30th, like they did with Heinen a year ago, and then sign him for
24:18a one year league minimum kind of contract maybe.
24:21Um, but I think ultimately that is the next domino to fall.
24:25And then if that fails, then you start looking Providence.
24:29If you're not happy with Providence, then external, and then who
24:32the hell knows what happens.
24:33I feel like Kevin Malar right now.
24:34Don't let him score tonight.
24:36Then he got, then he got Tyler Johnson in game five.
24:39You got Lysell in game six.
24:40Then who knows?
24:41Like, and you got, and you got Andrew Mangia Pani months from now to
24:46the trade deadline, right?
24:47Exactly, exactly.
24:48Yeah.
24:49Yeah.
24:49So, uh, yeah, definitely concerning.
24:51I think that's probably the most, uh, troubling trend to start.
24:54I would say the defense hasn't necessarily been all that great, but
24:57that's something that, again, it's kind of like football, like the first
25:01few weeks of the NFL season where a team is supposed to have a good
25:03defense or a good, a great offense.
25:05It takes a while to gel.
25:06I'm not really fretting over the state of the defense right now.
25:08I think it all comes down to scoring what you can do there.
25:11Cause I think what you've seen in October, hopefully at least shouldn't
25:16be the case in, uh, almost a December in April when you get to
25:20the defensive side of things.
25:22Yeah, 100%.
25:24And I think that like their margin for error is going to be greater in
25:29December once you get these things locked down defensive, um, once things
25:33tighten up, like I just love the raw talent of their defense.
25:37So you got to get scoring though.
25:39It's just like, can they figure that out between now and December 31st?
25:43Because if not, that's when I think, you know, Manjeepani, Anthony
25:47Mintha, Jason Zucker, like whoever, like that's when like you started
25:51looking at those kinds of guys being like, is that, is that where we're going here?
25:55Yeah, no, absolutely.
25:56And again, as you said, it's something that Bruins mapped out on July 1st.
25:59So I think they braced for this being impossible scenario.
26:03Ideally they have it solved internally before they have to, once again, start
26:07looking at moving draft capital once we get to that point.
26:10So we'll see.
26:11I don't know if I want them doing that.
26:13I don't, I like the idea of having two years in a row with the first round pick.
26:19I guess that's just where I am.
26:20I don't know.
26:21Like, I don't know if you're bridging the gap right now with any of the
26:24guys that could be available unless you extend them maybe, but I don't know.
26:28Yeah.
26:28I feel like if you're going to go back into like, especially like first or
26:32second round pick territory, it's got to be someone that you ideally
26:36want to sign long-term, right?
26:38Like, I don't want like a guy, like a, a Mantha or, you know, someone
26:42like this that could, could help for the immediate, but I don't feel
26:45comfortable giving them then a five-year deal, right?
26:48Right.
26:48No, it's when, remember the fun years when it was like, you were looking
26:51at guys like McDonough or Mark Stone.
26:54That's where I'm like, give them two first round, but I don't give a shit.
26:56Like if you can sign that player, that is going to be a foundational talent.
27:02I'm all for it.
27:02But in terms of the rentals, like if you want to package a few, maybe lower
27:07picks and have something that's the equivalent of like a Marcus Johansson,
27:11which I think also probably exceeded their expectations of what he was going
27:14to provide then maybe you, you focus on that, but yeah, for like a rental or a
27:19guy that helps, but is he a game changer?
27:24I don't really see that right now.
27:25Again, we'll see how the draft of the trade market really develops, but right
27:28now, I don't know, I don't want them to all of a sudden just look right ahead
27:33to February and March to be the time where they fix these issues.
27:36Cause I don't know how much you're going to be overpaying to get a guy
27:39that maybe helps you in 2024, 25.
27:42But if it's a one-year thing and you're going back to the drawing board of
27:45giving up draft capital, not really a fan of that.
27:48No, no.
27:49Cause you got to start replenishing.
27:50Um, you know, like the Burrs run window is over.
27:54Char window is long over.
27:55Like you got to start replenishing the pool for when Pasternak and McAvoy and
28:00Swayman are in their early thirties.
28:02And you start going, Ooh, not sure how much more time we got with this group
28:07being at the prime of their career.
28:08Like, you got to start planning for that.
28:09I think they did a great job of that by getting, um, Dean Letourneau, but
28:14like, he's also not a law guy.
28:16Yeah, exactly.
28:17Exactly.
28:18Yeah.
28:19So we will see how those things kind of play out.
28:21See how the Bruins solve their five on five scoring in that middle six
28:24grouping, uh, moving forward.
28:26Uh, Ty, where can we read your stuff?
28:28Where can we hear you on the airwaves?
28:30All that good stuff.
28:31Yeah.
28:32You can hear me at a 985 sports of the hockey show, uh, Saturday
28:36mornings, nine to 11 AM.
28:37Uh, please call in.
28:38Love to hear from you guys.
28:39Uh, and then you can also find me on the website, 985 sports hub.com.
28:44On X at underscore Ty Anderson and pretty much anywhere else
28:48in the greater Boston area.
28:49How about you?
28:50Yeah.
28:50So you can, uh, read my stuff over at boston.com and the Boston globe.
28:54We have you covered every step of the way this brewing season.
28:57And you can, uh, follow me on Twitter X, whatever it's called
29:00at Conor Ryan, underscore 93.
29:03Uh, guys, this is episode 270 of poke the bear.
29:07I'm Conor Ryan.
29:08That's Ty Anderson.
29:09You fans have a great rest of your week.