Hagg Bag: Trying to fix the B's problems edition

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With the NHL All-Star break here and the Bruins in a playoff position, one could be fooled into thinking these are good times for the Black and Gold. But the truth is that the Bruins are falling behind other teams in the playoff race based on games played. They will have to play their best hockey of the season in the final 30 games if they want to get into the postseason.

It doesn’t appear there will be a ton of outside help for the Bruins via trades based on their correct unwillingness to trade their young prospects. At this point, B’s management doesn’t appear poised to make a coaching change. 

So, it will be about the Bruins finding their own answers inside their dressing room and essentially carrying a management group that’s sitting, watching and waiting rather than doing anything proactive.

Now is the perfect time to crack open the Hagg Bag mailbag, and answer some questions. As always, these are actual questions from Bruins fans using the #HaggBag hash tag on Twitter, via emails to my jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com email account and messages to my CSN Facebook page. Now, on to the bag:

McIntyre is ok but not NHL ready. Do B's have any plans for a capable backup now or next year? Rask can't play every game.

--Scheming Spark (@ScumbagSparky via Twitter)

JH: Not at the moment. They signed Anton Khudobin to a two-year deal and that was a little eyebrow-raising at the time after he spent most of last season in the AHL. Zane McIntyre was sent to Providence for NHL All-Star weekend to get into some action to stay sharp, but he may very well be back up with Boston once play resumes next week.

There aren’t a lot of options for the Bruins unless they want to give up assets for a backup goalie, and that’s not a smart investment given the relatively small value that goalies hold on the trade market. It’s pretty clear, though, that the heavy burden placed on Tuukka Rask right now is impacting his play and has caused him to cool off considerably from where he was in the first few months of the season. Khudobin hasn’t really turned things around in Providence since being sent down either, so that doesn’t appear to be a solid answer either. And the less said about Malcolm Subban the better after he’s crashed and burned in each of his NHL appearances while never really impressing all that much in the AHL either.

I’m sure Don Sweeney is taking suggestions at this point, so please feel free to forward them on. Because the backup goalie situation has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster this season for the Bruins with one win in 15 starts this season.

I think our team thrives in this system with mobile, offensive defensemen. Can a better defense solve this team's problems?

--Adonis Bon (@adonisjb22 via Twitter)

JH: Yes, can Don Sweeney order a few of those on Amazon Prime?

Joe,

The Bruins most likely need a change in coach and it might help short term. You've been all over Claude Julien the last several weeks. I would like to you see get on management the way you do Claude. They haven't put together a good team for him to work with group talent-wise, and to compete with.

--Eddie Bodzinski (via CSN Facebook page)

JH: I get this question all the time, and here’s a couple of reasons why I don’t agree with this entire premise: 1) the coach is the one that always gets fired before the GM and President, so that’s always the way it works in pro sports and 2) the Bruins aren’t as bereft of talent as some would have you believe. I’m sorry, but the Bruins have enough talent on their roster to be a playoff team if their talent is being maximized. Is anybody really going to try and argue that the Ottawa Senators have more overall talent than the Bruins? How about the Flyers? Well, then why are those two teams both ahead of the Bruins in the playoff standings, and likely to make it, when the Bruins might not? How many Bruins players are exceeding expectations, or even playing up to the level that they’ve achieved for the bulk of their careers? When you ask these tough questions you begin to realize that the Bruins roster isn’t “terrible” as some Julien apologists might have you believe and that this season’s Bruins team isn’t reaching their maximum potential. There have too many examples of the Bruins beating good teams this season to not believe they have what it takes to be a playoff team if they simply gave an honest effort every night. They haven’t done that enough this season and that’s on the coach and the players.

Julien is the best Bruins coach of my lifetime and he’ll forever be loved and respected by Bruins fans, but the job as B’s coach isn’t a lifetime appointment.

But to your point, I don’t think Cam Neely and Don Sweeney have done enough this season and they’ve failed in the past couple of years with poor decisions and bad trades. They’ve restocked the prospect cupboard and the future does look bright for the Bruins, so credit them there. But it feels like Sweeney is a bit overmatched when wheeling and dealing with his fellow NHL GMs and that’s a pretty important part of his job.

Am I crazy to think the NHL schedule would have all teams heading into the ASG with the same # of games played? @HackswithHaggs

--Stephen McMahon (@SJM112983 via Twitter)

JH: So, so crazy.

Do you think Colin Miller gets spared in the expansion draft?

--Chris Tatarian (@CTatarian17 via Twitter)

JH: Yes, I think the Bruins will protect Colin Miller. Obviously, that could change if the Bruins trade for a player or two that needs to be protected this summer, but it’s helped Miller that he’s played some of his best hockey with the Bruins over the past few months. I suspect the Bruins will protect Miller ahead of either Adam McQuaid or Kevan Mille and leave one of those two players exposed in the expansion draft if they haven’t been traded prior to that point. When I’ve run through the NHL expansion draft exercise before, I don’t have the Bruins losing a player that’s going to truly hurt them. That’s a good thing for the Bruins on the one hand, but it also tells you that their status as a middle-class NHL team in terms of talent is totally accurate.

I think it's time for the Bruins to trade David Krejci. He's not a leader and his playoffs "beast" mode is overrated. Agree?

--Luc Granger (@LucGranger via Twitter)

JH: I think the Bruins would trade David Krejci if they thought they could A) get him to agree to waive his no-movement clause and B) get fair trade value in return for him. Given that Krejci committed to Boston long term and has a young family, I don’t see him waiving his no-movement clause anytime soon. I also don’t think they’d get the kind of value they’d like for a player that’s a minus-10 and has been very inconsistent this season at 30 years old. This is part of the predicament that the Bruins are in right now, Sweeney is very limited in what he can do unloading veteran players because of the no-movement clauses in their contracts. It’s also part of the reason why firing Julien is the most viable move the Bruins can make if they’re looking for a big impact. Because I don’t see a big trade coming that’s going to do that for the Black and Gold.

It's clear that the B’s aren't firing Claude this year. Do you think a major move will happen? Buying or selling? #HaggBag

--Jeff Ferro (@RossLegends via Twitter)

JH: I don’t think it’s clear the Bruins aren’t going to fire Claude Julien this year. He made it through the All-Star break and the Bruins responded with a couple of wins for him headed into the break. But this is still a team that could dive back into the tank after the break. It’s also a team that needs to going on a major winning bender in the final 30 games if they want to secure their playoff spot. If the Bruins continue to take one step forward, two steps back after All-Star weekend, it may come to a point of desperation where the B’s need to make a move with Julien to snap out of it. I don’t rule out anything given the pressure that Don Sweeney and Cam Neely are under to show some results for their work over the past few years. Do I think a major buyer or seller move is coming for the Bruins? No, I do not. They don’t want to trade their young pieces, most of the their core players don’t want to go anywhere and I’m just not sure Sweeney has what it takes as a GM to pull something creative off with this roster.

The Islanders are bad and I think the Tavares trade rumors will become louder and maybe even a reality. If so, the Bruins should go all-in on John Tavares. With the 3rd and 4th lines contributing offensively, I think the B's could afford trading some roster talent, draft picks, and prospects for a top center in the league. Krejci, Spooner, McAvoy, 1st Rd pick, 2nd, and maybe another prospect? Or a package of picks and prospects. A heavy price but he's a top talent that would immediately address the offense's woes without hurting current roster.

Josh, Dedham (via CSN Facebook page)

JH: So, you’re going to trade Charlie McAvoy and a first-round pick for John Tavares, who is going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer? Umm no. I don’t see the Islanders trading Tavares under any circumstances, but he is absolutely not what the Bruins need right now. They need big, strong, productive wingers, a backup goalie and another frontline defenseman before they need a guy like Tavares (who you would obviously take on your roster, but not at the price Garth Snow would ultimately want if this even ever approached reality). Going for broke to trade for Kevin Shattenkirk or Gabriel Landeskog makes more sense to me given what the Bruins have for needs, but I honestly don’t see the B’s ultimately as players for either of those talents as well.

Hey Joe

What would a true number one right shot defenseman do for this current Bruins team? I would argue that it would make all the difference in the world. First, it would take a lot of pressure off of Chara, who has not looked great ever since Carlo's play started slipping. Second, it would take the pressure off of Carlo who would be great on the second pair. This is not a knock on Carlo, I believe he has a bright future as a shutdown D-man, but it’s unfair to the team and to Carlo himself to expect that from him at 20 years old over the long course of the NHL season. This would also allow McQuaid and/or K.Miller to go down to the third pair, where they belong. 

I know that No. 1 right shot Defenseman do not grow on trees, but I believe the Bruins have the pieces to get something done. They have a number of true centers playing wing and can finally afford to move either Krejci or Spooner. They have numerous first and second round prospects all about the same age. I’m not suggesting completely mortgaging the future, they just need to identify which of them they should move and pull the trigger. The truth is, there are a number of 25-30 year old guys that would be an upgrade over what they have now. Doing nothing is a sign of indecisiveness and frankly fear. It will not help this Bruins team this year and might even be detrimental to Carlos development.

John D

JH: I agree with your thesis, John, but the Bruins won’t get a No. 1 defenseman unless they give up something that hurts. Other teams are asking for Carlo or Charlie McAvoy, and those are assets you can’t give up. Offering up Jakub Zboril and Ryan Spooner isn’t going to get it done, so the faster Bruins fans realize this the better. I just don’t think the Bruins are in a position where they can swing a deal that they won’t regret later on down the line. So the best move long term might be sitting on their hands, hoping something can inspire the current NHL group and then wait for the kids to develop. I could see Spooner getting moved regardless, but it won’t be a No. 1 defenseman-type coming back in return for him.

If the Bruins miss the playoffs & fire Claude my thought is he is hired by Montreal in offseason unless Cup is won by the Habs. Thoughts?

--Andrew Santanella (@ats860 via Twitter)

JH: Sacre bleu!

 
Hi Joe,

Saw you on Hockey Central today up here in Ontario. Good job on breaking down the status of the Bruins. How did Don Sweeney miss out on New England native Mike Condon? Ottawa gets him for a 5th round pick. With Craig Anderson unavailable, Condon is the only reason the Senators are where they are. I just hope Sweeney doesn't do something stupid like fire the Coach or panic and make a dumb trade. The second wild card is very much in play. Despite how they are playing, the Bruins are still better than the Flyers or Carolina.

Terry Carpenter, Cambridge Ontario

JH: This was included strictly for the gratuitous compliment paid to me for my appearance on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central. Thanks Terry, you’re the best! 

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