While Don Sweeney hasn’t exactly been effusive in his admission this summer that the Bruins needed to get bigger and more physical in order to taste greater success in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s been clear the emphasis has been there to get bigger, stronger and more physical with their NHL Draft strategy and their roster additions during free agency.
Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs admitted as much while chatting with Andy Gresh and Christian Fauria during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fun Telethon last week while talking excitement level for seeing the new product on the ice in October.
“The Celtics have signed a lease with the TD Garden for another 12 years or so, so I don’t expect that they will be moving any time soon.”
— The Gresh & Fauria Show (@GreshFauriaWEEI) August 13, 2024
If you were concerned about how the change in ownership might affect the Celtics’ calling TD Garden home, Charlie Jacobs offers reassurance. pic.twitter.com/3H1F2xsLzE
“Looking back at our past playoff runs, we’ve got it taken to us a little bit in terms of the physicality department,” said Jacobs. “Hopefully, these additions will really help us when it counts in the springtime.
“I think we really improved our team. We added some grit, and we were in search of that number one center, and we found that player [in Elias Lindholm]. And we found a really strong and big defenseman in [Nikita] Zadorov.”
The physicality disparity isn’t as noticeable during the regular season where the Bruins have the skill players and offense producers to pile up points and make certain they qualify for the Eastern Conference tournament, but it’s become pretty clear once the playoff series commence against the tougher, battle-hardened teams. The Bruins got plenty of credit from the Florida Panthers after their postseason meetings were over in each of the last two playoffs en route to the Panthers getting to the Stanley Cup Final.
“I don't know what it's like for you watching it, but when you are standing behind the bench, this is heavier hockey as I've ever seen, and it goes back 30 years when they actually were trying to kill each other,” said Maurice after the Panthers had dispatched the Bruins in Game 6 at TD Garden a few months ago. “Like, legitimately trying to kill each other. Like it's an awesome thing to see.
"I said this on the ice, I would pay money to watch Boston and Florida play. If we did it 82 games there'd be nothing left of these men. But it is hard and fast, highly skilled at times and brutal and violent at times. It's what all of the best parts in hockey is this Bruins series."
But those complimentary words underscored the little differences between the Panthers and Bruins in terms of roster composition, where Florida was fast, skilled AND physical while the Bruins were sometimes a little lacking in the speed department, but much more often just a little bit short when it came to being hardnosed and stout when it mattered most in the physicality department. It isn’t to say the Bruins aren’t a physical hockey team because they certainly are/were against other teams, but that really doesn’t matter when it’s the Panthers standing between them and deeper runs in the postseason.
The Bruins hope that has changed with a little bit of a sea change in roster-building strategy that’s been gradual over the last few seasons, but now sees the Bruins boast a mammoth back end (with nobody smaller than Charlie McAvoy at a big 6-foot-1, 209-pounds) and bigger, heavier players up front where Florida proved that a reckless, fast and physical forecheck can still be a key to success in the NHL postseason.
ONE-TIMERS
*Count Boston Bruins ownership among those very happy to invest the money this summer in Lindholm and Zadorov for big-time roster improvements after feeling the pressure of the NHL salary cap for many seasons in recent memory.
“We finally had some money to spend this year,” said Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Telethon last week. “We’d been up against the cap for as long as I can remember, and we finally had some contracts clear and some money clear from the year prior because we were over. We were able to invest it in the club, and we came out with some more grit and a very good center. The proof will be in the pudding come October.”
Jacobs is right, of course, that the pressure will be on the Black and Gold to deliver results after ownership spent money and will be spending right up to the $88 million salary cap once the Jeremy Swayman contract has been signed, sealed and delivered.
*Interesting shift in Swayman’s comments this weekend when it comes to his hopes and expectations in contract talks with the Bruins.
"It’s unfortunate at times, but I know I’m gonna be playing hockey at the end of the day,” said Swayman to 98.5 the Sports Hub this weekend when tracked down at a Triathlon in South Boston. “And I really hope it’s with the Boston Bruins.”
The use of “hope” instead of being 100 percent sure it’s going to be with the Black and Gold is undoubtedly in part because he doesn’t have full control of the situation, but it also feels like Swayman is trying to create a little uncertainty on the B’s side for whatever their stance has been in negotiations. The only realistic option Swayman has is to hold out and demand a trade if things go the worst possible route and drag into training camp, and the goalie and his camp decide to take a hard-line stance rather than bridging whatever significant gap remains in negotiations.
No need for Bruins fans to get nervous right now, but if this remains the status quo for the next month then things will get a little tense at both the Causeaway Street offices and those of Swayman’s agent Lewis Gross, who went through a difficult negotiation with the Bruins when it came to Torey Krug’s contract a few seasons.