Don Sweeney during his playing career with the Bruins. Photo credit: Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press
With a 3-1 win over the Penguins, the Flyers officially put the final nail in the Bruins' coffin, eliminating them from playoff contention. As the Bruins players worry about their new contracts or play golf while 16 teams battle it out for the Stanley Cup, GM Don Sweeney will have several things on his mind - first of all, keeping his job, but second of all, updating the Bruins' roster and staff. Here are three things that Don Sweeney needs to figure out during the offseason.
NUMBER ONE: LOUI ERIKSSON - TO SIGN OR NOT TO SIGN?
NUMBER ONE: LOUI ERIKSSON - TO SIGN OR NOT TO SIGN?
Loui Eriksson walks to the ice for a morning skate. Photo credit: Steven Babineau, NHLI via Getty Images
Loui Eriksson has scored 30 goals for the first time in his career at the most opportune of times: his contract year. While Loui Eriksson isn't totally irreplaceable, he is a key piece of the Bruins forward corps. Ultimately, however, he may be more trouble than it's worth to sign. His unsustainably high shooting percentage of 16.3% (his career average is 13.9%) could be considered the main contributing factor to his gaudy statistics, but even without the benefits of his lucky shooting percentage, he's still a good bet for 20-25 goals. For example, had hemade 13.9% of his 184 shots this season; he would have scored 26 goals. But 30 goals sounds a lot better than 26, so it may drive up his contract value.
Verdict: The Bruins may actually be better off letting Eriksson go. There are plenty of free-agent right wings, like former Bruin Jaromir Jagr, Shane Doan, Troy Brouwer, or even AHL scorer Mike Sislo, who could become a productive player at the next level if given a proper opportunity.
NUMBER TWO: WHO IS THE 2016-17 BRUINS COACH?
Verdict: The Bruins may actually be better off letting Eriksson go. There are plenty of free-agent right wings, like former Bruin Jaromir Jagr, Shane Doan, Troy Brouwer, or even AHL scorer Mike Sislo, who could become a productive player at the next level if given a proper opportunity.
NUMBER TWO: WHO IS THE 2016-17 BRUINS COACH?
Claude Julien after being granted a contract extension. Photo credit: Bill Sikes, AP Photo.
We've heard it every year, especially recently - Claude Julien is on the hot seat. But this could actually be the year. His line combos haven't seemed to work this year. Claude mixed and matched his lines, to varying success. The Bergeron-Marchand-Connolly line had a CF% of 55.24%, but the Krejci-Pastrnak-Eriksson line had a CF% of just 49.81%, while his third line of Hayes-Beleskey-Spooner crashed and burned with a CF% of 44.53%. To be fair though, the defence didn't do him any favours.
Verdict: The Bruins need to give Julien one more year. If he performs well, he stays on as the Bruins coach, but if he doesn't, the Bruins need to move on.
NUMBER THREE: THE DEFENCE
Verdict: The Bruins need to give Julien one more year. If he performs well, he stays on as the Bruins coach, but if he doesn't, the Bruins need to move on.
NUMBER THREE: THE DEFENCE
Zdeno Chara defends against the Philadephia Flyers during the '15-16 season. Photo credit: Bruce Bennett, Getty Images.
Anyone who followed hockey this season would blame the Bruins' defence for the team not making the playoffs. They gave up 42.1 unblocked shots against per 60 minutes, 25th in the league, which could be considered a reason for Tuukka Rask's dip in performance. He hasn't faced more unblocked shot attempts since his 2010-11 - which was his second-worst season in terms of save percentage, by the way. The Bruins definitely need to upgrade their defence. None other than Brian Campbell is available on July 1. Another D-man available on free agency day is the underrated Nikita Nikitin. Check out his HERO chart:
He won't fix the Bruins problems, but he's a good player to consider on free agency day. Another way to improve the Bruins' defence is to get a new backup goalie*. Jonas Gustavsson regressed back to earlier form after a good start to the season, with a .908 save percentage in 24 games. Jeremy Smith has a decent resumé in the minors, while Malcolm Subban still has a lot of potential. Just as he was starting to settle in to his role as the undisputed Providence Bruins starter, he fractured his larynx when he took a puck to the throat, taking him out for the season. James Reimer is a free agent this year, but he's ill suited to a backup role. The Bruins are best off replacing Gustavsson from within.
Verdict: The Bruins need to cash in on the free agent market and replace Jonas Gustavsson.
The Bruins have several other big problems that they need to solve, but in my opinion, these are the two main ones.
* Goaltending may technically be separate from defence, but I'm lumping it in.
Verdict: The Bruins need to cash in on the free agent market and replace Jonas Gustavsson.
The Bruins have several other big problems that they need to solve, but in my opinion, these are the two main ones.
* Goaltending may technically be separate from defence, but I'm lumping it in.