Seth Griffith update: after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Tuomo Ruutu in the second period of a preseason game against the Devils, the Bruins officially announced that Griffith was out for the entirety of the preseason (3-4 weeks to be exact) with a sprained MCL. Griffith scored six goals and four assists in 30 games. One of his goals was this beauty:
Incredible. Griffith was a candidate for fourth-line right wing before his injury, which will put his chances to make the team when he recovers down to zero (players injured in training camp stay on the big club's injured reserve until they heal and are sent down).
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Sorry I'm late on this, my computer crashed. Anyway, this is our training camp roster. No surprises. Seven players on AHL contracts, one on a PTO, and 60 players in total. * An asterisk denotes a player on a PTO, and italics denotes that the player in question only has an AHL contract.
Forwards: Noel Acciari, Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron, Anton Blidh, Anthony Camara, Colby Cave, Andrew Cherniwchan, Brett Connolly, Austin Czarnik, Jake DeBrusk, Brandon DeFazio, Loui Eriksson, Brian Ferlin, Jesse Gabrielle, Seth Griffith, Colton Hargrove, Jimmy Hayes, Justin Hickman, Chris Kelly, Joonas Kemppainen, Alexander Khokhlachev, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Eric Neiley, David Pastrnak, Zack Phillips, Tyler Randell, Zac Rinaldo, Zach Senyshyn, Ben Sexton, Ryan Spooner, Max Talbot, Frank Vatrano. Defensemen: Linus Arnesson, Chris Breen, Brandon Carlo, Chris Casto, Zdeno Chara, Tommy Cross, Max Everson, Max Iafrate, Matt Irwin, Torey Krug, Jeremy Lauzon, Adam McQuaid, Colin Miller, Kevan Miller, Joe Morrow, Dennis Seidenberg, Frankie Simonelli, Zach Trotman, Ben Youds, Jakub Zboril. Goalies: Matthew Ginn, Jonas Gustavsson*, Zane McIntyre, Tuukka Rask, Jeremy Smith, Malcolm Subban, Daniel Vladar Congratulations to Austin Czarnik and Frank Vatrano, who led the rookie tourney in points (with Czarnik getting four assists in two games) and Vatrano taking the lead in goals (with three goals in two games). Nice!
Frank Vatrano led the Buffalo Prospects Tournament in goals with three, and Austin Czarnik, led the Prospect Tournament in both assists and points, with four. This surprised me, so I tried to find out a little bit about them. Frank Vatrano is a 21-year-old centre who was an NCAA rookie last year at 21 years of age. After being recruited by Boston College at 18, he was dismissed for unknown reasons and spent the year in the EJHL (a "Tier III" Junior A league). He was eventually picked up by UMass-Lowell, but wasn't allowed to play a game as a redshirt freshman until 2014-15, where he scored 28 points in 36 games and made a pit stop in Providence, with one goal in five games. Austin Czarnik had a less bumpy road to his first pro contract. The 22-year-old committed to play with the Miami (Ohio) hockey team in 2011-12 back while he was still playing midget hockey. A graduate of the famed Belle Tire program, Czarnik fit right in with Miami (Ohio), scoring 37 points in 40 games (though he scored nearly three times more assists than goals) in a stacked conference. Last year, Czarnik scored just nine goals but made up for it with 36 assists for 45 points in 40 games. That season, Czarnik was tied for third-most assists in the entire country. Czarnik also made a stop in Providence, scoring two assists in three games, but naturally, no goals. Where there is hockey, there is happiness (for hockey fans). And yesterday, Bruins fans got their first dose of hockey when the Bruins prospect camp kicked off at 10 AM with a practice at Ristuccia Arena that was closed to the public and the media.
Right off the bat, some rookies caused a stir by failing a conditioning test. These rookies are none other than Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zachary Senyshyn. This immediately caused everyone to remindI everyone else that scouts were concerned about their "commitment to hockey" before they were even drafted. The test in question was six 300-meter sprints that had to be finished in under a minute, with three minutes of rest between each. Apparently, they were running on a very slippery track. Don Sweeney all but stopped short of calling the trio lazy, saying, "they need to understand that they are now being evaluated as pros". I don't think that three 18-year-olds failing to run fast enough is enough material for any sort of news story. Yet this "story" has made it onto the various websites of Sportsnet, NBC Sports, Sports Illustrated, and the Boston Globe. I mean, the Globe is the 15th-most circulated paper in the United States! Oh wow, this turned into a bit of a rant about what I just said was a non-story. I just thought I should comment on it since people seem to be talking about it. Anyways, in other news, Holy Cross grad and camp invitee Matt Ginn apparently signed with the Providence Bruins in July. So, now we know, I guess. Finally, Cody Franson's offseason ordeal is over. As promised, the Buffalo Sabres signed Franson to a two-year deal with an AAV of about $3.3 million dollars (the actual AAV is $3.325 million dollars), that will pay him a total 6,625,000 dollars over the two years of his deal.
Franson scored seven goals and 29 assists for 36 points in 78 games with the Preds and Leafs.
According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, the Sabres very close to finalizing a deal with our favorite free agent, Cody Franson. According to McKenzie, the deal will last two years and will have an AAV of roughly $3.3 million dollars per year.
Franson can't be too happy about this contract though. He has expressed his dislike of one-year deals and wants to be with a team long-term. A two-year contract isn't exactly long-term, and while his AAV is a raise from his previous contracts in Toronto, it's not a huge one (he went from an AAV of two million dollars to 3.3 million dollars). The deal is also just 54% of Matt Cane's estimate of Franson's salary (6.1 million dollars). The Sabres are supposed to finalize the deal tomorrow. Jonas Gustavsson makes a save with the Wings. Photo credit: Dilip Vishwanat, Getty Images North America According to a report from NHL.com, former Leafs and Red Wings backup Jonas Gustavsson has thrown a wrench into the Bruins' backup situation by signing a professional tryout agreement (or PTO) with them today.
Originally a signing from Sweden by the Leafs, Gustavsson struggled mightily in Toronto, posting a save percentage of an even .900 while earning the unofficial title of worst backup in the league. After being acquired by the Red Wings in the 2012 offseason, Gustavsson became the backup for Jimmy Howard by 2013-14, sporting a .907 save percentage in 27 games. Last season, he was replaced by the younger (and frankly better) Petr Mrazek, and played just nine games across the NHL and AHL. He has played 148 career NHL games and has posted a 5v5 save percentage of .911, a record of 60-55-21, and an adjusted save percentage of .922 (89th out of 123 qualifying goalies). Gustavsson is an interesting choice for backup with the Bruins, but his track record suggests that even on an elite shot suppression team (like, say, Detroit) he consistently performs below the league average. Since the Bruins have actually been a worse shot suppression team than Detroit (allowing 51.8 shot attempts per 60 minutes as opposed to Detroit's 47.8), and have had their defense torn to shreds, it's hard to imagine Gustavsson flourishing in Boston. Finally, the Bruins have announced their roster for rookie camp. Among those invited were Jordan Maletta, Eric Neiley, Max Everson, goalie Matthew Ginn and Max Iafrate and Frankie Simonelli, who are on AHL contracts with Providence. The full roster is as follows:
Forwards: Noel Acciari, Anton Blidh, Colby Cave, Austin Czarnik, Jake DeBrusk, Mitchell Dempsey, Jesse Gabrielle, Colton Hargrove, Justin Hickman, Joonas Kemppainen, Jordan Maletta, Eric Neiley, Zachary Senyshyn, Frank Vatrano. Defensemen: Linus Arnesson, Brandon Carlo, Max Everson, Max Iafrate, Jeremy Lauzon, Frankie Simonelli, Jakub Zboril Goalies: Matthew Ginn, Zane McIntyre, Daniel Vladar |
AuthorHello, My name is D1234. I'm a diehard Bruins fan who really likes hockey and hockey stats. Since when I get into something I express my liking for it by researching that something, I started to learn the lingo of "advanced stats", which eventually led to the creation of this site. BlogrollBoston Globe Hockey
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June 2016
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