Neely laments playoff exit decade after Cup victory
On the 10th anniversary of the Bruins’ exhilarating Stanley Cup victory in Vancouver, the B’s brass met with reporters over Zoom on Tuesday to discuss why a similar moment has eluded the team again this spring.
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
And despite the advancing ages of some of their players and contractual uncertainty of others, team president Cam Neely believes there’s another kick at the can to be had with the current core.
But Neely was not kidding himself into believing that the current roster is good enough to go all the way.
“I don’t think we can look at the roster now when you lose in the second round and say you can compete for a Stanley Cup,” said Neely. “I mean, players that are on that roster that are coming back certainly need to improve. We need to get more out of the third and fourth line. Even the second line, we didn’t get enough of in that last series. I think we have to look at improving our roster to improve our chances to win a Cup.”
The B’s also must secure some pieces that are already here. David Krejci, Taylor Hall, Tuukka Rask and Mike Reilly, all unrestricted free agents with their own unique circumstances, are players that it appears the B’s would like have back.
Krejci has asked for a little bit of time to decide if he wants to remain in the NHL or head back home to the Czech Republic and Rask is facing hip surgery that, in a best case scenario, will keep him out until January or February. Both Reilly and Hall are players in their primes who have expressed desires to stay in Boston. GM Don Sweeney believes there’s a mutual interest in Hall and Krejci to re-sign.
“It really is going to depend upon what happens with some of the UFA’s that we’re going to look to try and sign,” said Neely. “We have some holes if we can’t get those guys signed and that will certainly dictate what direction we may have to go in. I can tell you this, I know that (Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron) understandably would like us to take another run. If we get the pieces signed that we’d like to, I think it’s worth taking one more shot at it here. Dependent on what we can do on the back end as well. Tuukka is up in the air with his surgery, so we’ll see where that goes. But we’re pretty confident in our goaltender with Jeremy Swayman and also (Daniel) Vladar. Haven’t seen enough of Vladar but Swayman gave us a little bit of a taste of what type of goalie he can be in the National Hockey League. So, we feel pretty comfortable starting the season with him.”
While Reilly is in play, Neely said that they will be in the market for a top four left defenseman.
“That position is something that we’ve been looking for, for a while. And hopefully we can do something to grab someone that’s going to help maybe play 20 minutes a game for us,” said Neely.
That would suggest that the president doesn’t believe that any of Jakub Zboril (first round 2015), Urho Vaakanainen (first round, 2017) or Jeremy Lauzon (second round 2015) is that guy.
As for Rask and the goaltending in general, Sweeney acknowledged there is some uncertainty concerning which direction the team will go but sounded like he’d welcome back a healthy Rask. They could also look to add a veteran goalie.
“He indicated to us that he fully intended to rehab with the intention of coming back and we’ll go through our meetings and such and go forward,” said Sweeney. “But we have to factor in that he could be a part of that. Whether or not that means that the two young guys get the bulk of the work in the early going and see where Tuukka comes in, or we go to augment our group and create internal competition and then re-evaluate how Tuukka’s doing coming out of the rehab process.”
Sweeney did not secondguess sticking with the injured Rask in the Islander series, but acknowledged going with something of a rotation in the playoffs could be the future.
“We went with Rask in the Washington series, and he played really well,” said Sweeney. “We felt all along, we had this same mindset over the past few years that we were going to manage the starts and the workload of all the goaltenders, and rightfully so. As it turns out, the vast majority of teams have used two goaltenders, even in the playoffs. That’s something that I think you have to be aware of going forward. I think you may have to, whether that’s performance based or injury based. In hindsight, Game 5 would probably be the only one we’d second guess in that, right? Because Tuukks didn’t feel his best in that particular game; the other games, he felt fine. We established that he was fine to play in Game 6. Second guessing is not part of it. Re-evaluations as to whether or not we can make better decisions and what puts all of the players and the team in the best situation to have the most success is really all that matters.”
Odds and ends
Sweeney said the best case scenario would be to consummate any possible deals with his UFAs after the July 21 expansion draft, so that the team would not have to protect those players. …
It was not a good year for the B’s with regard to head injuries. Sweeney said that the B’s defense corps suffered eight separate concussions this season. …
Sweeney said that Charlie Coyle will undergo surgery to provide some “maintenance” on an unspecified injury.
WR Kendrick Bourne
Tough day for Bourne, who caught two of six targets in team drills. He was also the intended receiver on Newton’s interception and one of Mills’ pass breakups. Bourne’s catches were both gimmes on a shallow cross and quick out.
He’ll rightfully continue to run with the starters in practice, but long-term, if the Pats operate primarily from two-tight end personnel, Jakobi Meyers could leap him in the starting lineup and pair with Agholor.
TE Devin Asiasi
The second-year tight end should have benefitted more from Smith’s absence in team drills, yet managed just one catch on two targets. Coaches continue to occasionally harp him about details during positional drills, even as a special teams scout-teamer today. Asiasi’s talent is sufficient, and his hands are soft, but he needs to iron out other parts of his game to truly develop.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
Jones’ larger workload in team drills was more notable than Newton, continuing to lead off every 11-on-11 and seven-on-seven period. The disparity was massive at the start, with Jones seeing 13 reps to Newton’s five through the first couple drills.
Jones delivered an accurate pass on 66% of his nonthrowaways, while Newton checked in at 58%. Newton struggled most on deep passes, and four of his nine total completions went to running backs.
Jones’ downfield aggression cooled slightly from Monday, as 60% of his passes in team periods were intended for targets within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.
Both quarterbacks had a pass batted during seven-onsevens, when staffers wave large paddles over their heads at the line of scrimmage. Jones had another tipped in 11-on-11s.
Jarrett Stidham’s adjusted completion percentage for the day hinges on a long ball for Agholor in seven-on-sevens. It fell incomplete and would have been a difficult reception, but nonetheless had Agholor frustrated after the play.
If the pass was catchable, Stidham finished at 75% instead of 62.5%. His arm continues to be the most live in practice.
Bill Belichick chatted with Agholor after the aforementioned incompletion as they walked from the defensive backfield. Agholor tied Bourne for the most targets in team drills with six, but posted just three receptions.
After Agholor and Bourne, Brandon Bolden (5), Henry (4), Gunner Olszewski (3) and Sony Michel (3) were the most-targeted pass catchers in team drills.
During a tight red-zone drill, which evolved from threeon-three to four-on-four competition, Meyers and Matt LaCosse tied for the most receptions with two. Pats pass catchers were combating combination coverages, where defenders choose whom they’ll cover based on how the receivers’ routes declare.
N’Keal Harry limped on the final snaps of a non-competitive 2-minute drill. He appeared to suffer a lower leg injury, reaching for his right calf.
Ted Karras replaced Shaq Mason at right guard during most of the critical snaps in team drills, while Mike Onwenu played left guard. Karras again bounced around all three interior spots.
Backup James Ferentz took snaps at center and left guard with the starting offense during a day of heavy rotation.
As of now, there’s little reason to believe the Pats’ starting O-line won’t be from left to right: Isaiah Wynn, Onwenu, David Andrews, Mason and Trent Brown.