The PuckUps Podcast with Brian DeFelice, Ep. 28: James Hagens makes immediate impact in NHL debut?

Brian reacts to the NHL debut of James Hagens, who the preferred matchup is for the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, and much more!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You're listening to the Puckups Podcast. It's time to hit the ice with Brian DFelice. Welcome into episode 28 of the Puckups Podcast. I am Brian D. Felice and thank you all for joining me. On today's show, we're going to go over the Bruins' recent games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets, including the NHL debut of James Hagins. We'll also talk about which potential opponent will be the best case scenario for the Boston Bruins to play in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. All of that and much more, but first things first, if you haven't done so already, please go ahead and subscribe to the puck ups on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else that you get your podcast. And to get in touch with me or be a part of the show, you can email me, info at thepuckups.com. You can tweet at me on X at Brian D fleece underscore. You can tweet at the show at the puck ups, or you can leave a comment on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, anywhere the show has a social media account and post content. Now heading into Saturday's game, the biggest storyline outside of the fact that the Bruins could have clinched the playoff spot with a win was that James Higgins would not be making his NHL debut against Tampa Bay. To which Bruins Nation all turned into Polly Walnuts from the Sopranos and let out a collective, oh, oh, what's going on here? Now I was at practice on Friday, and it became evident to me the second James Higgins hit the ice that he probably wasn't going to be playing Saturday. And the reason being is that he was wearing a Merlot jersey, which indicates you're on Boston's fifth forward line, their extra line of practice. He was playing alongside Alex Steves and Lucas Reichel. Meanwhile, Mikey Aceimont was taking a five-on-five shift in practice with Fraser Minton and Murat Husadinoff, which of course was the line kind of designated for James Higgins on that left side. Now, maybe the Bruins didn't love the matchup for Hagen's NHL debut against Tampa Bay. I think it was less that, and more they wanted him to get acclimated. They wanted him to feel a full practice because even though he practiced twice with the Bruins, the first one was an optional practice. Only half the team was there. There were no line rushes, no nothing. So Friday's practice was Hagen's first full team practice with the Bruins. Okay. So there's one practice down. The next step, because you have to remember Hagins has been spending all year at Boston College playing NCAA. And then he went quickly to Providence for six games. And he just hasn't been taking in Boston Bruins games in person. So before you are a part of that at ice level, it does make sense to go up to the ninth floor and absorb and take in and study the system that the Bruins implement. I'm sure he's been learning the system off ice during film and in conversations with coaches and teammates. He had a full practice, one full practice with the whole team prior to Saturday to kind of start to learn a little bit, but you can only go over so much in a 40-minute practice. The Bruins aren't working on all of their situational play. I mean, I was there. They do a little bit of five-on-five in zone work and they do some rush drills and such, but and then they do a little bit of special teams, but it's not an extensive amount of work on the ice. So it made sense to me that they didn't rush Haggins into the lineup on Saturday. No problem with that. I had no issue with that. My issue would have been if they continued to scratch him after signing the ELC. Because at that point, it's just irresponsible. If you're not going to play him, you can't send him back down to the minors this year. It's the way that the the new CVA works. So to me, if you're not going to play him, then you might as well have kept him in the AHL. Now I don't think, and I didn't think that that was going to be the case. I was pretty confident that regardless if the Bruins clinched the playoff spot on Saturday or not, which they ultimately did due to other teams losing. I was 99.9% confident that Higgins was going to play against Columbus, and if not Columbus, definitely New Jersey. Because you don't call him up and burn the first year of his ELC while foregoing development in the AHL to not let him play with the Bruins. So I didn't have a huge issue at all, actually, with him not playing against Tampa, outside of the fact that I was looking forward to seeing him play. And I was curious to see him play against really good competition on home ice. I thought it was going to be a fun game and an entertaining day at the garden. But from a responsibility perspective, and less from a fan entertainment perspective, I thought it made all the sense in the world. And we'll get to it in a little bit. But Higgins did make his debut against the Blue Jackets on Sunday, and he really showed himself pretty well. And I'm sure that you can probably contribute that a little bit to being able to watch from above on Saturday. But first things first, let's touch on their game against Tampa Bay on Saturday. It was the second time in a week where the Bruins had a lead in the third period on Tampa Bay and let it get away from them. Later on in this episode, we're going to talk about potential first-round opponents for the Bruins. And I wouldn't want to see the lightning in round one if I'm Boston. Now the Bruins played them well. They've played them well all year. I think they played them four times. Tampa won all four games, but the first game was earlier on in the season in Boston. Tampa got off to a quick lead, but the Bruins found a way to dig deep and battle back, being down three or four goals, and they made a one-goal game. They lost, but it was a it was a good game. Second game was the stadium series where the Bruins had a 5-1 lead and blew it, of course. And then the third game was last week where they had a lead on Tampa in the third period, squandered it. And then most recently on Saturday, Bruins had a one-ethic lead heading into the third period thanks to a breakaway goal by Morgan Geeky, his 38th of the season, and his fourth in the last two games. So that's a great development for the Boston Bruins for Morgan Geeky to be going heading into the playoffs. I will say, I'm not really enamored with Geeky, Elias Lindholm, and David Pasternak as a trio still. I feel like at this point, the Bruins are gonna have to just ride or die with them at this point this year. Especially when you look at the Bruins' second line and how well they played together. And we'll see what happens with the with the Minton line as the third line. You certainly can put Minton with with Pasternak. They've played well this year together. But if Marco Sturm feels like he's found something with Minton, Hagens, and who's Nadinoff, then maybe you just challenge Geeky, Lindholm, and Pasternak to figure it out together. Doesn't mean I love it, but you may have to ride it out with those guys. Anyway, Geeky did get on the board. Great assist from Charlie McAvoy, who found Geeky streak up the middle from Boston's own end. And it's a great finish by Geeky on the breakaway. Showed some good speed to gain separation, kind of a bad change by Tampa Bay's D. But nonetheless, it's a it's a great shot by Geeky who had gone 17 games without a goal. Now he's got four in his last two. So again, hopefully he can get going for the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy, by the way, with his 61st point of the year, he is the first Bruin defenseman to reach the 60-point plateau since Ray Bork back in 1995-1996, which I kind of found surprising because I could have sworn that there was a year where Dennis Weideman, hold on to your hats, I know. But I want to say the 08-09 season, I thought Dennis Weideman hit the 60-point mark that year. But after going back and looking, I think he was in like the low 50s actually. And then even Zedano Chara was kind of surprised that Z didn't really have a 60-point year in there. I'd have to go back and look, but he had to have had something in the 50s, right? Chara, maybe somewhere between 07 and maybe 2010, 11, 12. Like that, that five, six year stretch, I bet Z had close to 60 points, maybe once or twice, maybe. But nonetheless, that's a great milestone for Charlie to have. Great feather in his cap. And when you look at the injuries that he's dealt with, not just this season, but the last calendar year dating back to four nations in 2025, where he obviously had that shoulder infection that kept him out the rest of the year. Then this year he takes a slap shot to the jaw against Montreal, gets an elbow to the face against Florida, gets another couple of pucks to the face along the way. Just hell of a year for him. Hell of a hell of a year for him in terms of gutting things out, but also in terms of offensive production. Objectively, the best offensive year of Charlie McAvoy's career. So McAvoy didn't play against Columbus. He got a night off to rest and recover, which you want for your top D-man when you're gearing up to the playoffs, and you really have nothing to play for at this point. Unfortunately for the Bruins, it wasn't meant to be. Brandon Hagel breaks breaks free in the third period, kind of gets by our boy Jonathan Aspro. And you know, you can't really blame Swayman. You can never really blame a goalie giving up a breakaway goal. It's that's they're the last line of defense. It's breakaways are you know difficult to stop. This one kind of squeaked through his five-hole, so it optically looks a little bit worse. But hey, you know, you you can't really blame goalies on breakaway goals. But the Emile Lilleberg goal to give Tampa Bay the the 2-1 lead late in regulation. That was just kind of a a defensive breakdown by everybody, goalie on out. I mean, Casey Middlestad kind of got beat one-on-one in coverage up high with Brayden Point, where Point kind of had a little stop and start action on Middlesad and just kind of got got some space to throw some pucks or throw the puck towards the net. And Bruins just couldn't gather the rebound, and Lilleberg found a way. And obviously, Swayman didn't control the rebound, Bruins didn't clear the rebound, and it's 2-1 Tampa Bay, and that's kind of how it would end. Now, the Bruins did get a power play late in regulation. It was their first power play of the game with the goalie pulled. They had about 35 seconds to work with, but it wasn't meant to be. Bruins couldn't find a way. And look, Tampa Bay is a really good team, and they're going to be a force in the Eastern Conference playoffs. And they find a way to get the win uh against the Bruins. Unfortunately for the Bruins, they just simply weren't able to close this one out and qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs on their own. Fortunately, some hours later, the Detroit Red Wings lost in regulation 5-3 to the New Jersey Devils, and that clinched the playoffs for the Boston Bruins. That lost to Detroit. So the Bruins did backdoor their way in to the playoffs. But you know what? Obviously, it's it's it's far more than just Saturday, right? They they may have they may not have won on Saturday to clinch their spot, and somebody else had to lose for them to do so. But they also got to 96 points on the air well before that. So it, you know, they obviously deserve credit for getting to that point, and they qualified fair and square. So good on the Bruins. And we'll touch on on a little bit later some of the key differences between a 25-26 Bruins and the 24-25 Bruins that has allowed them to now be uh in the postseason this year after what was one of the worst seasons in franchise history, certainly in the last 20-25 years last season. So again, disappointing loss of the Bruins. Let's go to Morgan Geeky after the game, because even though the Bruins dropped their fifth straight, where they only scored one goal in four of those five games. And the game that they had five goals, three of them were scored by one player. You're about to hear from him in Morgan Geeky. So offense has not been plentiful for the Bruins in the last month, we'll call it a couple of weeks for sure. And if you're judging a team heading into the postseason, and if they're playing their best hockey, the Boston Bruins wouldn't be one of those teams right now. They certainly aren't playing their best hockey of the year, even after they win against Columbus. They, you know, it's they found a way, but it wasn't really an impressive win to speak of. I mean, Columbus fairly outshot the Bruins in this game, but again, we'll get to that in a little bit. But Morgan Geeky kind of reflected on the Bruins season as a whole and that they're capable of beating anybody on any given day when they play their brand of hockey, and how the Bruins kind of had a rough patch to start the year, but they found their stride from January on, and and how they have to take lessons from the season and knowing what they're capable of heading into the postseason.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

How close is it? Like they said it's a good league. How much which confidence level in relying on the group with what you've been able to do to get here to just kind of get to where you want to be?

SPEAKER_03 15:11

Uh, you know, I think throughout this year we brought a lot of guys in, I felt like. And especially with the changes they made last year, we we kind of bonded pretty quickly. And it seemed to be a roller coaster of a ride till Christmas, and we kind of settled things down in January. So I think we know we can beat good teams in this league, and we've we've shown we can play with them all year. Um I think for us it's just keep doing it consistently and and kind of limiting those lapses, and and you know, if we're gonna make mistakes, you know, try not to make them great A's or opportunities for the other teams to score. So um we know we know games like that are gonna happen where they kind of slip away, but um we got a lot of confidence in this group, and and we'll just try to get back on the horse tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Yeah, and they have to find a way to be consistent if they want any sort of success in the postseason. Now, Morgan spoke about how it was a bit of a roller coaster ride to start the year, and it was. I mean, the Bruins did not have a great month of October. They won three games to start the season, then they lost six in a row. I believe they finished October six and nine, something like that. And then they they got back to level water through November, and then the first part of December was okay, and then they went on another seven-game losing streak to end the nearly end the calendar year, and then they had that win on New Year's Eve against Edmonton, and from there on out they were spectacular for the next couple of months. Obviously, most of February was off because of the Olympics, but they were they were nearly unbeatable in the month of January, and then they came back after the Olympics, and they were kind of 500 for the first handful of games out of the break, but they finished the month of March 10, 3-3. But then they got off to an 0-4 start in April, including this loss to Tampa Bay. So they haven't been playing a great brand of hockey this month, and you don't love to see that heading into the postseason, but it is a long year. Boston's had to grind their way through this season, proving people wrong. They've had to play a specific brand of hockey, hard-nosed hockey, piss and vinegar hockey, to become the team that they've been and to have the success that they've had to make the playoffs. So maybe they're kind of running on fumes a little bit down the stretch here, but maybe there can be some newfound life, bit of a second wind, so to speak, a fresh slate to start the postseason, which begins for the NHL. We don't know about the Bruins specifically, but the NHL playoffs begin on April 18th, Saturday. So we know that this Bruins team can be a little bit streaky. They were more streaky earlier in the year. They again, to their credit, since January, they've been pretty consistently good. They don't lose two games in a row very often, and certainly not in regulation. So they have been much more consistent in the second half in terms of results. But when this team's feeling good, they play much better with confidence. So they obviously got to win against Columbus, we'll get to in a second. Hopefully they can finish strong against New Jersey on on home ice to end the year. But then you hit the ground running in the playoffs. So if the Bruins can get jump the if they can if they can jump the gun on whoever they played in the first round, and they the Bruins could be a dangerous team if they're feeling good, but they're gonna have to work for it. It's not gonna come easy. Okay, so now moving along to the game against Columbus, this is a big game for the Blue Jackets. Their season was seemingly on the line here, really. I mean, as desperate as a team gets, because if Columbus lost this game, I do believe that their playoff hopes uh vanished. James Haggets the nod because the Bruins clinched a playoff spot on Saturday evening after Detroit lost to New Jersey. And as I said moments moments ago, even if the Bruins didn't clinch, let's say Detroit won on Saturday, I still think you have to play Higgins against Columbus. And and and why I say that is Mikey Ace Mont played a team low 10 minutes against Tampa Bay. Alex Steves wasn't dressed. Lucas Reichel was down in Providence playing with the with the Providence Bruins. So you can't tell me that Alex Steves or Mikey Ace Mont is a better option for than James Higgins against Columbus, regardless if Boston clinched or not. If they didn't clinch and you need those two points, is Mikey Ace Mont or Alex Steves helping you get those two points any more than James Higgins? Steves and Acimont in their 10 minutes over Higgins? No, not no, they're not. And the reality is that wasn't the case. The Bruins did clinch. They did clinch before this game, so it kind of made it that much easier of a decision, I guess. Though to me, it should have been Higgins anyway. But I'm glad that James Higgins didn't play against Tampa. I'm glad that he was able to watch from the ninth floor and take in a game at the garden, see the Bruins fans from above, watch the Bruins team from above, right? Like ease him into the experience overall. It could have been nerve-wracking to more nerve-wracking to step onto the Garden Ice, having never really the only time James Higgins has watched the Bruins in person has been probably as a fan, if him and his BC teammates ever had a night off and they just went to the garden to check him out. So prior to Saturday against Tampa, James Higgins only watched the Bruins game like me and any one of you from the Loge or from the balcony. He never, he's never, you know, that that's it. So to go from that right onto the Garden Ice with the Bruins, it's a bit of an extreme. So it is good that he was able to catch that game from the ninth floor. And, you know, to be fair, it's not like Columbus on Sunday was a preseason game. As I said, the Blue Jackets. We're as desperate as any team. They need those points to make the playoffs, to have a chance at making the playoffs. And as we know, the Columbus Blue Jackets fan base, they're great. They're loud, they're passionate. That's a tough building to play in on the road when the games matter. So that was not some sort of friendly, easy road environment for Higgins to play in, where you have 90% Bruins fans in the lower bowl, right? Like that's a that's a passionate fan base, and that's a team that was that's a team that's been playing hard for 80 games to make the playoffs, and and they're not gonna, you know, they don't care who's across from them, whether it's a a 10-15 year veteran or James Higgins in his first game. They're battling for their playoff lives. And so that was a interesting spot to see James in. And I I thought he held himself up pretty well. And we'll get into his debut a little bit more in just a few minutes. But the Bruins, yeah, you know, they they they had a bit of a depleted lineup heading into this game. They had no Charlie McAvoy, no Hampus Linholm. It's by design, no Pavel Zaka, no Victor Arbitsen, no Tanner Janel. All by design. All guys who probably need some some rest here down the stretch. So it was an opportunity for some Bruins players that aren't necessarily with a full healthy lineup regulars, right? Like uh, like a Jordan Harris or an Alex Steves or a Lucas Reichel or uh a Mikey A. Simont or hell, even a James Higgins, right? So you it was good that these guys all had an opportunity to kind of show Marco Sturm why they should still be in the lineup. And it was good that they all had had the same chance to do so, right? It's not often that you have Lucas Reich. In fact, I believe it was probably the first time that you had Lucas Reichel, Alex Steves, and Mikey Ace Mont in the same lineup because they're always on a rotating basis, right? They're always kind of vying for that same spot. So the fact that Tanner Janot was out of the lineup, it and Arvindson and Zaka, it obviously opened up, you know, three spots. Now, obviously Haggins kind of took one of them, but it was good. It was good. Nobody was I don't even think there were any Bruins forwards on the well, yeah, okay. Zaka, Arvindson, Janot, they're on the ninth floor. But as far as like depth forwards, there were all the Bruins' depth forwards were on the ice. Like Janot, Zaka, Arvindson, those are regulars, they're not depth forwards. So it was kind of a show me game for all those guys, and they all had the same opportunity in the same game. Columbus got off to the lead with uh a redirect goal by Mason Marshman. I don't think the Bruins played particularly well as a team in the first period, and Columbus kind of got the jump on them. I believe they were up on in in shots 10-0 on Boston, and Boston's first goal of the game was their first shot of the game. It was a shot from the point by Henry Yoki Haryu, and it looked like it was Mark Caslick's goal because he did get a tip it. He did get a tip on it, but I believe it was off of Sean Coralli's foot at the end of the day, and Boston tied the game one-to-one. That brings us to the second period where James Hagins makes a great play in his own D-zone, grabs a loose puck, gets the puck out of trouble, gives it to Marat Husnadinoff. Husnadinoff kind of dumps it into the far corner, and Haggins goes at it one on three against Columbus. And he gets in on the four check. Sean Corale on the line change comes, gives him some help. And Hagens kicks it to Corale. Corale finds Yoki Haryu, and Yoki Haryu puts in his second of the year, and it's James Hagen's first point in the National Hockey League. It's a secondary assist, and it's a big goal with time winding down in the second period to give Boston a 2-1 lead. So James Hagins making an impact on the score sheet. And again, we'll get to him and his my thoughts on his debut in a little bit here. But then it's Adam Fintilli in the third period, tying the game briefly for Columbus, the old men's league cherry pick. Um, somehow he gets behind Yoki Haryu and Zadorov, and he beats Corpusalo on a breakaway 2-2. And then it's Mark Castlick later in the period after a great fourth-line shift between himself, Corale, and Alex Steves. And Cassick with a fantastic shot for his 10th of the year. First 10-goal season of Castlick's career, first 20-point season of Castlick's career. Sean Corale also with 20 points in the year now, 14 goal, 14 assists and six goals. And that would prove to be the game winner. So again, it was a it was a good win for the Bruins to get back on the back in the win column. Again, they had lost five games in a row. And you don't want to go into the postseason on a six or seven game losing streak. So good for the Bruins, especially with some some key guys out of the lineup against the Columbus team that desperately needed to win. And they couldn't find a way. And that that that's the second time in the last couple of weeks, last two, three weeks, probably, that the Bruins have gone into Columbus and really put a dagger in Columbus's uh playoff hopes, this time around, really being the final dagger, final nail in the coffin. So let's go to James Hagen's after the game and hear what he had to say about his NHL debut. Talks of intermission, but now they get a full 600 belt in the NHL.

SPEAKER_04 28:10

So, what was the experience like for you? Yeah, it was uh super cool. Um, it's a really cool building. Um, you know, be able to get that win. It was it was special. Yeah, maybe stay out of the box, but it was uh it was a really cool game.

SPEAKER_03 28:22

So what was it like um skating with Fraser and Koozie?

SPEAKER_04 28:26

Yeah, they're great players. Um, like I said earlier, uh, when you're out on the ice with guys that have that much talent and they're that smart, they make your job easy.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

So 13 minutes of ice time, 1308 for James Higgins in his NHL debut. He had one shot, he had an assist, he was a plus one. He did have a hit that NHL.com did not give him credit for, even though he very clearly played the body on the four check that led to Yoki Haryu's goal. So I don't know how that possibly was missed. I mean, that's clearly a hit, but either way, he he was good. I thought he was good. I I would classify his debut as responsible, uh professional, and seamless. It to me, the skill, the speed, it's there. It's gonna be more evident with more reps, more confidence, and more experience, of course, no doubt about it. But to me, he did not try to do too much. He didn't try to be too flashy, he didn't try to be too cute, he made high percentage plays, he was strong on the boards, he got pucks out when they came to him. He whether it whether it was a pass up the middle to Minton or whether it was you know off the boards and out, whatever, whatever the situation called for, he was not a defensive liability. And he had a couple of you know shot attempts in transition, a couple of ozone shifts with extended time. He just was a player that to me, again, probably on the conservative side, because you don't want to make a glaring mistake in your NHL debut, and you probably want to show the coach that you can be relied upon and be responsible. And that's exactly what he did. Marco Sturm had James Higgins out in the final two minutes of the game, protecting a one-goal lead. Now, he wasn't out there the whole time, but the fact that like was would would Fabian Lysel would he be out there protecting a lead in any of the games he played last year, or Georgie Murkiloff or Matt Potra? No, not really, like, definitely not with the first two. So the fact that James Higgins, who's 19 years old, 19 years old, the fact that he played with the poise and the defensive responsibility that he did when called upon. To me, again, he's a mature player and he's a very smart player. Everybody talks about his speed and his skill and his playmaking, and that leads people who have never watched him to hear those things and think automatically, oh well, he he's he's a turnover waiting to happen. Uh, excuse me. He's also a natural-born center. You aren't an irresponsible player if you're a center Iceman. It's not how the position is played. So James Higgins respects the game and he respects the details of the game. Now, I'm not saying that there's not going to be learning curves. Of course, there's going to be, but that's not an easy spot for him to step into the NHL in. Right? That was a set that was a playoff game for Columbus on the road for Boston. And he acquitted himself really well. He fit right in. He he did not stick out in any negative way at all. Now, whether some times where he looked like he was, you know, trying to you know remember where he needs to be sure, he he's just getting into the lineup, he's just learning to brew his system on the fly. But I thought he had a really, really solid, really good NHL debut. Really good. It was very encouraging. You know, I had somebody online tell me uh that they didn't think it was a seamless debut and that he he couldn't even be flashy if he wanted to be. Which is just ridiculous. I mean, you uh imagine watching that game and seeing a kid who's 19 and a half years old that just played a just a very responsible, very professional game. Had a had a four-check on a one-on-three four check where the play was dead. He was one brewing against three blue jackets, keeps the play alive. At the end of his shift, by the way, extends the play, and uh with 30 seconds to go in the period, helps give Boston a lead. He's getting pucks out of his own zone, he's checking well, he's being engaged, he's go, he's going to the dirty air. Like there was nothing to did he dominate? No. But there was nothing to to to shit on with that, with that. Some people just like to they just like to put others down. Like it really, it's like it blows my mind that like you can have this just 19-year-old kid step into an NHL lineup against a pretty good Columbus Blue Jackets team who's desperate on home mice, and they need a win, it's a playoff game for them. And there's literally zero mistakes to speak of. Zero. He didn't make a single mistake. Marco Stern even said so after the game. But even if Marco didn't say that, anybody who watched that game would have would say, okay, he didn't dominate, of course, it's his first game, but he didn't make any glaring mistakes at all. He he made the right play, high percentage plays. And then you just have you know the Twitter police out there saying, Oh, I don't think it was seamless. Fuck are you to say that who were you what who are you to to judge what what James Higgins did? I mean, again, if if James Higgins had a glaring turnover, sure. I don't think anybody in their right mind would watch that game as a Higgins didn't have a relatively seamless, professional, responsible NHL debut. To say to say otherwise, you're just uh clearly looking to put somebody down for no reason. But that being said, let us go to uh Marco Sturm. Let's hear from James Higgins' head coach about the situation. What did Marcos Sturm think about James Higgins NHL Debbie? No, he did talk to Andy Brickley after the game on Nesson, and he said that he thought James played great, thought he didn't make any mistakes out there, and really liked his line, which was him, Minton, and who's the Dinoff. But let's hear what Marco Sturm said after the game to the general media.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Your assessment of James was just.

SPEAKER_00 36:58

So we'll we'll see. Like, like I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't think that by me saying Hagen's Husadinoff and Minton playing together long term beyond this year is still a third line. Like that could be those could be top six combinations, right? Like Minton and Hagen's could be a top six combination for years to come. Same with Hussa Dinoff as a as a as a third guy or whatever. But I really like the makeup of that line. There are three players that are smart, they're all skilled, and they can all skate, and they're all responsible. Those are three very responsible players who are very young. And let's take a look at how you got those players. You sold at the deadline last year, and the result of that was you bring in a prospect from Toronto and Fraser Minton. We'll see what that draft pick turns into. If the Bruins keep Toronto's pick this year, have to take their pick next year, depending on if it's top five protected or not. You bring in Marat Husadinoff and Jacob Lauco, but whatever. Um, for Justin Brazult. And then the result of you essentially selling at the deadline was you end up finishing with the fifth best odds of winning the lottery, and of course, you end up falling down to seven overall, and you draft Hagens. So your line today of Hagens, Minton, and Husadinoff, all three of those players are direct results of the Bruins recognizing last year that they had to take steps back to go forward. And here we are a year later, and it's already reaping benefits. So I like the idea of that line. I listen, I still want to see Haggins again against New Jersey, but for my money, I think that you have your top nine for the playoffs, at least a start. You know, if you if you you're gonna keep that second line together of Zaka, Middlesad, and Arvinson, and then you're gonna do, you're probably gonna stick with Lindholm, Geeky, and Pasternak because you know, they're three guys that are, you know, you know, they're veterans on the team, they're being paid to be top guys. They probably like playing together. I know that us as fans and analysts, we look at Elias Lindholm's game, and offensively, we sit there and say he doesn't really do a whole lot of anything, especially at five on five. But I'm sure that David Pasternak likes playing with him because he probably likes the fact that Elias Lindholm does the little things, wins draws. Probably, you know, he he battles for loose pucks. He's a defensively reliable guy in their own end. David probably likes the fact that Lindholm is responsible, and he definitely likes playing with Geeky. So, as I said off the top of the podcast, you probably have to ride or die with those three as a line down the stretch this year because you don't want to break up that second line. And now, if you go down a couple games in round one, then you're gonna have to get desperate and change some things around just to give different looks to opponents. But I think you're probably gonna stick with that top line of Lindholm, Geeky, and Pasternak, even though I don't really love it. You'll stick with that second line uh with Zaka, Arvinson, and Middlesad. And then from there, I think you do Minton, Husadinoff, and Hagens. They're their advanced analytics were were were pretty solid against Columbus. They were a net positive line in terms of chance generation and and ozone time. And then your fourth line, you know, Janot, Corale, Castlick. Those three have been struggling offensively for a bit together. But obviously, Corale and Castlick had big games against Columbus with Alex Steves. I still think you know you're gonna play Jinot, Castlick, and Corale over Alex Steves, but if you ever need a spark, maybe he or ACMO goes in, right? So I think you probably have your top 12 forwards uh to start the postseason with. And I really like that line. I really like that line of Minton, Husandinoff, and Higgins. I think that they can give them a couple of games together. I think they're gonna surprise some teams. I really do. So the fact that uh Marco Sturm spoke highly of Hagens, the fact that he had him out there in key moments, the fact that he said, I'm not playing him because he's a high pick or is our top prospect. I played him with two minutes to go in the game, protecting a lead because he was doing the little things to merit ice time, and he was. Hagen's details were very sound, very sound. So again, it wasn't a very sexy debut, it wasn't very flashy, it wasn't very fancy or pretty, but it was very sound. And for a player with his speed and skill and playmaking ability that you know is gonna be his bread and butter throughout the course of his NHL career, the fat like you know that's coming. But the details, the details are never guaranteed with skill guys, and again, because Hagens is a natural-born center, he respects the game, he has those details. It's about making sure you can execute those details at the top level. And so far, one game, check. Now, there's a lot of time to go, but we can only go off of his debut right now. In his debut, Hagen's details were were very professional. We'll put it at that. He did not stick out in a bad way at all. So I liked his game, and I also think it's worth mentioning the ice time in this game. The Bruins had no power plays, so the Bruins now have one power play in the last six periods, last two games. James Hagins, 13 minutes, eight seconds, Lucas Reichel, 1219, Alex Steves, 1113, Mikey Ace Mont, 1035. And as I said, the Bruins had no power plays. So if they did have some power plays, you imagine Higgins time on ice probably would have been closer to 15 minutes. So I bring up those names because those four guys are the guys you kind of feel like are battling it out for that coveted spot on third line left wing for the postseason. And I thought Steves played a great game. I thought ACMOT played well. Reichel, more quiet. Haggins, I thought, played real well. But their ice time, if their ice time is any indication or reflection of how Sturm felt about their games, Hagens had the most ice time, and he had no power play time because there were no power plays. So I think that's worth noting. Now, before we close out here, I just want to quickly have a conversation because we're going to learn who the Bruins are playing in the first round of the playoffs at some point midweek, right? Uh the season comes to an end on Tuesday. So You know, late Tuesday night or early Monday morning, we'll know how the standings finish, and we'll know what all the playoff matchups are. But as things stand right now, the Bruins are the first wild card team, and they control their destiny. They have one more point than Ottawa, both teams with a game to go. Ottawa's wild card two, Boston Wildcard 1. With that said, it really feels like there's four possibilities for the Bruins to be playing in the first round of the playoffs. It really depends on where the Bruins finish. But you know, right now Carolina is probably going to be the top team in the Eastern Conference. So if the Bruins finish wild card one, then chances are they won't play Carolina. But the Bruins could finish wild card two and play Carolina. So Carolina's an option. And then so is Buffalo, Montreal, and Tampa, because the Atlantic is not figured out yet. And all three of those teams have a chance to win in the Atlantic if certain things go in certain directions. So would you rather play Buffalo, Montreal, Carolina, or Tampa Bay if you're Boston? For me, I think it's fairly obvious that you don't want to draw Carolina or Tampa Bay. I still feel like Carolina's a team I just don't believe in. But especially having played them recently, I say it all the time. I'll say it if the Bruins draw them in round one. Carolina is greater than the sum of their parts. I don't think they're a wildly impressive team on paper. I really don't. Certainly not when you're the top team in the conference. Like for a top team in the conference and a top team in the league, I just think that they're teams that are far better on paper. But the way Carolina's coached and the structure that they play, and they're just a well-oiled machine. And they've always played this way. They hunt pucks, they're aggressive, they check with their feet very, very well, and they force opponents into mistakes. And they're very, very stingy defensively. They don't give up a lot defensively. So I think Tampa, I think Carolina's a really difficult opponent for Boston to draw. I I would not want to play Carolina, and I would not want to play Tampa Bay. I I think that Tampa Bay, you know, Nikita Kutroff is just, you know, as good as David Pasternak is, Nikita Khrutchov is even that much better. You know, he's been one of the I think he's been the leading point scorer in the NHL over the last you know seven, eight, nine years behind Connor McDavid. Like he he's just he's that good. And I also think that Tampa Bay just has, again, they have a great coach, a great system, uh, a great goaltender. I don't know what the deal is with Victor Hedman on a personal leave right now, but you still have some high-end offense there with with Gensel and even Braden Point, who's at a down year, but you have Brayden Point, Kucharov, Gensel, uh Hegel. Um and I think they have a really good support system too, with guys like Nick Paul and Yanni Gord and Anthony Sorrelli. And you know, they have a they they they have a good group of guys. And on the back end, you have Darren Radish, who's had a career year. So, you know, when you have both him and Hedman, assuming Hedman's in the lineup, I just think that between those guys, and then you got guys like Lilleberg and Chernak on the back end who are really tough to play against, Ryan McDonough. I just I think I don't think you want anything to do with Tampa Bay either. So even though the Bruins have played them pretty well, and anybody can beat anybody. I mean, I think the Eastern Conference this year is as open as it's ever been. Even the favorites like a Tampa Bay or a Carolina, I mean, I don't think that they're I don't think they're guarantees to to make the second round, even if they play Boston. But if we're talking these four possibilities, I I you know, Carolina, Tampa Bay, not what you want to see. So, you know, if you're the Bruins, I think the best case scenario is for you to win out against Ottawa, you know, uh and keep that wild card one spot and hope that maybe Buffalo or Montreal wins the Atlantic, and then Ottawa has to play Carolina in in round one as wildcard two plays, you know, top team in the east. And then the Bruins is wild card one would play the second team in the East, and that would be either, if not Tampa Bay, Montreal or Buffalo. Now, to be fair to Montreal and Buffalo, I think that those teams would be the favorites over Boston for sure, deservedly so. I think Montreal is a very, very electric team, and but they have some good, they have some grit that I think is over overlooked as well. But Montreal, they're they're an electric factory. Cole Caulfield, 50 goal season, Nick Suzuki, near 100 points season. Lane Hudson, just a offensive dynamo on the back end. Umsky is really starting to come into his own at the NHL level as a real good power forward who can finish. Ivan Demedov, you know, one of the favorites for the Calder trophy as NHL rookie of the year. Like, you know, and they have a they have a good support system too. Like Montreal is a really good team, but they're unproven. You know, and and and and the Bruins say what you want about the Bruins, but the Bruins have some high-end players and guys that have been there and done that. Like I said, Charlie McElvoy is having the best year of his career. And, you know, when he's on his game, he's a top 10 defenseman at the NHL level. David Pasnak's one of the best forwards in the world, you know. Um Morgan Geeky definitely is somebody who's kind of coming onto the scene lately. And, you know, when you have when you have some young players, young, exciting players like a Minton and a Higgins, you know, Boston has arguably one of the best lines in hockey this year in Zaka, Middlesead, and Arvinston. So Boston's no joke. And, you know, the size that they've added, the toughness, right? You have Zodoroff, you have Janot, Castelik. Like, you don't want to play those guys in a seven-game series. And then the great X factor, of course, is Jeremy Swayman, right? Like, could Jeremy Swayman steal a playoff series for Boston? Yeah, I think he could, right? Like, so obviously, if you were to play Montreal, special team, all these teams really. But in the playoffs, special teams really gets highlighted. And for the Bruins, special teams has been a bit of a a Jekyll and Hyde story for them this year. Yeah, the power play has been top 10 pretty much all season, but it's dropped. Uh, you know, they went from being a top five unit all year to kind of barely hang on a top 10 the last month and a half of the season. But the penalty kill got off to a good start this year. Bruins had a top 10 PK and PP for the first month of the year, but the PK has just been, even though it's gotten better since the Olympic break, they're still, I think, 25th in the NHL. So the Bruins penalty kills is a problem. And if you're talking Tampa Bay, if you're talking Montreal, if you're talking Buffalo, those teams can zip it around in the power play. So special teams will be huge for Boston, no matter who they play in the first round. Special teams are big for everybody in the playoffs, but specifically Boston, who's a team that's always seemingly in the penalty box. So I think that even the teams that might be the preferred matchup, like a Montreal or Buffalo, it's still it might be preferred compared to Carolina or Tampa, but it's the Bruins still have their work cut out for them. And then, you know, with Buffalo, I think it's a similar story to Montreal where they have a ton of speed and skill, um, a combin, a good combination of youth and players that are in their prime that are really hitting their strides. But again, there's just inexperience there. More inexperience in Montreal, who went to the playoffs last year. Buffalo's exciting. They they're a great team this year, and that that city is going to be rabid for the postseason. And I'm really happy for the city of Buffalo that that that they get to experience playoff hockey again because they're one of the greatest hockey markets, honestly, in the league. And you know, Buffalo's TV ratings are constantly number one for just hockey national TV games in general, and their team hasn't really been relevant for over a decade, and they just continue to show up. So the City of Buffalo is they're gonna be ready to go for the postseason, but their team, you know, it's they're kind of primed to be maybe a little too psyched up. And, you know, if you if if you if you choke in game one or game two in front of your home crowd, specifically game one, they might start to get impatient because they want so much excitement. And if you can't deliver that to them right away, then you know you start to feel pressure and stuff. So as good as these teams are, there's there are a lot of intangibles at play. And we've seen it with the Bruins over the years. When you're when you're a favorite, that comes with expectations. And sometimes as an underdog, you can play a little bit more free. So I'm really looking forward to finding out more information over the next couple of days about what the final playoff matchups will be in both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. And we, of course, are gonna break it all down here. Um, throughout the course of this week, I'll be previewing the Eastern Conference first round, Western Conference first round on Wednesday, I believe. I'm gonna do an episode. I'll do I'm not sure exactly what how what it's gonna be if it's gonna be top 10, top 15, top 20, but I want to do a rankings episode about just the the top 10, 15, or you know, 20 um Bruins playoff games uh of the last 25 years since 2000, 25, 26 years. And uh that could be something fun to do to kind of gear us up for some playoff excitement this spring. And there's certainly a lot of games to choose from. So I'm gonna you know, I'll get some some feedback from you guys and I'll do my own due diligence. I already have you know my list of mine. I wrote an article about this not too long ago, but so that'll be fun. And we'll we'll talk about what the optimal Bruins playoff lineup will be or could be. Again, Bruins play New Jersey on Tuesday season finale. What do you want your postseason lineup to look like if you're the Bruins? And if you could choose any opponent for the Bruins in the first round, who do you think gives the Bruins the best chance to advance? Buffalo, Carolina, Montreal, or Tampa Bay? I'd be surprised if a couple of those answers are uh Tampa Bay and Carolina, but you never know. You never know. So stay tuned for all of that. It's gonna be a busy week, and I can't wait for it to get going. So thank you all very much for listening. Enjoy your week, and I will talk to you on Wednesday.