GDT: Bruins @ Senators - Dec 30, 2017, 7:00pm

Last game of the year. Do we throw out the old abd ring in the new? Even if they win in regulation, they'd be 12 points back of Boston with no games in hand. They'd still be 10 back of the Isles (pending the outcome of their game) with 2 games in hand, but there are six other teams chasing that last wildcard spot. What would you rather have, a top five lottery protected pick this year and no first rounder in 2019, or class their way back outside the top 10, give up the pick this year and play the kids next season in hope of an even better pick?

Burrows, Dumont, Thompson and Pyatt are all still under contract next season. We will only be losing Oduya. Other FAs include Stone (must sign), Ceci, Claesson, Harpur, Wideman and Paul. That's 5D that could potentially be gone, one way or another. Would a backend of Karlsson-Chabot-Jaros-Phaneuf-Borowiecki-Englund ensure a top three pick? Don't forget Burrows-Thompson-Dumont as a line and McCormick in the mix as well.

Good grief, Charlie Brown.

Anyhow, lots of possibilities to consider. As for tonight, I don't expect any lineup changes except, possibly, in goal.

Go Sens. Meh.

McCormack replaces Dumont as he is on a one way and Dumont has a two way next year.  Thompson and Pyatt are keepers.

I like Thompson. He's great on the PK, he's great on faceoffs, he hustles, he hits.

Pyatt hustles. He doesn't take faceoffs. He doesn't hot. If he's not scoring he's not doing much else.

I would rather take a guy like Chlapik or Paul and give him that icetime. Pyatt can still be a depth guy but I don't see him here long term.

Not sure what to expect from them tonight. The Bs continue to be hot....

Interesting development. Boucher going with Condon in goal for back to back nights.

While the O-Sens play the B-Bruins, the B-Sens play the P-Bruins.

And the O-Sens lay a goose-egg while the B-Sens win in OT, giving Hogberg his first W.

I'm out. This isn't fun.

wprager wrote:I'm out.  This isn't fun.

Quite the turn of events from last year! So weird. Yeah, I certainly won't be going out of my way to watch games from here out.

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:I'm out.  This isn't fun.

Quite the turn of events from last year!  So weird.  Yeah, I certainly won't be going out of my way to watch games from here out.

It’s amazing how low, watching games, has gone down my list of priorities.

They're losing games playing a boring brand of hockey and forcing a system on its players instead of making a system that fits its players. The problems with this team stem very deep. At this point Dorion and Boucher should both be relieved of their duties - Boucher for insisting on playing players he likes and Dorion for enabling this behaviour. Sell off what assets you can, keep a core , and move forward with a GM and coach who support player development. At this point I don't see karlsson or Duchene signing here. Karlsson deserves better and Duchene won't want to play on another rebuilding team

karlsson deserves better? He's been terrible all year. Its on him

Also do people realize that if Dorion is fired, Melnyk is the one hiring a GM? If you all hate Melnyk (and this Melnyk out stuff is getting so embarrassing) then you wouldn’t want that

I Don’t see Melnyk firing the GM. Melnyk cares about making money, the on ice product isn’t his main focus. That’s been proven. Had he been he wouldn’t have handicapped the team fianaciLly or traded away picks to save money or made money a central issue in managing this club.

Sorry, this Melnyk out isn’t embarrassing. Melnyk is embarrassing. He’s embarassed this franchise.
Hes likely also going to be the cause, directly or indirectly, of kalrsson and duchene leaving.
Even turris.

Ev can argue the opposite but all signs point to that. Doesn’t matter what the team publicly says. It’s jus botched PR jobs one after the other.

Last year Karlsson bought into the system, and the team followed. This year, whether through injury or indifference or personal issues, he has been very poor at leading. Don't know if he's sick of defending, or sick of the personnel out there or whatever. Ev is right in saying it's on Karlsson, at least some of it. Same for both goalies. Same for Dorion and Boucher.

Dorion traded Zibanejad and Turris for Brassard and Duchene. Both moves backfired. Boucher decided to surround himself with a coaching staff and players he knew personally. That backfired as well; just look at our defensive pairings (Crawford) and powerplay (not sure whom to blame there).