Honestly. I don't know what to make of this team. I was surprised when they made the playoffs last year. I'm surprised that I find myself liking the lineup at first glance and I'm surprised that I'm seeing Manny Fernandez getting drafted in many fantasy leagues like he didn't just miss all of last season and Tim Thomas died.
Lets try to sort through this mess shall we?
Key Departures:
Glen Murray
Muzz is gone. Long live Muzz. Murray didn't provide a whole lot of offense for this team last year and he has never been the same since losing his collaborator Joe Thornton to San Jose. The team went a different direction back then but never quite got rid of the last remnant of the old one in Murray. That is until this offseason. The Bruins are very very deep at RW, deeper still after the acquisition of Michael Ryder. If they needed to trim the fat this was the way to go.
New Faces:
Michael Ryder
Blake Wheeler
Ryder has had some disappointing seasons over the last few, but that was on a ridiculously deep Montreal team. Of the top four RW's he is the only one on this team that wasn't a first round draft pick, so maybe that hasn't gotten any better.
Wheeler is one of those above-mentioned first round RW's. We've never really seen him play, but as mentioned in this space he has the best nickname in hockey, "Whoops." He has had a strong pre-season for the B's and will probably start the year with the big club.
The Offense:
This is a group that was largely successful last year without Bergeron for most of the year. With his return and the bolstering of their RW corps the Bruins are looking good. They are a little weak at LW but they should be able to compete in what is a largely depleted division.
You Want to Draft:
Patrice Bergeron
Marc Savard
Bergeron is back baby! The only question was whether he'd be able to recover from this hit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xAEetam6HQ in time for the regular season after missing all of last season. He's looked very very good in the pre-season. Lets hope that the symptoms are gone and Bergeron continues his 70+ point ascension to the top of the game.
FACT: At the age of 23 Bergeron already has two 70 point seasons under his belt.
Savard is one of those guys that does a bunch of everything. His +/- isn't great but he will typically get you in the range of 80-90 points a ton of penalty minutes a fair amount of shots. His goals and PIM took a bit of a dive last season but lets assume that Bergeron will help him get back to his earlier heights.
FACT: Marc Savard qualified for the 2007 Royal Canadian Golf Association's Canadian Men's Mid-Amateur Golf Championship.
You Want to Keep an Eye On:
Marco Sturm
Phil Kessel
Michael Ryder
I feel like Sturm is a guy that I always expcted to break out but never did. Depending on the depth of your league a 60 pointish LW might be useful to you, particularly one that plays on the powerplay. Sturm won't get you too many more points then that and he doesn't do a whole lot else. There are better options out there and ones with much more upside.
FACT: Sturm is the German word for Storm.
We forget that Kessel is only 20. H'e got two decent seasons under his belt for a youngster. Great things are expected of him and I have no doubt that he will eventually deliver. For a young man he has already gone through a lot, including a bout with testicular cancer. Give it time.
FACT: Phil holds The USA Hockey National Development Team team's franchise record for most points with 180.
FACT: Phil holds The USA Hockey National Development Team team's franchise record for most points with 180.
Ryder had a BAD bad year last year, but tat year followed back to back 30 goal seasons. He isn't much more then a 60 point player and he doesn't do much beyond score goals but if you need to get a 30 goals from your RW and you don't really care about how, he is a pretty safe bet.
FACT: Want a reason to not be excited by Ryder? He only played in 4 of Montreal's 13 playoff games last year, despite being perfectly healthy. Translation, they know something we don't know.
The Defense:
Boston has a young group, headed by the veteran Zdeno Chara, that is better then it looks on paper and showed it last year in the playoff push. Much of Boston's Defensive security relies on the play of Dennis Wideman and Aaron Ward.
You Want to Draft:
Zdeno Chara
Dennis Widemen
Chara is big. Huge really. Have you ever seen him standing next to Gionta?
Chara is big. Huge really. Have you ever seen him standing next to Gionta?
Scary huh?
You want to draft Zdeno in the second tier of d-men, just because he lacks some of the consistency and the +/- certainty that the top tier have.
Wideman is one of the more intriguing options in this years draft. Wideman is a 40 point or so d-man who gets you PIM. He isn't spectacular at any one thing but he is useful in every category.
FACT: Last years 36 points was a personal best for Wideman, formerly drafted by the Buffalo Sabres 241st overall. Don't expect much more from him then that.
The Powerplay:
Marc Savard
Patrice Bergeron
Marco Sturm
Zdeno Chara
Dennis Wideman
Its a good first powerplay unit. Savard is the floater and Bergeron the playmaker. Chara has learned how to sneak in from the point to take a wrister from between the circles but is still most useful when he blasts his 100+MPH slapshot from the point.
The Goalie(s):
Never underestimate Tim Thomas. Thomas is one of the most erratic and streaky goaltenders ever to lace em up... but that's what makes him so lovable right? For fantasy players Thomas is a frightening proposition. More frightening is the fact that this year he is going to be going up against a healthy Manny Fernandez for the starting job. Never. Bet. Against. Tim. Thomas.
FACT: Thomas was a king in the Finnish Elite League during the lockout where he had a .938 save percentage and still holds the shutout record with 15. Who knows how to say never bet against Tim Thomas in Finnish?
Manny Fernandez reminds me more of Dominek Hasek then any goalie I've ever seen play... because he throws himself wildly about whatever crease he happens to be standing in. I imagine this led, in no small part, to his season ending knee surgery last year. I think at best you are looking at a tandem between these two goalies and at worst Fernadez is a very expensive backup netminder. I don't bet against...
FACT: Manny has only 1 30 win season. Put that in your net and light it.
The Verdict:
I think this is a team that has a real shot at being competitive in a comparatively terrible division. Montreal is the only team that I can for sure say is better then they are, though if you told me that Buffalo and Ottawa would finish ahead of them I wouldn't be surprised. With the Bruins it all depends on how they come together.
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