The Boston Bruins may have resolved their biggest offseason question mark on Sunday by agreeing to a $66 million extension with Jeremy Swayman, but new questions of what this team can accomplish this regular season are right around the corner.
Boston will kick off the regular season Tuesday night addressing those concerns head-on when they face their boogeyman, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Having eliminated the Bruins two seasons in a row, the Panthers are clearly the measuring stick for Boston this year. Bruins GM Don Sweeney certainly agrees, adding size on defense to handle aggressive teams like Florida in the playoffs.
Will that be enough to secure a playoff run that could go further into the spring for Boston? Adam Jones and Rich Keefe discussed what fans should expect from this team Tuesday on WEEI.
“I mean, the goal is always a Stanley Cup,” Jones said, before asking, “What's a successful year for the Bruins?”
“I think second round of the playoffs,” Keefe responded.
He added a caveat to that statement, though.
“Is it a hard-fought seven-game series or do you get swept?” he asked.
“If you just get smoked in four games like you don't even belong on the ice with the same team, or if it's Florida again, or something like that, that would really sting.”
Jones, however, has higher hopes and expectations.
“I would say get out of your division,” he said.
“Eastern Conference Final, final four. That, to me, would be an unquestioned success.
“Play your way out of the Atlantic, which means you're beating the Floridas or Torontos of the world, and then you're into the final four, and let's go. I would feel pretty good about that as a bar for this team.”
The Bruins’ payroll, Jones says, is one that’s worthy of a conference finals appearance. According to PuckPedia, Boston currently ranks 10th in the NHL for their projected cap hit this season. That’s in the neighborhood of other teams you’d expect to see in a conference final, like the Panthers.
“You should be that kind of team,” Jones said.
“You have a Vezina finalist type of player – [Swayman] was seventh last year in the Vezina voting – so you have a high-caliber goaltender. You have a guy who's gotten Hart votes before in Pastrnak, you still have Marchand, you signed [Elias] Lindholm, you added Zadorov, McAvoy has gotten Norris votes in the past.
“You have a lot on this roster. I don't think it's unreasonable to say final four, Eastern Conference final, get out of the Atlantic. Stanley Cup feels like a high bar. I'm not gonna hold them to that line. But get to the final four.”
After becoming one of the highest-paid goalies in the league, Keefe believes that one of the biggest determining factors for Boston’s success will be whether Swayman proves he’s worth that dollar amount.
“Now you can't have a bad season. You can't have a stretch of bad games. You're the guy who's making $8.25 million,” Keefe said.
“There's no Ullmark to lean on, there's no, like, ‘Alright, well, we have a Vezina winner who's splitting time with you.’ It's like, ‘No, you have the worst statistical goalie from last year splitting time with you.’ You're going to need Swayman to play well.”
BetMGM currently has the odds for Boston winning the Stanley Cup for the seventh time set at +1800. Additionally, their odds for winning the East are set at +900.