After back-to-back ugly losses to the Senators and Lightning, the Bruins made zero lineup changes for Monday night. Interim head coach Joe Sacco couldn’t have made any even if he wanted to. General manager Don Sweeney has given him a roster that has had just 20 players since the trade deadline, leaving Sacco no extra bodies to rotate in.
Unsurprisingly, Boston lost again Monday night, falling to the lowly Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in overtime.
If the organization was still seriously trying to make the playoffs, the roster management would be inexcusable. How could anyone possibly defend rolling with the same lineup after a game in which the Bruins got outshot 21-0 in the second period and landed just 12 shots on goal in the whole game?
The Bruins are not seriously trying to make the playoffs, though. Or, more accurately, Bruins management is not. The coaches and players are still trying to win every game and still want to make a late-season push. Three points out of the playoffs with 13 games to go, even if other teams have games in hand, is still not an insurmountable gap.
But general manager Don Sweeney sold at the trade deadline, the clearest indication there is that the white flag is being waved. He sold a lot, trading away four regulars, including captain Brad Marchand, and another rotational piece in Justin Brazeau.
He now seems content to roll with the roster as is and not try to shake things up with any kind of youth infusion. Matt Poitras, Georgii Merkulov and Fabian Lysell remain in Providence, as does Fraser Minten, the organization’s new top prospect who was acquired from Toronto in the Brandon Carlo trade and who had a hat trick over the weekend.
It would appear that management has determined that it’s better for the kids to continue to develop in Providence and try to make a Calder Trophy run there rather than lose games in Boston and be thrust into NHL roles they’re probably not ready to handle.
(UPDATE: The Bruins did recall Lysell and defenseman Mike Callahan on an emergency basis Tuesday before flying to Las Vegas. We will see if either or both play on the road trip.)
It may not be a full-blown tank. David Pastrnak is still playing, after all. His line with Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha nearly dragged the Bruins to a win Monday, scoring both Boston goals. But management wouldn’t be disappointed to get as high a draft pick as possible.
It’s an experience this organization and fanbase hasn’t had in a generation. The last time they were focused on anything other than making the playoffs down the stretch was 2007, when the Bruins finished 13th in the conference and missed the playoffs by 16 points. The only two times since then that the Bruins missed the postseason – in 2015 and 2016 – they were in it right to the end, getting eliminated on the final day of the regular season both times.
Those two teams were destined to pick in the teens. This year’s Bruins team could be heading towards a top-10 pick. Based on points percentage, and not accounting for the draft lottery, they would have the ninth overall pick as of Tuesday morning.
The Bruins have not had a top-10 pick of their own doing since that 2007 season, when they picked eighth overall (let us not dwell on Zach Hamill here). They did pick second overall in 2010 (Tyler Seguin) and ninth in 2011 (Dougie Hamilton), but those were picks acquired from Toronto in the Phil Kessel trade.
You better believe the Bruins have already started their homework on the likes of Caleb Desnoyers, Anton Frundell, Roger McQueen and Jake O’Brien, players they might have a chance to draft if they do pick in the top 10. Fans and media may soon be following suit, if they haven’t already. Those four are all centers, by the way, and we know Boston is still looking for its No. 1 center of the future.
On the ice, Bruins players obviously don’t care about draft position. To their credit, they’re still playing with some passion. Nikita Zadorov threw a big hit on Tage Thompson in the first period and then dropped the gloves with Jordan Greenway in a heavyweight tilt. Pastrnak was as fired up and as upset with the refs as we’ve seen him in a while after a couple missed calls went against Boston in overtime.
Sacco says he has not seen any dip in morale from the guys in the room.
“I thought we had good energy tonight on the bench, in the room, before the game,” Sacco said. “I thought that the guys were focused. I don't think that's been an issue at all.”
The fans in attendance will still cheer when there’s something to cheer about. They loved that Zadorov fight, just like they loved his fight with Sam Bennett last week. They chanted “Let’s go Bruins!” in the third period with the game tied 2-2. Even if some of those fans might, deep down, want a higher draft pick, it’s hard to not root for a win when you’re actually there. Again, those conflicted emotions are something they haven’t felt in 18 years. Younger fans or newer fans who jumped aboard during the 2011 Stanley Cup run have never experienced this.
Maybe this Bruins team still has one more push in it. It would need to come during this upcoming five-game Western road trip if it’s going to mean anything. Or maybe this roster just isn’t good enough to do that, and we’ll be spending April focused more on draft position than a playoff race.