Post by Beans (BOS) on Dec 29, 2015 11:11:14 GMT -5
iBruins feel need for speed this Christmas
December 29, 2015 - Sportsnet Staff
This Christmas, Santa brought an entire line of NHL-ready talent to the iBruins forward group in the form of Michael Grabner, Mason Raymond, and Alexander Wennberg. The common thread in these transactions is an infusion of speed to the Boston lineup.
Shipped out of Boston in all the holiday madness were Ryan Spooner, Frankie Vatrano, Colin Miller, Anthony Camara, and the rights to Matt Grzelcyk, Ryan Fitzgerald, and Wiley Sherman.
“We’ve gotta be one of the fastest teams in the League now,” stated iBruins GM Beans. “Speed kills in the new iNHL and our forwards have it in spades. We think this is going to cause a lot of problems for teams going forward.”
Boston and Philly also closed a small house-cleaning deal that sent Kevan Miller, Chris Breen, and Brendan De Fazio back to Boston in exchange for Ben Sexton.
“If you look at our forwards now, we have a top-9 where every forward is at or better than 15/20 in terms of skating. Our only two sub-15 skaters are our veteran scorers who flank Sam Gagner on the fourth line, Chris Kunitz and Matt Moulson.”
“We think we now have four lines who pose a scoring threat at any given time.”
Of all the new line combinations, the iBruins new first line has the best potential for immediate offense and guarantees to leave opposing defenders gassed after each shift. The Kevin Fiala-Michael Grabner-David Pastrnak trio features two blazing fast wingers on either side of an emerging playmaking rookie (Fiala) who has been phenomenal since arriving in Beantown with 15 points in 19 iBruin games as the team’s de facto number 1 center.
“Ya – Fiala has been great. Really dynamic and he’s grabbed that top line center role. Not sure if he’ll get Calder consideration given our spot in the standings and the superstars like McDavid and Eichel, but his name belongs in the conversation. I wouldn’t be surprised if he forces his name in there by the end of the year.”
Despite all the holiday dealing, it doesn’t looking like GM Beans is done yet. Though the iBruins GM is shifting his attention to improving his defense.
“I think our forwards are coming together. Not too many more changes to our forward group before next season – there are a couple of guys I have my eye on and if they become available, we’ll make a move but there’s nothing on the immediate horizon. My focus is definitely on D now – I think my colleagues around the League are well aware of that.”
Any kind of defenseman in particular?
“A guy with speed. Lots of speed.”