B's fans: Which player do you value the most?

[Looch Ness Monster]

The Bruins are going to have a tough offseason this year. They have to resign both restricted free agents David Krejci, Phil Kessel as well as RFA Matt Hunwick and they have limited cap space available. This is the only real problem with developing homegrown talent and seeing them all turn into stars at roughly the same time.

 

There's an issue however..Milan Lucic and Marc Savard are up for contracts in the summer of 2010 too. So you have to plan ahead and decide whether you want to A) let one of the K's (Krejci or Kessel) go, and lock Lucic up to a long term extension sign both of the K's and trade a guy like Chuck Kobasew to make cap room C) let Savard and his $5 million walk in 2010, sign Krejci, Kessel and Lucic..hope Bergeron can be the old Bergeron d) other?

 

Other guys that are unrestricted free agents..PJ Axelsson, Stephane Yelle, Shane Hnidy, Mark Recchi, Manny Fernandez, Steve Montador. I'm not sure about Yelle or Recchi but I think Axe will be back for a hometown discount and Fernandez, Montador as well as Hnidy will be gone.

 

This is our current roster under contract for next year excluding RFA and UFA..

 

Boston forwards

Marc Savard

Patrice Bergeron

Chuck Kobasew

Milan Lucic

Michael Ryder

Blake Wheeler

Shawn Thornton

Marco Sturm

Byron Bitz

 

Boston defensemen

Zdeno Chara

Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart

Aaron Ward

Andrew Ference

 

Tim Thomas

 

I expect guys like Vladimir Sobotka and Tuukka Rask to be on the team next year.

 

So taking all of this into consideration..who do you value the most out of these 4 players looking ahead from #1-4?

 

Phil Kessel

David Krejci

Milan Lucic

Marc Savard

[Gom]

Is hockey still a recognized sport?

[Dojji]

your comment is noted and appropriately filed.

 

http://www.sputnikdesignworks.com/clipart/people/wastebasket.jpg

[Looch Ness Monster]

Is hockey still a recognized sport?

 

It has beat the NBA for viewers in the playoffs this season...

 

:dunno:

[TheKilo]

Krejci

Kessel

Lucic

Savard

 

2 and 3 are pretty much interchangeable

[Dojji]

It depends on which you'd rather do, cause the opposing team physical pain or actually score more goals than they do.

 

Lucic gets overrated a little by Bruins fans because he's exciting to watch. I'm not saying he's anything other than a good hockey player and a future strong fan favorite, probably even a team leader of the future, but as things stand right now 3 of the 4 guys on Kilo's list could possibly win a hockey game on individual effort. The other one is Milan Lucic.

[TheKilo]

Yeah, I put Lucic 3 for that reason and Savard 4 because he's getting older - Lucic's physical presence opens up a lot of opportunities for guys like Kessel and Savard, though.

[Dojji]

I think the guy you can't lose is Kessel. Sure he isn't the game-dominator that Ovechkin or Crosby can be, but he's incredibly skilled, very fast, and he made huge gains this year, and he changes the nature of the team all by himself at times. Until Sturm is healthy and contributing again Kessel is our best breakaway threat and when you're a team that sits back and plays a lot of stay at home D you really need the ability to slip around the other team and put speed into the attacking zone.

[BoSox21]

I would say Kessel over Lucic. I think both guys are equally valuable to the Bruins but guys with Lucic's skill set are easier to find than guys with Kessel's skill set

[Looch Ness Monster]

The way I see it David Krejci is the best player on the list as far as talent is concerned. Phil Kessel doesn't play in his own zone and I think that is what is gonna make him expendable. Krejci plays in all 3 zones, as does Milan Lucic. And I think Savard is expendable because of how deep we are at center in the organization.

 

My ranking..

 

1. David Krejci

2. Milan Lucic

3. Phil Kessel

4. Marc Savard

 

I feel like Krejci and Lucic are future captains of the team. You could see that they were our 2 best players on the ice for most of the playoffs. You need Lucic if you want to win the cup. It's hard to find power forwards like him in the draft and luckily we found him.

[Dojji]

The thing that worries me about Krejci is that his offense is too tied up in finesse and in ploys that other teams can adjust to. That's fine for a third line centerman because the game plan the other team comes in with is rarely about neutralizing you but I definitely have reservations about Krejci on the first line.

[Looch Ness Monster]

The thing that worries me about Krejci is that his offense is too tied up in finesse and in ploys that other teams can adjust to. That's fine for a third line centerman because the game plan the other team comes in with is rarely about neutralizing you but I definitely have reservations about Krejci on the first line.

 

Yeah but Krejci is also just 22 years old. He won't be on the first line next year anyways. Savard will be. Give the kid 2 or 3 more years to round out his offensive game. He plays in all 3 zones and to me that's enough for a first line center.

[BoSox21]

Yeah but Krejci is also just 22 years old. He won't be on the first line next year anyways. Savard will be. Give the kid 2 or 3 more years to round out his offensive game. He plays in all 3 zones and to me that's enough for a first line center.

 

and Kessel is just 21 but yet you're pass judgment on him like he won't improve his game but Krejci will?

[YanksHater213]

The way I see it David Krejci is the best player on the list as far as talent is concerned. Phil Kessel doesn't play in his own zone and I think that is what is gonna make him expendable. Krejci plays in all 3 zones, as does Milan Lucic. And I think Savard is expendable because of how deep we are at center in the organization.

 

My ranking..

 

1. David Krejci

2. Milan Lucic

3. Phil Kessel

4. Marc Savard

 

I feel like Krejci and Lucic are future captains of the team. You could see that they were our 2 best players on the ice for most of the playoffs. You need Lucic if you want to win the cup. It's hard to find power forwards like him in the draft and luckily we found him.

 

100% agree with this, except I like Kessel more than you do. I think he can improve in his own zone, but he'll be pretty much what Sergei Samsonov was, but at a much higher level. Kessel would be a great asset to have, but what makes him expendable is the amount of money he will command in the market because of his goal scoring prowess.

[Looch Ness Monster]

and Kessel is just 21 but yet you're pass judgment on him like he won't improve his game but Krejci will?

 

I'm just not sure I'm sold on Kessel. I've heard stories about him getting into fights with multiple coaches before he got to the NHL because he kept leaving his own zone early and was not playing defense. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

And Kessel is extremely streaky while I see Krejci as a much more steady player. He just needs to become a quicker skater..but that can improve with workouts in the summer. But the way I saw it this season Kessel would have a huge stretch of 8 or 9 games where he would get a point per game, then get absolutely nothing for another 8 or 9 games.

[TheKilo]

I'd keep Kessel over Lucic the more I think about it, the gap widens between 2 and 3 for me.

 

Krejci is the best all-around player of the three and would have had a better series against Carolina if he wasn't paired with Wheeler/Bitz and the struggling Michael Ryder.

[WhiskeyBreath]

I'd go with Lucic. Players like him are very rare.