Challenge #31 - Future Boston Bruins - Discussion Thread

[rancer890]

2027 Eastern Conference Finals:

#1 Toronto Maple Leafs vs #6 Boston Bruins

Game 1: @ Toronto - L 3-6 - We went off to a great start in the series by giving up 5 goals in 25 minutes. Leafs take a 1-0 series lead. Goodbye Astrom, hello Bernier!

Game 2: @ Toronto - L 0-4 - Rask was a brick wall against his former team, and we couldn't muster up any offense. Ted Schroeder makes his debut. Bernier stays in net for game 3.

Game 3: v Toronto - W 3-2 - We catch a lucky break in game 3 as Rask gets injured and backup Charrette plays. He promptly gives up two goals and we win. Rask would eventually be out the rest of the series...

Game 4: v Toronto - W 4-1 - The series is all tied up as Schenn, Carrier, Aberg, and Skoda all score. Schroeder also collects his first point in the NHL with an assist on Carrier's goal.

Game 5: @ Toronto - W 3-2 (OT) - A tougher game as 4 goals were scored in regulation. The next one would come 7.5 minutes into the first extra frame as Aberg scores the winner to take a commanding 3 games to 2 lead in the series.

Game 6: v Toronto - W 5-1 - A chance to win the series and return to the Stanley Cup Finals and we don't disappoint, taking a 3-0 lead after the first period on goals by Kaikkonen, Skoda, and Karlsson.

We're going to the Stanley Cup Finals to face Brandon Gormley and the Minnesota Wild. Pretty much Rask getting injured helped us win the series, but I'll take it.

Lines to start the Stanley Cup Final:

Virtanen - Pare - Skoda
Karlsson - Schenn - Aberg
Jacobson - Owens - Vandersteen
Skudra - Schroeder - Fahas

Carrier - MacKinnon
Kaikkonen - Severson
Beausoleil - Prikryl

Bernier/Astrom

Schroeder has low morale and only has 2 assists in 5 games, but I rather have him in the lineup than human PIM machines Khomutov and Polyanski (who also likes to get ejected a lot), or Noble who has been on a cold streak. Bernier will start Game 1, but like the entire post-season, I will not hesitate to put Astrom in the net.

[rancer890]

2027 Stanley Cup Finals:

Boston Bruins vs Minnesota Wild

Game 1: @ Minnesota - W 2-0 - It took a while to get a goal in this series (39 minutes in fact), but Skudra started the scoring and Aberg added another with 6 minutes left to give us an early lead in the series. Bernier stopped all 29 shots to win the First Star.

Game 2: @ Minnesota - W 4-1 - Minnesota weren't going to make it easy and after we opened the scoring with Virtanen, they immediately tied it up. Virtanen and Karlsson scored 1 minute apart in the 2nd to give us a 3-1 lead heading into the extra frame. Skoda scored midway through the final period on the PP to clinch the win and a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Game 3: v Minnesota - W 3-2 (2OT) - We head back to Boston for another tough game. The Wild had the lead twice, but we answered both times with Jacobson and Skudra (gotta love that 4th line chipping in with key goals). There was no scoring in the 3rd and not even in the 1st OT. Karlsson wins the game a couple minutes in 2nd OT, and we have a stranglehold on the series, and we can sweep them and bring the Cup back to Boston for the first time since 2011.

Game 4: v Minnesota - L 3-4 - Unfortunately, the Wild had other ideas. Bernier gave up 4 goals in 21 shots, and Varly stood on his head with 41 saves while Khodakov chipped in with 3 points. Back to the XCEL Energy Center for Game 5.

Game 5: @ Minnesota - L 2-3 - Oh dear. Skudra and Aberg score for the Bruins, but it was Man Samuelsson's goal at the halfway mark of the 3rd period which gives Minny the win. 3-2 lead now...a bit of experimenting as Astrom will be in for Game 6 at home.

Game 6: v Minnesota - L 2-3 - That goalie change gamble failed as the Wild score two from Samuelsson and Sam Bennett. Trouba scores and gives the Wild a 3 goal advantage halfway through the game. We score two goals from Vandersteen and Kaikkonen but we can't score another so it's Game 7 in Minnesota for the Cup. Bernier will be back in. And Schenn, with a couple bad games, is out with Noble drawing back in.

Game 7: @ Minnesota - W 3-1 - We win the Cup ! Noble's inclusion pays off as we respond 11 seconds after the Wild score the first goal of the game. Vandersteen unfortunately misses a penalty shot in the 2nd and it's tied up going into the 3rd. The tie is broken with 7 minutes to go as Karlsson scores from Owens and Carrier. We hang onto dear life for the next 5 minutes, until Pare scores an empty net and all of the Boston can breathe a sigh of relief celebrate. Time runs out, and the Boston Bruins are your 2026-27 Stanley Cup Champions.

Virtanen and Karlsson led the playoffs in scoring, with Skoda 4th and Aberg 5th. Bernier has played fantastic and he will get a contract extension (hopefully he doesn't retire in the offseason!).

[rancer890]

And congrats to batdad for winning the Cup! Great to see a lot of us making deep playoff runs and being successful.

[rancer890]

2027 NHL Draft:

Rd 1 (30th overall) - LW Jared Booth (UNH) - 6'3", 183 lbs - Best player available at this pick. A power forward with 1st line potential. Decent attributes across the board. 22 goals, 23 assists in 50 games.

Rd 2 (57th) - LW/RW Dominique Michaud (Prince Albert) - 6'3", 174 lbs - He's not going to score a lot of goals, but he's got a good motor, hard and determined worker, and solid checking and hitting skills. Can't go wrong with a defensive power forward. 13 goals, 14 assists, 200 hits in 64 games, and a 7.28 rating.

Rd 2 (60th) - RD/LD Rodi Bonar (Guelph) - 6'7", 180 lbs - A huge kid. He's not mature yet in the technical part of the game but good speed, and solid mental attributes (good team guy as well). Compared with Tyler Myers.

Rd 3 (90th) - RD Eric Watson (Kelowna) - 6'2", 169 lbs - A defensive defenseman with solid attributes that you expect from one. Good character, good consistency. Not the best skater. 8 goals, 16 assists, 131 hits, 120 shots blocked, and a 7.10 rating in 70 games.

Rd 4 (120th) - LW/RW Likit Bjuhr (Rouyn-Noranda) - 6', 189 lbs - A speedy winger compared to Sven Bartschi. He moved to North America just in time for the Mastercard Memorial Cup, getting 3 points (1-2) in 5 games.

Rd 5 (150th) - RW Braxton Kehler (Saginaw) - 6'4", 202 lbs - Another quick, defensive forward. He's an aggressive kid, with 174 PIM. Doesn't profile as much of a goal scoring threat (12 G, 18A, 59 games), but had 249 hits. Every team needs these type of guys.

Rd 6 (180th) - LD Remi Low (Regina) - 6'3", 194 lbs - Another defensive defenseman compared to Olli Maata. Won't score points, but hits and a willing shot blocker.

Rd 7 (210th) - LW/LD Ted Reilly (Harvard) - 6'1", 169 lbs - Taking a flier on another Harvard player, and current teammate of Eric Crowther. Great speed, a student of the game, a hard worker. Another year of development at Harvard will be solid for him. He's better at forward.

[rocker87]

Nice to see that someone took 3 guys same as me. They just look like steals, especially Watson and Low.

[bruins72]

Congrats to Rancer on the Cup win too!

[batdad]

Congrats on the Cup, Batdad!

Yeah it was tight. 3 years matches the longest it has ever taken me, and I think that was back in my first or second challenge.


Congrats Rancer. We have one draft pick the same. The first rounder Booth.

[rancer890]

Nice to see that someone took 3 guys same as me. They just look like steals, especially Watson and Low.

Oh really. I haven't noticed haha. I just pick players that I like and guys I notice from my scouts. I'm trying to take different players than other challengers, but guys like Booth and the three players we both picked, I think they're the best players available at that pick. I actually don't really like Booth, but I didn't really like any of the other players. But I could always trade him later in the challenge.

Congrats to Rancer on the Cup win too!

Thanks B72! It's been the most fun I've had in EHM in a while. The setup and these rules make me feel like I've earned everything I've accomplished in this challenge.

Congrats on the Cup, Batdad!

Yeah it was tight. 3 years matches the longest it has ever taken me, and I think that was back in my first or second challenge.


Congrats Rancer. We have one draft pick the same. The first rounder Booth.

Thanks batdad! Not really too high on Booth, but who knows...at the very least, he could be decent trade bait later.

==

And....we have a trade to announce!

July 8, 2027

To Carolina: 25 y/o RD Yves Berthet, 5'9", 185 lbs (2026-27 Stats: 55 GP, 1G, 15A, 16 PTS, +6, 6.78 with Boston)
To Boston: 20 y/o LW Cody Quenneville, 6'1", 196 lbs (2026-27 Stats: 69 GP, 5G, 7A, 12PTS, -15, 6.49 with Carolina)

Berthet was always going to be my trade candidate, but I've drafted a ton of defenseman the last couple seasons for a reason. We have depth at left wing, but I've always like Cody Quenneville since he was draft eligible. Two of my scouts say he has first line potential and another says 2nd line. They all compare him to Chris Kreider, who has 567 goals and 603 assists in his career. Yes this rating in his rookie year isn't great, but he played 4th line minutes. In the playoffs with Charlotte, he had 4 goals and 4 assists in 12 games, and a 7.36 rating. He also had 31 hits and 20 shots blocked. He needs playing time to properly develop, and we will give him that, either in Boston or in Providence. He will definitely be given an opportunity in camp to get that 3rd line LW spot and a key part on the PK with Pare.

Berthet will be joining Riekkinen in Carolina and all the best of luck to him. He's too slow and small for me. 10s in Acceleration, Speed, and Strength won't cut it on my team, and he had a C- in his Size/Strength scouting report.

We have also signed LD Ryan Pilon to a 3 year/$15 million contract. The former 7th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 NHL Draft, he has spent the last two seasons with Vancouver, and last season had 10 goals and 27 assists in all 82 games, with a 8.13 rating, 216 hits, and 126 shots blocked.

Eric Crowther will be signed during the summer as well, so it'll be great competition come the regular season for the defensive spots in our lineup.

[batdad]

ACtually 2 picks as your last overall pick is the same as mine as well.

[Peter_Doherty]

Just played the third quarter in the second season, and how we played then. We went 15-3-2 in these 20 games and now sit in the first place in the conference 1 point ahead of Toronto. Jaskin just keeps on scoring, hes at 44 now and hes playing in our _second_ line since i wanted to keep our first line intact from the first season. Bernier has taken the #1 goalie position having been on fire lately and he now has a 0.912 SV%. Aslong as we don't collape we will be 1st or 4th in the conference going into the playoffs.

We've been lucky with injuries, no big injuries this season only a few weeks here and there. Groleau has been called up when we have injuries and hes done really well, he will have a slot in the lineup for the next season. Noble together with Groleau is scoring points for fun in the AHL. Jacobson is having a quieter year without being bad, not being on the 1st PP line hurts his goalscoring, and i kinda felt he overperformed the first season also. The early trade where i got Zientek is looking really good, at the deadline i also traded Stoughton away for a 4th round pick. Tried to get a good player for my 2nd rounder but didnt find a good deal so took this one.

[bruins72]

Looks like you made a mistake with that Stoughton trade. In season 2 he is only 24. The outgoing player in a player for pick deal must be age 33 or older. You can try to trade that pick for a junk player that you can then release or you can take a points penalty in challenge scoring.

[Peter_Doherty]

Oh rubbish, that player for pick trade rule is really hard to remember. I'll trade the pick away for some junk and release that player when i can trade again. Need any extra screenshot except for the usual trade-screen after the season?

[bruins72]

Nope. That's okay. Just the regular trade screen is fine.

[batdad]

2027-28 BRuins

After a close battle at both defense and up front, the Boston Bruins did not end up keeping Gould on the roster to start the year, but will have one rookie in the lineup in Prikryl.

Bennett-Reinhart-Owens
Jacobson-Nylander-Skoda
Aberg-Vandersteen-Groleau
Noble-Khomutov-Fahas
Skudra

Severson-Spencer
Kaikkonen-Riekkinen
Carrier-Prikryl
Liebsch-Beausoleil

Haas
Woodcroft

Haas and Woodcroft will continue to battle for starter job. Woodcroft won it at end of last season, but his ex season was not very strong.

Call ups on the radar

Gould, Ellis, Meichtry, Paaltama, Pope

[batdad]

Nice start to 27-28.

Boston 11 at Florida 1. 10 unanswered Bruin goals. 7 points for Owens, 5 for Reinhart, 3 for Bennett, 2 for four more. Only guy without a point was Spencer. Power play went 5-7. Outshot the Panthers 57-23

[rocker87]

Even I told you I'm not very satisfied with development of my players, this off-season most of them gain 1-3 rating per skill. Wow. Some of them looks solid now and I had a problem, offer them a chance already or wait a season or two. Looks like second option.

Our season opening lineup was:

Karlsson - Nylander - Lindblom
Škoda - Owens - Dicks
Jacobson - Schenn - Aberg (my first season 1st line)
Khomutov - Noble - Polyanski
Skudra

Nordstrom - Spencer
Severson - Riekkinen
Carrier - Beausoleil
Berthet

Montadon
Haas

Bykov is in AHL again. Engevall, MacKinnon, Bellier, O'Brien and Thocker are waiting for their chance in future. He will be great in season/two, just Nordstrom is great and he was defender of the month, he deserve a chance. Really great start with 7 wins in a row and then, Lindblom 3 months injury and we're just solid. Our PK was great, over 95% for first 10 games, but PP sucks. It was just 6.5% after 13 games.No, I didn't miss a digit. After 20 games mark, we have 13.4% PP (we score 4 PP goals last game) and 81.3% PK. Lindblom was in our 1st line, PP and PK unit, so... it's easy to see how much we miss him already.

But, anyway, we're still in 4th place, 31 points, first team, Rangers, have 35 in 23 games. We're still good.

EDIT: We had great first period against Hawks, 33-1 on shots, 0-0 result. Really great to see, we won because their goalie was injured in second. Nice tactics to injury their goalie, buahahaha.

[eric1985]

Well, heading into the offseason, had a nice draft i think.
1st - 18th overall- Evgeny Potapov, 6'3 178lbs LD/RD from Ak Bars of RSL. 1-2 Potential compared as a bigger,better version of Del Zotto
2nd- 48th overall - Morgan Bostrom, 6'1 176lbs G from Uppsala Swe-4, Ranked around 120, but i loved the look of him, should be a nice starter down the road
3rd - 78th overall Lukas Soukup - 5'10 183lbs C from Vsetin Cze-2. Scouts as a more-talented version of Schenn, i dont see it, but it has some ant and decent shooting
4th - 108th overall Dan Hatcher - 6' 191 lbs C/LW/RW - more talented version of ulrich Zientek. Bit older but i like versatitlity and i love his mentals and has nice techs.
5th - 138th overall Clyde Walter - 6'2 185lbs LW - Like Walter Owens. Again 19, but i like his development so far in college to gamble on him later.
6th - 168th Overall Anthony Foley - 6' 171lbs C/LW - Like Jaden Schwartz. Looks to be straight offensive, but the draft looked to be thinning out.
7th - 198th Overall Jean-Ian Favarin - 6'1 185lbs RD - Poor mans Nick Leddy.. had decent mentals...

FA SEASON TIME!! Was targetting a d-men, got Matthew Spencer @ 2.49/yr. Should be great on my top paring.
Completed my trade early. Finnaly found a trade for dicks, but also found one for Reijasalo, so i trade Reijasalo since i still have Bernier and Haas. Sent him to the Canucks for Anton Karlsson. Not that i needed another LW, but the other have secondary postions.

Potential Lineup for 2026-2027
Virtanen - Bennett - Aberg
Karlsson - Schenn - Berggren
Jacobson - Owens - Vandersteen
Khomutov - Zakharov - Fahas
With Noble and Dicks on the outside looking in

Carrier - Spencer
Reikkinen - Gormley
Severson - Beausoliel

Bernier
Haas

[rocker87]

40 games mark behind me. 30-9-1 so far. Looking good. Three points in front with 2 games in hand. I change my training percentage to general on 30, PP and PK on 35%. PP is improved to 16.5% and PK just a bit better, 81.8%. Goalies are very good, 7.7 and 7.72 on ratings, really not important who's in, really good feeling. Defense is better then I ever thought it would be in this lineup. Nordstrom is a stud. 39 games, 26 points, 7.79 rating. I'm impressed, he's only 21, one month after his birthday.

I made my trade few days ago.

To Senators:
Yves Barthet

To Bruins:
Nikita Orlov

I know Quenneville is a bit better, but this guy is big, 6'2 205 lbs, 20 strength guy, he can play second line without any problem, but I'll put him on my third line, when Lindblom will recover from his injury. He's still recovering, just on 49% fitness. Orlov will play a lot of PK minutes and he's producing nicely in his line. He can play on PP as well, if needed. Now Jacobson will be my 4th line LW with PK minutes. I really didn't want to do the same trade as another player in challenge and Quenneville is on 2*, it was easy to do, not a challenge at all.

If needed, Bykov will be back on roster, MacKinnon and Kaufman will wait for opportunity. Even Kessel looks good now, don't know what's happening, but they're improving really fast in their 20-22 years. Strange.

I have my second trade for or with pick. I'll keep it, probably send Aberg somewhere, but I always change my mind, so... who knows.

You won't. (catch me)

Remember this batdad? I think I'm in front now.

[rancer890]

So, preseason went very well and I was impressed with a lot of our players, but the regular season is a different beast and our lineup won't be too different. Guys like Khomutov (Columbus) and Liebsch (Chicago via waivers) and of course Berthet are gone so the team will look quite different. First, the forwards

Virtanen - Pare - Skoda
Noble - Owens - Aberg
Fahas - Schenn - Vandersteen
Kucera - Skudra - Polyanski

INJ - Karlsson (usually the 2nd line LW, and when he's healthy just move everyone down a line on the left side)

Defense:

Pilon - MacKinnon
Carrier - Beausoleil
Kaikkonen - Prikryl

Spares - Severson, Jacobson

Bernier/Astrom

We have guys like Ted Schroeder, Eric Crowther, Vadim Bykov, Cody Quenneville, and Dan Hatcher in the minors in case of injury. Schroeder had a great pre-season (6 G, 4A in 8 games) but our top 6 had great pre-seasons as well, and he will be much better off playing key minutes with Providence because he won't get PP time in Boston. Quenneville wasn't going to get a whole lot of ice-time in the NHL and wasn't going to win that 3rd line spot so down he goes to get key minutes. Prikryl is far ahead in development over Crowther and Bykov so down they go to Providence for more ice time. We also unfortunately lost Liebsch via waivers to Chicago. He's got good size but we really had no use for him and I would rather have our young guys in the lineup.

Woodcroft and Astrom had similar stats in the pre-season, so I went by last season's stats and Astrom was far better, so he gets the roster spot and Woodcroft back to Providence. Given our last three seasons, we will need Woodcroft at some point, given my luck with the health of goalies in this challenge.

We have a really good group in Boston, but I also feel that our depth in Providence is also very good and they will be needed when our guys are banged up. Unfortunately, LW is a bit lacking in veteran depth so Kucera gets the spot by default...until our young LWs are ready at least. Quenneville will not play 4th line minutes so Kucera/Fahas/Jacobson will just keep the spot warm.

[rancer890]

Anton Karlsson retirement...we got money though.

I thought 3 torn ACLs were bad (two by Bernier), we haven't reached rock bottom on the injury front yet till now. And here I thought firing our entire medical staff would cure the problem. Obviously not.

Guess it was too good to be true when we traded Reikkinen for Karlsson. Now we got nothing to show for it.

Um...I'm speechless. Just wow.

On the bright side, good thing we got Quenneville! This changes a lot of things...

[Peter_Doherty]

That's rough.

[bruins72]

Ouch!

That's a hard blow.

[jesterx7769]

Finally finished rushing through season 1 after I had to restart...finished in exact same spot 4th from bottom

some notes even though people are well ahead-
Lines that were used when people were healthy...
Eriksson-Owens-Aberg
Jacobson-Schenn-Vandersteen
Khumotov-Skudra-Skoda
Bouwer-Zakharov-Fahas

Carrier-Reikkenen
Rholaoushab (lol)-Gormley
Severson-Bethet

Skoda did great job, I kept him on main roster this time and he got 36 points. Skudra had 31 and was named to all rookie team. Very impressed with third line doing so well considering how bad the team did overall, I guess that's what happens when you have two huge 230lb guys and a 209lb scorer.

I drafted Gubin instead of Dicks so we will see how that plays out. I took Dicks last time but wanted to be different especially after seeing how everyone was trading him.

Powerplay really sucked for some reason which I normally don't have a problem with, even used the same things as my reset season but oh well. Aberg did really well scoring but Owens/Eriksson aren't worthy top liners.

I will probably go after a top left winger like most did as its a pressing issue, I don't think Jacobson is top line material and putting a top LW with Aberg should help lots, especially if I trade for a top line Center. Also going to start Guin in training camp games and if he does well he will start for me. He posted a 95% save percent in CHL last year.

[Salming]

I couldnt resist to join this challange to. Have had a hard time getting an idea for a game and this thing tempted me enough to join.

I kept as many players as i could and sent all younger players to ehcl and ahl. I will slowly train em up and train up chemestry between em before htting bruins main team.

Here is my draft.
1. Dicks
2. Staas
3 Axell
4 Berggren
5 Ian o brian
6 Pastor
7. Vasilyev

After almost all good players struggled ate the camp and Dicks made realy nice strides and produced alot in training games he earned a spot in the top6.

The team i been using when no injuries are ( always 1-2 injuries so this team basicly never play) its just an paper plan haha

Dicks-Schenn-Åberg
Jacobsson-Zharkov-Ericssen
Khomotov-Farhas-Goch

Carrier-Raikkinen
Seversson-Barthet
Arnorsson-gormley

Bernier
(rejasalo,serebryakov) - both play in ahl and nhl sometimes
Vandersteen plays exellent in AHL and will be moved up next seson
In Ehcl i got skoda,berggren,axell,stas,noble,pastor,vasilyev, i Expect them all to play in AHL next seson and mayby skoda gets some NHL minutes if i get injuries.

The team realy needs a 1.center and that will be my main focus in the trade next year or during UFA during the summer.
When i write this Herman Dicks got 45points in 50games, i have to say i am very happy with that altough hes rating sucks couse he gets 4-5ers when we loose games againt the strong teams. Altough he steps up and make 2-3 points in some wins.

[jesterx7769]

No Owens? Skoda is def NHL ready and will get over a 7 rating, so will Vandersteen.