Sweeney for GM of the Year + Frederic season review

It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. I'm going to talk about the show, and I'm going to talk about the show. I'm going to talk about the show, and I'm going to talk about the show. I'm going to talk about the show, and I'm going to talk about the show. I'm going to talk about the show, and I'm going to talk about the show. I'm going to talk about the show, and I'm going to talk about the show. I'm going to talk about the show. I'm going to talk about the show. It is Trent Frederick Day here on lockdown Boston Bruins, and we're also discussing Don Sweeney's candidacy for GM of the Year. Let's talk about it all in a fresh episode of lockdown Boston Bruins. Your Lock-Dawn Bruins, your daily podcast on the Boston Bruins, part of the Lock-Dawn Podcast Network, your team every day. What is up Bruins fans, and welcome back to the Lock-Dawn Boston Bruins podcast. I'm your host Ian McLaren, and this is a daily show where we discuss all things spoken. I want to thank you so much for making Lock-Dawn Bruins part of your day, every single day. We are free and available wherever you get podcasts, and on YouTube, featuring some brand new graphics, those of you tuning in on the video portion of the show. We'll get to see that here today. We are part of the Lock-Dawn Podcast Network, your team every single day. It is Thursday, May 25th, and I want to remind you that you can find the podcast on Twitter, Instagram, at Lock-Dawn Podcast, Don Sweeney, being a finalist for GM of the year, and also take a look back at Trent Fredericks 2022-23, and what could be ahead for the restricted free agent. So let's just jump right into it, shall we? We're going to begin with our boy Don Sweeney, hitting a nod as a finalist for GM of the year. The other two GM of the year candidates are Bill Zito in Florida, and also Jim Nill with the Dallas Stars, I believe. Let's see, actually, I can't even remember. The finalists this year, Don Sweeney, Bill Zito, and Drumroll, please give him no, as I mentioned. Now, the winner is selected in a pool of other NHL general managers at the end of the regular season. So, kind of weird that Florida is there, even though they're on this run that has taken them all the way to the Stanley Cup final, I guess Zito gets a nod for pulling off that Matthew Kuchuk for Jonathan Huberno and Mackenzie Wieger trade. Jim Nill has built an unbelievable team in Dallas, despite the fact they're down three nothing in their series, look back at the one draft where they got Jake Audinger, Jason Robertson, and Meryl Heiskin, and all in the same draft class, Unreal. Don Sweeney was named NHL GM of the year back in 2019, and he oversaw the construction of a historic regular season team this past season, record of 65, 12 and 5, 135 points, President Schrophy. We all know the regular season accolades that this team was able to put together. And it all began kind of back last summer when he decided to fire head coach Bruce Cassidy, now with Vegas on the brink of advancing to the Stanley Cup final. We're not going to talk about that. Montgomery led the Bruins to the fastest team in NHL history. You'll reach 100 points, 50 wins, and with 65 wins, he holds the NHL record for most wins by a coach in his first season with the team. Of course, it's also the new all-time record. Having that, he decided to trade Eric Hoele to the New Jersey Devils for Pavel Zaka. Zaka later agreed to a one-year $3.5 million contract with the team and signed a four-year contract extension he was named, Nessin's seventh player of the season as well, given to the Bruins who exceeds fan expectations. He also convinced Patrice Bergeron and David Crayci to come back on very team-friendly contracts. Of course, that will hinder him next season with bonus overages, but we're only talking about 2022-23 here for Don Sweeney. Getting both of those guys back under contract, a coup for sure. And they both had very successful seasons. Bergeron is a finalist for the Sunki Trophy and 58 points. Crayci, 56 points in 70 games. And then, prior to the trade deadline, Don Sweeney did fantastic work adding Demetri Orlov, Garnet Hathaway from Washington for Craig Smith, 2023 first round pick, and a 2025 second round pick, plus a 2024 third round pick. He also made full use of L-T-I-R and acquired Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings for a 2024 first round pick. So Bruins, no first round pick this season, next season, no second round pick this season, or next season either. He really went all in here. Did have an eye on the future though, of course, he re-signed David Postonak to an eight-year contract extension with an annual cap hit of 11.25 million. And of course, Postonak had an incredible season, 61 goals, 52 assists, 113 points. One of only two players in the NHL, the score more than 60 goals this season, McDavid being the other, and he'll win the Richard Trophy. Sweeney has been in the front office since 2006. He was named general manager in 2015, and again, he won this award back in 2019. He's up for it again this season. And in my estimation, he should be the front runner. Again, Hala for Zaka was a win. And to get Zaka under contract for several more seasons at a pretty team-friendly rate, a great deal. All the complaints about 2015 draft, right now they have two top players from that draft, not perhaps the best players, but still Zaka, DeBrusque, good building blocks. And Zborl might take a next step. Anyways, we're talking about this season. Getting Bergeron, Craycchi back, you know, that could be in large part due to the coaching change. So you can't discount the impact there. A lot of people say, well, Cassidy may have taken these Bruins further. You might not have the same team if Bruce Cassidy was still there. Maybe DeBrusque doesn't take back his trade request. Maybe Bergeron and Craycchi don't come back. Maybe he never know. And finally, he did go all in at the trade deadline. I've heard people complain about the Orlov trade or maybe, yeah, he wasn't very effective for the Bruins. Orlov, Bertuzzi, were incredibly effective for the Bruins, especially in the playoffs. And the only or the biggest knock against Don Sweeney this past season was, of course, the signing of Mitchell Miller, which will need to be rectified here in the postseason. But I don't think that was specifically on him. In fact, he said he disagreed with the move. And that was an organizational decision. That certainly did backfire. But his whole body of work, I think, is worthy of GM of the year. One thing that he really does need to take care of next is a new contract for Trent Frederick. And we're going to talk about his year and what's next for Freddie here in a moment. But first, a word about one of today's sponsors, Bird Dogs. I was sent a couple pairs of Bird Dogs shorts a couple of weeks ago and I just cannot get enough of these shorts. They are so comfortable, a perfect fit, and they have stretchy fabric that, you know, I'll just say it, they make my legs look great and they're comfier than my other shorts and pants. They gave me the freedom to wear on the golf course, to a meeting, softball, a date, even hanging out with friends. And sports nerds say they're the perfect pants for dads that have a little extra gut. I'm not going to lie, that includes me. They make us feel comfortable and look great. Go to Bird Dogs.com slash locked on NHL right now and enter promo code locked on NHL. They'll throw in a free custom Bird Dogs Yeti style tumbler with every order. 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We're going to be looking at both Matt Grizzlyk and Brandon Carlo on tomorrow's episode. Today we're focusing on Trent Frederick. Let's be honest. Few people expected the kind of year that he had. Trent Frederick smashed his previous career highs in points, goals, assists, and shots on goal and really was surprisingly productive and still a pretty limited role for the Boston Bruins. He did average only 11 minutes and 55 seconds of ice time, but he was able to make some things happen, be in the right place at the right time. 17 goals, 14 assists for 31 total points. Previous career highs set last season, eight goals, 10 assists, 18 points in 60 games this year. And 79 games. Just fantastic production. Career highs in goals per game, assists per game, points per game had career high in shots as well with 120 shots versus 100 last season. He again still only averaged under 12 minutes per game, but he thrived in the bottom six role, especially alongside Charlie Coyle, who had so many great things to say about him in the end of season availability. He also really benefited from Nick Felino's leadership. Felino, kind of the de facto captain of the bottom six and kind of took Frederick, among others under his wing. And we really began to see Trent Frederick's potential become reality and in good time too, because he's 25 now. He's not a kid anymore. He needs to be a guy who contributes up and down the lineup. Now he did still have some penalty issues. I remember specifically being in Ottawa a couple days after Christmas, seeing Frederick get called for covering the puck with his hand and even chucking it out of the zone. Not smart. He had 57 penalty minutes. Still the odd terribly timed penalty. And of course, most notably, he kind of disappeared in the playoffs. Several points in 12 games total for his career. And this season, specifically five games played. He was scratched for two of them and he was unable to contribute offensively. Did not play in games. What was it? Five and six, I believe. He was in the lineup for game seven. One shot on goal in seven minutes and 44 seconds of ice time. Zero hits, zero blocks. You know, you can debate whether or not he should have been in and out of the lineup or whether he should have been a mainstay. The Bruins were healthy. So you had to fit Taylor Hall. Try to fit Nick Felino back in there. Ready was the odd man out for better or worse. And there could be a knock on him when it comes to his next contract. And perhaps an inability to leverage his amazing regular season into a solid long term deal. Maybe they have to go to another bridge deal. Maybe they have to, I don't know, hedge their bets on him because he was not effective when the games mattered most. And that was in the playoffs. Yes, he was in and out. Yes, perhaps lost some confidence because of that, but still started off. All right, three hits, two shots in earlier in the series. He had two shots, zero hits in the six, three loss in game two. Three shots and five hits combined in games three and four, which were a bit better efforts. You could have argued that he should have remained in the lineup. But alas, when he came in for game seven, zero hits, zero blocks and only one shot, of course, only in seven minutes and 44 seconds of ice time. So fantastic regular season for Frederick exceeded my expectations. Again, in limited ice time, only 12 minutes or so per game thrived in that bottom six role, specifically at even strength, not a guy who's going to get power play time in this economy. He did have one short handed assist, so he's getting some time on the penalty kill. And really, that's, you should be getting some time on the penalty kill, seeing as he is kind of a physical presence, active stick. That's an area where you'd like to see him grow is being able to contribute kind of like a jig to breast contributing on the penalty kill. He is a restrictive free agent, and we're going to discuss what is next for our boy, Trent Frederick, here in a moment. But first, a quick word about today's other sponsor, which is eBay Motors, a championship team is about each player being a perfect fit. And the same goes for your vehicle for parts of that fit head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. They have a guaranteed fit where you can be sure that every part you need fits right the first time around or your money back. Now, this applies only to US customers and to eligible items. But for the right parts, the right fit and the right prices, your best bet is to head to ebay motors.com. And you can get back on the road and back in the game with again, the right parts, the right fit and the right prices for your vehicle. 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Let's get back to Trent Frederick talk here on today's episode of locked on Boston Ruins. And he is a restrictive free agent. And it's going to be a very interesting negotiation. He said after the season that his agent and Don Sweeney will talk. He didn't know much about it. He wants to be in Boston for as long as he can. He wants to be a Bruin for as long as he can. He's had fun being here and hopefully they can do it again next year. On finding a stride on the ice this season, he said when you're younger, it helps with goals and stuff. It gives you that extra confidence and it allowed him to develop his game. Everybody had a good year. It rubbed off on everybody. It trickled down and he believes he can keep building on this progress, keep getting better as a player. He still has a lot to offer and he's excited for next year. Now when it comes to his contract, I think it's going to be key to keep an eye on a guy like Henry Do Not in Tampa Bay. Do you know, of course, was acquired from the Lightning via the Nashville Predators and for quite a price as well. It was multiple draft picks and a prospect, but Frederick and Geno, Geno, however you want to say it, have pretty similar track records. They have, let's see, over the past three years, very similar stats. Geno with 35 goals, 31 assists for 66 points in 172 games. Frederick 29 goals, 25 assists, 54 points. Geno with a higher points per game average, 0.38 to 0.3, higher shooting percentage as well. He has chipped in a bit more on the power play and has fewer shots on gold than Frederick, 1.5 per game each. Geno, much more prolific when it comes to hits and blocks, does have a higher average time on ice as well as more short handed time, a bit of power play time as well. All that to say, whatever Geno comes in at, you can expect that to be used as a comparable, perhaps not what for Frederick is yet, but what the type of player he should be for the Boston Bruins, a depth score who can bring some rough and tumble to the lineup, should have more to give in terms of his defensive game. Obviously, the Tampa Bay Lightning valued him quite highly in terms of giving up all those assets for him and wherever they come in on their contract with him. I think you can see Frederick using that as a comparable and perhaps coming in a bit lower than Geno in Tampa Bay. Just looking at an article, how much should the Tampa Bay Lightning pay? Tanner Geno and they're projecting, what are they saying here? That would leave, I don't know. It's really hard to value these kind of players. 1.3 million as the floor for that deal. I think you're going to see the Bruins. Geno's last year, the last deal was 2 years, 1.6 total, so $800,000 per season. Probably going to at least double that. And Trent Frederick, I think we'd like to see him come in around 1.5, 1.75 million. You know he just needs to prove that he can keep this offense going. He was at 1.05 for the last two seasons. Based on his jump, this past season of production, he's probably going to push for a couple million at least per season. The Bruins need to try to keep that lower, maybe 1.8. Again, you're going to keep an eye on Geno in Tampa and whatever he gets, it's got to be a bit lower for Frederick. It's going to be a fascinating contract negotiation. I don't expect he'd be a cap casualty. But it could be one where players pushing for a lot more than what the Bruins think he's ready for or deserves at the moment based on one fairly productive season. But still with some question marks and some more intangibles that you'd like to see him bring to the table as well, including developing his game as a penalty killer and being more responsible physically as well. Anyways, that's today's episode of Locked on Boston Bruins, my friends. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for making it a daily listen. And we'll be back tomorrow to discuss the second pair of defenseman in Magrizik, Brandon Carlo before we turn our attention later to Jeremy Swamin, the pairing of four-board Clifton, the trade deadline acquisitions, some fringe players, and more here on Locked on Boston Bruins. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your favorite team every single day. Take care of yourselves friends, take care of each other, we'll talk to you again here tomorrow. Thank you. Just as we definitely all predicted, the eighth seed Miami Heat are one win away from the NBA Finals. The Heat have the urgency, they have the focus, they smell blood in the water, they punch the Celtics in the mouth and the Celtics fold in. The 2023 WMBAC season is officially underway. Alia Boston made her W.A. debut against Connecticut Sun on Friday. The number one thing for me is that she's really good. And four teams are left battling for two spots in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Florida Panthers in Vegas golden nights found ways to win in overtime and dramatic fashion. For more on all these stories, check out new episodes of Locked on Heat, Locked on Women's Basketball, and Locked on NHL, all free and available wherever you get podcasts. Hello Red Sox fans, I'm Jake Inzuski, host of your Daily Boston Red Sox Podcast, Locked on Red Sox, part of a Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for watching. I'm Jake Inzuski, and I'll see you next time. in the next video.