Boston Bruins Talk: Sweeney Confirms No Pastrnak Trade, Broadcast Shakeup

Despite the NHL season being over a month away, there has been a lot of Boston Bruins chatter going on this Tuesday.

On Monday an ex-NHL GM hinted on Twitter that the Bruins might trade restricted free agent forward David Pastrnak. In an email to the Boston Globe, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney strongly denied the rumor with no Pastrnak trade even being considered.

On Pastrnak’s side of things, his agent J.P. Barry believes the dialogue between the two sides has been excellent.

“We will continue to negotiate — we still have lots of time,” Barry said to the Globe. “David prefers to sign a longer term deal with the Bruins.. The negotiations between myself and Don have been very open and both sides understand each other’s positions. Hopefully we can agree on an overall structure that is amenable to both sides in the next month.”

It is worth noting that the Bruins have had a fair amount of dealing with Barry who represents former Boston Bruins players Loui Eriksson and Dougie Hamilton. As I stated yesterday, a potential deal with Pastrnak should be signed around training camp.

Shakeup On The Boston Bruins Broadcasts

On Monday afternoon, NESN announced the hiring of Alex Kraemer as the team’s new rinkside reporter. The previous rinkside reporter, Sarah Nicole Davis, left the network earlier this season after being in the role since 2014.

Kraemer has served as an in-stadium host for the New York City FC of MLS. But don’t worry Boston Bruins fans, she has NHL experience as well. Kraemer has worked as an in-arena host for the Philadelphia Flyers for the past two seasons.

I left Atlanta 2 years ago to pursue a dream. @philadelphiaflyers & @nycfc fans, you have been UNREAL …Thank You!! But now I’m taking the biggest step in my career yet & couldn’t be more excited to announce that I’m heading to #Boston to join @NESN as the rinkside reporter!! 📺🎤🏒#Bruins #comingtoarinknearyou

A post shared by Alex Kraemer (@alex_kraemer3) on Aug 14, 2017 at 5:51pm PDT

The NESN change-up isn’t the only major broadcast news though for the Boston Bruins. The other news is a shakeup on the radio side of things. Long-time play-by-play man, Dave Goucher of 98.5 The Sports Hub is moving on after 17 years having called Bruins games since 2000.

Goucher’s most memorable call for many is his 2011 Stanley Cup call where he said “Cue the duck boats” celebrating the clubs first championship since 1972.

New Boston Bruins Show

In different new, Trifecta Network announced the name for it’s new Boston Bruins show. It will be called The 7th Floor and will launch sometime next week.

Boston Bruins Talk: Former NHL GM Says Pastrnak Could Be Traded

The Boston Bruins have yet to resign restricted free agent forward David Pastrnak. This unsigned player has caused quite the stir in the Boston hockey community. Many have speculated the sides are very far apart.

But on Monday a former NHL GM and current NHL Network analyst Brian Lawton suggested on Twitter that the Bruins could be trading Pastrnak due to their current contract issues with the 21-year-old forward.

The analyst also happened to misspell Pastrnak, so there’s that too.

But in all honesty, Lawton isn’t tapped into the Boston Bruins hockey scene. In reality he isn’t that tapped into the NHL in general. But there is of course a real possibility that Pastrnak is traded.

With what I am hearing I would not be surprised if David Pasternak @NHLBruins is traded. #contractproblems @NHLNetwork

— Brian Lawton (@brianlawton9) August 14, 2017

The young forward notched 34 goals last season and should be commanding top dollar. The Bruins have $10 million in cap space to play with, plenty to get a deal with Pastrnak done. Nothing to this point suggests the two sides are having issues communicating and no one has suggested a trade is immanent.

The Boston Bruins had Pastrnak represent them on their China trip last month, nothing seemed wrong with the two sides during its duration. Twitter accounts can literally Tweet out anything. While this is a possibility, it doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

Look for a Pastrnak deal to be done right around the opening of training camp.

Bruins Talk: Is Brad Marchand deserving of the number three spot

NHL Network has been releasing top 20 lists, their first one was goalies where Tuukka Rask was left off of it. This time around a Bruins makes 3rd on the list. Is this too high up?

Here is the full list of players

1. Patrick Kane
2. Nikita Kucherov
3. Brad Marchand
4. Vladimir Tarasanko
5. Jamie Benn
6. Alex Ovechkin
7. Joe Pavelski
8. Patrick Laine
9. Artemi Panarin
10. Johnny Gaudreau
11. Blake Wheeler
12. Phil Kessel
13. Max Pacioretty
14. Filip Forsberg
15. David Pastrnak
16. Cam Atkinson
17. Jeff Skinner
18. Wayne Simonds
19. T.J. Oshie
20. Taylor Hall

I myself think that Marchand is a bit high on the list. I agree that he should definitely be on that list But just a tad lower.  Also, what are the parameters for the list? Is time in the playoff have an effect on the rating. If so then Marchy should be way down. If it’s just regular season than just a notch or two down. So here is my list

here is my list: I will only do the top 10

1. Patrick Kane
2. Nikita Kutcherov
3. Jamie Benn
4. Mitch Marner
5. Brad Marchand
6. Johnny Gaudreau
7. Vladimir Tarasanko
8. Phil Kessel
9. Filip Forsberg
10. Blake Wheeler