Bruins acquire Nick Holden from NYR

McDrew

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You are too quick. Are you somehow riding in the cargo compartment of the team bus on your road trip?
 

cshea

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I’ll have to dig into Holden a bit more, but my first reaction was “eh.”

Have to figure they move a NHL D out now. Will have 9 when Holden arrives.
 

burstnbloom

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Holden has been TERRIBLE playing with McD this year and was the scapegoat against the Sens last year in the playoffs. He's not very good. I don't see how he plays over Gryz but maybe they see something that I don't. O'Gara is 5 or 6 back in the LHD prospects pecking order and a 3rd is no big deal but this one gets a big "meh" from me.
 

lexrageorge

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O'Gara was unlikely to ever amount to much at the NHL level. And so spinning a bottom of the round 3rd for an upgrade over Postma is a reasonable use of resources to add depth at the blue line. Not exciting, but perfectly acceptable move.
 

veritas

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Hopefully he's just going to be a left handed Postma. Holden is not well liked by stats or Rangers fans but has also been playing over his head. He's probably a fine emergency 3rd pair, a definite upgrade over O'Gara or one of Miller/McQuaid playing the wrong side
 

TFP

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Very much a meh from me as well. I didn’t think middling depth is what they really needed. They have a ton of bodies, they need a top 4 defenseman. Although after last year I guess you can never have too much depth on D.

Wondering if there’s another shoe to drop here.
 

RedOctober3829

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Very much a meh from me as well. I didn’t think middling depth is what they really needed. They have a ton of bodies, they need a top 4 defenseman. Although after last year I guess you can never have too much depth on D.

Wondering if there’s another shoe to drop here.
I'm wondering that too. Holden is a depth guy so does that mean they are trading somebody else in a bigger deal?
 

johnmd20

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Rangers fan here. Holden is terrible. He was on the ice for about 99% of the goals Ottawa scored last playoffs. I'm sorry you guys have to deal with him, but maybe he'll turn it around.
 

cshea

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I think Holden is OK. He plays a lot of minutes, and gets tough assignments. He’s got the fewest OZone starts on the Rangers this season, and doesn’t get any PP time. He was playing with McDonagh against the other teams top lines. His possession numbers aren’t great, but some of that is a product of the Rangers system and AV’s deployment. He’s better than McQuaid, potentially better than Miller.

I think there is another shoe to drop. They’ve got 9 guys on the back end. Someone is leaving. I don’t think they’d just pick up Holden and then waive Postma. Frees them up to move Grz/Carlo/McQuaid/Miller.
 

Maximus

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Hopefully another shoe is going to drop. If not, he's just depth and meh.
 

burstnbloom

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Rangers fan here. Holden is terrible. He was on the ice for about 99% of the goals Ottawa scored last playoffs. I'm sorry you guys have to deal with him, but maybe he'll turn it around.

This is true, and all, but AV has also been playing him on the right side against top competition, which hasn't really worked out.

I think he's depth on the left side because they have zero. Postma has to be bummed out right now. No way he's staying.
 

lexrageorge

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Don't quite get the "meh" reaction. He's quite a bit better than Postma. If Krug or Grzelcyk or Chara get hurt for any period of time, it's nice to plug in a guy that can at least play his natural side. It's also nice to have a guy that could spell the regular left side blue liners for an occasional game or two, especially as the Bruins have a bit of a grinding schedule coming up for the stretch run. He's UFA, so there's no long term commitment either.
 

Haunted

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Don't quite get the "meh" reaction. He's quite a bit better than Postma. If Krug or Grzelcyk or Chara get hurt for any period of time, it's nice to plug in a guy that can at least play his natural side. It's also nice to have a guy that could spell the regular left side blue liners for an occasional game or two, especially as the Bruins have a bit of a grinding schedule coming up for the stretch run. He's UFA, so there's no long term commitment either.
This is where I land as well. Not a huge contract either. He can be their 3/4 LHD.
 

The Napkin

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Maybe they picked him up to trade him back in a McD deal? Has a player ever been traded back to a team he was traded from earlier that year?
 

DJnVa

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Rangers fan here. Holden is terrible. He was on the ice for about 99% of the goals Ottawa scored last playoffs. I'm sorry you guys have to deal with him, but maybe he'll turn it around.
I'll take your word for it because I certainly didn't watch, but was he on the PK unit that series? He was only -1, but, in fairness he was at 0 in the 2 games he actually scored goals. Maybe his ice time was chaotic.
 

TheRealness

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Maybe they picked him up to trade him back in a McD deal? Has a player ever been traded back to a team he was traded from earlier that year?
I doubt that. I think this is likely a sign they aren't going to trade for McD, and this is their way of getting depth. Otherwise, why not do them all together?
 

cshea

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He was on the ice for 11 goals against in the playoffs last years tall situations. 8 at even strength. They gave up 30 goals in the playoffs. FWIW, McDonagh was on the ice for 12 goals against.
 

The Napkin

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I doubt that. I think this is likely a sign they aren't going to trade for McD, and this is their way of getting depth. Otherwise, why not do them all together?
Because they had to trade for him before they could trade him back of course.

 

cshea

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Sweeney on the move:


Added depth, wanted LHD for a while. Got down to their 10th defenseman in the playoffs last season, want to make sure they’re covered “if” they make it this year. We’ll see how he fits, can play the right side too.
 

PedroSpecialK

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I’m fine with the move, a bit expensive to include a 3rd but O’Gara was one of the fringe guys in the system, and this move will help in the quest to get under 50 contracts this coming summer.

Sucks that there’s no salary retained by NYR but $1.65m won’t kill them
 

usernamedc

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Maybe they picked him up to trade him back in a McD deal? Has a player ever been traded back to a team he was traded from earlier that year?
The Bruins traded Yan Stastny to the Oilers and then got him back a few months later as part of the Samsonov deal.
 

Haunted

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As a Jeffersonian, I didn't know those existed. What's to be proud of? More Hep C-ridden pizza places (HI ORBIT) per capita than anywhere else in Worcester County?
I forgot you were from Holden. I'm also a Jeffersonite or Jeffersonian or whatever. Skunk Hollow!

I haven't lived there in a long time. Orbit can't be owned by the same person, can it? He was 100 when I was a kid.
 

j44thor

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Great trade for Rags, gave up a 2017 4th for Holden in 16 turn it into a better pick and low end prospect.
 

Red Right Ankle

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I forgot you were from Holden. I'm also a Jeffersonite or Jeffersonian or whatever. Skunk Hollow!

I haven't lived there in a long time. Orbit can't be owned by the same person, can it? He was 100 when I was a kid.
Nah, no way. Might still be in the family, though. We stopped getting pizza from there after one of my dad's employees found a roach in one.

Holden pizza is where it's at (or was anyways). And I say that as someone who worked delivery for Val's.
 

FL4WL3SS

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I get the sense that Holden suffered from the same thing as K Miller which is to say he wasn't being put in a position to succeed and playing over his head. I think if he gets a chance to play where he should, he should be fine.

However, this was an unnecessary deal. Pretty meh.
 

burstnbloom

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Don't quite get the "meh" reaction. He's quite a bit better than Postma. If Krug or Grzelcyk or Chara get hurt for any period of time, it's nice to plug in a guy that can at least play his natural side. It's also nice to have a guy that could spell the regular left side blue liners for an occasional game or two, especially as the Bruins have a bit of a grinding schedule coming up for the stretch run. He's UFA, so there's no long term commitment either.
From me, it's that his underlying stats look so bad that you have to really hope he's been hurt by the system and playing on the right. If anyone on the left gets hurt we have Miller playing his offside or one of the kids in providence so it's nice to have depth but there is no guarantee that he us any good at all.
 

lexrageorge

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Starting with Saturday's tilt against the Leafs, the Bruins have 22 games in 43 days. Leafs have 19 and Tampa has 21 in that same stretch. That may have had something to do with Sweeney's desire to add some lower end depth to the blue line.
 

Haunted

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Nah, no way. Might still be in the family, though. We stopped getting pizza from there after one of my dad's employees found a roach in one.

Holden pizza is where it's at (or was anyways). And I say that as someone who worked delivery for Val's.
Holden Pizza is definitely the best, but frustratingly far from my parents' house.

I get the sense that Holden suffered from the same thing as K Miller which is to say he wasn't being put in a position to succeed and playing over his head. I think if he gets a chance to play where he should, he should be fine.

However, this was an unnecessary deal. Pretty meh.
I agree with the first blob of this. Used appropriately, he could be valuable and prevent skating guys like Tommy Cross for important minutes.