Bruins trade 3rd round pick for Andrej Meszaros
- Thread starter Greg29fan
- Start date
Not bad at all, agreed.
Just a cursory look shows he's an impending UFA. Signed a 6 year deal before the 08-09 season.
Just a cursory look shows he's an impending UFA. Signed a 6 year deal before the 08-09 season.
2:45Greg29fan said:
gonna go buy a scratch ticket . . .
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/81612-trade-deadline-2014/?p=5285031
j44thor said:
Missed most of last season (11 games). Only 38 games played this year so far.
At least he's well-rested.
j44thor said:
His numbers look solid, and he's a big boy (6'2", 223lbs), but MoGator wasn't a huge fan of his.
Felger is now saying the Bruins whiffed because MacDonald is a better player and they are "settling like the Patriots" for "knocking on the door". Can't let that narrative change now that they've added a decent D, now can we Mike?
TheRealness said:
You can turn off Felger and come back to the land of the sane any time.
Meszaros has been a healthy scratch for much of this year, according to Rotoworld anyway. But I like the pickup, particularly since McQuaid's injury status seems so uncertain.
TheRealness said:
Alternate universe, they trade a 2nd and 3rd for MacDonald and someone else gets Mes for a 3rd he would undoubtedly be seeing the same thing with the names reversed.
He was benched for lack of defensive effort earlier this year.
But, he's a solid body and once solid player and maybe playing with Chara will wake him up.
But, he's a solid body and once solid player and maybe playing with Chara will wake him up.
I guess Meszaros is a better option if someone gets hurt than Warsofsky or Trotman. Other than that, it does nothing to upgrade the team.
Meszaros looks like he was working his way out of the doghouse. After a poor start got him there, his TOI/game climbed from November(14:40) through March (21:02). He had 13 points in 18 games in calendar year 2014. I don't think he's a shutdown defenseman but I think he's an upgrade in the top 6. Big body, PP ability, and a better PK option than Krug if worse comes to worse.
erfus said:
Yep, their overall defense is better with him than without him. I am not confident in relying on Miller for big minutes, and am not sold on Bartkowski with the way he has played lately.
All I wanted was for them to add a depth defenseman that is a viable 5/6, and they did that. I'm content. I love this team as currently constructed.
Yeah I don't think we want to rely on three rookie defensemen stepping up in the playoffs like last year. Even though it almost worked out this is a very low-risk move that's important if you're going to go anywhere in the playoffs.TheRealness said:
Can anyone explain to me how Andrew MacDonald is worth a 2nd and 3rd, but Meszaros is only worth a 3rd? Looking at their hockeydb pages, the stats clearly favor Andrej.
What don't I know about MacDonald that makes him that valuable? I feel like I'm missing something here (And not just because Felger is using this as his narrative to troll listeners this afternoon).
EDIT: To wit:
From TSN:
What don't I know about MacDonald that makes him that valuable? I feel like I'm missing something here (And not just because Felger is using this as his narrative to troll listeners this afternoon).
EDIT: To wit:
From TSN:
TheRealness said:
MacDonald does block a ton of shots, and he has been more of a top pairing guy the past couple of years.
Now that is top pairing on an awful team, but still.
Would love to see Mez come to town motivated to get a FA contract, and decide to take no prisoners for 4 months, if that happened it could be a steal of a deal
MacDonald, despite eating minutes and blocking shots, is a turnover machine. He hasn't been surrounded with talent, but I don't see him as a top-pairing guy by any means.
With the way Meszaros has been playing this calendar year, it is quite possible that the Flyers paid a 2nd rounder to downgrade at D and surrender $4-5m AAV for 4 years to retain MacDonald. The 2nd rounder perhaps goes to shedding $3.5m off their AAV for this year in an attempt to land Kesler.
With the way Meszaros has been playing this calendar year, it is quite possible that the Flyers paid a 2nd rounder to downgrade at D and surrender $4-5m AAV for 4 years to retain MacDonald. The 2nd rounder perhaps goes to shedding $3.5m off their AAV for this year in an attempt to land Kesler.
PedroSpecialK said:
This is where I'm at. I just don't see how MacDonald is this fantastic add, but the guy who has outperformed him his entire career, except the early part of this season, is suddenly a full 2nd rounder worse? What? It just doesn't make much sense.
It just seems weird. Where is MoGator? Tell me why I'm out of my mind.
BigMike said:
Effort really isn't Mez' issue. He's just not a very good defender and he's not super quick enough to recover. He's a good offensive player, he will be aggressive and jump into the play as the trailer, and has enough skill to convert the chances he gets usually off the rush. He's not a great PP point man, he's OK.
His main issue is health, he's had shoulder issues among other things but he's been healthy all season and he's been a lot better the past 3 months or so. Kind of seems like he turned a corner re: being confident enough in his various surgically repaired parts to play the way he did earlier in his career.
You definitely want to pair him with a good defensive guy, somebody who can be trusted to cover when Meszaros joins the rush. Berube played him with Luke Schenn, mainly because his other pairings are pretty set, and it's been pretty ugly. Luke takes chances and skates like Mike Knuble so when Mez gets caught it means glorious chances for the other team. I wonder if they plan to play him with Chara?
I have the same thoughts on MacDonald. Maybe I'm missing something, but everything about this guy just says "meh" to me.TheRealness said:
Just relating to our roster, Mac looks like an older, impending UFA version of Erik Gustafsson. Except Gus isn't a turnover machine. He (Gus) is small, but he knows how to play the position and he can competently move the puck with his legs or a pass. I don't mind the Mac trade per se but I'd need to see a lot to think about extending him for that kind of money.
MoGator71 said:
A lot of it was listening to Felger for 10 minutes after the trade went down (I know, I know), and getting frustrated.
I would imagine the pairs would be: Chara/Hamilton, Boychuk/Meszaros, Krug/McQuaid(Bartkowski), or something like that. If McQuaid is out indefinitely, then I'd guess Chara/Mezsaros, Boychuk/Bartkowski, Krug/Hamilton. It will be interesting to see what they do with him, and how McQuaid factors into everything.
Ed Hillel said:
That was my understanding, that the Bs were looking for a defensive d-man. I didn't really get the Mez chatter, and the deal kind of surprises me.
Flyers fans generally speaking hated Mez. They hated his cap hit, his injuries, and him getting caught out of position in his own end. I probably liked him more than 90% of Flyers fans. I assume he will be a little more conscious defensively playing for Julien.
The fact that Chara was championing for him speaks volumes to me.
I say pair him with Chara and let them dominate.
I say pair him with Chara and let them dominate.
FL4WL3SS said:
I figured they'd be paired in the Olympics but I don't think they were. I think he'd do well with Chara. I think he'd have done well with Braydon Coburn actually but I don't think the Flyers trusted him with that kind of responsibility or that much of a workload.
Was watching Felger when the trade news broke, and even though Meszaros had been linked to the Bruins for days, Felger had to ask if he was a right-handed or left-handed shot.The Napkin said:
Yet not knowing that basic information, he declared he wasn't very good and the Bruins failed at the deadline.
Toe Nash said:
Um..what?
No. No it's not. It's actually incredibly reasonable for a deadline deal.
Using a 3rd round pick to shore up an obvious roster hole for a Stanley Cup contending team is nowhere close to an overpay. Granted, it's not the most exciting deal, but the available blue liners with expiring contracts all had holes in their game. Meszaros was hardly the worst choice.
lexrageorge said:
This is the biggest issue for some people. If you told me before yesterday we would improve our defensive depth while only giving up a 3rd rounder I'd be perfectly happy. The fact that Vanek moved gives people something to shout about and the fact that he went to the Habs makes it worse. But really what could we do?
I will say as bad as Felger was yesterday, T&R has been the complete opposite this morning. They were out on MacDonald early even using Corsi to show he's nothing great. Fred has been shouting down the Vanek talk saying it doesn't make sense. It's really not hard to make a smart, rational, entertaining sports radio show.
TheRealness said:
I think Manchuk/Mez will actually be a pretty solid duo. I'd actually substitute Miller for Krug on most even-strength shifts. As much of a knucklehead as Bart can be sometimes, he is still a superior defender to Krug. Krug is a disaster in his own end, but an obvious maestro on the PP.
Limit Krug's even strength D shifts (with Bergy and Merlot lines only?), "heavy up" the pairings with Chara, Boychuk, and Miller as the brawn. Keep Hamilton/Mez/Bart as your offensively-inclined pseudo-puck movers.
Edit: this presumes McQuaid is hors de combat until the last week or two before the playoffs.
Maybe this belongs in the T&R thread but, yeah, I was impressed by them this morning in the ten minutes I listened to the radio on the way to the train.
All in all, I'm happy with how the deadline went for the Bruins. It was a normal, conservative deadline for Chiarelli which is fine. They added two defenseman at the cost of a 3rd round pick, and that's exactly what Chiarelli set out to do.
Meszaros is an upgrade on Bartkowski. They're both similar players, but Meszaros is bigger, more battle tested, stronger in his own zone, and he has superior offensive instincts. Bart battles hard and is a great skater, but his problem is when he wheels the net and skates himself out of trouble, he lacks the instincts to create. Meszaros should be able to create.
Potter is roster fodder, but he's a warm body with NHL experience. At the very least, he'll be useful down the stretch as someone they can plug into the lineup to rest the regulars in advance of the playoffs. If McQuaid ever gets healthy, the B's will have 9 defenseman with NHL experience, which is about what you'd want heading into the playoffs.
Meszaros is an upgrade on Bartkowski. They're both similar players, but Meszaros is bigger, more battle tested, stronger in his own zone, and he has superior offensive instincts. Bart battles hard and is a great skater, but his problem is when he wheels the net and skates himself out of trouble, he lacks the instincts to create. Meszaros should be able to create.
Potter is roster fodder, but he's a warm body with NHL experience. At the very least, he'll be useful down the stretch as someone they can plug into the lineup to rest the regulars in advance of the playoffs. If McQuaid ever gets healthy, the B's will have 9 defenseman with NHL experience, which is about what you'd want heading into the playoffs.
allstonite said:
The thing about the Vanek deal is basically anybody who could have remotely used Vanek looks dumb now because Snow got screwed so badly on it. I mean, I don't even like Vanek and I think he'd kind of be a bad fit on our top line because he's a right-shot LW and he'll want to work off the left boards just like Giroux often does...but for a B prospect and a 2nd I'm sitting here going "what the hell Homer, take a chance". It's easy to kill your GM for not making that deal, but you almost have to chalk it up to bad luck (good luck for Bergevin and the Habs) and move on.
The condition that bumps the pick to a 2nd is a bit of a let down. With the new playoff format they should be at worst 50/50 to make the ECF without Mez. If the condition was make the SCF then I could agree to that but giving up a 2nd just to make the ECF seems a bit much.
I was bummed at the condition for that same reason too... The Bruins had a good chance of making the ECF without Mezaros, does his presence really improve their odds?j44thor said:
After a bit I rationalized it that Chia thinks the B's have as good a chance as any as winning the whole thing and didnt want to be caught without the depth, and he's shown himself as a guy who is very realistic in his evaluations regarding his team and how it stacks up against the rosters of other playoff contenders. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
timlinin8th said:
I guess you can look at Mez as McQuaid insurance since if McQuaid is available Mez might not play in the playoff hence the 2/3 games played stipulation.
If that is the case then it isn't so bad. You know you need depth until McQuaid returns in a month or so which then makes Mez only a slight overpay for a 3rd. If Mez earns playing time between now and the playoffs then I guess you can justify the 2nd as well.
What really hurt Chia was the complete lack of top 4 Dmen available this trade deadline. Guess he did the best he could out of a bad situation.
I was hoping for 3rd rounder, conditional 2nd if the Bs reach the SCF. I agree the Bs were a good bet to reach the ECF with or without Mez, especially now with the MSL trade and one would assume some uncertainty around the Lightning, who I still think are the 2nd best team in the division.
Another way to look at this deal: Chara's ice time is still up there. And it wasn't hard to envision the disaster scenario where come playoff time, McQuaid is still battling injury, Chara is spent, and the team is relying on Johnny Boychuk and the kids to bail them out - a recipe for a 1st round exit. I'd say most folks would pay the 2nd or 3rd round pick to avoid that scenario.
It will be interesting to see if any details of "trades that might have happened" leaked out. It appears obvious that Chia was talking.
It will be interesting to see if any details of "trades that might have happened" leaked out. It appears obvious that Chia was talking.
It's also possible that Mez might play in Krug's place if the team felt Krug's defensive liabilities were greater than his offensive contributions at some point.j44thor said: