Cam Neely Gives Honest Insight On Bruins’ Top-Level Prospects
BOSTON — The Boston Bruins are currently in the playoff race with less than two months until the March 7 NHL trade deadline.
Bruins president Cam Neely admitted the team is preparing “two paths” depending on how the Black and Gold perform over the next month-plus.
“We’ll see where we’re at,” Neely said Wednesday at the team’s Black and Gold Gala. “I think right now, we’ve got to look at two paths: one that we’re buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit.
“We still feel like we’ve got a playoff team here, and we certainly don’t want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present.”
Before any decisions are made as to whether the Bruins will be buyers or sellers, it could be beneficial for the team to gauge the impact some of their top-level prospects, like Matthew Poitras and Fabian Lysell, can make.
“It would be beneficial to see where those guys are at, there’s no question,” Neely said. “We’ve been really patient with the group up here with the big club. We rely a lot on what the coaching staff says in Providence, what our development staff says.”
The Bruins had high expectations for Poitras before the season began. However, the 20-year-old, much like the entire roster, struggled through his first 14 games. He tallied one goal, three assists and just 10 shots on net during that span and failed to make an impact at both ends of the ice.
The Bruins ultimately made the decision to assign Poitras to their AHL affiliate in Providence in mid-November to get more playing time and rediscover his game, which made him a valuable contributor as a rookie last season.
“Matty is someone we anticipated starting the year with us. It didn’t materialize, but he went down and really worked on his game, and I think it showed (Tuesday) night,” Neely said. “He looked like a different player, more confidence. We like his skill set. With Fabian, we certainly like his skill set, but one of the things with him we’ve preached is away from the puck. And when you don’t have the puck, how do you play? Are you outscoring your mistakes is really the question at the end of the day.”