Nice.

The handshake line at the end of each series is one of the best traditions in all of sports IMO.

The draft is going to be fantastic this year for so many reasons.

- In terms of the actual draft, there are 2 generational talents, a VERY strong top half of the draft, and really good depth throughout. It seems that this draft is more segregated than usual as well, meaning teams may actually need to jump up to grab a player relative to last year, where it seemed more level.

- Looking at the landscape of the league, it looks like there are more teams looking for big changes than usual, whether it's looking for a culture change, or due to cap pressure.

- Very weak UFA market could have teams looking at the trade route instead.

or RFA? I would be beyond stoked if we could pry Dougie Hamilton from you guys :D id think theyd match *almost* no matter what, but if its 1yr/$8mil could they possibly? I hope there are some offer sheets this year, I love when they happen

will be interesting to see what happens in the next week tho, it seems like there should be some trades happening almost immediately (ie before the draft).

Offer sheets are quite rare, and I'm hoping it stays that way... The Vanek and Weber offer sheets were insane though (in an entertaining way).

If it's above that $7.3 million cutoff that would give the Bruins 2 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd, I wouldn't match it, especially if it's the Oilers. If it's just below that $7.3 million cutoff (1st, 2nd, 3rd), I don't know what they'd do. It would be really tough not to match it, but it just completely screws them over if they do. He's just not worth that kind of money at this point in his career, and paying him elite level money while still having to flesh out the rest of the roster is going to kill them, especially if Seidenberg and Chara play like they did last year. Still, the future of the defense basically is him right now...

Kind of reminds me of the Ryan Johansen holdout situation, although I'd argue Johansen had proven more with his 2013/14 than Hamilton did with his 2014/15. Hamilton hasn't proven enough to get one of those $7 million deals, and should be willing to sign a bridge deal. Seems to think he's in Karlsson/Doughty/Pietrangelo territory already though, which is frustrating.

Also, **** you Ninetales lol. Can we keep at least 1 player past 21 years old?

hm ya see if im the oilers id be willing to give up those picks for over 7.3. im kinda surprised, like I would think the bruins would match anything around 7 for sure. I thought this year was his coming out party as it were, proving hes a top pair dman (I don't watch a lot of bruins games so this is purely on what ive read).

but hey maybe chiarelli just phones the b's up and says "trade me Hamilton or offersheet comes your way tomorrow :)" itll be fun because of the tight squeeze the bruins are in haha itll be an interesting offseason for them regardless

Mixed reviews. We certainly got to see him exclusively in that top-pairing role for a full season (or at least close to a fulls season, both with and without Chara), but there was a ton of bad mixed in there with the good. The offensive ability and instincts are top-notch, but he significantly needs to work on his defense. Having him as a main cog playing against top competition this year REALLY hurt the Bruins. Not that I expect a 21 year old to step into that role seamlessly, but that's what bridge contracts are for.

If a team were to offer him over $7.3 million on a long term deal that would bring back such a significant amount of compensation, I would not match. Can't speak for Sweeney though. I have no idea what kind of GM he's going to be.

ya that's why I was more thinking load up a 1year contract (like 8mil or something), to make sure the bruins struggle to financially be able to match, and then negotiate with him long terms at a smaller yearly price. theres just not many options for good d right now so I would see this as a good gamble by chiarelli, even if Hamilton isn't a top pairing guy right now. not many ways to get a top flight dman atm so Hamilton seems like the best shot. id rather pay him 7+ than overpay a ufa.

second best option (as I see it) would be signing like franson or something but hes gonna want ~6mil which is getting fairly steep. keep hearing Edmonton is in on seabrook but I honestly hope to god we don't.

I think a 1 year deal they actually may be more inclined to match. It screws you for 1 year, but there are no lingering issues with that. He's still an RFA next offseason. It's the long-term deal that scares me if Hamilton doesn't quite pan out.

Eriksson and Kelly both have 1 year left on their contracts, and are both non-essential pieces they can move for cap room ($7.25 million to be precise). You could move Smith out as well if you needed to for another $3.425 million. Even a guy like Lucic at $6 million may be worth moving. There is no longer that sense around the team that they have to retain as much as possible from year-to-year. A Hamilton offer sheet like that would be unfortunate, but you can still make do with matching it without having to rip apart the core.

I guess my train of thought was more that giving 8 for 1year would entice the bruins to take the picks more or handcuff them salary wise this year more than a long term deal would. $8mil would force them to make some kind of salary dump