Boston Bruins Expansion Draft Preview: Is Matt Beleskey gone?
Are the Boston Bruins gonna luck out? Will Vegas actually take Matt Beleskey off our hands?
For most teams, the expansion draft brings a lot of fear, but there are a few teams that have a chance to gain in this experiment. One of those is your Boston Bruins.
I’ve checked out a bunch of mock drafts, but the last one I saw really caught my eye. In this draft, created by FanSided’s page Puck Prose, the Vegas Golden Knights selected Matt Beleskey from the Bruins.
Wow.
To say this year was disappointing for Beleskey would be an understatement, as he notched 3 goals and 5 assists in 49 games played. He was also a healthy scratch for 3 of the Bruins 6 playoff games.
I’m sure his knee injury was part of the down year, but still, those numbers are horrendous.
Which is why I found it so interesting that he was the projected pick. Is this writer an idiot? Maybe, but here’s why I think they might be on to something.
First of all, you could make the case that this season was an anomaly and that he’ll bounce back to his 30 point self in the future, but that’s too simple. Boston also has a number of young, talented players that will get playing time, and more could be on the way.
Vegas needs to hit a minimum team salary that is 60% of the Salary Cap. Matt Beleskey carries a cap hit of $3.8 million. Which is a lot considering what he contributed this year, but if Vegas isn’t at that minimum, Beleskey wouldn’t be a terrible choice.
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Who else could they select?
Malcolm Subban. I know he hasn’t been great with the big club, but he’s a still a former first round pick. If you read the Puck Prose article I linked to, you will notice that they mentioned the Bruins giving up a conditional draft pick to keep Subban.
These conditional pick deals are pretty secretive, so projecting them is tough, but I think this deal would make sense. Depending on how it shakes out, a high pick and Beleskey could be better than Subban. Especially if Vegas is looking at other goalie prospects.
Another possibility could be Kevin/Colin Miller if the Bruins do end up acquiring Jonas Brodin, as they would be forced to leave one of those two unprotected.
Next: Was David Backes a Mistake?
The last, and probably dumbest choice I saw was done by ESPN. They put Jimmy Hayes down. If Vegas ends up taking your boy from Dorchester and his $2.3 million salary cap hit I will be ecstatic.