Tkachuk lays waste to the Bruins with beautiful chirp; Sharks blueliner keeping an eye on the Leafs
In a recent poll sent out by ESPN, they asked NHL stars a myriad of questions, such as teams or players they're excited to watch, off-day activities, favourite restaurants on the road, rule changes, and which player would make a good coach or GM.
There were several interesting responses to each of these questions but one that stood out was from Florida Panthers superstar, Matthew Tkachuk, in response to what team he's most looking forward to watching or following in the new season:
"I'm excited to see what Boston does after their season last year, how they follow that one up."
It was short and sweet and took aim at the Boston Bruins after their historic regular season that was then dashed by a very quick exit in the post-season - to Tkachuk's Panthers. Florida were trailing 3-1 in the series and pulled off the comeback with an overtime victory on the road in Game 7.
Heading into the 2023-24 season, the Bruins will be without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, testing every ounce of their depth at the centre position. On top of losing their top-2 centres, cap overages hemorrhaged their off-season plans, as they also lost Dmitri Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno via trade and free agency. Their marquee signings were veteran wingers in Milan Lucic and James van Riemsdyk.
Mario Ferraro of the San Jose Sharks picked the Toronto Maple Leafs as his team to follow:
"I have to go with Toronto Maple Leafs. Noah Gregor, who's my good buddy, just signed a [professional tryout] there, but I'm confident that he's going to sign [a contract] there. And Dylan Gambrell, who I used to play with, is on that team too. I grew up in Toronto so I'm always kind of keeping in the loop with what Toronto's doing. I'm kind of surrounded by it. I talked to my cousins today, and they won't stop talking about Toronto. I'm like, I'm right here. I play for the Sharks. I don't give an eff about Toronto, whatever. But I'm kind of sucked into it. I grew up a Leaf fan, but it was easy moving on. I was just so happy to be in the NHL and so honored to be with the Sharks. As soon as I got drafted, I just forgot about the blue and white. It's all about the teal."
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 21 | 246 ANSWERS Tkachuk lays waste to the Bruins with beautiful chirp; Sharks blueliner keeping an eye on the Leafs Who will finish highest in the Atlantic Division standings this year? | ||
| Panthers | 14 | 5.7 % |
| Leafs | 220 | 89.4 % |
| Bruins | 12 | 4.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
