from Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald,

... Meanwhile, looking at the upcoming season, it’s still treading-water time. There’s reason to believe they can improve from a year ago. The David Backes-for-Loui Eriksson exchange was basically a push in talent level, but Backes’ crash-bang-boom style is more traditional Bruins. It could make them a better home team (even if Eriksson was quite productive at the Garden last year). Colin Miller still hasn’t reached his ceiling. Kevan Miller can be a better version of himself from the get-go. Having John-Michael Liles for a full season should help.

On the other hand, a sizable deterioration in Zdeno Chara’s play would adversely affect this team greatly — and he’ll be 40 in March.

No, this is no one’s Stanley Cup contender, but rather one of the many middle-ground teams in the league just hoping to scratch into the playoffs. . . . Again.

Neely has pleaded for patience for his organization and we believe it’s correct to grant it that for this year, regardless of the outcome (barring unforeseen disasters).

That doesn’t mean there is not an expiration date for that patience. That’ll come soon enough.

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