DAFOE

Sniper Bill Guerin's in Dallas ... best goalie Byron Dafoe's in free agent limbo ... top defenseman Kyle McLaren wants out ... center Joe Thornton still isn't 100 percent after shoulder surgery ... shooters Glenn Murray, Brian Rolston and Sergei Samsonov return ... but D is no offensive help ... Dafoe may be overrated anyway ... Steve Shields is not the answer in goal ... last year's tough D will be hurt by no-touch rule. 101 points again? We doubt it.

	The Big Question
	Q: No Bill Guerin, Byron Dafoe or Kyle McLaren. Will Boston be massacred? The Bruins are still a good team -- they won't be massacred. They've got some good players with Martin Lapointe, Brian Rolston and Sergei Samsonov. Rolston had an unbelievable 2001-02 season. Every Bruin had a great offensive year last season. And Lapointe should have even a better season in 2002-03. But the Bruins still have some question marks: Can Rolston score that many goals again? Without McLaren, they've lost their first or second defenseman. Without Guerin, they've lost 40 goals. So their power play might not be as good. If Boston makes the playoffs, it'll be a good job by Robbie Ftorek and the Bruins. -- Barry Melrose
	Good: Fantasy owners have yet to truly appreciate Joe Thornton. Not many forwards can score 30 goals and give you a presence in penalty minutes. Don't forget -- he was among the league scoring leaders before his shoulder injury. Time to cash in. Bad: If you look solely at the assists leaderboard, you might want to draft Jozef Stumpel high. But Stumpel is a lot like Adam Oates -- one dimensional. He doesn't shoot, he doesn't fight and he doesn't score. Take him late, not early. -- Eric Karabell
	Top Prospect
	Andy Hilbert, C Off of a very strong AHL rookie season last year, Hilbert was a surprisingly early cut from Boston's training camp. Can also play wing, and what he lacks in size, makes up for in grit.
	Minors Outlook
	Providence Bruins In the wake of a disappointing 2001-02 season, the P-Bruins have had a bit of a facelift, including a coaching change. Their offseason moves look like an upgrade, but not enough to move them into the top tier of Eastern Conference teams. -- Bill Ballou

Forwards Boston The Bruins are good and deep at forward, but they don't quite have the high-end quality talent of the Flyers, Rangers, Capitals or Leafs. That being said, Sergei Samsonov, Joe Thornton and Glen Murray would land in the top 12 of most - if not all - teams in the league. Samsonov should benefit from the crackdown on obstruction and break the 29-goal plateau, and Thornton could re-take his position among the league's scoring leaders, a spot he held before a three-game suspension and a shoulder injury. Murray, who is coming off his best statistical season as a pro, and Martin Lapointe will be tested against opponent's top defensive tandems. Jozef Stumpel, whose assist-to-goal ratio makes Adam Oates look like a puck hog, and Brian Rolston provide quality depth at center. P.J. Axelsson and Mike Knuble hold down the defensive fort. Eastern Conference Position Ranking: T3rd Defensemen Defensemen accounted for 18 of the Bruins' 236 goals last season. The addition of Bryan Berard and the emergence of Jonathan Girard will help cure that. Other than Hal Gill, who has tremendous wingspan and decent mobility for his size (6-7, 230) and Nick Boynton, who is entering just his second full year, the Bruins have an abundance of stay-at-home types who - except for Don Sweeney -- aren't exactly fleet of foot. Eastern Conference Position Ranking: 12th Goalie Neither of the goalies battling for the Bruins No. 1 job were No. 1 goalies last year. John Grahame was Byron Dafoe's backup last year and the Bruins feel he's ready to assume the top job. But just in case, they acquired Steve Shields from Anaheim. Meanwhile, Dafoe is still available on the free agent market. Eastern Conference Position Ranking: 14th

Rankings: 11th Overall
Forwards | Defensemen | Goalies

RECORD: 43-24-6-9, 101 points Rank: 2nd overall 1st East 1st Northeast Playoffs: Lost to MON in first round Home: 23-11-2-5 Road: 20-13-4-4 2001-02 results 2001-02 statistics 2002-03 schedule 2002-03 roster OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALS FOR/AVG. Overall: 236/2.88 (7th) Home: 126/3.07 (6th) Road: 110/2.68 (10th) POWER PLAY Overall: 13.8/39-283 (26th) Home: 13.0/21-161 (27th) Road: 14.8/18-122 (11th) GOALS AGAINST/AVG. Overall: 201/2.45 (11th) Home: 104/2.54 (19th) Road: 97/2.37 (5th) PENALTY KILL Overall: 87.1/45-349 (1st) Home: 89.8/18-177 (1st) Road: 84.3/27-172 (14th) STATS LEADERS GOALS Bill Guerin (41)* Glen Murray (35) Brian Rolston (31) ASSISTS Jozef Stumpel (47) Joe Thornton (46) Sergei Samsonov (41) POINTS Samsonov (70) Thornton (68) Guerin (66)* PENALTY MINUTES Andrei Nazarov (164)* Thornton (127) P.J. Stock (122) PLUS/MINUS Sean O'Donnell (+27) Murray (+26) Don Sweeney (+22) GAA (MIN. 20 GP) Byron Dafoe (2.21) SAVE PERCENTAGE Dafoe (.907) * - no longer with team