Bruins season preview: Youth, experienced core could blend perfectly

After returning to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in three seasons last spring, the Bruins now have the potential to become perennial contenders. With the 2017-18 regular season set to begin against the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at TD Garden, no matter how the year ends for the Bruins, they will be an exciting team to watch for many reasons.

The influx of youth, combined with an experienced veteran core has the potential to mesh perfectly. It may not happen right away, and could even take a season to fully engage, but once it occurs there’s no reason not to think this organization can return to championship form.

Only a couple of seasons ago, many thought that window was quickly closing on the remaining members of the 2011 Stanley Cup champions. That core returned to the finals in '13 before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks. Then, the Bruins failed to earn a playoff berth in two of the next four seasons.

“Every team goes through years where they’re not the best, or the greatest, it’s just the cycle of sports teams,” said Brad Marchand. “It goes through every league, and every sport, but we’re going to have an exciting team this year. We have some good young players coming in, and a lot of good players coming back, so hopefully the fans are excited as we are and we can put on a good show for them.”



Don Sweeney became the organization’s general manager in '15 and quickly set in a motion a five-year plan that’s quickly come to fruition ahead of schedule. Many GMs, hockey personnel and media around the league questioned his draft choices in '15. The Bruins had 10 selections that year and eight of them could have an impact – small or large – this season in Boston.

Jake DeBrusk, Brandon Carlo, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Jakub Zboril, Zach Senyshyn, Jeremy Lauzon, Jesse Gabrielle and Daniel Vladar could all make contributions when needed. For starters, Carlo has become a top-pair defenseman with partner Zdeno Chara. DeBrusk earned a spot on the roster out of training camp and will start on a line with David Pastrnak and David Krejci.

JFK, Zboril, Senyshyn, Lauzon, Gabrielle and Vladar all need to continue their development in Providence.

Anders (who asked for it to be pronounced ON-ders) Bjork was drafted in '14 and decided to forego his senior season at Notre Dame to turn pro, also earned a roster spot out of camp and will play with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

Then, of course, the Bruins have rookie Charlie McAvoy ('16 draft) on defense. He will be playing important minutes 5-on-5 and on special teams. Bruce Cassidy, in his first full season as the head coach, has a lot of talent – young and older – to have some fun with moving forward.

Here’s how the 2017-18 season should break down.

Depth chart

There’s a massive talent pool the Bruins can dip into when needed. It hasn’t been this deep in many years.

“There’s definitely some excitement there,” Marchand said. “It’s been a few years since we’ve had the group of talent coming in that we do this year, so it is exciting and we’re very happy where the team’s at right now and the organization. Even moving forward, the players we have in Providence will be coming up over the next few years, so it’s exciting times.”

We’ve already mentioned many of the young players that should have an impact sooner than later, but the organizational depth does beyond those aforementioned.

Sean Kuraly, 24, is ready to make an impact. He earned a spot on the roster out of camp and will be relied on as a bottom-six forward. Veteran David Backes has been campaigning hard for Kuraly, who could end up as Backes’ center on the third line.

Defenseman Rob O’Gara was one of the last cuts on the blue line and assigned to Providence is ready for the NHL and he will play in Boston at some point this season. Charlestown’s Matt Grzelcyk earned a spot on the roster and will help quarterback the power play while veteran Torey Krug (broken jaw) remains on injured reserve. This is Grzelcyk’s opportunity to prove his worth at this level as a rookie.

Forward Danton Heinen, also one of the last cuts, was sent to Providence to continue his development but he has NHL experience and will be relied upon soon too. Forward Peter Cehlarik missed the majority of training camp due to shoulder surgery, but don’t be surprised if you see him playing with Krejci and Pastrnak at some point this season. Ryan Fitzgerald and Anton Blidh will also mold their crafts for the P-Bruins.

From a goaltending standpoint, now that former first-rounder Malcolm Subban was claimed off waivers Tuesday by the Las Vegas Golden Knights, Zane McIntyre and Vladar could be next man up if current backup Anton Khudobin falters like he did last season.

And the award goes to. . .

We’re not putting these rookies in the Hall of Fame, but there’s a solid chance McAvoy and Bjork could be in the running for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie this season. Many around the league believe McAvoy could be a front-runner, and that might be true, but Bjork has been impressive. If everything goes according to plan, it also helps that he’ll be a permanent fixture on Bergeron’s line. It will be a fierce battle among the rookies this season and that company includes the Flyers’ Nolan Patrick, the Islanders’ Josh Ho-Sang, the Canucks’ Brock Boeser, the Blackhawks’ Alex DeBrincat, the Wild’s Joel Eriksson, the Coyotes’ Clayton Keller and the Devils’ Nico Hischier.



Biggest unknowns

I’ve said and written it numerous times and many just shake their heads at the notion that Khudobin is the most important player on this team this season. He needs to play 25-27 games and he has to be well above .500. Tuukka Rask should not play more than 55 to 60 games. It’s becoming well documented that the numbers start to go against him with a larger workload. Every successful team in the NHL in recent history relies on a solid tandem. Khudobin was awful to start the season last year and eventually found himself in Providence for what was described as a conditioning stint. When he returned to Boston, he finished the season strong.

“It’s really important that I have (a strong) start and (play) the same way I finished last season,” he said. “It’s important for the team and important for me too. I’m looking forward to doing that.”

Khudobin had a six-game win streak from Feb. 11 to April 2.

How many more chances will the Bruins give Ryan Spooner? He hasn’t completely developed into the type of player that the organization was hoping for since it drafted him 2010. The centerman no doubt has talent, but he hasn’t made the most of it during his NHL career. This season, however, there are plenty of young players pushing for his spot, and so far Spooner looks like a different player. This isn’t the first training camp that he’s looked motivated, but getting him to buy in, on a consistent basis, for an entire season has been a challenge.

“He’s trying to play more competitive,” Cassidy said. “That challenge stems from last year and it’s something we’re looking for (from Spooner). We’ve talked about the ability to compete and win more pucks. He’s making a legitimate effort to become a more-rounded player in that area – so far, so good and we’ll judge it going forward.

“We love his skill in the lineup. He’s great on the power play. He has speed and he’s dynamic. He makes plays and we’re just trying to add the competitive part to his game every night.”

Backes enters his second season with the Bruins, and once again he has no idea who he’ll be playing with on a regular basis. He’s a natural centerman by trade but he’s been used more as a winger during his time in Boston. A lot of that has to do with how the roster is constructed, the youth in the organization, and his ability to play any role in the lineup.

To start the season, he’ll remain in the bottom six as Boston attempts to have a third line of grinders with the ability to add to the offense. With everyone healthy, that trio will be Matt Beleskey, Spooner and Backes.

“I want to know what’s going on,” Backes said with a smile.

Kuraly could be a perfect fit in the middle or on the wing, depending what Cassidy wants to do with Spooner and Beleskey.



Old reliable

With all the talk about the depth in the organization, the cornerstones have somewhat slipped under the radar to start the season. Maybe that’s because it’s easy to take Bergeron, Chara, Krejci, Marchand, Adam McQuaid and Rask for granted for their consistent contributions season after season.

Bergeron and Rask, who each had offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia, are healthy and ready to start the season. Even though Bergeron has been dealing with a separate lower-body injury and missed practice this week, he could be ready for opening night. Rask hasn’t shown any ill effects from the procedure and admitted this is the best he’s felt in years. If he can remain healthy, productive and not overworked, and his defense plays well in front of him, Rask could find his way into the Vezina discussion.

Marchand is hoping to build on a pair of 30-goal seasons. He led the team with career-highs in goals (39), assists (46) and points (85). He should improve on those numbers this season.

Chara wants to reverse the notion that he’s lost a step or two as a 40-year-old defenseman. In fact, he completely changed his skating style during the offseason in order to keep up in a faster NHL than he’s ever been used to. He worked with a total of four skating coaches (two in Boston and two in Slovakia) during the summer, and his stride is noticeably different in a good way.

Krejci is another veteran player the organization expects better things from this season. It helps that he’ll be playing with Pastrnak and DeBrusk (at least to start) because Krejci also tweaked his offseason routine in order to improve his speed and agility. It sounds like a broken record when describing Krejci’s offseason, but he’s visibly slimmer and quicker in the early going. We’ll see how it translates into the long and arduous 82-game season.



First-year boss

Cassidy is set to begin his first full season as coach and he’s ready. He served as the team’s interim coach for the final 33 regular-season games, and during the postseason after the Bruins fired Claude Julien on Feb. 7. Under Cassidy, the Bruins went 18-8-1 and earned a Stanley Cup playoff berth, before losing to the Ottawa Senators in the first round.

His coaching style and systems play is more up-tempo and fast-paced and the players have bought in. That was evident late last season, and now that everyone had a summer to digest and prepare for this season, the players are excited to play this style. If this team plays anywhere close to the way it practices, it will be thrilling to watch. When practices are open to the public, fans should attend because the hour-long session seems more like a Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens. It’s amazing more players don’t get hurt during these types of practices. It’s controlled chaos and it’s fun to watch. Cassidy hopes that intensity translates into the regular season.

McDonald's prediction

The Bruins will earn a second consecutive Stanley Cup playoff berth. Boston will finish third in the Atlantic Division with 98 points.