McDonald: To a man, the Bruins have bought in, from depth players to stars

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Bruins’ roster is getting healthy. There are four games remaining in the regular season. They’re sill battling for that top spot in the Eastern Conference and the Stanley Cup playoffs are a week away.

With the exception of defenseman Brandon Carlo, coach Bruce Cassidy expects everyone else to be ready for the postseason, which will make the Bruins an extremely dangerous team this spring. Hockey personnel throughout the league understand how the Bruins are well built for success in the playoffs.

The team has its superstars playing at an elite level. The younger players have meshed well. Cassidy is confident rolling four lines against any matchup. Tuukka Rask is playing well and appears to be focused on the upcoming task at hand.

The team’s chemistry is strong too.

So, you get the point: the Bruins are Cup contenders. The one aspect that has become invaluable for the team’s success is the fact that all the players have bought into the game plan. This doesn’t mean only X’s and O’s. This is about players understanding their roles no matter the situation. Once everyone is healthy, Cassidy will have some difficult decisions to make.

Some players will lose ice time and that’s never easy to handle, but a true professional understands the bigger picture. He doesn’t have to like it, but it’s important for the overall success of the team to support each other no matter the situation.

The road to the Stanley Cup is long. Injuries will happen and lineups will change. So, having a room full of players accept is invaluable.

When general manager Don Sweeney acquired players at the trade deadline, adding Brian Gionta, Nick Holden, Rick Nash and Tommy Wingels to the mix, it was a sign that the organization understood what could be on the horizon for the Bruins. Elite athletes want to play every minute of every game but that can’t always happen. If those players believe in the greater good, it bodes well inside the room.

“It’s a buy-in from everyone that winning is the utmost importance, whether you’ve been here for your whole career, or you’ve been here for a couple of weeks,” Wingels said. “We all play this game for one reason and that’s at the end of the day to win a Stanley Cup.

“Everybody wants to play as much as they can and they want to play in every situation. Everybody who’s played wants more ice time then they’ve been given in every scenario, but sometimes different situations present themselves and this is an incredibly deep group and some guys might be playing, or might not be playing, but we all have the same mentality of wanting to win and we know that’s best for the team and best for the organization. When your number’s called, you’ve got to be ready to contribute.”

It’s well documented Cassidy is honest with his players. In good times and in bad, the coach is upfront, no matter the player’s status.

“I’ve been incredibly impressed with Butch from Day 1,” Wingels said. “From his treatment of the young guys, to the treatment of the older guys and respect he has for everyone. He’s honest with guys from the get-go. When I got here, he talked to me about my role and where I fit in, and his loyalty to the other guys as well. It’s a tough balance. Certainly, it’s difficult for a coach to incorporate a handful of new guys when your team has arguably been one of the best in the entire league the whole season. He’s done a good job. He’s been very upfront with players and it’s not an envious position for him to be in as a coach, but he’s doing a really good job.”

Despite Carlo’s unfortunate injury on Saturday when he suffered a broken left fibula, Cassidy still has some tough decisions to make with the defensive core. Zdeno Chara returned on Sunday and it’s likely Charlie McAvoy will return on Tuesday when the Bruins face the Lightning at Amalie Arena. Someone will be the odd-man out.

“It’s important for guys to support one another,” said Adam McQuaid. “We’ve talked about having depth and adding depth and needing depth. Ironically, when we added guys we had guys go down with injuries, so hopefully, we can get back healthy and stay healthy, but it’s important every guy knows, regardless of what role they have they’re an important part of the team and it’s important to support one another.”

That support could lead to great things in Boston.