After seemingly exhausting all of their in-house options, it looks as though the Bruins are turning to their AHL pipeline in an effort to find a winger capable of generating some consistent production on the club’s second or third line.
Peter Cehlarik will be the latest forward to join the rotating carousel up front for Boston, as the 23-year-old winger was recalled from Providence on Tuesday and joined the team for practice ahead of Wednesday’s road matchup against the Flyers.
While some of the Bruins’ big guns in Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand did not skate on Tuesday, Cehlarik earned a few rushes on a line with David Krejci. Jake DeBrusk skated briefly due to a lower-body injury, but if he's cleared, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Cassidy rolls out a second line Wednesday featuring Cehlarik alongside Krejci and DeBrusk.
A third-round pick by the Bruins in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Cehlarik has largely been a consistent scorer at the AHL level, tallying 41 goals and 90 total points over 121 games with the Providence Bruins. The Slovak skater currently leads the Baby Bruins in scoring this season with 10 goals and 29 points over 37 games.
BSJ Analysis
As I noted last night, Bruce Cassidy and the Bruins are desperately looking for a solution for the club’s 5v5 woes.
Ranked 28th in the league in 5v5 goals with 77 on the year, the B’s have largely relied on its top line (16 5v5 goals generated) and a makeshift first line with David Krejci slotted up between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak (nine 5v5 goals generated) to keep the team afloat.
After those two line combinations, Boston has received its most consistent 5v5 contributions from the Kuraly-Acciari-Wagner line (four 5v5 goals) and a pair of second-line mismatches featuring Krejci and DeBrusk alongside Joakim Nordstrom (six 5v5 goals) and Danton Heinen (four 5v5 goals generated).
That’s not good enough, especially when the most used third-line combination (Heinen-Forsbacka Karlsson-Donato) has also only tallied four 5v5 goals in 103 minutes together.
Simply put, Boston has run out of options on its own roster that will solve its 5v5 scoring issues. If we’re looking at the next man up down in Providence, Cehlarik is a deserving candidate — especially with both Anders Bjork and Ryan Fitzgerald currently sidelined due to injury.
In his career up in the NHL ranks, Cehlarik has tallied one goal and three assists over 17 games — including two points over six games in his most recent call-up during the 2017-18 season before a leg injury sidelined him.
For most of his time up with Boston, Cehlarik has logged top-six reps, primarily with Krejci at the pivot. Last season, Cehlarik appeared in four games on a line with Krejci and DeBrusk — generating three 5v5 goals and just one goal against over 38:02 of ice time together, despite only posting a Corsi For Percentage of 44.59. That CF% is a bit of an anomaly for a Krejci-centered line, but the 5v5 goal production was certainly a step in the right direction.
“We’re looking for some help with Krech,” Cassidy said Tuesday of Cehlarik. “He played there two years ago, a little bit. It’s a type of line he could help us with. He’s tied for the lead in scoring in Providence, so that’s kind of put him in a position where hopefully he has some success. So that’s what we’re thinking. He’s played both wings, by the way. Right and left. Kind of a bit like Jake now, but that part of it he could go, like Heinen, back and forth.”
Is Cehlarik going to be the best option for a top-six role? Probably not. But other than a trade, Boston really doesn’t have too many easy fixes.
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