He’s only donned a black and gold sweater for four games, but the whirlwind that followed Charlie Coyle after getting dealt home to Boston is slowly starting to subside.
While he hasn’t etched his name on the scoreboard yet, Coyle is feeling more and more comfortable in his new role as the Bruins’ solution at third-line center, generating a Corsi-For Percentage mark of 60.8 percent — representing a 56-36 edge in attempts for Boston during his 52 minutes of 5v5 ice time.
“I’m going in the right direction,” Coyle told BostonSportsJournal.com last week. “I think I’m getting more comfortable. The new system is coming a little quicker, so it’s becoming more and more natural, which is good. I’m getting my legs too. Settling in with a place to stay, getting better sleep — just everything. It’s all clicking a little better, so I’m feeling better on the ice.”
While the results haven’t quite equated to points on the board for Coyle or his new linemates in David Backes and (primarily) Peter Cehlarik / Joakim Nordstrom, Bruce Cassidy hasn’t had many objections when it comes to what the East Weymouth native has brought to his club — especially from an area of the lineup that has has largely been a black hole all season.
At the very least, when compared to Boston’s previous two candidates at third-line center in Trent Frederic and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Coyle offers a much more reliable option at the pivot, especially in terms of usage away from the offensive zone.
It may not be fair to compare rookies like Forsbacka Karlsson and Frederic to a guy like Coyle who has been in the league for seven seasons, but the results speak for themselves when it comes to charting out what kind of lift a veteran like Coyle has provided.
While Forsbacka Karlsson (11:48 average TOI) and Frederic (9:23 TOI) were often held back during in-game situations, Coyle has logged an average TOI of 15:36 so far during his time in Boston. He's also earned a more even workload between O-zone time and situations at the other end of the sheet, with an offensive-zone faceoff percentage of 57 percent entering Saturday’s game against New Jersey.
While a line of Forsbacka Karlsson, Danton Heinen and Ryan Donato gained some traction earlier this season, Cassidy largely kept that trio away from situations that were out of the opponent’s zone — with “JFK” generating a whopping 68 percent of his faceoff situations in the offensive zone.
By having a line anchored by Coyle that can operate in any area of the ice, Cassidy has been able to balance his forwards' workloads a bit more since the arrival of Boston’s new center — with a workhorse like Patrice Bergeron averaging a minute less than his average time on ice of 18:46 since the Coyle trade.
“It helps balance the minutes, certainly. We're comfortable with D-zone draws. O-zone, wherever it happens to be,” Cassidy said of the Coyle line. “I think previously, I didn't always stick with that some nights. And other nights, I'd be a bit more comfortable with another group out there. ... I think the players appreciate that, they're going to go out over the boards whenever they're called. But in general, most guys like to know when they're up, so it's worked out well for us that way."
They haven’t lit the lamp yet, but it’s easy to be encouraged by what the Cehlarik-Coyle-Backes line has showcased together — even if Cehlarik spent the third period of Saturday’s win over New Jersey on the bench due to his play away from the puck.
Whereas combinations like Frederic with Nordstrom generated 51 shot attempts and 10 scoring chances over 68 minutes of 5v5 TOI together, the Cehlarik-Coyle-Backes line has managed to record two more scoring chances and two more high-danger scoring bids (4-2 edge) in 51 fewer minutes of 5v5 TOI together.
Given the looks generated, it should only be a matter of time until the pucks start finding twine for Coyle and Co.
"Good o-zone puck possession. I find that they're very good with that,” Cassidy said of early impressions of the Coyle line. “They haven't been rewarded on the scoresheet. But again, the other night, Charlie had a couple good looks (and) Cehlarik early had a couple. So it's going to happen for them. Obviously, we've got to find a way to get it in the first one, and it will probably snowball a little bit.
“Defensively, they've been fine. They've done everything I've asked, I don't think they been a liability at all; in fact, they've been a strength.”
OTHER BRUINS NOTES:
With 17 games remaining on the docket for the 2018-19 regular season, Cassidy noted Monday the Bruins have their rotation in net mapped out all the way through the first week of April — with Jaroslav Halak getting the call on Tuesday against the Hurricanes.
Obviously, Tuukka Rask will get more of the nods down the stretch, but Cassidy added the workload between both goalies will be much more even than some might expect.
"We went through it the other day with (Bruins goaltending coach) Bob (Essensa). We’ve penciled in all of the starts from now to the end of the year barring performance issues or injuries. So far, the performance has been excellent, injuries, good. We're going to try to stick to it.
“I'm not going to go through every game, but for the most part, Tuukka has a few more than Halak, but we're not going to run Tuukka into the ground, because Halak has played very well. We're fortunate. Halak is going to go tomorrow and we'll go from there. I would guess that Tuukka would — what do we have left, 17 (games)? — it's probably 10-7 (starts in Rask’s favor) maybe. Maybe even 9-8, but it won't be 12-5."
At this point, Boston can’t seem to go wrong with either netminder — as Rask has not lost in regulation since Dec. 23 against the Hurricanes, while Halak is 4-0-0 with a .966 save percentage since Feb. 10.
If that 10-7 split in workload between Rask and Halak holds steady for the remainder of the regular season, it would give Rask just 45 starts this season — his lightest amount since the 2012-13 season, in which he made 34 starts in lockout-shortened campaign.
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