Ever since Rick Nash left the Bruins this summer on the way to an eventual retirement, Don Sweeney and Co. have searched in vain to find a consistent, top-six solution to roll out on a line anchored by David Krejci at the pivot and complemented by Jake DeBrusk.
With no quick fix identified to fill the vacancy following both the offseason and a month of training camp, Boston opened the 2018-19 campaign with Danton Heinen slotted up on Krejci’s line — a suitable candidate after the winger’s 47-point rookie season.
When Heinen failed to stick in a top-six role over the first couple weeks of the season, the revolving door commenced — with most of the B’s forward corps earning at least a couple reps on Krejci’s crew.
And yet, Krejci has managed to surpass the 70-point mark for just the second time in his career — and the first since the 2008-09 season — following a two-assist night in a 6-2 win over Columbus. No easy feat, especially with the lack of consistency in the lineup.
Entering Tuesday’s matchup in Columbus, Krejci has been a part of 14 different line combinations that have logged at least 15 minutes of 5v5 time on ice (TOI). It’s a far cry from the days in which you could pencil in a top-six corps like Lucic-Krejci-Horton/Iginla night in, night out — but with the postseason a little over a week away, Boston might have finally found the answer to pair with Krejci and DeBrusk.
And it lies in a winger who's logged a whopping nine games up in the NHL this season.
Signed as an undrafted free agent last season after captaining Minnesota Duluth to an NCAA championship, Karson Kuhlman doesn’t exactly fit the mold of a power forward that usually thrives with a playmaking pivot like Krejci.
The 5-foot-11 forward’s hard-nosed, two-way play might have had him projected as a prototypical bottom-six option upon earning a promotion up to the NHL ranks, but so far, the 23-year-old skater is running with the opportunity to play alongside No. 46 and No. 74.
On a night in which the Krejci line tallied a combined seven points in Tuesday’s victory over Columbus, Kuhlman was a conduit in the trio’s quick-strike potential — forcing a turnover by the Bruins’ blue line and joining in on the subsequent rush with DeBrusk. A slick pass from Kuhlman ahead to DeBrusk sent the B’s winger in alone on Sergei Bobrovsky, culminating in DeBrusk’s 27th goal of the night at 16:00 in the second period.
Kuhlman was rewarded later in the game on a sequence that one would think was much more typical of the tenacious winger — as he knocked home a rebound for his third goal of the season at 10:28 in the third.
He may not have the size or skill that someone like Nash
provided on that unit last year, but underrate Kuhlman at your own risk, especially when it comes to how his skillset translates on a line that enjoys controlling the pace in the offensive zone. Of course, to control the pace, one needs to possess the puck — an area that Kuhlman has excelled in when it comes to winning battles along the boards and forcing turnovers on the forecheck. Add in a nice set of wheels that allows him to keep up with a player like DeBrusk on odd-man rushes, and Boston might have found something in the former collegiate product.
“I
thought he was excellent tonight with his puck plays in the neutral zone," Bruce Cassidy said of Kuhlman. “Touch plays, threading the needle. Being on pucks as the first forechecker. He's got good speed and he's a little bit underrated offensively. But no, he's been a good player.”
With home ice advantage secured against the Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins have now been granted a window to rest some of its banged-up bodies and veteran players ahead of another grueling postseason.
Of course, putting some key cogs on the shelf for a couple of games also limits how much time Cassidy has to round out the rest of his lineup ahead of the playoffs — especially when it comes to finding a spot for
Marcus Johansson
to provide the scoring punch that Boston was looking for when it dealt for him in February.
At this point, the Bruins certainly can’t wrong if they kept their top line of
Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak
and
Brad Marchand
together, while placing Johansson in a bottom-six role alongside
Charlie Coyle
led to positive results on Tuesday (one goal, three total points for the third line) and would give Boston more balance across the board.
That of course, would likely lead to Kuhlman remaining up top with Krejci and DeBrusk — but can you really argue with the results?
So far, the DeBrusk-Krejci-Kuhlman line has logged a little over 68 minutes of 5v5 TOI together. During that stretch, they have posted a plus-12 shot differential and generated an impressive eight 5v5 goals — a welcome sight for a Bruins team that still ranks 19th in the NHL in overall 5v5 goals scored (153).
When you calculate that offensive production over the amount of time that that line has come to fruition, it totals out to an impressive 7.05 goals for (scored) per 60 minutes of play.
That’s far and away the highest GF/60 mark of any Bruins line that has played at least 50 minutes of 5v5 TOI together. In fact, the next highest mark for a Bruins line calculates out to 4.11 goals for per 60 minutes of play, which was generated by another Krejci-led line — except this one flanked by a pair of all-world wingers in Marchand and Pastrnak.
When it comes to the top Bruins lines in terms of GF/60 (min. 50 min TOI), three of the top four trios feature at least two of Bergeron, Marchand or Pastrnak together. The lone exception is the group at the top – with an AHL call-up in Kuhlman skating alongside Krejci and DeBrusk responsible for some mind-boggling numbers.
“He’s bought energy and speed,” DeBrusk said of Kuhlman. “I think it’s very evident out there, he works very hard and any time there’s a guy that can get to those corners and use that kind of frame that he’s got to get to areas, I think it helps our line. I saw him get rewarded tonight and it was nice to have a pretty complete game from our side.”
While injuries and other outside factors might have forced a hasty promotion up to the top-six for Kuhlman upon his first recall from Providence in mid-February, Cassidy isn’t regretting making such a move now.
“T
he problem is, you bring a kid up and you don't want to have too high expectations and then you plant him on the second line, so it's kind of — I've put the high expectations on him because of that,” Cassidy said. “But I just think it's a good fit there right now and we're trying Johansson with Coyle and we want to stick with that for a few games, so that's kind of where he's landed. I thought he's done a good job.”
All stats via Corsica and Natural Stat Trick.
