Speed. Skill. Competitiveness.
It can be hard to size up a prospect and compile years of development and growth into a single word or short spurt of scouting-report buzzwords, but Jamie Langenbrunner and Jay Leach have done their best to fulfill such requests over the last two days when fielding questions from inquiring minds at Bruins Development Camp.
Some skillsets are rather obvious upon taking a quick glance out on the sheet at Warrior Ice Arena.
John Beecher has put many fellow skaters in the rearview mirror during 2-on-1 drills and basic agility tests. Nick Wolff (6-foot-4, 209 pounds) hasn’t budged on the blue line. Casey Dornbach has had netminders ducking for cover when he’s uncorked his heavy shot.
But when it comes to condensing a talent like Jack Studnicka into a word or two, Langenbrunner was at a loss.
Langenbrunner, the Bruins’ player development coordinator, instead opted for an anecdote involving the 20-year-old forward. But he didn’t focus much attention on Studnicka’s wheels, sneaky (but accurate) wrister or soft hands.
“I think a testament to that kid, he gets traded to Niagara (OHL) and he’s wearing a letter on a team he was traded to in a month. That’s impressive,” Langenbrunner said of Studnicka. “That means you’re stepping right in and doing the things that coaches see as leaders, but also the players around him.”
Need to spend another year in junior?
He racked up 83 points over 60 games with Oshawa and Niagara in 2018-19.
Want to get extra reps?
Just three days after Studnicka and the IceDogs fell in the OHL semifinals, the youngster was in the lineup with Providence, jumping right into the fray that was the Baby B’s Calder Cup playoff round against the Charlotte Checkers.
But this fall, Studnicka could very well face his toughest test yet — with a spot up in the NHL ranks potentially hanging in the balance.
It’s hard not to like Studnicka's game, especially when he’s slotted in at the pivot. Along with his playmaking acumen, Studnicka has the frame (6-foot-2) that most scouts favor when it comes to identifying potential top-six talent, especially down the middle.
Patrice Bergeron
David Krejci
Charlie Coyle
Sean Kuraly
So what about on the wing? If Boston holds steady this summer, a vacancy in Boston’s top-six remains to Krejci’s right. While
Karson Kuhlman
took those reps during the postseason, the hard-nosed winger should be getting a long look at a permanent fourth-line gig, especially if
Noel Acciari
departs in free agency.
If
Don Sweeney
, then the departure of
Marcus Johansson
creates additional headaches — namely in the form of another open spot, this time in the bottom-six.
While
Anders Bjork
figures to be in the mix, why not Studnicka? It may not be his natural position, but the forward hasn’t exactly looked out of place when skating on the wing. During his last two stints in World Juniors, Studnicka still tallied four goals and seven points over eight games, while mostly skating at right wing.
Moving away from his position of strength isn’t an ideal situation for Studnicka, but it’s a scenario that he’s been cognizant of for quite some time now — and one that he's willing to accept if it gets him on the fast track towards donning a black and gold sweater.
“We’re not going to limit our scope of where he can play,” Langenbrunner said. “I think centermen are valuable players and I think it’s his best position and I think it’s his natural position, but he would be another one, I don’t think we’d be scared to move him on wing.
“He played there during the World Juniors for Team Canada. He’s mentioned to me, ‘
Don’t forget that I can play wing’
when we’re evaluating for next year for the team. He knows where the spots are on the roster up here. We’re very aware of that. We’re just not going to rush him into anything.”
For Studnicka, the choice is a no-brainer. Playing wing up in the NHL is a much better alternative to logging reps at center — but down in Providence.
“Anything to help the team win,” Studnicka said Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena. “I’ll play any position. My goal is to be with the big club and whether that’s right wing or center, that’s for them to decide.”
Of course, even with his flashy skills and long list of intangibles, Studnicka could still be in line for an AHL assignment to open the 2019-20 season, especially if he struggles to add some muscle to his 179-pound frame over the course of the summer.
But if the production is there, a scale is not going to be the thing holding Studnicka back from a spot up in Boston.
“There’s a lot of talk of that and it’s my opinion that it’s not necessarily holding him too much back,” Leach said of Studnicka’s weight. “I think there’s some guys that have that wiry strength that don’t need 200 pounds. Jack for me has been one of those guys.
“I’m sure he’d like to put on five, ten pounds. Bergy was real light when he came into the league. I was fortunate enough to play with him in 2004 and he was a slight build but very strong on his skates and Jack reminds me of him.”
Whether it be center or wing, top-six or bottom-six, Studnicka could care less.
He’s shattered just about every challenge put in front of him, sure. But the big one — cracking an NHL roster — lingers on. And he’ll do just about anything to remedy that.
“I think that should be everybody’s goal,” Studnicka said of making the team. “You come into camp, you want to win a job. That was the goal my first year, that was my goal last year, that’s my goal this year.”
