With the 2019-20 regular season finally upon us, here are 10 questions facing the Bruins in what should be another eventful year for Bruce Cassidy and Co.
1. Are the Bruins in line for a Stanley Cup “hangover?”
It’s been 179 days since the 15 franchises that didn’t punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs suited up and played meaningful hockey.
While clubs that underwent major makeovers this summer like the Rangers and Devils are eagerly anticipating a chance to rewrite the script in 2019-20, the Bruins find themselves striving to achieve the same goal — namely, winning just one more game in June.
But Bruce Cassidy’s club was not afforded the same extended window to rest and recover this summer due to its run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. When Boston drops the puck Thursday evening in Dallas, it will be just 113 days since Boston’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion at TD Garden against the Blues.
A Stanley Cup “hangover” usually applies to the club that ends up hoisting the top prize in hockey, given that most of the following months are penciled in with debaucherous celebration. But Boston is very much behind the eight ball as well given their short offseason — without any trophy to assuage some of those disadvantages.
Still, even with the short layoff, the Bruins don’t appear too worried about hitting the ground running in 2019-20.
“We actually did a study that teams in the past four or five years have actually done very well in the regular season, so it’s certainly part of what we looked at,” Don Sweeney said. “When it comes down to it on a little more of a day to day, you know your team is going to hit a wall at some point in time based on the mileage from the previous season.
“We have to find those pockets of the schedule, maybe utilize the break effectively which didn’t happen in the past and allow them to recharge. We’ve had some open dialogue about it, but history says the team generally gets off and a healthy part of that gets off to a good start. Mentally and physically, these guys are ready to go.”
In fact, over the last 10 years, teams that have lost the Stanley Cup Final have averaged 106.1 points during the following campaign. Given the amount of talent on this B’s roster — a third-straight season of 100+ points seems to be well within grasp.
2. Will Bruins continue to ease the workloads for Bergeron and Co.?
The Bruins boast one of the deepest rosters in the NHL, giving Cassidy an embarrassment of riches when it comes to mixing and matching his forward corps and blue line to put his club in the best position for any given day.
Even with injuries to players like John Moore, Kevan Miller and Joakim Nordstrom out of camp, Boston still has plenty of NHL talent ready to plug into any vacancy, whether it Connor Clifton on a third pairing or Par Lindholm on a fourth line with Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner.
That depth, both on the NHL roster and down the pipeline in Providence, will come in handy over the course of a grueling 82-game regular season and whatever lies beyond that. But it will also be utilized in terms of limiting the workload of some of Boston’s most valuable cornerstones — namely Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara.
The need to cut Chara’s minutes is rather obvious, given that the B’s captain is set to turn 43 years old in March. Chara, who has averaged 24:48 of ice time over 13 seasons in Boston, has seen his workload dip in each of the last four seasons — dropping from 24:06 in 2015-16 to 21:05 in 2018-19.
With youngsters like Charlie McAvoy (22:10 AOTI in 2018-19) and Brandon Carlo (2:47 penalty kill ATOI) expected to assume more responsibility, look for Chara’s minutes to continue to be curtailed in 2019-20, with Boston opting to maximize his value as shutdown option on the blue line that can still anchor a penalty kill.
As for Bergeron, who has averaged 64.5 games played over the last two years, health stands as the primary issue for Boston’s top-line center — especially when it comes to a nagging groin injury that has been a thorn in his side for years now.
While “load management” might not be as accepted in the NHL as it is in the NBA when it comes to keeping star players fresh, don’t be surprised if Bergeron is given the prerogative to sit out of practices in order to keep him from getting banged up as the calendar eventually turns to spring 2020.
“It’s really about the player informing the training staff and coaching staff about how they feel,” Cam Neely said. “They’re at the point in their career where they can say, Listen, I don’t really feel I need to practice today. It’s not going to affect how they prepare to play. They are such professionals, if they’re really honest with how they’re feeling, the training staff and caching staff will certainly take that into consideration that, hey, they may need a day off more than some of the other players.”
In-game, look for the Bruins to continue to ease some of Bergeron’s regular responsibilities, especially away from the offensive zone. He might be one of the premier two-way forwards in the game, but boasting PK specialists such as Joakim Nordstrom and Lindholm should limit the amount of time Bergeron is spent expending energy on the kill.
“We know how teams utilize their players, studying every game,” Sweeney said. “In those situations, we got more focused and did follow that (philosophy) a few years ago. We needed to do that, to extend the shelf life of every one of our players. And we had to have depth on our roster and we just tried to attack those areas and good for the players themselves that have been able to handle that. We try to identify, try to talk to players, try to develop it internally as well.”
- Despite being limited to just 66 games last year due to a thumb injury, Pastrnak tallied 38 goals and 81 points — with the 23-year-old winger flirting with the chance of becoming the first Bruin since Neely in 1993-94 to light the lamp 50 times in a season.
- A defensive stalwart — Carlo’s 5v5 goals against per 60 minutes rate of 1.48 led all NHL defensemen that logged at least 1,200 minutes of 5v5 TOI last season. Not too bad for a 22-year-old skater.
- Along with being a workhorse, McAvoy’s 5v5 production was impressive — with his 0.92 primary points per 60 minutes rate in 5v5 play ranking ninth overall among all NHL defensemen last season (min. 500 5v5 minutes played). The only skaters in front of him? Kris Letang, Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie, Brent Burns, Mark Giordano, Shea Weber, Vince Dunn and John Carlson.
- We can go on and on — Matt Grzelcyk’s breakout brillance, DeBrusk’s nose for the net, Danton Heinen’s impact away from the O-zone.