For a player that’s failed to etch a single point on the scoreboard through eight games this season, Karson Kuhlman’s extended absence is going to cast quite the shadow over a Bruins’ roster that is slowly trying to get its bottom-three lines rolling on a consistent basis.
After taking a blast from Jake DeBrusk off the leg during Saturday’s OT loss to the Maple Leafs, Kuhlman was held out of Tuesday’s victory over Toronto at TD Garden — with X-rays revealing that the 24-year-old winger suffered a hairline non-displaced fracture of his right tibia. As a result, Kuhlman — who was spotted on crutches Tuesday night — will miss at least four weeks before getting re-evaluated.
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A regular in Boston's top-six unit after establishing himself as David Krejci's right winger during the B's run to the Stanley Cup Final, Kuhlman wasn't able to cash in down low in the early going this season, but it certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort — with his 5v5 expected goals rate of 0.89 actually ranking seventh among B's players in 2019-20, above the likes of Charlie Coyle (0.73 xG), Krejci (0.49) and others.
A large portion of that was due to Kuhlman's ability to generate high-quality looks, with his four individual high-danger shots generated ranking sixth overall on the B's roster. Even if puck luck hasn't exactly been on his side in the early going, there's no doubting that Kuhlman was at least contributing to Boston's efforts of generating some secondary scoring through the first three weeks of the regular season.
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Boston's second line is already in pretty rough shape as constituted, given that Krejci's status for the time being is also up in the air due to an upper-body injury that has kept him out of action since Oct. 14. For the time being, it looks as though Coyle is entrenched in Krejci's spot as the driver of Boston's other top-six line, while Jake DeBrusk has done little to warrant a demotion, especially after stringing together points in back-to-back outings against the Leafs.
But with Kuhlman out for an extended stretch, who is going to slot in to Coyle (and eventually, Krejci's) right through what will likely be the end of November?
Let's take a look at some candidates as Boston plans to once again hold another top-six competition on the wing.
Brett Ritchie: For now, it would seem as though Ritchie would be the early favorite when it comes to the 2RW spot, as the 26-year-old winger held his own during Tuesday's win while skating with Coyle and Co.
Along with scoring the eventual game-winning tally at 6:35 in the third, Ritchie generated three high-danger scoring chances in his 11:52 of 5v5 TOI — with the power forward using his 6-foot-4 frame to battle down low and pepper Michael Hutchinson with quality looks in and around the crease.
(Along with his goal in the third, Ritchie landed a shot on net from just 18 feet out, while another attempt from within 10 feet was blocked by Frederik Gauthier midway through the second period).
It was a needed showing from Ritchie, who has largely unimpressed since tallying a goal on Boston's first shot of the 2019-20 campaign back on Oct. 3 against Dallas. Doubling his individual high-danger chances total with Tuesday's outing, Ritchie now ranks fourth on the team when it comes to 5v5 hi-danger attempts — trailing only Brad Marchand, DeBrusk and Patrice Bergeron.
(David Pastrnak, for reference, only has five 5v5 hi-danger chances through nine games.)
It remains to be seen if Ritchie can sustain Tuesday's play for an extended stretch, as the Bruins have been outshot, 48-35, during the 78:36 of 5v5 TOI that Ritchie has recorded so far this season. But if the DeBrusk-Coyle-Ritchie trio is able to build off of Tuesday's showing — it will be hard for Cassidy to break them up.
"Ritchie’s starting to turn a corner a bit, Coyle and DeBrusk, they’ve been closer," Cassidy said. "They’re on pucks a little better, so I was happy for them to get rewarded. Not only that, I thought they did a better job getting out of their end, winning puck battles when it mattered, then it translated in the other end."
Danton Heinen: Few players have been hit quite as hard by these string of injuries as Heinen, who has lost his regular center in Coyle due to Krejci's absence. As the LW on a hodgepodge line featuring the likes of Par Lindholm and David Backes, Heinen has seen his usage plummet recently, averaging under 13 minutes a night since the first week of October.
Given Heinen's two-way play and (more importantly, his versatility), Heinen could be a solid candidate to earn a bump up to the top six, especially by switching over to right wing for the time being.
A domino effect further down the lineup could also pave the way for Heinen to get a look with Coyle and DeBrusk, as Anders Bjork could settle into that 3LW spot — a role that Boston has likely envisioned for Bjork for some time — with Joakim Nordstrom expected to return to game action soon.
While Boston's fourth line of Bjork-Kuraly-Wagner labored at times against the Leafs on Tuesday, Bjork made the most of the minutes given to him in his season debut, landing four shots on goal in just 13:17 of ice time. Still, once Nordstrom is given the green light, Bjork will likely get the boot from that trio — but Kuhlman's absence does open a bit of a window for Bjork to hang around.
"I suspect we’ll — we don’t play until Saturday, right? So we have some time to look at it," Cassidy said of Bjork doing enough to stay with the NHL club. "Nordstrom’s very close, kind of slots — we put Bjork in his spot tonight, but that’s kind of Nordy’s spot, he helps that line a lot. So we’ll see where Bjork fits best. I don’t think he hurt himself at all tonight.
"With Kuhlman out, you lose a bit of that motor, a younger guy, get on pucks, and that’s where Bjorkie was good tonight. That’s what we’re looking for. Can he sustain it, can he be strong on it? And he was. He didn’t hurt us defensively, so that’s a good thing and that bodes well for him, and we’ll see if we find a spot for him on Saturday. But it’s looking that way."
The natural fit would be to have Bjork replace Heinen on 3LW and let Heinen play with a capable second line, although the case could be made that Bjork should get a few reps in the top six as well. Still, given Cassidy's preference to keep Bjork on his strong side, it seems unlikely that Bjork will be switched over to right wing for now. Still, things can change very quickly.
David Pastrnak: This one certainly makes a lot of sense, especially given that Boston would seemingly have a logical solution on its top line by plugging in Heinen next to Bergeron and Marchand. After all, a 63-37-43 line scored 11 5v5 goals and only surrendered four down the other end of the ice during 197:31 of 5v5 TOI last year.
If Boston also relents and allows Bjork to play RW, he could also be a solid option next to Bergeron and Marchand, allowing Pastrnak to balance out the top six by skating with Coyle/Krejci. Still, even if the rationale is there, Cassidy has been very hesitant to break up what has largely been a sure thing with his dominant top line. As Boston tries to get its secondary scoring going, don't expect Cassidy to willingly take away from what has been the Bruins' "get-out-of-jail-free" card on offense so far in 2019-20.