How Bruins’ latest middle-6 reshuffle could benefit all parties

Just a game removed from Bruce Cassidy calling out some of his players for not “breaking a sweat” on Tuesday night, it should come as no surprise that Boston’s middle-six forward grouping is going to be reshuffled ahead of Thursday’s home matchup against the Stars. 

Nick Ritchie, who dished out seven hits but was generally underwhelming in his B’s debut on Tuesday, will be bumped up into the top-six unit and skate to the left of David Krejci. After missing two games since getting acquired by Boston last week, Ondrej Kase will make his B’s debut and will skate to Krejci’s right.

With Ritchie talking over LW duties next to Krejci, the pivot’s longtime partner in Jake DeBrusk will be bumped down to the third line, where he will skate with Charlie Coyle. Anders Bjork will remain as the club’s 3RW — while both the first and fourth lines will remain intact from Tuesday’s 5-2 loss against the Flames. 

It might take some time for that second line to click, given that Krejci has logged a whopping 8:04 of 5v5 ice time with just one of his two new wingers — but that same level of patience might not be extended for DeBrusk in his new spot on Coyle’s line, given that the winger has yet to record a point in eight straight games. 

“I didn’t see much the other night of really anything that was ultra-positive, to be honest with you,” Cassidy said of DeBrusk’s game when speaking with reporters at Warrior Ice Arena Thursday. “We’re moving past that, hopefully, tonight we’re better. That’s the plan. I just think with Coyle, Jake has done okay with him in the past.”

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While it’s unrealistic to expect both middle-six lines to put the pieces together from the opening puck drop on Thursday night, Cassidy’s latest shuffling does have some numbers to support it — both in terms of DeBrusk’s fit on a puck-possession line like Coyle's and Ritchie + Kase’s familiarity over in Anaheim. 

Both Ritchie and Kase were regulars on a line with Adam Henrique over the last couple of years with the Ducks — logging 169:25 of 5v5 ice time together this season over on the West Coast. 

During that stretch of time, the Ducks impressed in terms of puck-possession metrics, with Anaheim holding a 207-147 edge in shot attempts (58.47% shot share) and a 9-6 edge in goals scored.

That equates out to an effective goals scored per 60 minutes rate of 3.19 (for reference, the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line has a GF/60 rate of 4.0).

If you want to turn the clock back to the start of the 2017-18 season, the Ducks have outscored opponents, 47-23, in the 888:51 of 5v5 ice time that both Kase and Ritchie have logged together. 

"What I’ve heard is they played together with Henrique in Anaheim and had some success. Sometimes having some familiarity right out of the gate is not a bad thing, either,” Cassidy said. “Especially when we’re trying new lines. Krech is the only one I guess, that will have the biggest adjustment, because he’ll have two new wingers.

“Big body on one side, he’s accustomed to playing with that over the years. So that part, I think he’ll be comfortable. A guy that goes to the net, makes plays off the wall. That’s one thing Nick did the other night, he got some pucks off the wall, so Krech likes that. … Kase, again, a little bit of an unknown for us but he’s a shooter. They should be able to communicate well. … We’re not expecting instant chemistry. If we get it, that’s fantastic. If not, we’ll just keep working at it."

As for DeBrusk, the Bruins need to get winger rolling — because his woes extend far beyond just his scoring slump. Throughout this skid, DeBrusk has been easily knocked off pucks and has failed to generate much of anything when given the puck down in Grade-A areas where he should thrive.

https://twitter.com/bruins_stats/status/1232476199806480390

“Jake and Krech haven’t been as effective as they were earlier, so putting him with Coyle is not a bad thing,” Cassidy said. “They’ve had some chemistry, so we’ll see where it goes.”

DeBrusk, Coyle and Bjork have had some success when slotted next to one another this season, with Boston holding a 50-30 edge in shot attempts and 30-19 advantage in shots on goal during that line’s 50:28 of 5v5 TOI. However, that trio has only scored two goals during that stretch, furthering the primary flaw with the Coyle line — it might possess the puck and generate quality chances, but it’s not finishing nearly as much chances as it should.

Perhaps both DeBrusk’s demotion and a chance to play with a couple of forwards that like to operate a bit closer to the net will get the young winger rolling again. At this point, it’s worth a shot, because DeBrusk hasn’t given the B’s all that much over the last couple of weeks.