A more comfortable Charlie Coyle is ready to keep building his game in Boston

He might be a local product, but Charlie Coyle hasn’t been granted much in terms of familiar surroundings on the ice since arriving in Boston back in February 2019.

Coyle brings plenty of value to the Bruins as a versatile, puck-dominant forward — capable of anchoring a middle-six forward trio at the pivot, slotting up to the wing in the top-six corps, using his size on a power-play unit and contributing on a penalty kill.

Coyle’s wide-ranging skillset stands as a luxury for Bruce Cassidy and the Bruins when it comes to deploying the Weymouth native as the club’s Swiss Army Knife. But such an amorphous role often comes at the expense of defined minutes and opportunities to build chemistry with a set two or three regular linemates. 

Since arriving via trade from Minnesota close to 14 months ago, Coyle has appeared in 91 regular-season games with Boston. During that stretch, Coyle has logged at least 50 minutes of 5v5 ice time with 13 (!) different Bruins forwards.

Danton Heinen: 390:10 of ice time together
Anders Bjork: 383:13 of ice time together
Jake DeBrusk: 362:19 of ice time together
David Krejci: 198:46 of ice time together
Chris Wagner: 148:33 of ice time together
David Backes: 104:30 of ice time together
Sean Kuraly: 100:27 of ice time together
Brad Marchand: 92:15 of ice time together
David Pastrnak: 72:52 of ice time together
Joakim Nordstrom: 72:46 of ice time together
Karson Kuhlman: 69:54 of ice time together
Peter Cehlarik: 57:10 of ice time together
Marcus Johansson: 54:24 of ice time together

Even in Boston’s last game, way back on March 10 against the Flyers,  Coyle was the man in the middle of a hodgepodge — earning minutes on a line with both DeBrusk + Nick Ritchie (5:04 of 5v5 ice time) and DeBrusk + Kurly (4:25). 

If/when the Bruins do return to the ice, it seems like a given that Cassidy and his staff still have plenty of lineup shuffling to carry out in order to get the best of Boston’s roster — especially with Ritchie and Ondrej Kase also looking for more defined roles. 

As such, Coyle should expect more of the same in terms of logging minutes next to a slew of different skaters — whether it be down the stretch this season or potentially going into the 2020-21 campaign.

But as the South Shore skater continues to become more entrenched in Boston's system, Coyle admitted on Wednesday when speaking with the media that he feels as though he's taken another step forward in terms of consistently driving play and contributing for his club — regardless of who's on his line.



Even with the lack of consistent linemates, Coyle's reps were spiking around the time in the 2019-20 season paused. The 28-year-old forward opened the year averaging 15:06 of ice time through Boston's first 10 games (recording two assists during that stretch), but went on to average 18:34 of ice time in his last 10 games before the stoppage of play — notching two goals and four total points during that stretch.

Granted, some of those extra minutes might have been a byproduct of Cassidy easing the minutes of some of Boston's big guns like Patrice Bergeron and Krejci, but Coyle noted that he's felt his game has turned a corner after a bit of an up-and-down start this past fall.

"You always want more playing time," Coyle said via a Zoom conference call. "I'd say most guys, when they're playing more, they're playing better. ... If you're not playing penalty kill, power play, and you're sitting a lot during the game, it's hard to get into it — it's just that's just how it is. So when you're in the mix — sometimes you're out every other shift and back on the power play or the PK and you're in the game, we stay engaged in the game that helps — and it certainly helps my game.

"This year I'm still trying to learn the system here and getting that down pat. So that's coming natural, so I think as the season went on I got better at doing that and the break helped — physically and mentally and then coming back after that just feeling better about yourself and able to do the things that you want to do more consistently and be a better player. It just kind of all came together and I just tried to make the most of those opportunities that Bruce was giving me and that's all you can do at that point, I guess. But that was just my mindset and just to keep improving and keep getting better, especially heading into playoff time. You want to be playing at the top of your game and doing that. So that was just my mindset."

For as much as the pressure of regularly playing in front of a hometown crowd has sometimes tanked the tenures of other local products with the Bruins, Coyle views such a situation as a plus. More than anything, playing NHL hockey in the same area he grew up in has allowed Coyle to limit the number of distractions that can often sprout up when playing hundreds or thousands of miles from home.

"I feel very fortunate to be where I am right now. Right now it's just the little things — when I was playing Minnesota and you have a place out there, come home, you got to have a place here, where do you stay, you're trying to juggle two places and taking care of just those little things," Coyle said. "And now, I don't have to do that. I have one place. I can focus. I have all my belongings here. This is where I am now, is where I live. Kind of simplify things, I guess, which is really nice mentally.

"But it's just been awesome, from our run last year and all the excitement and learning and growing from the ups and downs we went through, and just becoming more mature and just keep becoming a better player. And then doing it in front of your friends and family is really special. And also it's allowed me to get a dog. So I'm really glad I have a dog right now, this whole quarantine, he's been keeping us pretty active and you know, chasing him around the house and all that. So I'm very fortunate to be able to do that."

These days, Coyle is doing what he can to prepare for a potential return later this summer. Aside from learning to cook more and watching episodes of "Ozark" from his apartment in Boston, Coyle has been focused on keeping his conditioning up – whether it be using his newly purchased Peloton, adhering to more bodyweight-focused workouts and even rollerblading in order to keep the rust from forming on his legs.

At this point, there's still no light at the end of the tunnel in terms of a potential return to hockey, or, from a wider viewpoint, a return to regular life as we know it. But on One Boston Day — observed annually to celebrate the resiliency and strength put forth by the city of Boston following the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013 — Coyle offered some encouragement to the city he has always called home.

"You see everyone come together, the city come together and it makes you very proud to be from this area and in Boston and just all the people and "Boston Strong" and that whole aspect is what makes you want to keep living by that. What we're going through now — another obstacle that we all have to kind of come together and do our part to get through this and get past this and overcome this," Coyle said. "So I think in these hard times, it helps it helps bring everyone together and work towards a common goal and we all know what that is right now.

"I'd love to get back to our normal lives and for me, obviously it's playing hockey and doing my job. But I know everyone else, it's the same thing. People who have been laid off and are scratching and clawing to provide for themselves and their family. You don't want to see that happen, that's where we're at right now. So it's just everyone helping each other and you see a lot of it right now and a lot of great people out there who are doing their part to help out. You see everyone come together during these tough times, so I think it's it's a lot about where we're from and the city of Boston as a whole."

Here are a few additional notes from Coyle’s conference call: 

Coyle on the 2019-20 season potentially resuming: 

“We've never been through anything like this. So it's kind of bizarre, it seems like everything's up in the air you don't really know what to expect. Obviously, we're going to try to finish this thing off and the league’s going to do everything in its power to do that and we'd love to, but what the format's gonna look like and what we can accomplish? I don't know. I'm asking the same questions you are and just wondering the same things and I hope that we can finish this thing off and do it the right way and do this same format as it would have been as best as possible.

“I think that would be ideal, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure what it's going to be like and what they're going to be able to do. I just hope we get back to it and pass this thing and everyone's healthy and that's first and foremost, obviously. But as far as the league goes and all that, I would love to finish this thing off. I know a lot of guys would love to as well and it would just be different playing all the way into you know, in the summertime and late summer and August. But that's where we're at. That's the cards we’re dealt. Right now, so we'll just see what they respond with when whenever they can, I guess.”

Coyle on potentially playing in arenas for no fans for the foreseeable future: 

“We've thought about that — just talking about it with whoever, teammates or friends, my parents. It's very bizarre to think about, playing a meaningful game with no fans in there. Knowing it's almost like a practice atmosphere. I don't know what it would be like, I’ve never played an NHL game where there was no one there. It'll be a new experience. If that's what it has to come down to, then yeah, that's what we got to do.

“I mean, a perfect scenario would be to have our fans in there and cheering us on because we love playing in front of these guys and they bring so much to our game and our team and just the atmosphere of it all, especially playoff time. And there's nothing like it — it just wouldn't be the same at all, you know. But I hope things can work out and we can get this thing figured out and then go back to being normal and living the normal lives and going to sporting events and different events and all that and big crowds. But yeah, if that's what it comes down to, then we have to adjust accordingly — but we'll definitely miss those guys and we’ll kind of lose a part of our atmosphere and our team.”