The Bruins' roster might look pretty different by the time the 2020-21 season commences, but the same (hopefully) won't be said about Boston's coaching staff.
Speaking during his annual end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, Cassidy noted that all of his assistant coaches — Jay Pandolfo, Joe Sacco and Kevin Dean — are all under contract next season, barring any job opportunities elsewhere. That continuity is a good sign for an organization looking to make the most of this dwindling Cup window, but each year is not always the same routine as far as what areas each coach is tasked with overseeing.
In past years, Cassidy — a playmaking defenseman during his playing career — has often had a major hand in shaping one of the top power-play units in the league. But next season, Cassidy might hand the keys to the man advantage over to Pandolfo — opting instead to get more involved with Boston's D corps in 2020.
"We try to every summer, tweak a little bit of assignments so guys don’t get stale," Cassidy said. "We’ll have discussions. … I need to get more involved with the D. It’s where my roots are in terms of the offensive side of things. I think there is more to give there. So that’ll be an adjustment. Is it time to hand over the power play to Jay, who's been involved in it for two years, and work on another area? We’re going to have those discussions.”
Granted, the defense is usually Dean's bread and butter when it comes to coaching responsibilities, but Cassidy plans on focusing on a very specific angle with his blue line — their offensive output.
For a Bruins team that has struggled for years now in terms of consistent offensive generation during 5v5 play, finding talented forwards capable of finishing plays next to David Krejci and Charlie Coyle will go a long way toward complementing the expected contributions from Patrice Bergeron's line and Boston's power play. But generating more offense from the blue line — even more shot volume — stands as another logical step toward giving this offense a much-needed shot in the arm.
There were many factors that led to Boston's downfall against the Lightning in five games up in Toronto — the absence of Tuukka Rask, lax defensive coverage, a furious Tampa forecheck, and much more.
But it's hard to build a lead against any club, especially one as loaded as the Bolts, when you only score three 5v5 goals during 5v5 play. (Tampa tallied 13 5v5 goals down the other end of the ice.)
(As you can see from Boston and Tampa's shot chart from the series, the Lightning managed to generate seven goals from outside of Grade-A ice — with shots from the point and high slot often tipped and deflected past Jaroslav Halak.)
It won't be a quick fix, but Cassidy believes that Boston has the personnel available (and willing) to augment their approach on the blue line, at least on the offensive side of things.
"It’s a skill to get a puck through to the net," Cassidy said. "And that’s where we have to be next year, better. And we have to involve more of that. I guess when I first took over, I thought we needed to attack more, have that attack-oriented – I thought it worked well for us. Now we have to find a balance. It’s not like this was a revelation yesterday. It has been something we’ve been building in. And then you have to have the skillset to get a shot through. I think it’s one of the most underrated skillsets in the National Hockey League, is a defenseman’s ability to walk the blue line laterally and find a stick, get a puck through in time. Whether that is a half slapper, wrister, if you have time for a slap shot, to create offense. Obviously joining the rush. When D join the rush and it breaks down, there is probably something coming back at you."
Getting more of your defense involved on offense doesn't necessarily require your blueliners activating and jumping headfirst into the play, however. Sometimes, all it takes to generate quality looks is just ramping up shot volume from the blue line — with clear shooting lanes (and crowded creases) leading to tips, deflections or at the very least, rebound bids.
(Brandon Carlo's shot attempt here might be from a low-danger area, but with a clear lane in front of him, it was worth a shot to fire one in against Andrei Vasilevskiy, especially with David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle handing out in front. Sure enough, Coyle was able to deflect the shot past Tampa's netminder to open the scoring in Game 1).
But generating shots up high has often not been the M.O. of this Bruins offense. In total, there were 197 defensemen in the NHL that logged at least 500 minutes of 5v5 ice time this season.
Boston's five regulars on the blue line in Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo and Zdeno Chara ranked 59th, 86th, 88th, 100th and 117th, respectively, in individual shot attempts along that large pool of skaters. A potential top pairing of Grzelcyk-McAvoy could give that duo more freedom to operate in the O-zone and earn more favorable starts on the ice, especially if regularly skating with one of Boston's top-six forward trios.
Of course, finding a suitable replacement for Krug if he departs in free agency stands as another issue, one that could open the door for Boston to bring in a large, more defensive-oriented body back there to account for some of the concessions given up in Boston's own zone if Cassidy insists on his blueliners firing away next season.
Regardless of the personnel changes made to the D corps, expect Boston's overall method of attack in the offensive zone to look drastically different from the forecheck, cycle-heavy style we've seen for years now when the 2020-21 season finally does get underway.
"The offensive zone part, we’re going to look long and hard on it," Cassidy said, adding, "It’s on me to make sure I get more involved in that next year. I enjoy doing it but then you may have to pass on another part area of responsibility because some of that work is done after practice with the certain groups. So, those are the things we’re going to discuss. It cost us I think in this playoffs series. It’s out there. We need to be better at it. Does that mean we change the personnel on the blue line to better do that?
"If we do, does it mean we lose something in our own end because some of the times when you do that, your group is smaller. So, those are all questions ... do we want to sacrifice defense to gain a little more offense and how much? And I think that is where we’re out right now with how we can be better five-on-five."
Bergeron still dealing with nagging groin injury
When Cassidy went through the long list of injuries and ailments that his club was dealing with during the postseason, the inclusion of Patrice Bergeron didn't come as much of a surprise — given that the 35-year-old center has racked up plenty of miles (and sustained an awful lot of damage) over his 16-year NHL career.
Even though Bergeron managed to play in all 10 games against Carolina and Tampa Bay up in the bubble, it was pretty clear that he was once again being plagued by something — given that he was handed maintenance days during otherwise full practice sessions up in Toronto. Speaking on Thursday, Bergeron admitted that the issue was, in what has been an annual ailment for him, a nagging groin injury.
Speaking at the start of the 2019-20 season, Bergeron noted that he received a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) shot back in July 2019 in an effort to solve the issue — avoiding surgery after going under the knife during both the 2017 and 2018 offseason. But Thursday's news further reinforces the case that this is just going to be an injury that the forward is going to have to deal with for the foreseeable future. Cassidy noted that none of the Bruins should have to undergo surgery this offseason, but Bergeron did add that the uncertainty of the upcoming months could throw a wrench on how he approaches treatment.
"Nothing has changed," Bergeron said of the injury reoccurring over the years. "So, it’s kind of lingering issues and chronic issues – it’s on and off and comes in and out. I’m going to have to take some time off for that, just make sure it’s back feeling good. I know it’s obviously the same song and dance that I’ve been telling you guys for a few years. That being said, to me, it’s tough when you don’t have a date in front of you. Usually you know training camp is September 12th or September 14th usually. And you can kind of plan your summer or your offseason that way. Right now, since there is a lot of unknown, I think there will be rest and then try to play it by ear.
"Try to talk to some people to have a feel for when we could start and plan an offseason program and a training program based on what I’m hearing and making sure I’m feeling good and ready to go whenever called upon. It is definitely different. Not as easy to plan because if you do have three months, it’s one thing. But if you have four or five months and you kind of add to that, it’s kind of harder to make sure you’re at your peak when needed. I think it’s – we’re all in the same boat. I feel like I’ve been able to manage the last – the uncertainty of the playoffs and getting ready for that, well. So I’m not expecting anything else for this offseason I guess going forward."
Wagner dealt with irregular heartbeat during playoffs
While most of the injuries Cassidy reported on were to be expected after a few weeks of physical, playoff hockey, he did add that Chris Wagner — who didn't play in Game 5 against Tampa Bay — was absent due to a "different animal" from the usual bumps and bruises.
Speaking on Friday, Wagner confirmed that the reason he missed Boston's final game of the postseason on Monday was due to an irregular heartbeat — which first appeared during Game 4 against the Bolts.
"My heart rate was kind of pounding," Wagner said. "I’m usually pretty good about recovering on the bench. Kind of knew something was up and kind of played through the second with the racing heart beat and started to get some tests done in between the second and third. We ended up figuring out, long story short, that I went in the A-Fib and had an irregular heartbeat, which I never had before. Then I had to go the hospital. And then once you go to the hospital, you leave the bubble and you have to quarantine for four days.
"So, I was quarantined for game five...At this moment, we don’t think there are going to be long-term effects. Obviously, I’m going to get some more tests done next week. But, I guess it’s pretty common with athletes and it could be a one-time thing as well. Probably the best heart problem to have I guess, you could say that."
Wagner, who noted that he has not dealt with heart issues in the past, will be hoping for a quick recovery — and another shot at a Cup next season with this club.
"There’s a lot of things you can’t control," Wagner said of this season. "And even when you think you have control, you don’t. I think a lot of people learned that in life in the past seven months or so. And then you just have to be adaptable. Obviously, the bubble wasn’t perfect but we were still able to compete and play games and we have a job. So, a plus that way. Happy we were able to do that. But at the same time, I think we’re still hungry."
Krug reflects
At the end of his extended Zoom call with us on Thursday morning — after touching on his time with Boston and (likely) uncertain future going into this offseason — Torey Krug offered a heartfelt reflection on both his tenure with the Bruins and his repeated interactions with the local media over the years.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve done here in Boston over the years and being part of that core group, guys have come and gone,” Krug said. “I’ve managed to stay for, what is it, eight years now? And very happy that I was part of it. Hopefully it continues and hopefully I still am and that’s just the situation that’s here. That’s all I got.
“I appreciate all you guys, all the questions over the years, good and bad. Your professionalism – hopefully I’ll be seeing you soon at the rinks and if not, I’ll see you elsewhere. But I appreciate you guys. Everyone that’s here in the chat that I’ve seen in person over the years, and I really appreciate everything. So, thank you.”
Regardless of your stance on Krug’s game and the pros/cons of the defenseman re-upping with Boston for the foreseeable future, the undrafted free agent has been a consummate pro since arriving in town. If he heads elsewhere, he'll certainly be missed — by his teammates, fans and certainly all of us in the B's media corps.
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, Sean Tierney and HockeyViz.