If the Boston Bruins are going to orchestrate another deep playoff run in 2020, there stands a good chance that the usual suspects like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask will play a major role in said success. But if this Original Six franchise plans on getting past clubs like Tampa Bay and punching their ticket back to the Stanley Cup Final within the next few seasons, it’s pretty evident that the next wave of talent on this roster is going to establish themselves as the next pillars of this franchise — and proving such with their on-ice contributions.
“That core group that’s here now grew into what they are because of their efforts and the culture created. We want that continuation to start at some point for the second layer, I thought it did last year,” Bruce Cassidy said. “Jake (DeBrusk) had a really good playoff his first year against Toronto, it’s a reason why we advanced, (Sean) Kuraly scored some big goals and now (Charlie) McAvoy, so you’re leaning on those guys to pull harder on the rope is what we’re going after. It’s as simple as that. We have a lot of trust and faith and our core guys are still carrying us, but it’s a full 20 guys and you need those other guys to step up sometimes.”
Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a look at a couple of younger players on this B’s roster that can (and likely have to) step up in a major way in 2020 — especially if Boston wants to keep its Cup-contention window open a little longer.
After projecting what could be Boston's top defensive pairing of the future on Monday, let's take a look at a young forward that could find himself yanked all over the lineup in 2020:
You can't say that Anders Bjork didn't do everything he could to extend the Bruins' season back on August 31st.
With Boston teetering on the brink of elimination in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal, Bjork — slotted next to Charlie Coyle's left on the B's third line — picked an awfully good time to put forth his best performance in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. His center might have led to the offensive charge with 10 shots on goal against Andrei Vasilevskiy, but Bjork and fellow linemate Jack Studnicka proved to the perfect offensive complement in what was a buzzsaw of a bottom-six unit in that decisive contest.
In his 18:30 of 5v5 ice time, Bjork attempted seven shots on goal — four of which made it to Vasilevskiy — while that revamped third line finished with an absurd 70% shot share. And yet, while Boston managed to hold a 17-7 edge in shots on goal and 13-6 advantage in scoring chances when the Coyle line was deployed in Game 5, none of those shots managed to slip past the Bolts' netminder and light the lamp — with Tampa eventually punching their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final by way of a Victor Hedman game-winner in double overtime.
Granted, a showing like that for both Bjork and Studnicka is awfully encouraging and gives both wingers a solid foundation to build off of going into the 2020-21 season.
But for Bjork, even with a three-year extension inked back in July, a set role in this B's lineup is still far from a given — at least not until the 24-year-old winger showcases a bit more finish in the offensive zone.
After having his previous two campaigns cut short due to major shoulder surgery, the 2019-20 season should be viewed as a success for Bjork, who remained with the big club for a majority of the year after spending a few weeks down in Providence in October. A crafty winger that primarily skated with Coyle this past year (383:31 of 5v5 TOI together), Bjork appeared in 58 games with Boston in 2019-20 — tallying nine goals and 19 points while averaging 12:56 of ice time per contest.
Given his age and the room for growth, signing Bjork to a three-year extension with a minimal annual cap hit of $1.6 million was a great move from Boston, especially if he settles into a more regular role with the B's in 2020-21 and beyond.
But where exactly is the winger best utilized on this roster? Ultimately, Boston may not have a set answer until Bjork starts burying more looks down low.
While Bjork was FAR from the lone culprit when it came to Boston's inability to consistently receive 5v5 scoring from its middle six in the playoffs, a lack of finish has been a worrying trend for the talented winger in the early stages of his career — with Bjork's expected goals for per 60 minutes rate at 1.99 during the regular season ranking as the fourth-lowest among the 16 total Bruins that logged at least 400 minutes of 5v5 ice time. (Only Joakim Nordstrom, Chris Wagner and Sean Kuraly had lower expected goal rates).
Granted, Bjork appeared to take his shortcomings to heart as the playoffs progressed — ranking second on the team in 5v5 scoring chances per 60 minutes during the postseason at 10.54 (David Pastrnak paced the pack with a SCF/60 rate of 11.93) and fifth in shots per 60 at 8.95. One would hope that upping the volume of shots should allow for more of those scoring bids to actually translate into points on the scoreboard — a development that Bruce Cassidy and the Bruins are hoping will take shape for Bjork as early as next season.
"I think it arose that we didn’t score enough five-on-five goals during the course of the Lightning series. That’s a concern," Cassidy said. "You can look at the breakdown of our team overall, where we fell short, five-on-five scoring was an area we needed a little more from the players as you identified. Production on the back end was another area. We have to address it. Do we think we have internal growth in the players you mentioned? Bjork was one of the players that probably had more primary scoring chances than several others five-on-five and failed to finish.
"At some point, he’s either going to have to score or be even better as a stronger checking forward and a penalty killing player. And that’s to be determined. Again, that’s his first playoff experience. You look back and you referenced David Pastrnak and the growth of that player way back when we played Ottawa, I think we all had similar conversations about where David Pastrnak was as a player. I think you’ve seen his growth and credit to David and the work that he’s done. Anders is going to have to continue to do that work and get better in all areas of his game."
Even if Boston doesn't go out and acquire a proven top-six forward in the coming months, it can be tough to pencil in exactly where Bjork will earn most of his reps in 2020. The Bruins' bottom-six should be pretty crowded at the start of next season, especially if youngsters like Studnicka join that pool (a pretty obvious likelihood at this point).
Even if he doesn't develop into a legitimate top-six scoring threat, Bjork's developing two-way game and pretty eye-opening transition numbers do signal that the Wisconsin native has the skillset to consistently thrive on a third line.
(Even if Bjork may not carry in the puck (49%) nearly as much as players like Pastrnak (64%), he did lead all Bruins skaters in terms of entries per 60 minutes this season — posting a rate of 25.80. Even if he isn’t directly carrying the puck into the O-zone at the same rate as a player like Pastrnak, Bjork’s ability to consistently enter the offensive zone, whether it be carrying it in, dumping it in, etc., makes him a very valuable asset that should only continue to improve once he continues to round out his overall game.)
Still, even if that portion of Boston's lineup might feature a glut of potential wingers vying to earn reps alongside Coyle, Bjork is a rather obvious choice — especially if Boston wants to give that line that flashed in Game 5 a more extended look going forward.
If Boston doesn't land a big fish via trades or free agency and Cassidy opts to bump a guy like Pastrnak down to the second line, Bjork could battle for top-line duties next to Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, given that a 63-37-10 line has generated a 4.02 goals for per 60 minutes rate during their brief time together. (For reference, the "Perfection Line" **ugh** has generated a goals for per 60 minutes rate of 3.63 over the last three seasons.)
And of course, if Boston is looking to cash in some assets this winter in search of a game-changer up front or on the blue line, a young forward possessing both an affordable contract and intriguing ceiling in Bjork could also be coveted by a number of teams across the league.
Over the past few seasons, the Bruins have often been hampered by relying far too much on younger players to shoulder the scoring burden that is unfairly placed upon the likes of Bergeron and Co. But at this point, regardless of the additional talent the B's bring in this offseason, Boston needs a winger like Bjork to start injecting more scoring bunch further down the lineup. The talent and metrics are all there. Now it's time to put it all together.
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick and Corey Sznajder.
