Barring any moves on the trade market, the Bruins' options when it comes to filling in the void left by Torey Krug's departure seem to be dwindling by the day.
While Boston still boasts plenty of young talent on its blue line in the form of Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk (an RFA), you might be sizing up the state of this D corps through some rose-colored glasses to think this defense — in its current state — can comfortably replicate its stout showing from the 2019-20 season (2.39 goals against per game).
Even if Zdeno Chara returns in a lesser role and Kevan Miller manages to remain healthy and give you some of the hard-nosed play that's been a staple of his game, Boston is still now missing a legitimate top-four option— a steady, dependable option that Bruce Cassidy and his staff can comfortably roll out for 18+ minutes a night going forward.
But so far this offseason, Boston has sat back as a couple of intriguing options have moved across the league. On the free-agent front, the B's were never players for Alex Pietrangelo, who inked a seven-year, $61.6 million contract with the Golden Knights on Monday. But dependable (or, at the very least, intriguing) left-shot D have also been taken off the board in the last few days, whether it be the steady T.J. Brodie (four years, $20 million with Toronto) or offensive dynamo Erik Gustafsson (a bargain one-year, $3-million contract with Philadelphia). Even on the trade front, the Canucks snagged Nate Schmidt from a cap-strapped Vegas for the steep price of ... a 2022 third-round pick? Sheesh.
So, where exactly does that leave the Bruins, who still are missing — at the very least — a top-four D. Sure, there is plenty of time still for Don Sweeney and his staff to swing a trade if one is out there (likely sacrificing forward assets in the process), but could this B's club, either due to cap constrictions or just pure belief in their prospect pipeline, actually turn to a rookie when it comes to plugging in one of those vacancies on the blue line?
Sweeney didn't exactly rule out such a move when speaking with the media on Saturday:
"We feel that we have some young players, not unlike a few years ago where (Brandon) Carlo came on to the scene," Sweeney said. "Did we absolutely know that Brandon was going to be able to go in and play the amount of minutes right out of the gate? Nope. But we felt comfortable that we were going to give him that opportunity, and felt we could insulate it. Charlie and Brandon now have been in this league and have had a tremendous amount of success. Can they carry a younger player? Is Grizz ready for an elevated role? Some of that is to be determined.
"(Urho) Vaakanainen, (Jakub) Zboril, John Moore and the collection of the group is what it is at this stage, while I continue to explore external options and it might be by committee in some of those situations. And it think some of the younger players are excited. And Zdeno is part of that equation. We’ll continue to have the conversations with his group and allow him the latitude to make those decisions accordingly."
When it comes to a "youth movement", the Bruins already boast a number of younger players on the back end of their D corps still looking to carve out defined roles, with the likes of Jeremy Lauzon and Connor Clifton likely battling with Miller (if healthy) and Chara (if he actually re-signs for 2020-21) for regular reps on a third pairing going forward.
But if Boston plans on deploying another youngster on the blue line for regular reps in 2020-21, who could they turn to?
Jakub Zboril
Age: 23
Height: 6-0
Weight: 195 pounds
2019-20 stats (AHL): 58 GP, 3 goals, 16 assists, +20 rating
Yes, we know. We know.
Whenever Zboril's name is brought up, it often leads to a chorus of consternation from Bruins fans — given Zboril's status as a first-round pick during that 2015 NHL Draft that continues to cast a dark cloud over this franchise years later. And while Zboril's development curve hasn't been as steep as some of his fellow draftees from that loaded class, the book is not closed on the Czech product when it comes to his viability as an everyday NHLer going forward.
Regarded as Boston's safest pick out of its first three during the 2015 Draft, Zboril will likely never be the top-pairing, two-way option that many scouts projected he would be upon evaluating him during his time with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. But even if that ceiling isn't reached and his production down in Providence may not jump off the page (19 points in 58 games), Zboril drew rave reviews from his head coach back in May when it came to assessing the current state of his game.
This could also be a do-or-die season for Zboril, given that he would have to be exposed to waivers if he doesn't crack the NHL roster out of training camp in December or January.
Urho Vaakanainen
Age: 21
Height: 6-1
Weight: 190
2019-20 stats (AHL): 54 GP, 5 goals, 9 assists, +18 rating
At one point, it looked as though it was only a matter of time before Vaakanainen seized a top-four role on this club, with the B's 2017 first-round pick seeing his stock soar after continued strong play overseas and a Gold Medal in the 2018 World Juniors Championships.
But injures marred the end of the 2017-18 campaign for Vaakanainen, with the Finnish skater also drawing the ire of Cassidy at times during NHL callups and the 2019 preseason for his poor practice habits and disengaged play.
"I saw a guy that didn’t practice well last year, to be honest with you," Cassidy said of Vaakanainen back in November 2019. "He needed to turn up the urgency at the NHL level. Practices are half-hour, 40 minutes. This is not abnormal for young guys … Maybe the first 20 minutes, they get warmed up, whereas that’s expected of them to get warmed up on their own and be ready to go when the puck drops so we can get our work done and get out of here. I’ve heard that there’s been improvement. Today, he looked fine in practice, so he seems to have picked that part up.”
