NHL Notebook: 9 early takeaways from Bruins’ first week of regular-season action

It took longer than we all likely wanted, but the Bruins have officially logged a full week of regular-season action — with three games under their belt against the Stars, Flyers and Sabres. Given all of the moving pieces on this roster — here are nine takeaways from the B’s first stretch of games on the 2021-22 docket.

Grzelcyk-McAvoy sticking together

Last week, when we were running through our bold predictions for the 2021-22 Bruins, one of the easiest calls for me was the inevitable reunion of Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk on Boston’s top defensive pairing. Despite starting the season next to Derek Forbort, I had McAvoy logging regular shifts with his BU buddy in Grzelcyk by November.

Well, turns out that Cassidy beat my call by a couple of weeks.

Despite rolling with Forbort-McAvoy to open the season last Saturday against Dallas, the B’s have deployed a Grzelcyk-McAvoy duo in each of the last two games — keeping the puck-moving pair together in order to maximize the O-zone production when the Bergeron line is out for a shift.

The results have been as expected. 

In Grzelcyk-McAvoy’s 33:19 of 5v5 ice time together, the Bruins have outscored opponents, 3-0, while holding a 20-8 edge in shots on goal. 

Of course, some of those metrics are buoyed by that pairing earning plenty of O-zone starts (70.37% Off. Zone faceoff percentage) and reps with Bergeron and Co., but given their impressive production over a much larger sample size last season (outscoring opponents, 20-7, in 339:43), I think it’s safe to pencil them in as a proven 5v5 buzzsaw regardless of the personnel around them.

Against heavier opponents (Washington, for example), I wouldn’t be surprised if Cassidy swaps Grzelcyk and Forbort again in order to limit the amount of punishment coming Grzelcyk’s way. But don’t expect this D corps to be rigid at all in terms of pairings. If Boston believes it has a matchup it can exploit in the O-zone, Grzelcyk-McAvoy is getting the call. 

Nosek offering tremendous value already 

Linus Ullmark might have been the star of Boston’s 4-1 victory over Buffalo on Friday, but if you’re looking for the most impressive UFA pickup so far for the B’s — it has to be Tomas Nosek, right? 

Signed as a north-south skater tasked with driving what was a rudderless B’s checking unit last season, Nosek has been as advertised as a bottom-six stalwart — throwing his weight around the forecheck, hovering around Grade-A ice and stringing together effective shifts on a revamped PK unit. 

So far, the returns have been promising for Nosek as the man in the middle of fourth line next to Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman — with Boston holding a 10-6 edge in shots on goal and a 1-0 edge in goals scored in their 16:18 of 5v5 ice time. But Nosek’s versatility when it comes to either moving to the wing or driving a line with top-six wingers in tow has already been utilized by Cassidy. 

Entering Friday’s matchup against the Sabres as the right wing on Erik Haula’s line, Nosek was eventually handed a top-six promotion — centering Boston’s second line between both Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle. 

He may not be the flashiest pivot, but Nosek’s north-south game yielded rests on that second line — with the 29-year-old forward potting his first goal as a Bruin on Friday off of a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with his wingers. 

In a perfect situation, the Bruins would likely want Nosek to remain on that fourth line to exploit matchups and draw more out of younger players like Frederic. But with the slew of injuries impacting Boston in the middle-six grouping, having a Swiss Army Knife like Nosek is already coming in handy. 

“I’ve liked Nosek’s game,” Cassidy said. “His ability to make plays in tight areas. I think he’s a pretty direct, north-south player. I think wingers, when you have some high-end skill, sometimes that’s a better fit for them. I know that Bergy has really complemented Marchand and Pasta because that’s the way he plays and Nosek does play in a straight line. So maybe they’ll find their game a little easier that way than overpassing.” 

Injuries have a toll on promising lines

After six games of preseason action, Bruce Cassidy was adamant about wanting to keep his forward lines intact for an extended stretch to open the year — even with the occasional poor showing along the way. 

Given the number of newcomers on the roster, building some chemistry was going to be paramount on a re-shuffled forward corps and blue line. And frankly, Cassidy saw no reason to tinker with his combinations after some solid early returns. 

A second line of Hall-Coyle-Smith only logged one game of preseason action together, but looked like a puck-dominant unit with an elite talent in Hall driving play — while the reassembled third line of Jake DeBrusk, Erik Haula and Nick Foligno impressed with its pace and second-effort capabilities. 

And then … the regular season got underway. And the inevitable sting of the injury bug followed shortly thereafter. 

With Nick Foligno expected to miss his second straight game on Sunday afternoon with an upper-body injury, the third line has spent most of the last few periods of action chasing the play — with Boston getting outscored, 2-1, during DeBrusk + Haula’s 36:25 of 5v5 ice time this year. 

And even though Smith has not been ruled out quite yet for Sunday, the veteran winger is clearly battling something. After getting a maintenance day on Thursday, Smith still managed to suit up against the Sabres but was absolutely ragdolled as far as puck-possession metrics are concerned — with Buffalo holding an absurd 27-2 edge in shot attempts in just 10:46 of 5v5 ice time when Smith was out on a shift. Yeeeeesh. 

“Smitty wasn’t 100 percent throughout the game,” Cassidy said. “I just felt like he was off a little bit. I think he’s dealing with a bit of a nagging injury that we’re trying to work through.”

Even though Boston doesn’t necessarily have a clear-cut replacement for Smith on the wing (besides Coyle), the prudent move might be for Boston to rest Smith now and let him lick his wounds, rather than trot him out at this current state. 

Not only is a healthy (and effective) Smith essential to Boston's efforts of consistently generating even strength offense, a temporary stint on the shelf could open the door for Boston to explore some talent down in the AHL. 

Jack Studnicka’s time might be now

With both Foligno and Anton Blidh already ruled out of Sunday’s matinee with San Jose and Smith tabbed as a question mark, Cassidy noted that Jack Studnicka would likely earn a call up from Providence and make his season debut. 

If Boston plans to keep Coyle at right wing for the time being (more on that in a minute), Studnicka could be given the keys to that 2C spot between Hall and Coyle — giving the 22-year-old pivot a prime opportunity to showcase his O-zone potential.

But if the B’s are comfortable with Nosek serving as a short-term replacement for now, Studnicka could very well cut his teeth on the third or fourth lines — potentially serving as a speedy play-driver between Frederic and Kuhlman. 

So far, it seems like all options are on the table for Cassidy and Co. 

“He is a right shot and again, if we’re going to move people around — he might play center or wing. We’re not sure," Cassidy said. "Like I said before, we might keep him at center. That might push Freddy over, but at the end of the day — he’s a guy that left here probably the most deserving. So if that’s the route we’re going to go, I think he’d certainly be a guy that’s earned it. And he’s played well there too.”

Jack Studnicka — fourth-line pivot — may not be all that flashy of a role for a prospect with his playmaking capabilities, but Cassidy pushed back on the notion that Studnicka (who has posted two points over four games with Providence) would have to augment his play style depending on which line he slotted in on. 

“His role is he needs to play good, two-way hockey, no matter what. I mean, we’re not going to ask him to be a physical presence all of the sudden," Cassidy said of Studnicka. "Be hard on pucks, play a 200-foot game and add a little tenacity to our lineup in terms of puck pursuit, second effort — he was good at that. He created some offense for us playing with two guys in Lauko and Froden that are down in Providence. Whether he plays with Freddy or Kuhly or moves up on the wing, he shouldn’t walk through the door and think, 'Well I gotta play this game now or that game.' He should just play his game, which is he was hard on pucks, he was playing in straight lines, making simple plays, getting to the net, complementing whoever he was with."

Could Coyle on the wing work? 

Much like the scenario of Nosek getting bumped up to the second or third line, Boston moving Coyle to the wing instead of his normal spot at center … isn’t exactly what the B’s mapped out this preseason when it came to assembling this lineup.

But after a bit of an alarming start in which opponents lit the lamp three times against a Hall-Coyle-Smith line in just 24:28 of ice time, the B’s reversed course in a hurry by trotting out that Hall-Nosek-Coyle line during Friday’s win over the Sabres. 

Whether it be Nosek’s straight-line influence or freeing Coyle up to operate more freely on the wing, that unorthodox combo worked at KeyBank Center, with Nosek scoring and Boston holding a 4-2 edge in high-danger scoring chances during their shifts together.

But be it Nosek or potentially Studnicka, Cassidy hinted that giving Coyle some more reps at the wing could be beneficial for all parties — whether that be giving Studnicka a well-deserved tryout in that spot or allowing Coyle to build some momentum on the scoresheet as opposed to focusing on some of the added defensive responsibilities that come with centering a line. 

Coyle may not have any objections, considering he recorded a three-point game on Friday — the first time he hit such a scoring total in a single game since November 2019. 

“Well, it was our intention, we’ve said it from day one, for him to be our centericeman. But it’s whatever works for the team and him,” Cassidy said of Coyle switching to wing. “Found a little more offense on the wing yesterday. Whether that lasts? I don’t know. I think it’s an easy switch back and forth. Does that allow Jack Stundicka to play a little more of his natural position if we go that route? Or Freddy? … That’s one thing about moving Charlie to the wing.

“So it’s something we’ll talk about internally and make sure we discuss it with him, but again, he’s up in the lineup and we want to get some offense going from his game and if more comes from the wing, then that’s what we’ll do from now and then kind of work it out as we go along.”

Goalie rotation rolling along as planned

Despite Jeremy Swayman looking mortal in net on Wednesday against the Flyers (five goals allowed on 24 shots), the Bruins have been pleased in the early going with how their new-look tandem in net has fared.

Even with that rough outing for Swayman (an inevitable fate for any young goalie in the NHL, even one as talented as him) and a slow start for Ullmark in the preseason, Cassidy and his club haven’t deviated with their plan of allocating both goalies close to the same amount of reps through the first month of the season. 

And considering that both netminders turned in strong performances as well (Swayman vs. Dallas on Oct. 16 / Ullmark vs. Buffalo on Friday), expect that 50/50 split to continue for the time being. 

“Listen, could we have alternated them? Here we are — Game 4, and they’re each going to have played two games,” Cassidy said after announcing Ullmark as the starter for Sunday. “We knew that there would be some level of parity with them until they kind of got going and see how it played out. 

“But he deserves to go back in, he’ll get back in and we’ve got a back-to-back (next week), so each will play on Wednesday or Thursday … and there you’ll have it. We’ll have the month of October and probably four starts to three, which is probably not that far off from what we originally scripted.”

The goals are coming on the top line 

Well, no surprise here — the B’s top trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak is still very, very, very good. 

However, given their playmaking potential and two-way acumen, the fact that the B’s top line has only outscored opponents by a slim 2-1 margin over their 32:55 of 5v5 ice time might surprise those expecting this grouping to put together some lopsided totals.

Well, the tangible goals perhaps haven’t been there quite yet, but when factoring in just about every other metric — those goals are going to come … in bunches, most likely.

Despite playing in just three games, the Bergeron line ranks eighth overall in the NHL in expected goals at 2.4 — with Boston holding a 10-0 edge in high-danger scoring chances over that same 32:55. 

Sure, the Bruins have a lot of juggling to do further down in the lineup, especially due to this recent stretch of injuries. But much to Cassidy’s delight, he once again won’t have to spend much time fretting over the play of his big guns in the middle. 

Power play struggling

Boston’s man advantage finally got on the board Friday off of Charlie Coyle’s power-play tally — but an expected strength of this B’s club has still been severely lacking through the first three games of this season.

Granted, they haven’t received a whole lot of opportunities out of the gate (just 1-for-6 on the year), but the Bruins are the only club in the league that has to generate a single high-danger scoring chance in their 10:09 of power-play TOI this season.

Given the personnel on that PP1, it’s a safe assumption that the B’s will eventually break through on the power play — but so far, the execution on that group has been lacking. 

B’s not out of the woods with wonky schedule

After a brutal start to the season in which Boston played a whopping … one game … over the first eight days of the 2021-22 NHL season, things do appear to be ramping up for Boston — with the B’s set to take part in four games this week on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. 

That’s all well and good for hockey-starved fans in Boston, but expect a few more serious gaps in the schedule — and that’s long before what should be a three-week break around the time of the 2022 Olympics. 

After this 3-in-4 slate this week, the B’s have another four-day break until their next home game on Nov. 4 — and a FIVE-DAY break is also on tap from Nov. 15-19. 

Boston might be out of the worst of it with that brutally slow start, but there’s still plenty of other stop-and-go segments ahead before the B’s really start to ramp things up going into the holiday season. 

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Look out for the Florida Panthers. We expected Joel Quenneville’s club to be a force in the Atlantic this season, but they’ve been a wagon out of the gate — posting a 5-0-0 record with wins over the Penguins, Islanders, Lightning, Avalanche and Flyers. Perhaps the most surprising development with Florida? Sergei Bobrovsky actually looks … good? (4-0, .942 save percentage).

The Habs have been downright dreadful this season (1-5-0, -10 goal differential), but if we’re looking at the true disappointment up north — it has to be the Maple Leafs, right? After yet another crushing playoff exit last season, the pressure is on for Toronto to right the ship in short order — but with stars like Auston Matthews (0 points in three games) and Mitch Marner (0 goals, 1 assist in 6 games) struggling, the Leafs are just 2-3-1 to open the year with a -7 goal differential. Yikes.

If we’re looking for the most surprising team in the NHL so far, it has to be the Penguins, right? Despite missing guys like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and now Jeff Carter and Kris Letang due to injury/COVID protocols, this rag-tag roster has been dicing up the competition — including a 7-1 win over Toronto on Saturday. Through five games this season, Pittsburgh has benefited from 14 different goal scorers — including old friend Danton Heinen (3 goals, 5 points in 5 games). 

Meanwhile, the Kraken's barn looks fantastic ...