Amid lofty expectations as David Krejci’s replacement, a finally healthy Charlie Coyle is making an impact

We’ve gone 16 games into the 2021-22 campaign, and Charlie Coyle still isn’t quite at 100 percent.

Granted, few individuals that willingly invite the punishment that comes with an 82-game gauntlet of NHL hockey are carrying on without their fair share of bumps and bruises already. 

But unlike previous years, Coyle’s current predicament is a refreshing change of pace for the 29-year-old pivot. 

Before he went under the knife this past summer to treat both an avulsion fracture in his left kneecap and a small tear of the patellar tendon, Coyle had battled through the nagging ailment over the course of multiple years. 

The Weymouth native managed to regularly remain in the lineup despite the malady, but you didn't need a medical degree to discern that something was hindering Coyle from performing at his expected capabilities.

Even with all of the pain management and other off-ice measures that kept Coyle on the ice during previous campaigns, his ceiling was still stunted until that long-overdue procedure was performed.

Now, close to five months removed from Coyle's knee surgery, there is still some rust that needs to be shaken loose. But for the first time in a long time, that restrictive cap on his offensive ceiling has been loosened.

“I'm still trying to get back to normalcy and get stronger,” Coyle said. “Before the season, I didn't do a lot of skating. So the strength is still (a work) in progress. I know there's definitely more, but that will come in time as the season goes on and I get more skating and take care of myself.”

Coyle’s current state should serve as great news for the Bruins.

Because if this is Coyle operating at, say 85-90% of his capabilities — and he’s still producing like this — then the Bruins may not have to fret as much about the current constitution of their top-six unit.

Even with the opportunities that come with being named Boston's second-line center, Coyle’s current role is oftentimes an unenviable designation. 

Most of it falls in line with his misfortune of being the player tasked with stepping into David Krejci’s shoes — and the expectations that come with replicating the playmaking prowess (and underrated 200-foot results) that the Czech pivot routinely put on display over his 15 years in a Bruins sweater.  

Of course, it’s not fair at all to draw parallels between Coyle and Krejci as far as their O-zone production.

Even with Taylor Hall situated to his left and Craig Smith/Nick Foligno slotted to his right, I don’t think any Bruins fan was expecting Coyle to suddenly operate at a 70-point pace this season.

Still, even though Coyle has only surpassed the 50-point threshold once in his 10-year career — you were kidding yourself if you thought the laboring Coyle that only potted six goals in 51 games last season was going to put together such a disheartening encore performance in 2021-22.

Because even though Coyle’s skating and speed still aren’t quite up to his standard yet, the South Shore product is still producing at a pretty healthy clip.

After scoring his sixth goal of the season during Wednesday’s win against the Sabres — matching last year’s scoring total in 35 fewer games — Coyle is now on track to score 31 goals and record 56 points over an 82-game pace.

Of course, not all of Coyle's tallies have followed the same script as his top-shelf snipe against Aaron Dell at KeyBank Center. He’s had the fortune of having a few biscuits bounce off of him and into twine — such as Jeff Petry’s clearing bid that clanged off his visor and resulted in one of the easiest (albeit, painful) goals of his pro career.

But regardless of the manner by which Coyle has lit the lamp so far this season, he’s passed the eye test as far as his coach is concerned— especially in terms of his aggressiveness in the offensive zone.

"I think Charlie's played pretty well, to be honest with you,” Bruce Cassidy said after Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Sabres. “A little bit under the radar. His numbers are good, he's shooting the puck. … He's starting to have confidence, which is good. It's what we've kind of asked out of him and make the plays when they're there but don't be afraid to be the finisher either. 

“He's attacking more. … Now he's taking some ownership of the goalscoring part. So I like Charlie's game and I'd bet he'd tell you his knee is better. Should be. He’s had surgery on it, it’s fixed. So that probably helps him mentally, that physically — he's a good spot. Now it's just playing the game.”

(So far this season, Coyle has been a bright spot on a Bruins team that has yet to generate a lot of tangible scoring chances at 5v5 play. When Coyle has been off the ice, Boston is generating an expected goals per 60 minutes rate of 2.35. When he's on the ice? 2.97. That's a pretty significant jump).

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Boston’s revamped second line — although you could make the argument that some of that has been the byproduct of early struggles for a banged-up Smith and passive play from Hall, rather than a complete indictment on Coyle.

And yet, while I’m sure we’ll hear plenty of rumors this winter surrounding names like Tomas Hertl or even Krejci himself, the narrative that Coyle isn’t making the most of his new top-six opportunity doesn’t seem to have much of a leg to stand on.

He won’t live up to Krejci’s lofty playmaking standards — and frankly, he was never asked to do so.

But a healthy and revitalized Coyle is still a very effective player and a key cog for this Bruins team. And to the benefit of both team and player, he could be getting better and better as the year rolls along. 

“From surgery and stuff, it's about doing the proper rehab,” Coyle said. “Of course, I was ready to go from the start. But there's still that healing aspect and the strength aspect — to get that back as well. So I'm still doing that stuff. And like I said, I think as I get to strengthen (my knee) more off the ice, on the ice, it's definitely gonna help and benefit my game, my teammates' game, and our team's game."