For the first time in over two weeks, the Bruins are set to take to the ice in a real game setting on Saturday afternoon.
And for the first time in … quite some time, Bruce Cassidy should have a full complement of forwards at his disposal.
Be it injuries or COVID-related complications, the Bruins have often had to reshuffle their forward corps night in and night out this season.
But with Charlie Coyle testing out of COVID protocols and returning to the ice on Friday morning, all 11 players that Boston had on the COVID shelf in the past two-plus weeks have officially been cleared and ready to roll for Boston’s new-year restart.
And with that flexibility now in play — and perhaps encouraged by the clean slate offered by this second-half stretch — Cassidy is set to roll out his most re-tooled forward configuration yet this season.
Here are the lines that the B’s went with on Friday at Warrior Ice Arena:
Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Hall-Haula-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Coyle-Foligno
Frederic-Nosek-Lazar
“I think maybe since the first day or second day of the season — early on anyways — this is the first time I think we've had that group of 12 forwards together,” Cassidy said. “I think Smitty went out fairly early, tried to play through some stuff. Foligno went out, obviously some COVID along the way, suspensions, so some different things happen.
“Now they're back and Charlie Coyle was the only one (out). I spoke with him this morning. Obviously he's got to get some reps under him, but he feels pretty good. So we decided to take a look at this knowing that there are some pieces that can slide back fairly easily.”
So what are the Bruins looking to get out of this re-tooled lineup?
Top line keeps on humming
Breaking up the 63-37-88 line has been a roster switcheroo that has been combed over and dissected for years and years.
And even though the optics of splitting up one of the top lines in hockey — and one of the few proven offensive conduits on this roster — might cause some consternation among a few fans, this shuffle sure seems like the safest bet when it comes to continued strong returns.
Because, as we’ve noted countless times before, it turns out that pretty much any line combination anchored by two all-world talents in Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand is still going to be pretty damn good.
In case you need a few examples in the past:
As such, putting Craig Smith next to those two sure seems like an effective avenue to take when it comes to maintaining a lethal top line — and getting Smith on a roll.
Since the 2020-21 season, Boston has outscored opponents, 8-2, in their 81:22 of 5v5 ice time in which all three of Marchand, Bergeron and Smith have been out on the ice together.
Still pretty damn good — especially for a line that has had only 48.4% of its faceoffs in the offensive zone.
Add in the fact that Pastrnak will still get heaps and heaps of reps next to Bergeron and Marchand on the top power-play unit, and this tweak sure seems like a no-brainer when it comes to attaining more scoring balance further down on the depth chart.
A rush-heavy second line
Even though Erik Haula’s statline this season (1 goal, 5 points over 25 games) sure doesn’t seem to paint the picture of a top-six center, Cassidy is hopeful that the pace that the UFA pickup provides could give that second line a different look, especially with two rush weapons in Pastrnak and Hall flanking him.
As talented as Hall is, his partnership with a puck-possession center like Coyle didn’t go as planned — with Boston getting outscored, 12-11, in the 236 5v5 minutes that the duo have logged together this season.
Haula is certainly no David Krejci, of course. But if he can push the puck through the neutral zone and send both Pastrnak/Hall off to the races, it sure seems like a potential solution when it comes to getting two key cogs rolling by playing to their strengths.
Is it a guarantee to work? Certainly not. But at this point, it can’t hurt, right? … Right?
“I think Taylor's always been that (rush threat) and rightfully so. When you have high-end speed like that, you can make things happen. You know, that's not a bad label,” Cassidy said. “He's good at it. Pasta has always been good on the rush. Like I said, he's learned to play a cycle game. When you play with a guy like Brad Marchand who can control the puck down low and hold people off, you're gonna have to learn and find your soft spots and then be part of that interchange, etc.
“So that's the part he's learned to do over the years that we're trying to get Taylor a little more involved with. He played with Krech last year and Krejci is more of a line-rush guy who was pretty good in the cycle too — just didn't see it as much because he made such good plays through the neutral zone. So at the end of the day, they will hopefully transition well.”
Secondary scoring on third line
Even though Coyle’s chemistry with Hall hasn’t yielded promising returns, it sure feels as though the Weymouth native is drawing the short end of the stick in this reshuffle.
All things considered, Coyle has arguably been Boston’s most consistent and effective forward outside of the top line — with the 29-year-old pivot on pace for 22 goals over the span of 82 games.
But with Cassidy searching for a different look between Hall and Pastrnak — and another center needed to drive play in the bottom-six grouping, it looks like such responsibility falls on Coyle’s shoulders.
“The Hall and Coyle didn't work out as well as we'd like. So doesn't mean we're gonna abandon it for good. It's still early in the season,” Cassidy said. “But at the same token, we need to try a few other things along the way here. The Coyle/DeBrusk partnership over the years at times has been good. So we're looking at that as well.
“Charlie's been really good for us. So maybe him back in his natural third line (spot) would give it even more balance. Again, we don't know until we get playing. But that's a little bit of what we're thinking."
In an ideal situation, Coyle would be entrenched in his 3C spot and driving play with a few wingers in need of more offensive traction like Foligno and DeBrusk (for however long he’s here). But that scenario only becomes really tenable if Boston has a top-six fixture in place down the middle that can get the most out of guys like Hall and Pastrnak.
As such, the top question mark here has to be Haula. And if he doesn’t pan out, the Bruins will likely need to look outside of the organization in order to find another piece that can balance out the rest of this lineup.
“Some of it is just about getting some guys going here,” Cassidy said. “I don't want to call this the second half, but a bit of a reset. There are some players there we moved around. Hopefully it helps their game to be with maybe different duos or whatnot.
“So we'll see how it plays out. Knowing that you can always go back to what you counted on before. But again, we're like everyone else — we're trying to build scoring throughout the lineup. Maybe this will get some guys jumpstarted."
Bruins to retire Willie O’Ree’s No. 22 jersey
The Bruins are set to give a hockey pioneer a long-overdue honor, as the club announced on Friday morning that it will retire Willie O'Ree’s No. 22 sweater on Jan. 18 — ahead of a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes at TD Garden.
O'Ree will become the 12th player to have his sweater honored by the Boston Bruins in franchise history, joining Lionel Hitchman (#3, 1934), Aubrey “Dit” Clapper (#5, 1947), Eddie Shore (#2, 1949), Milt Schmidt (#15, 1957), Bobby Orr (#4, 1979), Johnny Bucyk (#9, 1980), Phil Esposito (#7, 1987), Ray Bourque (#77, 2001), Terry O'Reilly (#24, 2002), Cam Neely (#8, 2004) and Rick Middleton (#16, 2018).
O’Ree’s ceremony was originally scheduled for last season (Feb. 18, 2021), but it was pushed back in order to honor the 86-year-old O’Ree in front of a full Garden crowd. The ceremony’s new date will fall on the anniversary of O'Ree's NHL debut as he first stepped onto NHL ice on Jan. 18, 1958.
O'Ree became the first Black player to compete in an NHL game when he dressed with the Bruins on that date 64 years ago. Despite being legally blind in one eye, O'Ree went on to play one more game that season and 43 during the 1960-61 season before being traded to the Canadiens. O'Ree closed out his NHL career with four goals and 10 assists.
The jersey retirement on January 18 will feature a pre-game ceremony beginning at 6:30 p.m., with doors opening to game ticket holders at 5 p.m.