The Bruins have plenty of options - but few sound solutions - for their third D pair

Mike Reilly’s reaction was far from a surprise.

The puck-moving blueliner’s crisp first passes and assertive puck play — a highlight on just about every shift during his stellar, post-trade debut in Boston in 2021 — have been a bit tougher to come by during his first full campaign in a black-and-gold sweater. 

But was that dip enough to warrant an extended stretch out of the lineup? Not in Reilly’s eyes.

However, with Hampus Lindholm added to Boston’s D corps just a year later (etching his name into a top-four role in the process), Reilly, at the least in the short term, was going to lose out on the numbers game — eventually benched for three straight games as Bruce Cassidy and the Bruins looked to acclimate their new workhorse on the blue line.  

For as much as the Bruins regularly praise the returns that come with fostering competition within a team’s depth chart, it was only natural for Reilly to stew for being on the outside looking at steady reps for over a week. 

“There wasn't much conversation with us and exactly what you need to do to stay in,” Reilly said last week of his conversation with Cassidy regarding his scratched status. “But I feel like I'm a guy that should be an everyday guy. … But for me, it's just digging in and trying to be aggressive, getting on guys quick and taking away guys quick and I thought I was doing that kind of right before the trade deadline there a little bit, but just kind of keep doing what I'm doing.” 

As much as Reilly was none too thrilled with being the odd man out, Cassidy’s blue-line shuffle was easy to predict — especially with Boston needing to see what both Lindholm and Josh Brown could offer this D corps five weeks out from the postseason.

And even though you could make the case that another defenseman like Connor Clifton or Derek Forbort should have slotted out before Reilly, perhaps this three-game stretch of watching games from the ninth floor would light a fire under Reilly when his name was called once again for regular action.

That rationale was sound — with Boston likely envisioning that a talented playmaker in Reilly could land far more punches against easier matchups as a third-pairing regular, even if he was bumped to the right side next to Forbort.  

“Putting Mike on the right — it’s been left for most of this year — is going to be a challenge at times,” Cassidy said. “But if that’s the best six, if he’s on the right with Forbort, then we’re going to look at that."

It’s only been a few games, but Cassidy and the Bruins likely wish they could avert their eyes when it comes to this new third-pair configuration and the returns put forth.

For as much as you could discount Boston’s 5-3 loss to a cellar-dwelling Red Wings team on Tuesday as a sleepwalking showing from a banged-up club on the second leg of a back-to-back slate, Cassidy was quick to note that his club still regularly had jump in the offensive zone. 

Had it not been for a stout Alex Nedeljkovic between the pipes, the narrative could have been very different for a Bruins bunch that managed to land 50 shots on goal at Little Caesars Arena. 

The issue, in Cassidy’s mind, was shaky netminding (24 saves on 28 shots for Jeremy Swayman) and more puck mismanagement from the backend of Boston’s defensive unit.

And when it comes to parsing through the culprits from Tuesday’s letdown, it’s tough to ignore the contributions (or lack thereof) from the Forbort-Reilly duo. 

“Defensively we had some breakdowns in front of our net,” Cassidy noted. “We didn't defend hard enough, a couple of guys in the second period or third period that had a tough time — they got beat and they didn't manage the puck. In and out of the lineup, that doesn't help their cause to be honest with you. We expect better.”

Dylan Larkin’s tally with just 40 seconds to go in the first period might have stalled Boston’s momentum, but the subsequent frame saw Detroit fully turn the tides off of some brutal D-zone stretches from Boston’s blueliners. 

Boston’s early two-goal lead fully evaporated less than six minutes into the second, with Michael Rasmussen pouncing on a loose puck in front and jamming it past Swayman. It was a Grade-A look that could have been easily negated had Reilly managed to clear the biscuit out of Boston’s zone just seconds earlier. 

It was a tough look, but Reilly’s partner in Forbort didn’t look all that much better later in the second — with the stay-at-home skater caught flat-footed and unable to deter a charging Jakub Vrana in Boston's own end.

By the time Forbort could react, Vrana had already paid his toll and moved past the stationary defenseman, setting up Filip Zadina for a rush tally seconds later, giving Detroit its first lead of the evening. 

Hockey is a game of mistakes, and even the best D-men have rough nights at the office. But the Forbort-Reilly pairing have been downright unsightly in their limited amount of reps together — with opponents outscoring Boston, 5-0, and holding a 26-8 edge in scoring chances during their 38:42 of 5v5 ice time.

Far from ideal. 

Of course, Boston has plenty of other issues in need of addressing before the playoffs arrive — be it a recent influx of injuries (David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, Trent Frederic) or Swayman’s continued downward trend in net (.883 save percentage in last nine games).

And with both Clifton and Brown available as depth options, the Bruins have options to turn to if they need to switch out either Forbort or Reilly.

Still, when it comes to getting the most out of this six-man unit (if healthy), a third pairing of Forbort and Reilly presents a tantalizing blend of both PK acumen and O-zone talents that could be harnessed in a more sheltered role.

But with just a few weeks to go until the playoffs begin, the B’s are starting to run out of runway when it comes to seeing if this duo can live up to their potential.

Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, HockeyViz and JFreshHockey.