New Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery made an appearance on WEEI’s “Gresh & Keefe” Tuesday as part of the Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon — with the bench boss shedding a bit more light on his plans for Boston’s lineup this fall and the potential for a youngster like Fabian Lysell to crack the NHL roster.
Let’s parse through a few highlights from his 10-minute radio spot and map out just how valid some of his early musings regarding Boston’s depth chart are.
Pavel Zacha expected to round out top-six unit
After noting in an interview with The Boston Herald over the weekend that he planned on sticking David Pastrnak with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk with Patrice Bergeron — Montgomery echoed a similar sentiment on Tuesday, stating that keeping the two Czech forwards in Pastrnak/Krejci together can create a matchup nightmare for the opposition.
Of course, given the lengthy track record that Pastrnak and Bergeron have compiled in the O-zone, Montgomery left the door ajar for the 63-37-88 line to earn some reps if necessary (at least, after Brad Marchand returns from injury). But with DeBrusk thriving down the stretch last season on the right side next to Bergeron, the B’s now have the luxury of pushing a 40+ goal scorer in Pastrnak a bit further down the lineup.
"I think when you have two really good centers like Krejci and Bergeron — as a coach, it gives you a lot of weapons on how to manipulate your lineup to get matchups the way you want to against other teams,” Montgomery said. “Everybody wants to play with Pasta, everybody wants to play with Marchy too. And those two guys, the message is going to be — you're gonna get an opportunity to play with some elite wingers. It's up to you guys to dictate how those lines go.
“If we're having success, I'm not just switching lines. But inevitably, over 82 games, things get stale and people are going to rotate. Pasta is going to play with Bergy, he's going to play with Krejci. Probably start the year with Krejci."
Of course, even if Montgomery appears ready to set the foundation in the top six with a Bergeron+DeBrusk / Krejci+Pastrnak partnership, there still is the void on the left side — at least for the first two months of the year while Marchand is on the mend from hip surgery.
And even though Taylor Hall could be an intriguing option next to Bergeron and DeBrusk, it seems as though Montgomery wants to give Pavel Zacha the first crack at the 1LW role. It’s quite the spot to hand Boston’s new trade pickup, but Montgomery’s reasoning falls in line with our weekend piece on Boston’s lineup — if you want to see what a still-unproven asset in Zacha has, why not learn right off the bat with some heavy minutes next to a future Hall of Famer?
“Bringing in a really good player in Pavel Zacha — introducing him to the Bruins way,” Montgomery said. I think an opportunity to start camp with Patrice Bergeron and learning how to compete and how to play the right way — I mean, he does it already. I mean, that's why we went got him, right? He's a talented hockey player that's produced at the NHL level. Now here's an opportunity to play with one of the best players in the league. So learn the Bruin way.”
As for Hall, Montgomery – like many others — pointed to the sterling production that Krejci and Hall generated during those three months together in 2021 as reason alone to keep them on the same line during camp this fall.
“Taylor Hall had such a great year when Krejci was the center," Montgomery said. "Krejci is a really dynamic centerman through the neutral zone, which allows Taylor Hall to get his feet going, which is gonna allow him to put pucks to space on in to allow him to score off the rush. So that's the way I see it initially. But again, let's see how the chemistry works on ice and see who works the best and we'll flip things around untill we find the right chemistry spark."
Lysell will get a shot during camp
There aren’t a whole lot of ways in which one can draw a silver lining out of Boston’s current injury woes — in which the B’s are set to trudge through at least the first month or so of the 2022-23 campaign without Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk.
But Montgomery did his best to offer some optimism, noting that he could have “two teams” on his hands when it comes to the high-end reinforcements that could arrive in the winter.
“Initially we're going to try and set the groundwork that's going to enable us to really fly once we get Marchand, Mac and Grizzy — Grizzy is going to not be out as long is what I'm hearing, as the other two, thankfully,” Montgomery said. “But those are three important nucleus players that have played a lot important minutes for the Bruins over the last five years.
"So moving forward after they get back — who's going to be able to eat some minutes, they're going to be important minutes. Whether it's first-line minutes, first power-play minutes, third-line minutes, that's going to give those people the confidence to have an impact every night when we do get Marchy and Mac back.”
Zacha stands as an obvious candidate when it comes to the type of player that Montgomery hopes will thrive in those early months, but he also left the door open for Fabian Lysell to push for a spot on the roster if he answers the call during the preseason.
Yes, the odds are likely stacked against the 19-year-old prospect, especially given the obvious need for him to tack some muscle onto his 5-foot-10 frame. But if Lysell’s elite skating and playmaking talents are enough to counter those early physical limitations, it doesn’t seem like Montgomery and the B’s are going to hold him back.
“This gives an opportunity. Like if Marchy's here, he probably doesn't have an opportunity, right,” Montgomery said of Lysell. “If he's gonna play in the NHL, he needs to play in the top six — get an opportunity to play with one of our elite centers and an opportunity to get the puck in places where he can do some damage. So if he has a great camp, he's going to get that opportunity. That's the great thing about the injury to Marchy is it opens up the door. Now he's got a knock through that door and that opportunity comes — you earn your way into the NHL.”
No surprises in net
As for Boston’s goalie rotation, Montgomery expects the Bruins to follow a similar workload as last year when it comes to reps for both Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. While it’s still up in the air in terms of who the starter with be on Opening Night, the B’s are going to keep the 1A/1B designation, rather than allocate 60+ starts to just one goalie.
"I think if you look at the teams that have success in the National Hockey League — outside of Tampa — and we'll see if the Rangers young goalie can do it again, Shesterkin,” Montgomery said. “But you need to have a goalie that plays 50 (games) and another one that plays 30. So it's 1A and 1B. We're very fortunate we have two goalies that can be number ones in the NHL, and we're going to use them very similar to the way we did last year.”
