So far, Nick Foligno is re-writing a lot of narratives about his game and place in Boston’s lineup

Throughout the summer and training camp, Nick Foligno continued to say the right things when it came to his first season in Boston and the clean slate that the 2022-23 campaign presented for him.

The 34-year-old veteran has not shirked away from the disheartening stats last year (two goals in 64 games) — a baseline production further soured by Foligno’s sizable cap hit ($3.8 million) on Boston’s books.

But even amid all of the whispers of a potential buyout this past summer — coupled with a brief stint on the waiver wire just ahead of Boston’s season opener — Foligno remained positive, delving into his value to the team beyond goals and assists and the boost he received from finally entering a new season with a clean bill of health.

Of course, for all of the optimism that is usually doled out from any athlete or team during training camp or preseason action, those good tidings are often met with plenty of cynicism from both the media and fans.

At this point, we tend to be rather guarded when it comes to the usual preseason cliches of a player being in the “best shape of their life” or ready to rebound from a challenging season.

After all, Foligno’s poor season in 2021-22 wasn’t exactly an outlier, but part of a continued slide for the tenacious forward. 

Over his previous three seasons, Foligno had only scored 19 goals over 180 games. In total, there have been 218 NHL forwards who have logged at least 2,000 minutes of 5v5 ice time since the 2019-20 season, and among that pool of players — Foligno ranks 211th in goals scored per 60 minutes at 0.39.

Foligno might have continued to preach that a rebound was inevitable for him in year two with Boston. But until he proved it out in a game setting, there weren’t going to be a whole lot of believers beyond those in the Bruins' locker room. 

Fair to say, some of that sentiment might be changing a bit six games in. 

“I think that was the hard part. You guys kept asking me the same questions, and I couldn’t really do it until I could get on the ice,” Foligno said Saturday of finally proving his value to Boston on the ice.

Yes, it has only been six games into a new season. But so far, Foligno has looked like a completely different player in his second go-around with Boston — already surpassing last year’s goal total with three tallies. 

But beyond the baseline stats, Foligno sure seems to pass the eye test when it comes to what the Bruins need out of north-south, checking forward on the fourth line — with the winger arriving on pucks in a timely fashion and using that increased speed to throw his weight around on the forecheck. 

Beyond his snipe from the left circle that found twine during Saturday’s win over Minnesota, Foligno’s doggedness down low also led to a holding call against Matt Dumba with 37 seconds left in regulation, giving Boston an extra skater in overtime and enough momentum to eventually carry them to a win over the Wild. 

Even though Foligno and Tomas Nosek have seen a number of players cycle through on their line to start the season, Jim Montgomery believes that Foligno’s stout two-way game and energy has allowed that checking unit to already form an identity, before even Boston’s high-octane, top-six unit. 

"I just like how he's building our team game offensively and giving us hard minutes wearing down opponents," Montgomery said of Foligno. "He's been really good for us, just building our team game. The production is nice, but the one thing that we should be able to expect from him and third and fourth liners is that they make the other team defend hard, that they're physical on them, and that are reliable and trustworthy in the D-zone.  … I think since Game 1, they've had an identity. I think if I look at our four lines, that's the line I know what I'm going to get from, game in and game out."

It’s unrealistic to expect Foligno to keep up his torrid offensive start and return to the 20-goal, 50-point threshold that he would routinely clear during his prime seasons with the Blue Jackets. But a revitalized Foligno that can continue to make his presence felt in the checking game while also chipping in occasionally in the O-zone (at least more than two goals over 64 games) does hold plenty of value for this B’s team — beyond just the off-ice intangibles that the Bruins regularly praised last season. 

Beyond pride, Foligno has plenty of incentives to keep this level of play up. Considering his cap hit, Boston’s looming cap crunch once both Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy return and the number of younger candidates still vying for bottom-six reps, the veteran’s spot in the lineup is far from a guarantee, especially if his game slips. 

But for now, Foligno is looking like an impact skater in Boston’s bottom-six grouping – and a player motivated to prove more doubters wrong as the season carries on. 

“It’s six games in,” Foligno acknowledged. “I’m not going to get too excited about anything. Just continue to do what I do and come here and be in the moment and be excited about what we’re trying to build here as a group. Like I told you guys before, I love being a Bruin. I love playing with this group. It drives me every day to try to be my best.”

OTHER NOTES

The good news? Brandon Carlo returned to practice on Monday morning while donning a regular jersey, putting him one step closer to returning to game action.

The bad news? Carlo confirmed that he suffered another concussion during Boston’s home-opener victory against the Coyotes on Oct. 15, standing as the fifth confirmed concussion that the blueliner has suffered so far in his NHL career.

"It's unfortunate,” Carlo said. “I mean, it's been something that I've experienced a couple of times throughout my career, but through talking with the doctors and whatnot — just the way that I recovered through my concussions, it's not anything to really be too concerned about at this point. So I'm feeling good in that regard. And definitely feel confident still going out there."

As expected, Jim Montgomery said that he will be “cautious” with Carlo moving forward, giving him ample time to get back up to speed in practice before giving him the green light to play.

Carlo said that he has been in regular communication with the B’s medical staff throughout his recovery, remaining cognizant of the risks that come with repeated brain injuries - but also believing that he still has more to give up in the NHL ranks.

“Definitely concerned with that,” Carlo said. “I think, from a hockey aspect, I still feel very good. Still feel not unsafe to play by any means. But with these things, it's hard — because you want to be reliable for your team and whatnot. But it's a situation where it's a weird injury where you can't really see it besides what I've been experiencing with it all. So it's hard. 

“I just want to continue to also be reliable for friends and family and that's a component of life that you have to take into account.  It's good, the conversation that's been had over the past couple of years about concussions and things that are going on, because they're very real. And I've experienced a lot of those symptoms and a lot of those different things. But overall, I still feel very good about where I'm at.”

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In terms of the situation in net, Montgomery did acknowledge that it’s tempting to ride the hot hand in net with Linus Ullmark for now. However, with Boston looking at another stretch of three games in four days, Jeremy Swayman will start at least one game this week.