Donnelly: Jakub Zboril proving worth as a depth option on defense for Bruins

Jakub Zboril is probably a top-six defenseman on most NHL teams. 

But the Boston Bruins are unlike most NHL teams this season, and the 26-year-old finds himself eighth on the depth chart. 

So, when Jim Montgomery inserted Zboril into the lineup for Sunday’s 7-0 drubbing of the still up-and-coming Buffalo Sabres, it was the blueliner’s first game since the raucous 6-5 win at Seattle on Feb. 23 and just his third since Nov. 23. 

It’s a near-impossible task, trying to replicate the level of an NHL game in practice, but it’s all he could do. 

“Just practice hard and try to do the right things in practice,” Zboril told reporters. “When the chance comes, just try to be ready for it.”

Ready he was.

The Bruins started the game on time once again, hanging three goals on the Sabres in under 12 minutes, the first of which came just 15 seconds in. Maybe he just likes playing at KeyBank Center, but there was Zboril, in the building where he scored his first NHL goal on Nov. 12, picking up his first point since that game with an assist on Garnet Hathaway’s goal to extend it to 2-0. 

“I thought Zboril was excellent. I thought he played really well,” Montgomery said. “It looked like he was excited to be out there, which you would expect, but he played with confidence. He was very assertive offensively and defensively.”

His assertiveness on both sides of the puck was on display leading up to Hathaway’s goal. Zboril started his shift breaking up a J.J. Peterka zone entry at the defensive blue line with good stick and body position to outmuscle the young German. He got back to support a fellow Czech, Pavel Zacha, in a board battle at the half wall, throwing a hit on Victor Olofsson and disrupting the play. Once Boston was regrouping, Zboril flashed one of his strengths, using his patience and vision up the ice to send a stretch pass to Hathaway. It wasn’t perfect, but it got to an area where the winger could get it in stride and walk in for the goal. 

Fast forward a shift, and he and defense partner Connor Clifton were key in the groundwork for Boston’s third goal of the period. After Jeremy Swayman saved an Oloffson wrist shot off the rush, Zboril made his way to open space to support Charlie Coyle after he corralled the rebound. Zboril sent another stretch pass, this time right to Clifton’s tape in stride. He didn’t get as much on it as he presumably wanted, but it was a quick decision to take advantage of the open passing lane during a 4-on-4. 

After Jake DeBrusk converted Coyle’s feed to make it 3-0, Clifton and Zboril combined for three assists in a matter of minutes. 

“We played together all the way back in Providence,” Zboril said of his partner. “Not really [a lot of communication]. It all just clicks together.”

On the day as a whole, Bruins defensemen factored in on five of the seven goals. 

“You know, we’re just playing together honestly,” Clifton said on NESN postgame. “We’re scoring a lot of goals. It’s just getting the puck to the right people.”

Two of Boston’s defensemen (Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy) scored themselves. The Bruins have now gotten 37 goals out of the blue line through 69 games, ranking sixth in the NHL. Last season, the B’s checked in at 24th in the league in goals from defensemen with 31.

“I was a little bit afraid that my legs wouldn’t move after quite a long stretch, but they got going pretty well today,” Zboril said. “It felt nice. … I was trying to score today, too, but it didn’t go.”

Montgomery said on the NESN broadcast, “I thought he was dynamite. His energy and his fresh legs were very noticeable. I thought he broke up a lot of plays, and obviously, he made a lot of very crisp passes.”

It hasn’t been the easiest road for Zboril. He played himself firmly into the mix of earning a regular lineup spot in the fall of 2021, just over six years since Boston selected him 13th overall. In a 10-game showing, he had three assists and a plus-one rating. It was a stellar, albeit small, sample size at 5-on-5. With Zboril on the ice, Bruce Cassidy’s Bruins held a 59.61 percent edge in shot attempts and a 64.97 percent share of expected goals. Boston also generated 27 high-danger chances to 18 for the opposition, scoring four high-danger goals to none, according to Natural Stat Trick. 

But just when one-third of the much-maligned 2015 Bruins’ first-round draft class seemed to have it all clicking, it came crashing down. 

An awkward collision along the boards left him with a knee injury, but the swelling muddled the severity of it. After about a week, an MRI determined it was a torn ACL. His season ended with surgery. 

Zboril was crushed. 

“I'm walking in the Prudential Center and all of a sudden I get a call and they say, ‘Hey - sorry, Jake. I'm really sorry to hear about your injury. You're done for the season,’” Zboril recalled back in September. “And I just sat down and almost started crying, like, ‘What the [expletive] just happened?’”

On May 16, he signed a two-year extension worth approximately $1.138 million annually to avoid becoming a Group 6 unrestricted free agent. He potentially factors meaningfully into next season's plans, given his manageable cap hit and Boston's pending salary cap squeeze.

With a strong preseason showing and injuries to McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk, Zboril had the opportunity to be a lineup regular for the start of the season.

"I think he’s been ending plays," Montgomery said of Zboril on Sept. 23. "I like how assertive he’s been with the puck. And I’ve liked his decision-making. Really happy with his start of camp."

He was a fixture in the top six but struggled with consistency. His exact spot in the lineup was anything but that as well. He rotated from his off-side next to Derek Forbort and Mike Reilly, to pairings with Clifton, Brandon Carlo, Anton Stralman and even a game with Providence regular Dan Renouf. 

In a span of 13 games in just over a month, opponents outscored Boston 7-5 (58.33 percent) at five-on-five with Zboril on the ice. In a 5-2 loss at the Florida Panthers on Nov. 23, he recorded a season-low (to that point) 7:17 of ice time after it had steadily diminished over the previous four games. He was a healthy scratch the next game and did not play again until Jan. 7. 

“[We want] more assertive play, that message has been consistent. We want him to play assertive,” Montgomery said before a Nov. 25 win against the Hurricanes, when a 36-year-old Stralman drew into the lineup in place of a healthy Zboril.

There's that word again, "assertive."

On Sunday, Zboril checked that box both offensively and defensively for his coach. He logged a season-high 18:34 of ice time, finishing with an assist and tied for team-highs with three hits and two blocked shots (both on shots from the slot). It was the first time he had over 10 minutes of playing time since skating 12:09 on Nov. 13 (he hadn't played at least 18 minutes since Nov. 21, 2021)

For the better part of three and a half months, Zboril assumed the role of a Black Ace, with practices as his main showcases.

“Mentally, for sure [it’s a greater challenge],” he said in Buffalo. “Skating … You get into different positions in a game on the ice, so I was a little bit not used to it. But I think I showed I can still do it, and I think I had a good game.”

With the Bruins’ defensive rotation, an injury to Forbort and the expectation of increased rest for key players down the stretch, given the cushion they’ve amassed in the standings, Zboril is likely to be in the lineup more frequently over the next 13 games, especially after Sunday’s impressive outing. 

“You have to give him a tremendous amount of credit because his attitude has been phenomenal,” Montgomery said. “He comes to the rink every day to maintain the conditioning so that when he gets in, he’s able to go play like he did tonight. We’re going to be able to play him a lot more down the stretch here, too, and get him ready for the playoffs as well.”