Donnelly: Alex Chiasson PTO highlights Bruins' focus on internal competition ahead of 2023-24

When training camp begins, there won't be any shortage of skaters on the NHL bubble, youngsters and veterans alike, gunning for a precious roster spot with the Bruins. 

With the departures of a number of players via free agency, retirement and trades – most notably Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Tyler Bertuzzi, Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, Dmitry Orlov and Connor Clifton – the B's have roles up for grabs throughout the lineup heading into the 2023-24 season.

The fourth line will be a work in progress with each of last year's regulars, save for A.J. Greer, headed elsewhere. There will likely be a spot on the wing in the top nine up for grabs. A worst-case scenario with incoming veteran Kevin Shattenkirk on the backend could open up an opportunity on the right side of the third pair. 

Between a crop of young players looking to make the jump from the Baby B's to the varsity club and veterans looking to stick around, could have upwards of 10 or more players vying for four to five spots in the lineup ahead of opening night. 

For the purposes of this exercise, the "lineup bubble," if you will, will cast a wider net than the usual bubble we talk about this time of year, projecting if a player will crack the final 23-man roster (or 22, most likely for the Bruins). For the sake of the argument, players like Milan Lucic and Jesper Boqvist will be on the NHL roster, but they'll be fighting for a spot in the lineup. At the same time, a guy like Marc McLaughlin is pushing to not only make the roster but crack the lineup. With that, here's who I have on the lineup bubble, right now:

Milan Lucic, Jesper Boqvist, A.J. Greer, Patrick Brown, Jayson Megna, Oskar Steen, Jakub Lauko, Marc McLaughlin, Johnny Beecher, Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov, Ian Mitchell, Mason Lohrei, Alec Regula, Reilly Walsh, Jakub Zboril

Alex Chiasson coming in on a professional tryout agreement (PTO) earlier this week only adds to an already crowded group further down the depth chart looking to take hold of the precious few job openings at the NHL level. 

How much of a chance the 32-year-old has to separate himself from the field remains to be seen. 

Chiasson is coming off a season split between the Detroit Red Wings and their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids. In 20 NHL games with the Red Wings, he had nine points (6g, 3a), including two tallies in two games against the B's. In 29 AHL games with Grand Rapids, he had 20 points (9g, 11a). 

The 6-foot-4, 208-pound winger would bring another larger body to the depths of the lineup, something Boston has clearly targeted this offseason between Morgan Geekie, Lucic and others. 

With his frame, Chiasson has made quite a living in front of the net on the power play over the course of his career. Five of his six goals with Detroit last season were on the man advantage, including both tucks against the Bruins. Eight of his career-high 22 tallies in 2018-19 with Edmonton were on the advantage, too. In all, 43 of his 120 career goals have come on the power play, and only Tage Thompson, Gabriel Landeskog, Victor Olofsson and Kirill Kaprizov have scored more power play goals in fewer games than Chiasson since 2018-19 (30 in 270), according to 98.5's Ty Anderson. The Wings went 21.1 percent on the power play last season as a whole, ranking 17th in the league. Before bringing Chiasson aboard for the end of the season, Detroit worked at a 20 percent clip (22nd in the NHL) but after signing him on March 4, scored at a 25.5 percent rate (8th). 

Beyond the man advantage, though, Chiasson offers limited returns. He hasn't been a regular piece of a penalty kill unit in four seasons. At 5-on-5, Chiasson's teams have regularly been out-attempted, outshot, outscored and out-chanced throughout his career. 

But he does provide depth on the right side up front, an area in which the B's only have one true right-winger – David Pastrnak. It's also worth mentioning James van Riemsdyk is vying for a similar role on the power play, too, and Jake DeBrusk is capable of handling responsibilities at the net-front.

Nevertheless, internal competition that Boston is trying to breed stretches to all areas. 

After all the talk earlier this summer of creating competition going into training camp, it's clear the B's are hoping to maximize everything they can from a forward group that lost more than its fair share of depth. It's especially applicable to the younger players looking to crack the big club out of camp. 

"Last year, it probably was a little different," Don Sweeney said at the end of development camp. "There wasn’t a great deal of opportunity for a younger player to crack our roster. And yet, Jakub Lauko did. To me, it speaks to the fact that we’re going through the evaluation period during training camp and every player should recognize there’s no box. It’s we’re going to try to put the best team together. Preserve assets, it’s all part of it. Sometimes there’s waivers involved in the decision-making process, and you buy time as a result of that.” 

Whether it's a Beecher or a McLaughlin looking for work in the bottom six or a Merkulov and Lysell gunning for a place higher in the lineup, it'll be up to them to earn their opportunities, rather than simply being given the chance. 

Even then, it's a fine line the Bruins are walking between getting the most they can out of the depths of the lineup and placing hurdles in front of youngsters. 

“I don’t think we’re in business to just block people. I think we’re in business to provide opportunities when a player steps forward," Sweeney said. "We had veteran players who were in the minors this year and other players were playing in front of them. In the case of Kevin [Shattenkirk], we had one opportunity from a standpoint to bring in that veteran player that slotted in pretty well for us. That does not mean that Ian Mitchell or [Alec] Regula or Reilly Walsh won’t outperform either Kevin or somebody else and they won’t be on our team. We’ve made difficult decisions. That’s generally what the players are dictating in that sense and we’ll be the same way. 

"Pick a player whether that's Johnny Beecher, whether that’s Fabian Lysell, whether that’s Georgii Merkulov... don’t want to leave anybody out but at the end of the day, there will be opportunity there. It might require waivers or it might require a move during training camp and such. I think every team faces that to some degree."

Either way, Boston will need role players to separate themselves from the rest of a loaded pack, whether or not that involves the younger guys earning a chance to show the brass what they've got.