In a hockey season that hasn’t exactly gone smoothly for the Bruins, there are still a few feel-good stories as we get to the back half of the NHL regular season.
Perhaps the biggest is the continued development of Justin Brazeau in his first full NHL season. The 6-foot-6 power forward scored his 10th goal of the season in Sunday night’s 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders at TD Garden, and only David Pastrnak (17) and Brad Marchand (15) have more goals than him for the Black and Gold this year. It’s all part of a really productive stretch for the 26-year-old over the holidays as he’s potted four goals in the last seven games and is now on pace to reach 20 goals this season.
While he isn’t the same kind of player as Jake DeBrusk and does it more with net-front presence and a classic big man’s game rather than speed and dazzling skill, it’s effective for the Bruins and shows the kind of potential for him to be a weapon in the postseason where size, strength and a nose for the net can take on added value.
For now, though, Brazeau is simply happy to be elevating his confidence level and beginning to score goals like his sniper shot on Sunday night after taking in a slick centering pass from a rushing Andrew Peeke.
Boston goal!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 6, 2025
Scored by Justin Brazeau with 09:42 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Andrew Peeke.
Boston: 2
New York: 3#NYIvsBOS #NHLBruins #Isles pic.twitter.com/yvNc8e7XZL
“Just game-by-game it’s about gaining confidence and it’s trying to do what I do best,” said Brazeau. “I’m not trying to overcomplicate things and hoping to get the bounces. Anytime bounces are going your way rather than going away from you and [you see] pucks going in the net, it helps built it all up. But I’ve just got to keep going and do what I do.”
The big forward has also become a bona fide weapon on the power play and shares the team lead on the Bruins with Pastrnak with four PP goals, a sign of his growing special teams prominence and that No. 88 hasn’t been as effective on the man advantage as he’s been in seasons’ past.
The goals haven’t come in bunches for them, but Brazeau has looked good as a winger with Oliver Wahlstrom and Trent Frederic on a third line that’s consistently getting offensive pressure and playing a responsible two-way game.
What will be interesting is to see what the future holds for Brazeau as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season as a 26-year-old that’s cementing his status as a proven NHL commodity. Like with Mark Kastelic, the Bruins would do well to lock up Brazeau now rather than allow him to parlay his breakout NHL season into somebody else’s bounty after they invested time and development effort into helping guide him to the effective player he’s becoming at the NHL level.
ONE-TIMERS
*Interesting development this week with Kastelic signing a three-year contract extension that will pay him $1.567 million as a bottom-6 staple until he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2028.
“We recognize the value that he brings to our club,” said Joe Sacco. “A physical player, he shows up every night. He’s a great pro. He’s a culture builder for our organization. He does everything that’s asked of him. He sticks up for his teammates when he needs to. It’s a great signing. I’m really happy for him. It’s certainly well deserved.”
Clearly the 25-year-old has earned it with his play this season as a hard-nosed, heavy player that routinely brings energy to the Bruins and plays to the traditional identity of the team while leading the Eastern Conference in hits (158) and sitting tied with Nikita Zadorov for second in the NHL in penalty minutes (76 PIMs) this season.
“I’m very, very happy to have another three years after this one, and it’s a big honor,” said Kastelic last weekend. “Ever since I got here, it just felt like home. The guys in this room have been unbelievable to me. It’s really a big family. I’m just very ecstatic to be here.
But what does all of that mean for a guy like Trent Frederic that’s approaching unrestricted free agency this summer? It can’t be a good sign that the Bruins now have a big, physical bottom-6 center under their control at a great value for the next three seasons while Frederic is undoubtedly going to command at least triple that figure on the open market this summer. So it’s not going to be surprising if/when the Bruins entertain trade offers for Frederic and weigh potentially dealing him rather than losing him for nothing in free agency as they’ve done with other valued assets like Jake DeBrusk and Torey Krug in recent years. It’s time for the B’s to recoup some of the future assets they’ve dealt away in years past (and might do again this season for a top-6 sniper) at the NHL trade deadline, and they could do that by flipping Frederic as a rental while simultaneously still contending for a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
*You can scratch Frank Vatrano off the list of scoring guns for hire at the NHL trade deadline after he signed a three-year, $18 million contract that’s going to keep him with the Anaheim Ducks for the foreseeable future.
“All I wanted (for) a long time was to be a Duck. It didn’t matter what money I was making or anything," said Vatrano, who has 11 goals and 23 points for the Ducks this season after popping in a career 37 goals in Anaheim last year as a first-time All-Star. "I wanted to play here, I didn’t want to play anywhere else. I’m just happy to help these young guys grow and be a part of it.”
It’s great for the East Longmeadow native as he’s set for life now as a 30-year-old NHLer just reaching his full potential, and he’s found a long term hockey home in southern California. But it’s too bad for the Black and Gold as he was an attractive trade deadline candidate playing for a Western Conference also-ran, but Vatrano is obviously off the market at this point now that his rental status is gone.
*Congrats to Team USA for back-to-back IIHF World Junior Championships as Sudbury native and Boston College kid Teddy Stiga scored the overtime game-winner in the Gold Medal game over Finland.
THE Golden Goal 🤩 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Ww9Rsxilof
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) January 6, 2025
Some great local ties on that team with Boston College studs Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault, and Newburyport native Cole Eiserman as well, doing a lot of the offensive damage for that team, potential No. 1 overall pick James Hagens on that squad and BU defenseman Cole Hutson putting on a show throughout the tournament.
Loved the performances of all the local kids, obviously, but also the selection of the “Freebird” guitar solo as their goal music of choice and the team’s decision to leave a memorial locker stall for USA Hockey legend Johnny Gaudreau throughout the tournament.
13 and 21 with us every step of the way. ❤️ #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Ct7WKUr0w2
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) January 6, 2025
It’s tournaments like this that show that USA Hockey and the American Development Model (ADM) has become the gold standard for developing elite hockey players when comparing it with the methods used by the rest of the world, including a Hockey Canada group that really needs to begin rethinking how they are doing things at this point after being shut out of the medal rounds over the last two years.
