The Boston Bruins made it abundantly clear leading into the regular season that they are going to be a work in progress.
They have a brand-new coaching staff that admittedly had a very strong, competitive training camp with encouraging results on the ice, and they have plenty of new faces that are going to be long on toughness and attitude, and perhaps a little short in the skill and skating department at times.
It’s something that Cam Neely admitted the Bruins took on as an offseason strategy when the B’s realized there weren’t going to be a lot of premium scorers available in NHL free agency last summer. There are going to be nights when the Bruins offense is grinding it out and there will be stretches when they are highly dependent on David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm to provide most of the offense to win hockey games, but the B’s also aren’t going to be simply fold in tough road settings like they did far too many times last season.
“It’s going to be whatever it takes. If it's 2-1 games that we are going to have to win, then we are going to do that,” said Neely. “Having [Jeremy] Swayman in camp all year is going to bode well for the team. We recognize that we may have some difficulty scoring some goals, but I think we also play much better defensively. Obviously, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus [Lindholm] are going to be a big factor on our back end.
“But I think we’re going to be a tough out this year. We are expecting [this team] to play very hard this year. We really felt the bottom part of our lineup needed more piss and vinegar, if you will. So that was something we attacked first. The free agent class was what it was from an offensive standpoint, so you knew it was going to be limited in terms of getting what we wanted [for offensive players]. But I thought our guys did a really good job of putting together a roster that’s going to have that piss and vinegar and be hard to play against and teams aren’t going to enjoy it.”
The Bruins took care of the “piss and vinegar” by bringing in free agents Tanner Jeannot and Mikey Eyssimont this summer, a pair of hard-nosed, physical players that will ride the wings with rookie Fraser Minten while acting as protectors of sorts for the 21-year-old rookie. And then they doubled down by keeping Jeffrey Viel at the end of training camp, who adds another sandpaper player to the aforementioned duo and Mark Kastelic as tough customers at the bottom of the lineup.
But that is not where hockey games are going to be won or lost with this Bruins group this season. Instead, it’s going to be about the offensive viability of a second line that’s going to start out with Viktor Arvidsson and Pavel Zacha on the wing between Casey Mittelstadt, and the third line featuring Minten, Jeannot and Eyssimont that is expected to be something on a checking line for the Black and Gold.
The Bruins' decision makers know they may be a little short offensively to start this season, and that means relying on defensive depth and the brilliance of a motivated Jeremy Swayman coming off a down season.
“I think we're going to have to play tight defense if we're going to be one of the eight [playoff teams] as we're structured right now and we knew that going in. We tried to bolster our lineup offensively in the offseason,” said Neely. “It didn't come to fruition, but we’ve got guys that are going to be tough to play against, hard to play against. Teams are going to circle playing against the Bruins and go, ‘Oh damn, we got to play them tonight’.
“That's the type of lineup that we put together, knowing that hopefully throughout the year we can add some offense somewhere. Our specialty teams have to get better. They should be able to get better. There's no reason for them not to be better. I think that's an area of improvement with being healthy on the back end, and also goaltending. Those are areas I really believe we're going to improve upon. It's just a matter of making sure that we're keeping the puck out of our net, because it's going to be a little bit more challenging to score some goals, but we're hoping to address that throughout the year as well.”
The other major area, as Neely referenced, is a major rebound in both special teams departments. The penalty kill is an oft-overlooked, but super-important part of any hockey team, and it will look very different this season with guys like Eyssimont, Jeannot, Kuraly, Minten and others playing a big role along with the defensemen corps. But the power play, as designed by assistant coach Steve Spott, will be the area of greatest importance in terms of putting extra offense on the board for a hockey club that is going to need it.
The Bruins' power play showed marked improvement as training camp evolved, and looked like their zone entries, setup in the offensive zone and allowance for creativity were all at a much higher magnitude this season.
“We were fine in generating what we wanted to generate [during the preseason]. Our power play got better, progressively better as camp went along, and the continuity of the group started to come together, and they reinforced it,” said Don Sweeney. “Working on [the power play] again today [in practice]. They're going to work on it, and we'll be fine generating-wise.
“We just have to stick to the structure and the foundation, as I referenced that, and not go sideways. The second period [against the Rangers in the final preseason game] is a good example. You get away from it. The other team's good. They'll take advantage of that. If you don't [stray from the foundation], we're going to be a hard out.”
Being “a hard out” was the overall goal for this Bruins team headed into this season, and all signs pointed toward that in a promising, solid training camp. But now the regular season begins with the Bruins playing 13 games in 22 days during a frenetic opening month of October, and everybody will see quickly what this season is going to promise.
Optimistic talk is great and warranted after what everybody watched in the preseason, but now the real regular season tests will tell the story.
Eastern Conference Predictions with Teams Placed in Order of Predicted Finish
Atlantic Division
- Florida Panthers – They may be hurting with Sasha Barkov out for the season and Matthew Tkachuk banged up as well, but this is still a formidable, experienced group that knows how to win. Winning back-to-back Cups may ultimately take its toll, though.
- Toronto Maple Leafs – The loss of Mitch Marner changes the Core Four mantra, but Matthew Knies may end up being an upgrade in some ways. This is still a tremendously talented group that may figure it all out one of these years.
- Tampa Bay Lightning – Still a playoff team, but their key veteran guys like Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy are getting very long in the tooth. Having a still-in-his-prime Nikita Kucherov around helps tremendously, though.
- Ottawa Senators – Tons of young talent and the bull Brady Tkachuk at the front of your forward group is a great place to start, and Linus Ullmark turned them into a playoff team last season. They should be one again this year.
- Boston Bruins – Many naysaying Bruins fans don’t realize that the core group on this B’s team is still very, very strong with Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie and Jeremy Swayman. Defense and goaltending can win a lot of hockey games.
- Montreal Canadiens – The Habs have a lot of young talent and took a big step getting into the playoffs last year, but it feels like this team might be poised for a half-step back. Is Sam Montembeault the kind of goalie that can carry a team that feels a little light on the defensive end?
- Detroit Red Wings – Not enough defense and John Gibson doesn’t feel like he’s going to be the answer in the pipes for the Red Wings. Still, they are fun to watch with guys like Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Dylan Larkin and others filling it up offensively.
- Buffalo Sabres – Same old Buffalo, different season. Rasmus Dahlin is the real deal and so is Tage Thompson. But the goaltending took a step back last season and that is usually the Achilles heel of this group unless UPL or Devon Levi can really step up for them.
Metro Division
- Carolina Hurricanes – Adding Nikolaj Ehlers was a massive get for the Hurricanes and they still have a lot of great players. But their goaltending is still not top tier and it feels like they just can’t get over the playoff hump, doesn’t it?
- Washington Capitals – Last year’s surprise team won’t be sneaking up on anybody anymore and they won’t have Alex Ovechkin chasing history this season. Pierre-Luc Dubois seems to be a huge factor in their scoring fate and relying on him so much might lead to some inconsistent results this season.
- New Jersey Devils – Can the Devils enjoy sustained success with a player like Jack Hughes who seems to have a hard time withstanding the physical rigors of the NHL season? Will they ever be tough or gritty enough to make a dent in the playoffs? These may be perpetual questions for a team that undoubtedly has the talent to make the playoffs either way.
- New York Rangers – Tons of talent and a great coach in Mike Sullivan. This should be a big year for the Blueshirts and new captain JT Miller. But we’ve said that before about talented outfits with the Rangers. There may be some transition period before they fully get going.
- Columbus Blue Jackets – They still have Zach Werenski and Adam Fantilli to go along with some other top performers, but the depth drops off considerably for a team that doesn’t feel like it’s going to be playoff caliber.
- New York Islanders – Matthew Schaeffer will be fun to watch develop on Long Island and Ilya Sorokin always guarantees they will be somewhere around the playoff mix. But it feels like this team is very light on offensive talent when it comes to really making a postseason push. You get beyond Bo Horvat, Anders Lee and Mat Barzal and it is slim pickings.
- Philadelphia Flyers – Is Samuel Ersson a No. 1 guy between the pipes? The Flyers have some talented veteran forwards and their defense is pretty decent, but it isn’t going to matter if their goaltending isn’t up for the daily challenge. And what kind of impact will Trevor Zegras have here?
- Pittsburgh Penguins – The Penguins are trying to roll out the same aging core group of champions and hope for better results. On any given night they can do it when Sid, Geno, Kris Letang and the others are feeling good, but it’s hard to see them being able to stay healthy and high energy for 82 games plus playoffs.