There will be plenty of discussions and analyses about the Boston Bruins and where things went wrong during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
While that somewhat misses the long-term picture, the Bruins weren’t expected by most to be in the playoffs this season, it now becomes a mission to keep building on a retooled roster that performed better than expected this year.
There are some clear pillars that aren’t going anywhere. Jeremy Swayman was Boston’s best performer in the playoffs and during the regular season and ended up as a Vezina Trophy finalist for the first time in his B’s career. David Pastrnak rolled out his fourth straight 100-point season and continues to post big numbers as he turns 30 years old this month and continues a transformation from game-breaking goal scorer to playmaking force that notched a career-high 71 assists this season.
Morgan Geekie set a new career-high with 39 goals scored and continues to be a finisher on a team that could use more of them. Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov form the big three on the back end with the Bruins still in search of a fourth top 4 defenseman that can be added to that mix.
Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha stand as the top two veteran centers entering next season, with Zacha coming off career highs in goals (30) and points (65) while becoming a trusted pivot in Marco Sturm’s defense-first system.
The B’s bench boss certainly sounded a hopeful tone based on that group leading the Bruins to a 100-point season and a return to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“It was a long year. It was very intense, especially with being a rookie coach [in the NHL]. My brain was never really off. But that’s the great thing about being a young coach is that you are full of energy, and you are excited to get back into it,” said Sturm. “This team gave me a lot of hope to getting better, and better, and better.
"I can’t give you guarantees about points or wins guarantees for next year because it’s going to be harder. But there is a lot of hope and excitement that I can see moving forward.”
But the bottom line is that the Black and Gold are at one of the first steps while building back up into a Stanley Cup contender. This season was about a return to respectability and ultimately a return to the postseason, but now it’s about adding to the core group while improving things like the defensemen corps, which struggled at times to break the puck out of their zone and keep the puck out of the back of the net.
They absolutely wilted at times under the hard pressure of the Buffalo forecheck, just as they had major issues with a heavy, physical, and fast Florida forecheck in the playoffs as well.
“The heat is always coming [in the playoffs]. That is nothing new,” admitted Sturm. “Maybe we can help our ‘D’ to have a little more time. That’s something I need to dig deeper on.”
One thing Sturm, and even some veteran players in the dressing room, admitted on breakup day was that some of the personnel are likely going to change. It remains to be seen what direction that will take, but it certainly doesn’t bode well for Mason Lohrei that he was a healthy scratch in the last few playoff games. Also, a player like Andrew Peeke approaching unrestricted free agency might price him out of a return to Boston after being pushed into a top 4 role that he clearly isn’t suited for at the NHL level.
Ironically, Peeke led all Bruins defensemen with a plus-2 when it was all said and done at the end of the first-round playoff series against the Sabres.
The Bruins were 12th out of 16 playoff teams in the first round while allowing 3.33 goals per game, and it’s no coincidence that every team that allowed more than three goals per game is now setting up tee times for the rest of the spring. Similarly, the B’s allowed 3.01 goals per game during the regular season, which put them in the middle of the pack, but still not quite good enough for a team that was getting Vezina Trophy-level goaltending from Swayman all season.
Something needs to be improved there, just as the Bruins needed to find ways to generate more scoring once things moved into the playoffs.
“There are areas where we can get better, and have to get better for sure,” said Sturm during his end-of-season press conference when asked about the defensive side of the puck. “Do we have to change the whole system? No. I think the foundation is set now. I like and believe in what we do and what I try to teach here. There are areas where we’ll change some things. Is it personnel? That is part of it.
“There were a few guys that maybe fit our system more than a few others. And more other guys needed more time. So there’s a little bit of a combination [of things that need to help us improve defensively].”
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