Boston Bruins: Finish Needed On First Line?

Entering the postseason, one of the few weak points of the Boston Bruins was believed to be their lack of speed. Needless to say, the issue plagued them throughout the postseason and was one of the main reasons leading to their demise in the playoffs.

The Bruins inability to match the speed of some of the new additions to the Atlantic Division coupled with a glaring problem of being able to finish  suggest changes could be happening sooner rather than later. One of those changes should happen regardless if the Bruins decide to bring back Jarome Iginla and that is providing the David Krejci line with more speed and skill.

In all fairness to Iginla, he was able to meet all expectations in the incentive-laden deal he signed with the Bruins. He was able to reach the 30 goal plateau as well as blend in with his teammates as if he had played with them for years. However, there were far too many instances in the playoffs where Iginla along with Milan Lucic seemed to slow the Boston Bruins down as opposed to generating offense(not to mention a couple of posts being rung).

What the Bruins ultimately decide to do hinges greatly on what they do with Jarome Iginla. As great as it was for Bruins fans to see; Iginla hitting all of the aforementioned incentives has left them with even less cap space to use towards next season. Some could say it might benefit the Boston Bruins to look elsewhere and try to find either a potential upgrade in free agency or to upgrade from within.

If the Bruins are going to attempt to make a significant upgrade at the forward position then re-signing Iginla is definitely not in the cards unless he took more than a substantial cut in pay. There are interesting parts down in Providence; most notably Ryan Spooner and Alexander Khokhlachev, however both are not at a point where it can be expected they should produce on a nightly basis.

The Bruins need to find a remedy for what ailed them this postseason and could pose to be a bigger problem moving forward. The question is how do the Boston Bruins upgrade in their two weakest areas; speed and skill. The answer could potentially not have Jarome Iginla attached to it.