Boston Bruins: B’s focusing on David Krejci’s return.
The Boston Bruins have certainly been missing David Krejci. The Black and Gold have been without the services of their top line center since he suffered an injury playing against the St. Louis Blues. The B’s have missed his leadership, his skill set, and the way he made Milan Lucic play better.
Without Krejci, there’s no doubt that the Bergeron line is now the Bruins top line. The new second line was reconfigured to use what the Bruins had available. The Bruins had the youth and speed of forward David Pastrnak and center Ryan Spooner (no doubt against the wishes of Claude Julien, who still seems to harbor some distaste for him.) to fill in the holes on the line.
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For the most part, this current line experiment is working for the Bruins. David Pastrnak has been the most explosive young forward to hit TD Garden ice since Tyler Seguin. He’s played only thirty three games for the B’s (often being juggled from line to line) and he already has nineteen points. The next goal he scores will put him in double digits. He brings a deceptive physicality to his game, something unexpected for a sub-two hundred pound player.
Ryan Spooner has also finally found a niche with the big Bruins. Spooner was finding himself as a filler early in the season, and Claude Julien had some issues with his inability to play his preferred style of hockey. Spooner found himself back in Providence for a good part of the season because of it. The injury bug hit the team hard this year, giving Spooner a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the coach. He’s more or less done that.
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So what will happen when (hopefully not if) David Krejci returns? There’s no doubt that the Bruins will put Krejci back with Lucic and Pastrnak. There is solid chemistry between the two veterans and some solid chemistry forming between the two Czech players. Pastrnak fits into that role well, and he’s certainly going to remain a top-six forward if he continues to play like he is currently doing.
That makes the Ryan Spooner situation a little more cloudy. He’s become a decent playmaker for the Bruins, and his speed is certainly an asset. If the Bruins get Krejci back in the regular season, then the Bruins could take this opportunity to sit Carl Soderberg. Soderberg’s been in a serious funk, and the Bruins need to get their third-line center back to his more reliable self before the end of the regular season. Spooner would gel well with Chris Kelly and Loui Eriksson, and it might be a good fix for one or two games.
What happens if Krejci won’t be ready to return until the playoffs? If Krejci is out for that long, then a few things get thrown up in the air. Spooner will likely end up with the thirteenth forward position (if Claude Julien doesn’t choose to keep Brian Ferlin and send Spooner back to Providence). The Bruins have persevered without Krejci these last few weeks, but they’ll certain need him once the postseason begins.