Boston Bruins: Designing A New Defensive Core.
The Boston Bruins have committed themselves to moving in a new direction. With the departure of Peter Chiarelli, Cam Neely will get to have a more ‘hands-on’ approach with the B’s than he did under his last general manager. Hopefully, this means the Bruins will focus on their biggest problem right now, their depleted defensive core.
At the beginning of the last season, the B’s had nine NHL-ready defensemen. They lost three to injuries, and one (Johnny Boychuk) to the biggest trade blunder made in the Chiarelli Era. Looking forward, the Bruins will have to see what they can make of their existing blueliners, and who can be brought in to help the Bruins get back into the postseason.
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Unless the Bruins can pull off a summer surprise, we can expect Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg to be back in uniform come September. While last year was their worst season in a Bruins uniform, there is hope that the two veteran defensemen will be ready to when training camp starts up. Both of them have no-trade clauses, so it’s unlikely they’ll get moved (although Seidenberg did state he would leave if the Bruins didn’t want him).
The Bruins will naturally re-sign Dougie Hamilton. It’s just a matter of how much and for how long.
Then it comes down to how badly the Boston Bruins will want to keep Adam McQuaid and Matt Bartkowski. A healthy McQuaid brings solid defense, and an aggression that has been known to keep other teams in check. With the loss of Gregory Campbell, the injury of Kevan Miller, and the underwhelming Milan Lucic, McQuaid became the Bruins most go-to guy for handling physical alterations on the ice.
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Hopefully the Bruins will figure out a way to keep McQuaid in the Black and Gold for at least one more season.
If the Bruins choose to keep Matt Bartkowski for another season, then they’ve just haven’t been paying attention to his numbers and his mistakes.
The Bruins have a talent pool of blueliners they could call upon. They’ve called up Zach Trotman, David Warsofsky, and Joe Morrow during last season, and they’ve done well in Providence. At least one of these P-Bruins should get the promotion to the big club with a strong showing in camp and the pre-season. They’ve got Matt Grzelcyk and Rob O’ Gara currently in the NCAA (for Boston university and Yale, respectively). They’re both going to get an invite to camp, and hopefully one or both can impress the Bruins organization.
The Bruins could also strike entry draft gold again. The Bruins got it with Dougie Hamilton in 2013, David Pastrnak in 2014, and with the fourteenth overall pick this year, could get a ready to go defenseman from the draft next month. Jeremy Roy would likely still be available at #14.
The Bruins should be announcing their new choice for general manager any day now. Hopefully, the Bruins will do all they can to make a stronger defensive core next season.