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Boston Bruins: What To Expect From Matt Irwin

By Brandon Share-Cohen

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The Boston Bruins defensive pairings are entirely up in the air leading up to their training camp. With a few locks on the roster, and a few players fighting for a spot on the roster, training camp should be very interesting. One of the newest players on the Boston Bruins roster is 27-year-old Matt Irwin. The former San Jose Shark defenseman showed that he has some solid offensive ability, even in the limited minutes he played with the Sharks during his three years there.

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    • Irwin played in 53 games last season and posted 19 points, which isn’t eye-popping, but it should be noted that Irwin was only given an average ice time of just over 17 minutes per game, and didn’t spend much time on the ice with the man-advantage. With eight goals last season, Irwin has shown that he is able to find the back of the net about as often as any other offensively-gifted Bruins defenseman from last year, scoring only four less goals than Torey Krug and two less goals than Dougie Hamilton, while tying Zdeno Chara‘s goal total. Irwin’s goal scoring ability and offensive-mindset bodes well for a Bruins team that couldn’t bury opportunities last season

    The Boston Bruins shouldn’t expect Irwin to develop into a top-four option, but the possibility is certainly there. At 6-foot-2 and weighing 210 pounds, Irwin certainly has the size to hold his own, and his speed allows him to join the rush while also backchecking fairly efficiently on a consistent basis. In his first two full seasons in the NHL, Irwin has shown that he is a very effective bottom pairing defenseman who is reliable in the defensive zone, but shouldn’t be relied on to shutdown opposing offenses. The Bruins would be smart to use Irwin carefully, providing him ice time strategically, and more specifically, giving him a lot of offensive-zone starts. As a former UMASS player, the Bruins scouts have certainly been able to keep tabs on Irwin throughout his college career, and he was also one of the players that was heavily scouted in the AHL last season by Bruins management.

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    With so many available players to fill in the defensive holes on the roster, the Bruins will certainly have to evaluate whether or not Irwin is worth an every day role. While Irwin is best suited for a bottom pairing role, the 7th-defenseman spot could also be an option for Irwin, and a top-four role could be experimented with in the preseason. Regardless of the speculation about who will play where, and how many minutes each player should get, the Bruins training camp and preseason games will certainly be a strong determining factor for Claude Julien to evaluate his roster properly. Irwin could be a player that can log 20-plus minutes in an NHL game, but he’ll have to prove it before he gets consistent playing time.

    Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @FansidedBrandon to discuss all things Bruins and sports

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