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Boston Bruins Haven’t Changed Enough

By Andrew Thompson

Mar 7, 2016; Sunrise, FL, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Lee Stempniak (20) celebrates his game winning goal with left wing Brad Marchand (63) center Ryan Spooner (51) center Landon Ferraro (29) and right wing Jimmy Hayes (11) in overtime against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. The Boston Bruins won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2016; Sunrise, FL, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Lee Stempniak (20) celebrates his game winning goal with left wing Brad Marchand (63) center Ryan Spooner (51) center Landon Ferraro (29) and right wing Jimmy Hayes (11) in overtime against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. The Boston Bruins won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Don Sweeney’s tweaks to the Boston Bruins weren’t enough to get the team into the playoffs last season, and they may not be enough to get them in this season.

The Boston Bruins are heading into the month of August looking pretty much the same as they did at the end of the season. The only major change has been the loss of Loui Eriksson to the Vancouver Canucks and the acquisition of St. Louis forward (and Blues captain) David Backes. While the Bruins have seemed to improve in some regards with their forwards, the same can’t be said about the rest of the team.

The Boston Bruins made only one significant change to their defensive core so far this offseason. The Bruins bought out the contract of Dennis Seidenberg. That’s about it. They let Zach Trotman go into free agency as well, but he never seemed to be that deep in the Bruins radar to begin with.

The Bruins still believe in what they have. They still think Zdeno Chara will be their captain until he retires. (Meanwhile, more and more fans are demanding that Patrice Bergeron be promoted to the captaincy.) They believe (or at this point engage in active hoping) that Kevan Miller will continue to improve and be a top-four defenseman. Finally, they believe a ‘stay-at-home’ defenseman(Adam McQuaid) is still an acceptable player to have in a league that is getting faster every season.

The Bruins will be without Torey Krug on opening night, and likely the first few weeks of the season. This means the B’s will need to rely more on players like K. Miller and McQuaid, and hope that rising talent like Colin Miller and Joe Morrow are ready to play full-time NHL hockey.

Then there’s the goaltending situation. Tuukka Rask had a rough year last season. His inability to play the final game of the season had many fans complaining. Rask must improve if the B’s are to have any chance (and that means playing more like Tim Thomas than he wants to).

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The Bruins also chose to bring back Anton Khudobin. Khudobin was demoted to the AHL last season, and will also need to have an improved season. Perhaps the Bruins brought him back to shield Malcolm Subban from a potential steal at the expansion draft, or the B’s just don’t think he’s ready yet.

The biggest overhaul the Bruins committed to so far this offseason was the changes to the coaching staff. The Bruins brought in Jay Pandolfo and Bruce Cassidy who specialize in player development. By moving these two men into assistant coaches positions, it means that Bruins will be more willing to play young players next season, and that’s a start.

But the Bruins will need to do more if they want to get  back on the playoff track. They may need to change head coaches. (Some have suggested that Cam Neely and/or Don Sweeney get the axe if the upcoming season is another bust.) The Bruins need to do something to repeat the mistakes of the last two seasons.

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