Nov 24, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing David Pastrnak (88), playing in his first NHL game, looks to take a shot during the third period of the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
This certainly has been the worst year for the Boston Bruins since Claude Julien took over. By and large, the team have been under performing across the board. (Dougie Hamilton and Niklas Svedberg have been the exception here.) The Bruins made some moves that hampered the Bruins ability to play consistent hockey even before the played their first game of the season. The consistent run of injuries certainly didn’t help the B’s out of the malaise, and even now it took the Bruins a month to string together two wins in a row.
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One of the Black and Gold’s biggest problems has been finding offense, especially on their top line. The Bruins have been trying to find someone to compliment David Krejci on the right wing. Loui Eriksson was supposed to be that guy, but didn’t work. (Thankfully, Eriksson has found success with Carl Soderberg, and has scored five goals in the last eight games.) The Bruins dug into their AHL grab bag and put Craig Cunningham and Seth Griffith in that position as well. No dice there either. They need someone to deliver a solid offensive presence and not only be puck-hungry, but have the right set of hands to capitalize on chances.
Puck Prose
So, what can Boston do? Call up more AHL players in an effort to strike gold? A lot of fans have been asking about Ryan Spooner and Alexander Khokhlachev. I don’t see that happening. It seems those two have had their sit down and have been told they will be taking over for Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell when the seasons over. (Maybe I’m the only one who sees this writing on the wall(and I’m not happy about it), but that move would make sense for the organization.) The most logical step for the Bruins organization to take could bite them in the backside down the road.
That move would be moving David Pastrnak to Boston after the World Juniors. Barring injury (*knock on wood*), Pastrnak is the best choice the Bruins have (barring some Raycroftian miracle trade by Peter Chiarelli). He’s a right shot and an excellent right winger. He and David Krejci would gel quickly and be effective. Pastrnak showed he was willing to take the serious hits to make the plays needed.
Pastrnak has only played in five games with Boston so far. (One of those games showed an unusually uncertain Claude Julien playing him for a mere handful of minutes.) He showed himself to be a playmaker, but the Bruins were certainly in a low patch, and David Krejci was among the injured. Pastrnak got sent down to Providence, and was given instructions to work on getting some of his skills up to NHL level. Pastrank exploded in his first six Providence games, putting up nine points (five goals) for the baby Bruins.
He’s turning into a total package player for the Bruins organization. It may be in the B’s best intrest to play him those last four games, and then commit themselves to giving him the spoked ‘B’ jersey. The only downside to this is that it would burn a year off his entry level contract.
The Bruins are 18-14-3, and are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference and not in playoff contention. The Bruins may just have to make the hard choice in order to save their season.