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The Boston Bruins struggled with offense last season. With the combination of injuries and a revolving door at the top right wing position, the Bruins had an immense amount of trouble finding the back of the net. One of the major injuries the Bruins had to endure through the 2014-15 season was David Krejci, who only played in 47 games last season, which was a career low for him. Without Krejci, the Bruins leaned heavily on players like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner, Loui Eriksson, and others for offense, but it never quite clicked the way they intended. The Bruins top play-making center is quite clearly David Krejci, and his injuries not only affected the Bruins during his missed games, but the lingering affects were ever-present throughout his return to the lineup as well.
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When asked about how he was feeling after his injuries, Krejci stated: “Off the ice, in the gym, everything’s been fine. I’ve been skating for a little more than a month now and felt good on the ice,” He also made it clear that he was ready to go for the season, “So there shouldn’t be any reason why I shouldn’t be ready 100 percent.” It’s encouraging for Bruins fans to know that a Krejci, who has only missed 15 games over the course of his six seasons with Boston, is ready to go to start the season, and feels 100% without requiring surgery that he mentioned might be a possibility at breakup day back in April.
David Krejci will be playing with different linemates this season as his former linemate Milan Lucic was traded in the offseason to the Los Angeles Kings. “It’s going to be weird,” Krejci said. “We’ve been together for a long time and now he’s gone. So obviously that was a really sad day. But we have to understand that it’s a business as well. And there was some upper-management changes and they’re just trying to make our team better than last year and they did some changes. And I really like the team we have right now, so we’ll see how that goes.” It’s clear that the Bruins will miss Lucic as much as Krejci will, but trades and changes are a part of sports, but the Bruins will have to adapt. There are a few players that could lineup beside Krejci to start the year. Right wing options include David Pastrnak, Brett Connolly, Loui Eriksson, and Jimmy Hayes. Options for the left wing include Matt Beleskey, Loui Eriksson, or one of Brett Connolly or Jimmy Hayes if the Bruins decide they can play their off-wing and are capable of playing top minutes in that role.
Puck Prose
It does seem as though Matt Beleskey will be the heir-apparent to the top line left wing role as the replacement for Milan Lucic. When asked about Beleskey, Krejci said: “I know him as a player. I haven’t met him yet. We texted a little bit in the summer when he signed,” Krejci also noticed the similarities between Beleskey and Lucic on the ice, “Yeah, if you look at it, he plays a little bit similar to the way Milan was doing here. But it’s kind of hard to say what direction the coaching staff and management want to go.” Anything can happen with the Bruins lineup this season, but it would be surprising if Beleskey didn’t start beside Krejci.
Regardless of who Krejci plays with, he should bring an elite offensive pedigree with him. Krejci is the type of player that can dictate play with his speed, skating, passing, and even his physicality for someone who isn’t overly large. The Bruins will almost undoubtedly go through some hiccups to start the season with all of their changes at every position, but Krejci’s return will be a welcome one at center for the Bruins.
Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @FansidedBrandon to discuss all things Bruins and sports