Boston Bruins: How To Fix The Blueline
The Boston Bruins could be in a lot worse positions than they are now. The Bruins are still hanging on to a playoff slot at the halfway point of their season. For the most part, the Bruins have dug down deep to solve most of their problems. As long as their top lines stay healthy, the Black and Gold will be on track for another playoff run. (Not bad considering the dumpster fire look the B’s had at the start of the season.) Tuukka Rask has recovered from his early slump and is climbing the rankings in wins, goals against average, and goals allowed per game.
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While the Bruins are clearly recovering in two major areas, they are still woefully weak on the blueline. The current Bruins defense aren’t capable of handling the work load. The Bruins still find themselves suffering from late game defensive lapses that are costing them critical points. If the B’s don’t turn this problem around, and do it quickly. The Bruins may continue to slide to the point where they’ll miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
So, where on the blueline are the Bruins the weakest?
It’s not Zdeno Chara. The Bruins have asked more than they should have of a 38-year old man with a knee that will never truly be 100 percent. Still, the Slovak captain is on pace for a forty-plus point season and will still likely end up with a dozen goals. Chara is a +10, which is good enough to lead the team. Still, the Bruins tend to put too much on Chara, and against speedy forwards, it leaves Chara out of position. When Chara gets caught on the wrong side of the ice it leaves one of the Millers or Zach Trotman as the last line of defense. Too often, that has led to other teams scoring goals.
It’s not Torey Krug either. In one big way, Torey Krug and Tuukka Rask are alike. They both usually play solid games, but when they don’t…it’s usually a disaster. Thankfully, Krug has had that many of them this season. At the beginning of the year, Krug told everyone he was ready to play top four minutes. He has proven that he can do just that.
Colin Miller has been a nice surprise for the Bruins. He’s earned his way up into Boston, and is capable of playing solid minutes. His biggest issue is hot-and-cold streaks. He has a few good games, followed by a few less than stellar performances. While he’s doing an adequate job at the moment, he’s just not there yet.
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So, where are the liabilities among the defensemen?
Kevan Miller came in last season as a player that could put up some serious hits and give the B’s a level of physicality that they were missing. But now, he seems to be ‘falling up’ in Boston. He makes poor decision that cost the B’s, and the front office has responded by giving him top two minutes. This is an ugly step backwards for the Bruins. Miller is a good hockey player, but if the Bruins want to see Stanley Cup success, they need to have him as their sixth or seventh defenseman.
Zach Trotman has been asked to do an awful lot this season. He’s been given a rough on-the-job training as Zdeno Chara‘s on-again, off-again partner. It’s led to mixed success and the occasional rough patch. As the Bruins are fighting for a playoff spot, they need a more experienced player who can be more consistent playing the big minutes.
Adam McQuaid can be an asset in certain situations. His biggest liability is that McQuaid is often injured. This guy’s luck is so bad, one has to wonder if he walks under to ladders to avoid black cats crossing his path only to step on mirrors. The Bruins would likely not want to admit they have a contingency plan based around him, but for the better part of the last few seasons, the Bruins have had no choice but to have one.
Now what can the Bruins do to clear up these weaknesses?
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They’ll have to move some of the ‘Miller Filler’ for starters, the Bruins will have to accept that Kevan Miller wasn’t working out the way they were hoping and either send him to Providence or make him part of a package deal. Trotman may have to spend another season in Providence as well.
What the Bruins really need right now is a right-handed blueliner that can play top-four minutes. With two right-handed defensemen being traded in the last week, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Bruins could jump on this bandwagon before the trade deadline. They can even find someone with local ties.
Kevin Shattenkirk came up through the Boston University program. He’s a player that was often discussed as a partial trade partner for Tampa Bay Lightning winger Jonathon Drouin. While that trade didn’t happen, and Drouin was sent down to the AHL, a few other teams have been sniffing around regarding Shattenkirk’s availability. His $4.2 million dollar price tag might be a bit too much for Boston to take though.
The Bruins could also try to make a trade with Anaheim. If the B’s play their cards right, they could be the first team in the door when the Ducks have their inevitable fire sale. The Ducks will rebuild, and that could mean easy pickings on a players that have potential. Sami Vatanen is putting up the same kind of numbers that Chara is right now, and there’s a lot of possibilities with the young Finnish blueliner.
If the Bruins can’t find a right to fit the bill, there are a couple of lefties that would fit the bill. One of them would likely take very little convincing to come to Boston. Keith Yandle escaped the Arizona Coyotes, but has yet to come to terms with the New York Rangers.
Yandle is Boston born and bred, and would be just what the Bruins need. An unselfish play maker. He trains with other Bruins players in the offseason. He’s a puck moving defenseman, and would be a solid replacement for the hole still largely unfilled by Dougie Hamilton‘s absence. Finally, at $2.625 million dollars per year, he’s a better bargain than Adam McQuaid.
The Bruins have several cards at their disposal. If the Bruins want to part with Loui Eriksson (it’s seems unlikely, but Don Sweeney has surprised us several times early in his tenure as GM), or give up their draft pick they got in the Milan Lucic trade, they could get top value for either. The Bruins could always package one of their young Providence goalies, or give Alexander Khokhlachev a NHL chance working with another franchise.
We will see how this develops in the coming weeks, but we know the Bruins will need to get a blueliner in the near future.