Boston Bruins: Brandon Carlo Has Strong Debut In Preseason Loss
The Boston Bruins already have seven signed defensemen, so it’s going to be tough for a young blueliner to break into the NHL this season.
If any young defenseman is going to make it on the roster of the Boston Bruins this year, they’re going to need to have a strong camp and make a great impression during preseason play. At the moment, Brandon Carlo looks like the man who could pull it off.
The Boston Bruins had their first preseason game tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. While the Bruins fell to Columbus 3-2 in a shootout, it was still a good evening out for the 19-year old Carlo was grabbed by the Bruins as a second round pick in the 2015 Draft.
The Bruins put Carlo on tonight as a top-pair D with John-Michael Liles. Carlo and Liles were the only pair to go +1 last night, and Carlo’s assist on Danton Heinen’s third period goal was the only point recorded by a defenseman last night. Carlo finished with three shots on goal, one block, and 92 seconds of short ice-time in his 20 minutes on the ice last night.
Boston Bruins assistant coach Bruce Cassidy was the man in charge as Claude Julien is still part of the coaching staff for Team Canada at the World Cup. Cassidy was handily impressed with the performance put in by Carlo tonight.
“You’re dealing with NHL guys out there. [The Blue Jackets] had some pretty good guys in their lineup tonight and everyone is competing for jobs on both sides…so the speed was phenomenal. I loved it.” – Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo on last night’s game.
“Arguably our best D, if not our best D,” offered Cassidy. “[He showed] real good decision-making, and his gaps are good. I can really only think of one time in the third period he kind of threw a puck away in the middle of a change, and ended up on his wrong side. It wasn’t a bad turnover, but it was just one that he could have made a little bit of a better decision.
“He didn’t handle the puck much in the game, that’s pretty good. He jumped up the ice, got his shot through when it was there, matched up well with whoever he was put out there [against], pushed back in front of our net. [There were] a lot of good things.”
Carlo will need to have an amazing camp and preseason if he’s going to supplant any of the current Bruins off the roster. If that doesn’t happen, Carlo will be Providence bound this season. Still, a strong preseason will mean he could be the first defenseman called up if there’s an injury on the squad this year.
Carlo has an outside chance right now at the moment. If Carlo can stay at this level, then the Bruins could find a way to sell a player like Joe Morrow in a trade. They could even kill several birds with one stone by figuring out a way to move one of their overpriced bottom pair players.
More from Bruins News
- Bruins release Prospects Challenge roster, schedule Tuesday
- Bruins bringing back familiar forward on tryout contract
- The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
- NHL Network lists Ullmark as sixth-best goalie in the league
- The Lasting Legacy of David Krejci
“I just want to keep the same mentality, same energy. Show a little bit more physicality. I felt like I did that, but definitely could close a little quicker in a few instances overall. I just want to keep building on every game,” said Carlo. “There are some very strong guys on the puck in this league and throughout this game they had those guys out there definitely. Overall, you just have to compete just as hard as them.
“You’re dealing with NHL guys out there. [The Blue Jackets] had some pretty good guys in their lineup tonight and everyone is competing for jobs on both sides…so the speed was phenomenal. I loved it.”
It was a strong debut by several players in last night’s loss. While Carlo was one of the big stars tonight, other young guns like Denton Heinen put on a good show. The fans got to see a lot more of the young talent in the system. Hopefully a few more preseason games will lessen the tension the fans feel about the Bruins depth in the system.