Adam McQuaid – 47 Games – One Goal, Two Assists, Three Points – ATOI: 17:31
Adam McQuaid is a tough hockey player. Despite dealing with multiple injuries over the last few seasons, nobody prides themselves on defending his teammates more than McQuaid. On a Bruins team that always defends its own, holding this distinction is admirable.
Though he’s not a top-four defenseman, McQuaid is still a good bottom-pairing player. Unfortunately, the Bruins utilize McQuaid on their second pairing due to a lack of talent on the backend. This isn’t McQuaid’s fault, but in a frustrating time when the Bruins look like they could miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season, McQuaid is often the recipient of the fans’ ire.
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McQuaid has never been an offensive force. He’s never been the player that the team relies on for points, or even for mobility. What McQuaid does bring to the table, however, is a hard-nosed style player that wears down opponents with his physical play. At six foot four, 212 pounds, McQuaid isn’t afraid to use his size to help his team.
Still, McQuaid very clearly isn’t a top defenseman in the NHL. The Bruins lack of defensive starpower is evident by the ice time that McQuaid receives. While it’s not his fault that he plays in a top-four role, it’s still not encouraging for Bruins fans to see such a stagnant transaction history on the back-end in terms of talent addition. The exception to that would be the drafting of Brandon Carlo – though nobody could have seen him stepping up so soon in his career.