Boston Bruins: Four options to take Charlie McAvoy’s minutes in Game 1
With news that Charlie McAvoy has been suspended for Game 1 of the Boston Bruins’ Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes; the immediate thought is – who replaces his minutes?
The young defenseman has been a vital piece in the Boston Bruins success so far and for him to miss even one game is a big loss for the team. Not only has he been good for a point almost every other game, but he’s shown confidence hitting and laying it on the line with his shot blocking.
It’s going to be a big ask for anyone to step up to the plate and replace his minutes, given that he is seeing almost 25 minutes ice-time night in, night out so far these playoffs.
Here is a player that for sure will one day be in the voting for the Norris Trophy and his hit on Josh Anderson, whether callous and deliberate or just an unfortunate accident, has put his team somewhat on the back foot.
It is in these situations, though, that post-season heroes emerge. The unheralded rookie steps up and blocks the critical shot or scores that vital goal. Maybe Charlie McAvoy‘s suspension allows someone to emerge from the shadows and grab that spotlight.
Equally though, the suspension could allow the Carolina Hurricanes to waltz into TD Garden and notch up the win to take a 1-0 series lead.
Related Story. Charlie McAvoy's suspension weakens team for Game 1. light
Whatever the case, the Boston Bruins have some big decision-making ahead. Namely, how do they distribute the minutes of their lead defenseman. Do they simply balance out the minutes across the line-up whilst pairing whoever is next up with Zdeno Chara? Or do they pump one of the other defensive duos up to some serious minutes?
It’s a very open-ended question right now; as such we have assessed four potential options that the Boston Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy may utilise to replace his young lead defenseman:
Do the Boston Bruins trust a one career NHL playoff game player?
Steven Kampfer may not be the first name you think of when you’re looking for someone to fill in for Charlie McAvoy, but Boston Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy has reportedly tested him out, per the Toronto Sun, alongside Zdeno Chara.
Despite his relative inexperience in play-off action, he could be the other half of the first defensive pairing when the Boston Bruins line up for Game 1 with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Coming into the season, Steven Kampfer was a depth player that has jumped back-and-forth between the American Hockey League and NHL his entire career.
He represents your typical AHL journeyman that had ably stepped up when called upon by the likes of the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild after initially breaking in with none other than the Boston Bruins.
Whether he can translate that experience and determination into a strong performance if he’s paired with Chara on the first pairing is the big question?
Experience and determination can make up for lacking skill and if it’s only the one game, you can almost be assured that Kampfer would be willing to do whatever it takes to make his impact.
Interestingly, when he has been used this season by the Boston Bruins, he has averaged 55 seconds power-play time per game and an average ice-time of just over 14 minutes. That’s not half bad all things considered and would suggest that Cassidy does have some level of trust in his abilities.
Most often his ice-time was partnering John Moore, so unless Moore is returning from injury and we’re seeing more wholesale changes; that is likely about to change.
Can he step up; who knows – given it’s one game, he’s probably well worth a shot. These are the sorts of risks you have to take to advance to the Stanley Cup final!
Boston Bruins could defer to the veteran
Replacing youthful exuberance with veteran leadership and play-off nous is never a bad option. Hence why John Moore, who is set to return from injury per CBS Sports, could well be the best bet alongside Zdeno Chara.
John Moore, despite actually being younger than Steven Kampfer, arguably brings a lot more to the table in terms of veteran experience. We’re talking a player with a record of over 500 NHL games and 42 playoff games, to boot.
He played 62 games with the Boston Bruins this season and maintained an even plus/minus score; partnering Carlo, McAvoy and Krug most regularly, showing a level of versatility with whichever partner he lines up alongside.
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The biggest question marks, if he were to be paired with Chara though, are whether he’s fully fit upon his return from an upper body injury that kept him out of the Bruins’ Game 6 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. That, and could the pairing hold up to the speed that someone like Andrei Svechnikov brings?
Chara has already shown frailties when faced with the Toronto Maple Leafs young speedsters and Moore isn’t exactly known for being amazingly fast – the pairing would be relying on strong defensive instincts to shut down plays early before zone entries happen, realistically.
Moore is more than comfortable stepping up to bigger minutes; his playoff average this season has been a meagre 13:08 in the Maple Leafs series, but he was given an 18:46 average in the regular season and showed he was comfortable with 20:01 the previous year with the New Jersey Devils.
Given McAvoy has averaging 25 minutes a night, you’d surely have some faith in John Moore to pick up a significant chunk of that ice time.
Perhaps there’s a few too many question marks to give him the nod, especially as we don’t really know what his injury was, but Cassidy wouldn’t shock me if he does opt to use him.
Should the Boston Bruins reward the rookie?
Despite this year being his rookie campaign, Connor Clifton stepped up admirably when called upon in the regular season and has continued to show up for the Boston Bruins in these playoffs thus far.
He has fast earned the trust of Boston Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy; whether this was due to other injuries up-and-down the line-up or due to a genuine trust in the player, who knows?
Either way, Connor Clifton, in his 19 regular season games was given an average ice time of 17:42 and was averaging 2 hits a night, showing a willingness to be physical which has often boded well in the playoffs.
Although his ice time has been pulled back to just over 11 minutes in the play-offs, the sheer fact he’s laced up the skates in 8 of the Boston Bruins’ 13 games speaks volumes. This, after all, is a player that began the year with the Providence Bruins of the AHL.
Whether Clifton is ready to elevate his game further alongside the Bruins’ captain on a top pairing is a little more questionable. He still shows a certain degree of hesitation that can be capitalised upon in the NHL, especially in the intense surrounds of an Eastern Conference finals game.
It truly is a big decision for Cassidy to determine whether Clifton is ready to step up to the plate. If he decides to push him and it pays off; he looks like a genius. If he pushes him and it backfires; suddenly, he’s a complete fool for giving the rookie the nod over more experienced players.
The biggest thing working in Clifton’s favour right now is that he may be able to keep up with some of the quicker guys in the Hurricanes’ line-up. He has also likely faced a few of them recently during his time in Providence.
High risk, high reward would be the only way to view pushing Connor Clifton up the line-up. Will coach Cassidy be bold?
Is the answer staring the Boston Bruins in the face?
The most likely option is that the second pairing sees a significant bump in its’ minutes whilst Zdeno Chara and his partner ease back on their ice time. Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug have shown they can match up with big lines so maybe they are the ideal choice to subdue Sebastian Aho and company.
Time and again, Carlo and Krug have proven themselves as a big part of the Boston Bruins’ young defensive core. Between them and the suspended Charlie McAvoy, they’ve allowed Boston to gradually lessen the captain’s ice-time. Carlo, in particular, has really stepped up already in this, his first NHL play-offs.
In doing so, the Boston Bruins have become far more mobile with the puck; Chara has been able to push forward more often and unleash that shot because he knows the youngsters will have the speed to cover for him.
At even strength across the regular season, Carlo has spent 38.7% of his time partnered with Krug, that number leaping to 71.4% of the time in the playoffs. Why attempt to fix something which clearly isn’t broken?
This Boston Bruins team has managed to make the Eastern Conference final and if that’s in part due to this defensive duo, why would you even consider tinkering with it?
Perhaps the only issue with promoting Carlo and Krug to first defensive pairing minutes is that you potentially stymie anything you could get out of Chara; if he sees a significant drop in time, which you’d have to assume he would in light of these two being promoted, surely he becomes less effective.
On the flip side, maybe not drawing the top line would open Zdeno to be a real scoring threat with his booming shot from the point.
It’s not too long now until Game 1 gets underway and soon the answer to this question will be revealed. Whoever is the beneficiary of McAvoy’s suspension will need to put in a huge performance for the Boston Bruins to start this series the right way.
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Statistics courtesy of Dobber Sports.