The Boston Bruins still have a gap to fill on the right wing of their top six. Since Ryan Donato departed, they’ve plugged a few guys in, with Karson Kuhlman being the most recent choice in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Does his appearance there in Game 7 make a top-six roster spot his to lose or were the Boston Bruins simply at their wits’ end and promoted Karson Kuhlman out of sheer panic rather than any longer-term outlook that sees him there regularly?
Given that at the start of the post-season, David Backes was filling the second line right winger spot, you can understand why Karson Kuhlman ended up there. Backes, at this stage in his career, is slow and primarily is useful for laying hits and a bit of physicality, not too much else.
Kuhlman meanwhile injected some pace onto the second line; his ability to create gaps with his acceleration added a different element to a line that had struggled immensely.
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Whether or not that pace alone is enough to see him cement a spot in the top end of the Boston Bruins line-up is a big question. Given that he has just eleven regular season games to his name and only a further eight play-off appearances, it would certainly be a bold prediction slotting him in on the second line and expecting him to stay there.
After all, we have seen the Boston Bruins cycle plenty of youngsters through their line-up, often out of necessity due to injuries elsewhere, but rarely have they managed to stick. It’d seem that head coach, Bruce Cassidy isn’t one to immediately trust a young, plucky talent such as Karson Kuhlman.
What does work in Karson Kuhlman’s favour is a steady track record at the University of Minnesota-Duluth; we know that NCAA backgrounds are looked upon highly with the Boston Bruins organisation. That certainly gains him some brownie points.
Looking further down the line-up, there are limited options internally. Maybe it’s necessity that forces Cassidy’s hand? You’d have to imagine that although Charlie Coyle has experience there, they won’t be altogether keen in shifting him from his key role as the third-line center.
Likewise, the free agency signing of Par Lindholm would appear to be purely left wing or center-focused, whilst Brett Ritchie is surely just as risky of a proposition on the second line. Heck, why not rotate it between the pair and see which one wins out.
Unfortunately, the reality may be that Karson Kuhlman ends up in the press-box and the Boston Bruins insist upon leaving David Backes and his bloated contract in the line-up with the hope of marketing him to potential buyers.
Kuhlman showed definite glimpses of potential last season that’d suggest he could step up into a regular top-six spot, whether that happens this coming season, we shall just have to wait and see.