Boston Bruins still rank highly in off-season rankings

Whilst it’s always hard to judge how a team will do when we’re in the midst of the off-season, it’s nice to see that the Boston Bruins are still seen as a team to beat.

NHL.com recently released their off-season rankings after the majority of free agency moves have been done. At least if you ignore the restricted free agent hold-out we’re seeing around the league – Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo in the Boston Bruins’ case.

Anyhow in the NHL.com Power Rankings, it’s interesting to see that they don’t rank the most recent Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues in top spot, nor do we, as the second-best in that Final, rank in second. In fact it is, much like last summer, the Tampa Bay Lightning seen as the team to beat.

It’s very easy to look at the Boston Bruins and say, wait a second, this is one of the finalists in the Stanley Cup Final just a month or so ago. It’s not like there’s been much roster turnover since then; why aren’t we ranked higher than third?

More from Editorials

• Pavel Zacha’s veteran status leading to bigger role in 2023-24
• The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
• Why the Bruins should wait to name a captain until after the season
• 3 players the Bruins can, 3 players could trade, 3 players they shouldn’t trade
• It’s time to offer Jake DeBrusk a contract extension

However, it’s very easy to forget that we did in fact lose two guys that, although they were in the bottom-six, played significant roles and did so very well. The free agency pick-ups, the article suggests, of Brett Ritchie and Par Lindholm offset the departures of Marcus Johansson and Noel Acciari. I beg to differ; time will tell whether either truly fills the skates of those that left.

The bigger question is why the St. Louis Blues rank above us. Despite being the current Stanley Cup champions; they’re likely losing Pat Maroon this summer and also lost Michael Del Zotto. Their only move of note has been the contract extension of Jordan Binnington, who could prove to be a one-shot deal; that is a big unknown for them heading into next season.

It’s very fair to place the Tampa Bay Lightning above the Boston Bruins however. Not only was that the case within the Atlantic Division in the year just gone, but they’ve seemingly gotten even better this summer.

Whilst Curtis McElhinney may not seem like a blockbuster deal; he steps into their line-up as a replacement for backup Louis Domingue – if he can bring anywhere near the game that we saw with the Carolina Hurricanes, it’s a huge backup goalie upgrade.

Not only that, the Lightning somehow have shifted enough salary to renew Brayden Point. The loss of a 47-point guy in J.T. Miller is perhaps the only negative for them.

The talent on the Boston Bruins roster doesn’t quite trump the all-round depth there, but you get the feeling there’s a little more heart and grit when the Bruins are backed into the corner. After all, Tampa went out first round; Boston fought back in an opening round Game 6 and 7 before heading all the way to a Game 7 in the Final.

Now, it’s the middle of summer and these rankings don’t mean much, especially as there’s plenty of contracts still to be signed, but it’s certainly a positive sign for the Boston Bruins that these experts already view as a big contender. Again.