Boston Bruins: Four players to watch out for next season
The Boston Bruins finished the season as the Eastern Conference champions before falling short to the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals. But can they get back to the cup next season for redemption?
The Boston Bruins were underdogs in the Eastern Conference when the playoffs began, as almost all hockey fans had the Lightning cruising to the finish line. A lot of people even had the Toronto Maple Leafs getting through Boston in round one.
However, the Lightning was swept in the first round and the Boston Bruins took down the Leafs. From there, it was smooth sailing for Boston. That is until they ran into a wall known as the St. Louis Blues, falling short in a seven-game series.
The question to ask here is can the Boston Bruins get back to the Stanley Cup Final and get the Cup that they so desperately wanted not too long ago?
It comes down to several different things. There’s the player who shines through the regular season and becomes the team MVP. There’s also the young or struggling player on the team that finally gets his breakout and has a stellar season. That breakout player is important because there’s a good chance that a good payer has a rough season next year, and can be a disappointment.
Then there is the bounce-back player. A player who was oft-injured or having an unusually tough season last year that comes back this year and shines once again.
This isn’t a simple question to answer at all, as anything can happen in hockey. I mean, the Lightning did get swept by a wild card team after a historic regular season. But here are four things that Bruins fans should look for as we near the new season.
Who will be the Boston Bruins MVP next year?
If I asked one-hundred Boston Bruins fans who they think next seasons team MVP will be, I guarantee a lot of people would say Patrice Bergeron or Brad Marchand.
To me, however, it’s David Pastrnak’s time to step up. The lack of right-wing depth on the Bruins leads to David Pastrnak being the best at his position by a mile, adding to his importance to the team.
His versatility also adds to his value, giving head coach Bruce Cassidy several ways to put Pastrnak out on the ice, whether as a first liner or second liner. Pastrnak has to be good for the Bruins, or it could potentially hurt their depth scoring. Ultimately, Pastrnak is the glue that holds the teams’ offensive prowess together.
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Last season, Pastrnak recorded 33 goals and 48 assists for 81 points in 66 games played. If we were to prorate his per game stats over a full 82 game season at the pace he scored, Pastrnak could have hit the 100 point plateau.
It’s also important to mention that he had better transitional analytics than Bergeron last season. It’s no doubt Pastrnak is a dominant puck possession player, as he has only had a Corsi-For% under 55 once in his career (2015-16: 51.9 CF%).
Pastrnak also didn’t rely on much luck last season either. PDO is a stat that basically quantifies luck that a player had. Under a 100 PDO is bad luck, over 100 is good luck and a 100 PDO is average.
Pastrnak recorded a 100.7 PDO, and for comparison’s sake, Bergeron had a 101.9 PDO. What this means is that Pastrnak is more likely to have another season like the one he had last year than Bergeron will, as Bergeron required more luck to reach his point production.
That being said, Pastrnak has improved with every passing season, and if he continues his rise in production heading into next season, he can easily become the leading scorer on the Bruins roster.
And the break-out star is…
Looking at a roster and looking for someone who could potentially breakout is always difficult. There are a ton of things that need to be taken into account in order to truly find a breakout candidate. In the Boston Bruins case, it has to be Charlie Coyle.
Coyle, a Massachusetts native, hit the 50 point mark once. That was back in the 2016-17 NHL season, where he had 56 points in a full 82 game season. The most ice time he averaged per game in a season was back in the 2015-16 season, where he played 17:18 per game.
Now, with the Bruins having such a thin right-wing group paired with Coyle’s ability to play all three forward positions, it’s safe to say that he could have a huge role on the team. Likely starting the season on the second line, he could pair really well with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk.
As touched on earlier, Pastrnak could move up and down in the top-six, meaning Coyle will likely get time with Bergeron and Marchand on the top line. Not to mention Pastrnak has only played one full 82 game season (2017-18) in his 5-year career.
That could mean that Coyle could play on the top line for extended periods of time if Pastrnak does get injured again. It’s no secret that Coyle could turn into an absolute monster for the Bruins next year.
Another breakout candidate is Matt Grzelcyk. With Brendan Carlo and Charlie McAvoy both without contracts and one of them potentially not returning to the team, Grzelcyk could see top 4 minutes. While he did play over 19 minutes last year, he could see even more time if one or both free agent defenders don’t return and could play a very vital role on the team.
Let’s hope nobody has a down year
It’s never easy looking at a team and saying that a player will have a down year. So finding potential disappointments is just as difficult as finding potential breakouts.
Tuukka Rask is coming off a career-worst season when playing in 20 or more games. Not to mention, he is 32 years old, making it less likely for a bounce back. It’s also a difficult pill to swallow for a team to go the distance in the playoffs and come up just short. That let down on a goalie has the potential to be catastrophic on his career.
While Rask has been in this situation before, having lost in the cup finals in 2013, he is 6 years separated from that experience. It’s also important to note that the Bruins failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2015-16 and 2016-17, although not to the fault of Rask.
I believe that Rask will continue to decline with age, although not enough to sink the team out of a potential playoff spot. Now, this isn’t a popular opinion by any means, especially after how well Rask played throughout the postseason, but he has the highest potential on the roster for a disappointing season.
Another option here would be Zdeno Chara. I get it, he is a staple to the Bruins defence core and took a fairly big pay cut for this season to stick around. But he is old and most definitely at the tail end of his career. However, it’s kind of expected at this point for Chara to fall behind in games, with the youth movement and the way the game has evolved. That’s why he was not the top choice for potential disappointment for next season.
Who has a bounce-back campaign?
Every year, there is a player who comes off of a disappointing season or seasons and comes back one year and surprises everyone with their production. Who on the Bruins fits the bill for a bounce-back?
John Moore is currently the second-highest-paid Bruins defenseman, behind Torey Krug, while the McAvoy and Carlo contracts are discussed. He has been highly scrutinised by Boston Bruins fans throughout the season, but this past year could have merely been an off-year. While Moore is not much of an offensive player and never has been, he had over a minute less average time on ice per game from two seasons ago.
To put it into perspective, Moore’s career-high in points came in the 2016-17 season, recording just 22 points. This past season with the Bruins, Moore put up 13 points in 61 games.
To be precise, he averaged 20:01 time on ice per game in 2017-18 and 18:46 time on ice per game in 2018-19. At 28 years old, he isn’t quite at the age of decline yet, giving him a chance to bounce back as well. With one of Carlo and McAvoy likely gone, there are spots on a crowded blue line opened up, and John Moore could be at the top of the other defenseman battling for a top 4 role.
Another candidate could be Kevan Miller. Injuries have been ravaging Miller in recent years, and if he could stay relatively healthy next season, Boston fans know he’s a capable bottom 2 defenseman. He provides a veteran presence for a young defenseman like Urho Vaakanainen as well.
All statistics courtesy of hockey-reference.com.
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