Boston Bruins: Should we give up on Peter Cehlarik?

Since being picked in the third round (90th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, Peter Cehlarik has looked to have a decent ceiling.

However, given we’re now six years removed from that draft and Peter Cehlarik still hasn’t made it stick with the Boston Bruins, you’ve got to wonder whether we should give up on the idea of him ever turning into much more than another tweener; not quite good enough for the NHL but slightly above AHL level.

Last season saw him hit a new career-high in NHL regular season games, tallying 20 appearances for the Boston Bruins and managing to grab four goals and two assists during that time with the big club.

His stat line with the Providence Bruins in the AHL certainly suggests that there’s enough to his game to make the jump permanently. He had 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points in his 53 AHL appearances last year.

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The biggest appeal to him as a player for the Boston Bruins has to be that he’s a big-bodied winger that shows a solid two-way game. If it weren’t for health concerns and the lack of opportunity due to strong organisational depth on the left wing, you’d have money on him having made it stick already.

Given that the left-wing position hasn’t seen any turnover this summer and that Brad Marchand, Jake Debrusk and Danton Heinen all sit above him, it’s hard to envisage him being able to make the jump. He’s not the sort of guy that we see sitting on the fourth line.

However, should one of those guys ahead of him make the switch to the right-wing in an attempt to fill the second line gap, maybe there is an opportunity with his name on it – he will have to bring his absolute best at camp though to join fellow Slovaks, Zdeno Chara and Jaroslav Halak on the opening-night roster though.

Whilst 24 isn’t old by any means, you’d have to imagine he’s starting to edge towards a use-by date in the NHL. Generally if you haven’t made it stick by age 25, you’d have to say you’re a bit of a bust.

Maybe this is where the Boston Bruins take a good look at Peter Cehlarik through training camp and maybe consider if there’s any good asset they can acquire in return. There’s plenty of teams that I’m sure would be keen on a bigger-bodied two-way winger.

Fact is the Boston Bruins depth chart does Peter Cehlarik no favours and despite his twenty games last year, he probably isn’t making the line-up straight away to start this season and may even find himself a waiver claim if the organisation tries to sneak him through.

It’s never fun to give up on a guy that you’ve drafted but it might be nearing that time for the Boston Bruins to cut Peter Cehlarik loose and admit that he hasn’t quite panned out perfectly.