Boston Bruins: Top 5 prospects to get excited about this season

As the regular season lurks just days away for the Boston Bruins, an obvious question on everyone’s mind is which of the many prospects in the system will make a big impact on the team in the future?

Prospect development is a tedious process. It can often take several years, from the draft or post-college free agency to stints in the minors, for a prospect to hone his skills enough to be considered ready for “the show.”

As we know from obsessively tracking prospects since, like, forever, we can’t always compare the progress rate among some of the Bruins’ younger players. Some drift back and forth from Providence up to Boston, while others spend more time in junior to grind down their game into something more polished and mature.

Those chances that prospects get at training camp and during the pre-season can be crucial to evaluating not only skill level but whether they might stand a chance at cracking the main roster during the season.

And let’s just get this out of the way; we Bruins fans have seen some flashes of brilliance in the past few weeks.

Having seen what we’ve seen so far, let’s dive into five players that I think all Bruins fans should keep a special eye on throughout the 2019-20 hockey season.

4. Jack Studnicka, C

Ex-OHLer and current Providence Bruin Jack Studnicka was the Bruins’ only representative named in ESPN insider Chris Peters’ top-100 list for this season’s NHL prospects (premium content), which is… interesting… but that’s hardly the point of the matter.

Look, friends. The Bruins’ offensive core isn’t getting any younger (though they’re still competitive, obviously, with an average age of 25.8), and histrionics about how much longer over-30 offensive dynamos like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Krejci can continue to produce at a high level are always looming in the very dark recesses of the neurotic Bruins fan’s mind.

Peters saw Studnicka as “a free-wheeling forward who can do a little bit of everything,” an almost sure bet to spend most of his time in Providence this season but someone with a fair shot at cracking the NHL if he plays his cards right and certain circumstances align.

Not a bad assessment, if you ask me.

I was lucky enough to see Studnicka in person at the Sept. 25 preseason game against the Devils, where he infamously scored a goal with his kisser. It was equal parts horrifying and mesmerizing.

I was struck by his enthusiasm in the way he carried himself. It was obvious that he was putting his all into every last stride, and the fact that he hardly skipped a beat and went back to playing shows us how serious Studnicka is about sticking around.

I won’t pretend that I’m a Studnicka scholar — far from it, really; I’ve mainly only looked him over just these few past weeks. But I really, really like what I’ve seen from him thus far. He may not have that polish yet, but that’s what spending time in the AHL is for.

I left TD Garden full of affection and admiration for Studnicka’s game — the Bruins could get a lot of mileage out of him in the future.

3. Urho Vaakanainen, D

Urho Vaakanainen is in an unenviable position. He’s a young defensive prospect on a team with an already capable d-corps, and he’s not quite developed enough to hide those mistakes that almost every young defenseman has when adjusting to the professional game.

He’s a little bit unbalanced, a little uneven. While praised for his fleet skating and puck-moving ability, there are times when he gets tripped up and doesn’t quite connect as one may think he should.

Sept. 23 was one of those nights, and Cassidy mentioned this to the press. Cassidy felt as though it was a poor showing for the young Finnish defenseman, and that’s not ideal news for a prospect trying to claw their way onto an Opening Night roster.

Cassidy felt as though Vaakanainen’s performance, while all-around sort of awkward in the way that’s expected of a less polished defenseman, truly suffered in the realm that the Finn might be most praised for: his skating.

“I don’t think he skated well enough to skate people, to break out pucks. One of his strengths is his foot speed, and his defending with his foot speed. He got beat wide once tonight, that’s not typically his game [because] he’s pretty good that way… His feet need to be moving every night. I thought he could have been better in that area tonight, being a little bit more of a factor. I thought [Jakub] Zboril did a pretty good job that way, breaking out, getting up ice and supporting the rush. Not as much for Vaak tonight.” – Bruce Cassidy, as reported by Joe Haggerty for NBC Sports Boston

I was reminded of something Jamie Langenbrunner, the Bruins’ Player Development Coordinator, said earlier this month about Vaakanainen. His words in retrospect are eerily prophetic and speak to how uneven prospect development can be.

Langenbrunner speaks specifically of Vaakanainen’s uneven time spent with Providence, where he scored four goals and 14 assists in 30 games, much of that coming in fits and spurts.

“That happens for a young kid,” Langenbrunner said. “I think with him, most kids his age aren’t playing in [the AHL]. Most 19-year-olds are still in junior. I think this year will be a big opportunity for him to take that next step. We feel that he has that ability.”

That’s… a good point, honestly. I think with Vaakanainen we should be less invested with the possibility that he’ll crack the Bruins lineup out of training camp (a feat which seems unlikely) and more in his development in Providence.

He’s still adjusting to the North American game. Give him time, and he may just blossom into a steady blueline asset for the B’s.

2. Connor Clifton, D

I’m not entirely sure whether it’s fair to call Connor Clifton a prospect after his spirited performance in the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues, but if I make one point clear this article it should be that the Bruins defensive corp is not an easy thing to break into.

However, given his proven playoffs success and newly inked three-year contract extension worth a cool $3 million, I’d say Clifton has as good a shot as anyone at breaking through to Opening Night.

Clifton has this swagger and panache to him. At times, it was hard to believe that he was a rookie while he was killing it in the Stanley Cup Final just a few months ago.

Cassidy said, when speaking about the Bruins’ prospects at large, that it was unlikely that anyone expected that Clifton would be “the guy” in the Stanley Cup Final. But he was, and the Bruins were all the better for it.

That sort of unpredictability speaks to me. I always like to see the kids coming out of college just straight-up killing it in the NHL when they make the jump, and I truly believe that Clifton will be another notable player in that great tradition.

I feel as though he will make great contributions to the Bruins lineup, and we are lucky as anything to have him.

Just watch this goal over and over until we see him again in The Show. By my own calculations, it shouldn’t be too long.

Honorable Mentions

Before we get to numero uno in who I think all Boston Bruins fans should stan this year, it’s only fair to provide some honorable mentions:

• Trent Frederic
  • I really, really like this kid. I think Frederic can blossom into a reliable centerman given some more time to hone his game in Providence as well as some short stints up with the main squad. Given some of the roster gymnastics that happens during the regular season accommodating injuries, I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Frederic on the fourth line for a good stretch this season.

• John Beecher
  • Not the activist poet, but the 2019 Bruins first-round draft pick. If my college hockey agenda didn’t come out before, here it is now: Beecher will prove to be a key player for the University of Michigan this year. The U.S. National Team product is bringing strong skating and keen offensive instincts to Ann Arbor. Even though Bruins fans are going to have to be really patient with Beecher (John, if you’re reading this, please get your degree and take the time to develop your game in college!), at least it’ll be relatively easy to keep up with his shenanigans. Keep an eye on this one, folks.

• Anders Bjork
  • Bjork was the bane of my existence when he was at Notre Dame and I attended UMass Lowell. He shall never be forgiven for his crimes against me, but I’ll give credit where it’s due and be straight with you all: he’s a good hockey player who could well become a core player if fate decides to play us favorable cards. He’ll get that permanent spot eventually, and I’m only being a bit hyperbolic when I say he’d look pretty good on the Bruins’ second line. Once he’s given a good enough chance, I believe Bjork will produce lots of offense for Boston.

• Zachary Senyshyn
  • I know what you’re all thinking. I understand some of you may still be upset that Sweeney took him over, say, Mat Barzal or basically anyone else during that fateful day in 2015. I was as confused myself. Anguished, even. But I’m a very nice and reasonable person, and I know that some investments just take a little bit more time than others. Senyshyn’s not a DeBrusk. He’s not quite ready to jump into an NHL lineup and really stick, but I like what he’s been doing in Providence. Given more time and an actual look by the Bruins, I think Senyshyn could prove to be one of Sweeney’s shrewder moves a little while from now. This article has been all about having patience, and as a Senyshyn Rights Activist, I’m willing to wait this one out.

1. Jakub Lauko, LW

Jakub Lauko, the 19-year-old wunderkind from the Czech Republic, was perhaps criminally underrated until the fateful night of Sept. 23.

He impressed everyone in the Bruins’ first home preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers with his nimble skating and scoring instinct.

Consider the goal heard ’round Bruins twitter:

The Bruins website says he’s keen to make his professional debut after he and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies tore up the QMJHL and then won the CHL’s Memorial Cup in that very order. After what we’ve seen in preseason, I’d say this is terribly good news indeed for both Providence and the Bruins at large.

He’s attracted praise from not only stoked Bruins fans but the big man himself, Cassidy.

“When he’s on his game, he’s moving his feet, he’s chipping and chasing, he’s a tough guy to stop… He’s got a nice shot, and can make some plays. He’s still learning the ropes away from the puck…breakout situations, defensive zone situations. I think that’s perfectly normal at 19.” – Bruce Cassidy, as reported by Eric Russo of BostonBruins.com

Hey, if Lauko keeps up what he’s doing, we might just see him under the lights come Oct. 3.

I leave all of you with this tweet:

Whilst opening night may now be off the cards, it’s only a matter of time.

Statistics courtesy of Hockey-Reference, Hockey DB and Elite Prospects. If you have something to say, tweet it at @Hannah_Manning_, who loves new friends.