Are the youngsters out of their depth?
Speaking of the youngsters; you have to wonder whether the players the Boston Bruins have promoted from Providence are feeling a little bit out of their depth at this point of the season.
The likes of Anders Bjork, Trent Frederic and Urho Vaakanainen are doing admirably since slotting into the line-up due to countless injuries decimating the second and third lines of the team.
We’re not saying remove them from the line-up or shunt them down the lines; quite the opposite, Anders Bjork hasn’t looked awful on the second-line with Charlie Coyle and David Krejci but you have to question whether he will really be able to find his game playing that high up the liens against strong opposition.
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Against the Maple Leafs, there’s every chance he’ll see at least a few shifts against the likes of Matthews or Tavares – for a player relatively freshly arrived from the AHL, that’s a pretty significant step-up in competition.
We know that Bruce Cassidy will of course attempt to shield him from such duties using the fourth line, but it’s still going to happen especially with the Leafs having last change.
Trent Frederic has also stepped up on the third line as a winger, which is a slightly less daunting move up. While he will likely take the odd draw, he’s not being expected to step into the NHL as a center immediately.
The positional shift is obviously a bit of a change for him, but in all reality, it simply means getting onto the boards and involved in the puck battles first, rather than backing them up. We shall see how he goes against (you’d predict) Alex Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev.
Finally, there’s Urho Vaakanainen; he’s a player we have seen as a future NHL blue-liner for a while and is being eased into the line-up on the third pairing. Given the minutes that Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy consume, he’s getting a gentle feel for the big league.
Out of his depth; maybe, at times. But his education is probably the most balanced of those pushed into action for the Boston Bruins, and indeed can be shared with Steven Kampfer if it’s felt he needs to watch from the press-box for a game.