Boston Bruins: Grading the 2019-20 season of Charlie Coyle
By Scott Roche
Grading and analyzing the 2019-20 season of Coyle.
Charlie Coyle was traded from the Minnesota Wild to the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline in 2019. After a sluggish end to the regular-season in Boston, Coyle picked up his play in the playoffs and helped spearhead a run from the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final with nine goals and seven assists.
This season, Coyle continued his strong play for the Bruins and was the answer to several holes that the Black and Gold had on their forward groupings.
A natural center, Coyle has provided the Bruins with depth at center behind Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Coyle is a physical player that puts a lot of pressure on the opponent’s defense and is puck dominant. He did a lot of dirty work that does not end up on the scoresheet at the end of the night.
The eight-year veteran was also very durable for the Bruins as he played in all 70 regular-season games in the shortened 2019-20 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. He tallied 16 goals and had 21 assists with a plus-9. The 16 goals were the third highest in the 28-year olds career, as he potted a career-high 21 for the Wild in 1015-16 and a year later scored his second-highest total with 18.
This season saw a drop in his Corsi-for percentage (CF%) from 54.9 last season to 51.3. His Fenwick-for percentage (FF%) also saw a dip from 54.7 to 51.9, but that did not stop him from making an impact on the ice and controlling the play.
This season coach Bruce Cassidy called on Coyle to play in just about every situation possible, from 5-on-5, to the power play and killing penalties. He spent time on the Bruins revolving door at right wing on the second line with Jake DeBrusk and Krejci. His best spot for Boston was centering the third line.
He had five power play goals, while leading the team with a pair of shorthanded goals and averaged 16:47 of ice-time a night during the regular season.
In the postseason, Coyle had just three goals and two assists in 13 games. He averaged 18:35 of ice-time in the Toronto bubble, but was the least of the Bruins problems North of the border.
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On Nov. 27, 2019, the Bruins signed Coyle to a six-year contract extension for $31.5 million with an annual average value (AAV) of $5.25 million. Coyle will center the Bruins third line in 2020-21 and if he can return to the form he had during the regular season last year, Cassidy and the Bruins would take that in a heartbeat.