Boston Bruins: Top 3 players who will breakout in 2021
These three Boston Bruins players have a chance to breakout in 2021.
Going into the 2021 season, the Boston Bruins have several openings on their roster due to injuries and free agent departures.
With the 2021 NHL season set to start in exactly a month on Jan. 13, it is unknown if top left wing Brad Marchand will miss any time after receiving offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Originally, with a Jan. 1 season start date, Marchy was expected to miss at least a couple of weeks. However, if he still misses some time there will be a huge hole to fill at first line left wing.
Additionally, top right wing David Pastrnak is also expected to miss some time. He too is recovering from offseason surgery to repair a labral issue and a hip arthroscopy.
With a Jan. 1 start date, he was expected to miss around a month and a half. Now with a Jan. 13 start date, he is only expected to miss around a month.
In free agency, Boston lost top left defenseman Torey Krug to the St. Louis Blues. Furthermore, it is still unknown if captain Zdeno Chara will be wearing the Black and Gold for a 15th season.
The departure of Krug and the uncertainty of Chara leave a couple of holes on the left side of the B’s defense.
With these spots up for grabs at the moment, players will need to step up. If they do step up, we could potentially have several breakout seasons in just one year.
3. Anders Bjork could break out for the Boston Bruins in 2021.
After a rather stellar start to his career in which he scored 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 30 games his rookie year, Anders Bjork hasn’t been able to find the same success over the last two seasons.
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This could be attributed to the fact he was forced to end his rookie season early due to a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery.
For his sophomore season, he played in just 20 games and scored just three points (one goal, two assists). Were his struggles the result of him not being fully recovered and healthy from his shoulder injury and surgery?
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It seems that way after this past season as Bjork set career-bests in every major offensive statistic, registering nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 58 games. These numbers brought Bjork back near his rookie-season paces.
If Marchand does miss some time, we could see Bjork receive some top-six minutes. Whether this will be on the first line or the second line is currently unknown as coach Bruce Cassidy may be reluctant to split up his second line left wing and center of Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci.
Either way, Bjork will benefit greatly from playing with either Krejci or Patrice Bergeron and he’ll probably be getting some powerplay time as well.
2. Ondrej Kase could break out for the Boston Bruins in 2021.
Ondrej Kase was acquired by the Bruins at this past season’s trade deadline in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks that saw Boston send over David Backes and a first-round pick.
Immediately after being acquired, Kase was put on injured reserve (IR) for six days. Kase would only be able to suit up for six games with the Black and Gold before the season was stopped due to COVID-19.
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In those six games, Kase wasn’t able to do much. He recorded just one assist and that was it.
However, in the playoffs, Kase found chemistry with DeBrusk and Krejci. The trio was arguably the team’s best line in the postseason. In 11 games, Kase was able to register four assists while also averaging almost a minute more of ice time than he did in the regular season.
Boston Bruins: Ondrej Kase should be the second line right wing. light. Related Story
With Pasta expected to miss around a month, Kase could be asked to play on the first line. While Krejci and Bergeron are both great centers and playmakers, we all know that Bergeron is the superior player and Kase would be greatly benefit from the upgrade.
Kase has scored at a pace before where he would’ve scored 20+ goals if he was able to play all 82 games. If he is playing with Bergy and Marchy, we could see Kase put up a pace of 25+ goals in a full 82-game schedule.
1. Matt Grzelcyk could break out for the Boston Bruins in 2021.
Poised to take over top powerplay unit duties with Krug signing with the Blues, we could see great numbers from Matt Grzelcyk in 2021.
After having a very good third full season in the NHL in which he set career-highs in games played (68), goals (four), assists (17), and points (21), Grzelcyk seems destined to be even better this year.
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Along with manning the point of the Bruins’ top powerplay unit, Grizz seems likely to be given the responsibility of playing alongside Charlie McAvoy on the team’s top defensive pairing.
Even if Chara does return, it seems very unlikely he’ll be playing the minutes we’re used to him playing. Because of this, we could see Grzelcyk’s ice time jump up from around 18 minutes a game to 20+ minutes a game.
With the additional ice time from the first powerplay unit and the first defensive pairing, Grizz’s offensive production is bound to increase. His possession numbers show he has the ability to drive and control the play, which should result in points.
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I would not be surprised if we see Grzelcyk put up a season this year where he’s on pace for 35+ points in a normal 82-game schedule.