With 2020 ending and everyone turning the page to 2021 and the upcoming NHL season, let’s take a look back at the Bruins’ good and bad of 2020.
It’s safe to say that 2020 was unlike any other year. From the coronavirus pandemic to hockey over the summer to an October NHL Entry Draft and free agency. Some of it was good for the Boston Bruins and some of it is forgettable. With the new NHL season to begin in 12 days, 13 for the Bruins, let’s take look back at 2020 for the Black and Gold.
5. Failed trade deadline deals
At the trade deadline in 2019, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney hit it big in acquiring Charlie Coyle from the Minnesota Wild and Marcus Johansson. Those two deals supplied Boston with depth on their third line in the playoffs which led to a run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. We all remember what happened that June night at the TD Garden when the St. Louis Blues beat the Bruins, 4-1, to capture the Cup.
At the trade deadline last February, Sweeney was looking to add toughness and secondary scoring for what he hoped would be another long playoff run with an aging core group. Sweeney was able to work out two separate deals with the Anaheim Ducks.
The first deal acquired right wing Ondrej Kase for David Backes, prospect Axel Andersson, and the Bruins’ 2020 first-round pick. Sweeney and the rest of the front office were hoping that Kase would slide into the second line right wing spot to give center David Krejci and left wing Jake Debrusk a point-producing linemate.
No such luck as Kase struggled to find a rhythm with DeBrusk and Krejci as the season was shut down because of COVID. In the playoffs, Kase failed to score, but did have four assists.
The second deal brought in Nick Ritchie from the Ducks for Danton Heinen. Ritchie did have eight goals and 11 assists in 41 games in Anaheim, but he was never able to find his scoring touch in Boston in the regular season or the playoffs.
Kase and Ritchie were like other players that were traded around the league and stuck between a rock and a hard place with the shutdown shortly after being acquired. It will be interesting to see how both players come back this upcoming season and see if they can make a bigger impact with the Bruins.