3 Bruins Worth Keeping an Eye on Tonight

Here are three Bruins to keep an eye on tonight’s first game.

The Boston Bruins will open the season tonight against the New Jersey Devils on the road in the first of two games against one of their new East Division opponents. There was some roster turnover since the Black and Gold played their last game in August in the Toronto playoff bubble. Here are three players to keep an eye on as the Bruins play the first of 56 games.

Ondrej Kase

Acquired at the trade deadline in February, things didn’t go as well as both the Bruins and Kase had hoped. He played six games before the coronavirus pandemic paused the season for four and a half months. Then in the Toronto playoff bubble, he had protocol issues getting on the ice and when he did, he had four assists in 11 games, but there were some glimpses of what he could bring to the Bruins.

With his first training camp under his belt and spending the entire camp on the second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk, a new season can bring a fresh start and he can supply the Bruins with secondary scoring they hoped they were getting after last years trade.

Craig Smith

Speaking of secondary scoring, Don Sweeney signed Smith to a three-year, $9.3 million free-agent deal in October to add right wing depth, especially with David Pastrnak beginning the season recovering from hip surgery in September.

A 20-goal scorer in five of his nine seasons with the Nashville Predators, Smith has spent the entire training camp on the third line with Nick Ritchie and Charlie Coyle. Hoping they find chemistry, Smith also supplies depth on the power play with 34 man-advantage goals in his career. He is one of the top players in the league shooting the puck on net and here’s hoping that a few of the shots find the back of the net early in the season.

Kevan Miller

What a training camp Miller turned in. He last played in an NHL game in April of 2019 when he was hurt his kneecap early in the playoffs. After undergoing several surgeries and rehab, Miller worked his way up the defensive depth chart in camp and as of Wednesday’s practice was on the third defensive pairing with Jakub Zboril.

Sweeney re-signed Miller to a one-year deal in October and the veteran has shown up in shape and ready to compete for a spot on the roster. The 33-year-old has played in 324 games in six seasons with the Bruins and registered 712 career hits. It will be interesting to see if the 6-foot-2 and  210-pound right-handed shot can return to the physical presence he was before the injury.