Boston Bruins: Interesting line choices being made by Bruce Cassidy

With several Boston Bruins coming back from injury and practicing this week, head coach Bruce Cassidy made some interesting choices when it came to the lines in practice.

The first interesting decision involves the returning Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk, before suffering a lower-body injury, was playing in the top-six. He was either at left wing on the second line or right wing on the first line. However, with Nick Ritchie playing extremely well and DeBrusk being slow to start, Cassidy has decided to put DeBrusk on the third line in practice.

Another interesting decision involved the trio of Jack Studnicka, Craig Smith, and Anders Bjork. Studnicka and Smith were rotating at right wing on the second line while Bjork got reps on at right wing on the third line. This is intriguing as Cassidy purposely split up Smith and Charlie Coyle.

However, the answer to this could be that Cassidy doesn’t know if Studnicka will be cleared for next game so he wanted Smith to continue to practice with the line he’ll be playing on. In regard to Bjork, I think he should’ve practiced on the fourth line where he’s shown to be effective. I would’ve had DeBrusk and Studnicka split reps on the second line and kept Trent Frederic and Smith on the third line.

Expect to see some more of five forwards on the Boston Bruins’ first powerplay unit.

The last intriguing thing about the B’s latest practice wasn’t about how they lined up at 5-on-5. Instead, it was how their first powerplay unit lined up.

Coach Cassidy decided to work on the powerplay in their latest practice. With Matt Grzelcyk back and ready to go, I expected to see him on the first unit. However, this wasn’t the case as Cassidy put five forwards out for the first unit.

This isn’t all that surprising as Cassidy has done this in game a few times now. But, to see this in practice makes me think that five forwards may become the norm for the Black and Gold’s first powerplay unit. Which this isn’t a bad thing as it has worked when they’ve done it in game, but it’s a bit risky on from the defensive point of view.

The first unit was comprised of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, and Ritchie. The second unit consisted of Coyle, DeBrusk, Smith, Grzelcyk, and Charlie McAvoy.

Usually, I would be concerned about he balance of the powerplays. But with how well McAvoy has been playing, I’m not concerned about the second unit. Additionally, with the overload of talent on the first unit, they should score most of the time, not letting the second unit get out there.

Overall, I found the decisions that were made by Cassidy in the Bruins most recent practice interesting. I’m excited to have DeBrusk and Grzelcyk back for next game and hope they help the B’s continue their win streak.