Boston Bruins: A Shake-up is Needed

Nearly halfway through the 56-game season, the Boston Bruins are sitting in fourth place in the East Division, holding a three-point lead over the Philadelphia Flyers for the final playoff berth. With less than two months remaining in the regular season (which is scheduled to end on May 8), a playoff berth is not guaranteed for the Black and Gold.

After starting the season 10-1-2, the Bruins are 4-5-3 over their last 11 games. The New York Islanders have won eight in a row to lead the division with 40 points and the Washington Capitals, winners of four straight, are right on their heels, two points back. The Pittsburgh Penguins have won five games in a row and have 35 points and are three points clear of the Bruins.

Preseason favorites to win the division, Boston has been hit with injuries, mainly to their defense, but their forwards have also been affected. Now No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask is battling an undisclosed injury himself.

Injuries happen and every team is dealing with them. This season, COVID-19 has played a hand in the season as well and the Bruins have only had two players miss games due to the NHL’s protocols, compared to other teams that were forced to miss weeks worth of games.

Saturday afternoon’s 4-0 shutout loss to the New York Rangers at the TD Garden might have been rock bottom for the Bruins. A 60-minute uninspired effort from everyone, except goalie Jaroslav Halak, was as bad of a game as we have seen in some time.

Bruins are in need of a shake-up.

Following Saturday’s loss, one thing is for sure, the Bruins need a shake-up. Coach Bruce Cassidy has tried that many times with line changes this season. While the results might have been good for a game or two, they are not sustainable for the long run.

Jake DeBrusk has been the most disappointing player to date, despite his recent healthy scratch and his best game of the season Thursday night against the Rangers where he scored his first even-strength goal of the season in his18th game.

Craig Smith was signed in the offseason as a free agent to help solve secondary scoring issues, but the former Nashville Predators right wing has just four goals in 24 games. Charlie Coyle has struggled, as has just about everyone in the bottom nine forward grouping.

Cassidy can continue to move lines around, send messages to some of his underperforming players in his press conferences or with a healthy scratch, but again, those only can go so far.

The next move very well might have to come from the front office. Don Sweeney has to make a trade to answer the secondary scoring problem and again, stop me if you’ve heard this before, a second-line right wing. A top-four defenseman would also be a good fit for this team, but the top priority has to be scoring.

Sweeney owes it to his core players to make a move as the window is closing on their championship run. This core group could have maybe one more run in them, but the way things have been trending, if that run is going to happen, a shake-up is needed.