Boston Bruins 2021 Player Grades: David Krejci was better than you think

Continuing our Boston Bruins 2021 Player Grades series, we look back at veteran center David Krejci 15th season in the NHL.

David Krejci was back to his normal antics this season as he generated a huge number of assists. However, he struggled to put the puck in the back of the net — especially before Taylor Hall arrived.

Many fans will look at this season and think Krejci is washed up or has lost a step because he didn’t score goals the pace he had the previous two seasons. But, the reality is, Krejci made up for it with his playmaking, defense, and decision making.

If you really think the B’s should let Krejci go because he didn’t score much this season, you just don’t know the type of player he is and what he’s supposed to bring to the team. Krejci did exactly what he was supposed to this season and then some.

Bruins fans need to stop overlooking David Krejci because he isn’t a goal scorer.

While Krejci has scored 20+ goals in a season before, the fact is he’s not a guy that should be relied on to score — especially clutch goals. He just isn’t that player and to weigh his grade more on the number of goals he scored like you would David Pastrnak would be silly.

Krejci is a player that creates time and space for his teammates to get open. He controls the play and then makes smart plays, as seen by his 61.4 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and 61.1 Fenwick-for percentage (FF%). Both were well over the team’s averages and increased from last season.

In all honesty, this was one of Krejci best seasons, despite not putting up many goals. His possession metrics were the highest of his career, he had one of the best seasons in at the faceoff dots of his career (54.2 faceoff percentage [FO%]), and he put up assists at the highest pace of his career despite having to play with nonexistent Jake DeBrusk and having a revolving door for his wings most of the season.

This was also one of the seasons where Krejci was solid defensively. Not only was his FO% up, but he also matched his defensive point shares (DPS) from last season in 10 less games.

Krejci is just overlooked by so many because he isn’t this goal-scoring machine. However, he brings so much more to the game such as decision making, playmaking, and puck control. If he leaves or Boston decides not to keep him for next season, they’re going to be in big trouble without a legit No. 2 center behind Patrice Bergeron.

Grade: A