Way too early predictions for the Bruins opening night lineup

Following the inevitable retirements of Patrice Bergeron, and likely retirement of David Krejci, the Boston Bruins are going into the 2023-24 season with multiple holes to fill at the top two center lines. While they also did lose Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov to free agency, and Taylor Hall to a trade, creating holes on the wings, there are many positives to look at.

With the preseason coming up in just over a month and a half, some may say that it’s too soon to look at the predicted lineups for the upcoming season. Yes, injuries during the preseason are possible, but hopefully that is just to the ones fighting for a spot.

Here is what the predicted lineups will be for the upcoming season.

Forwards

Jake DeBrusk-Charlie Coyle-David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand-Morgan Geekie-Milan Lucic
James van Riemsdyk-Jesper Boqvist-Pavel Zacha
Jakub Lauko-Trent Frederic-AJ Greer

Without a consistent balance of right-handed, and left-handed shot takers it’s tough to really predict who is going to be where in the lineup, especially on the wings. It especially doesn’t help when you your best two centers (who are righties) are lost to retirement.

Of course, these names are no particular order, and are bound to switch it up every once in awhile, but I am confident in Lucic and Marchand being on the same line given their physicality and already built-in chemistry, in addition to Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak’s ability to score goals at the top of the lineup.

The rest of it is a mixture of different players, some with plenty of experience in the organization, others that are brand new to the team. Watch for there to be a constant shuffling of parts in the lineup, given their abundance of centers.

Defensemen

Hampus Lindholm-Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelyck-Kevin Shattenkirk
Jakub Zboril-Brandon Carlo

Coming into the 2023-24 season, there are so many options to choose from with only six slots to fill, but at the end of the day head coach Jim Montgomery has to put the best team out there, and the one that helps the team win the most games.

Now, there is a chance that we could see Charlie McAvoy and Kevin Shattenkirk switch spots to reunite Hampus Lindholm with his old Anaheim teammate, but given the chemistry between Lindholm and McAvoy at the blue line in 2022-23, don’t expect that switch right away.

The only question mark on this list is Zboril. While he did score his first NHL goal last season, he played only in his second most games in his career. The one person who might be a for sure favorite over Zboril is Derek Forbort due to his ability to kill penalties, but also play physically if needed; however, given his injury, this gives Zboril an edge. Much like the forwards, watch for some uncertainty to start the season.

Goaltenders

Linus Ullmark (“starter”)
Jeremy Swayman (“backup”)
Brandon Bussi (first to be called up)

Now, this is one position where I will admit, I really don’t think there is one clear-cut starter. If Montgomery is smart, he’ll run the goaltending tandem from last year back again this year. He decided not to continue that in the postseason, and it came back to bite him. After all, if it ain’t broke, why fix it, Jim?

Linus Ullmark, the reigning Vezina Trophy, will likely get the start just based on his veteran status. Sure, Swayman, did get a pay upgrade when he was awarded $3.475 million in arbitration, but he is still young and has not quite earned his position as the goalie of the future for Boston.

The sleeper in net, however, has to Brandon Bussi. Bussi was an excellent stop gap when the Bruins needed it most – whether it was due to injuries or someone just needed some time off. He’ll most likely start the year in Providence, but he’ll be the first to be called up if anything were to go awry.