Three Bruins’ players who could have a breakout season
It’s no secret to anyone that the Boston Bruins have some holes to fill, and will have a different look due to this year’s offseason’s departures.
With David Krejci officially retiring on Monday morning, and Patrice Bergeron retiring nearly two weeks before that, not only will the Bruins top two lines look very different, but it will also effect who touches the puck, and how much.
With that here are three players who very well could have a breakout season.
Jake DeBrusk – LW
In the 2022-23 season, Jake DeBrusk had a solid season, especially especially considering he was limited to playing in 64 games due to a lower body injury he suffered during the Winter Classic.
According to NHL.com, in 64 games, DeBrusk had 27 goals, and 23 assists, giving him 50 points during the regular season. Sure, it was only 18 games short of a full 82 game season, something only three Bruins were able to attain in the season, but it was still on the lower end of games played.
One thing that was remarkable about DeBrusk’s season was that he sat at 30 points in just 30 games before his injury, and wound up with 20 points in his last 29, giving him an average of nearly a point per game, 0.78 points per game to be exact.
What this means that, despite playing less games than his career-high 77 the year before, he still had more points than the season before.
Watch for DeBrusk to improve on last year, and set career-highs in both categories.
Way too early stat predictions: 39 goals, 28 assists (66 points)
Morgan Geekie – C
It’s no secret that Morgan Geekie was buried on a Seattle Kraken team filled with goal scorers in Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann, and Yanni Gourde, among others. In fact, he ranked 14th on the team in goal scoring, and that was behind three members of the Kraken defense.
According to NHL.com, in the 2022-23 season Geekie set career-highs in goals, assists, and plus-minus rating. In 69 games, Geekie score nine goals with 19 assists (28 points), and was a +14 on the ice.
Now with Boston, Geekie is poised to get more time with the puck, and will get more shooting opportunities as the only main goal-scorers left on the team, other than the aforementioned DeBrusk, are David Pastrnak, and Brad Marchand – giving Geekie plenty of room to score.
Sure, Geekie is more on the physical side as a center, as he also set a career-high in penalty minutes last season with 24, but even the Bruins resident tough-guy Milan Lucic scores every once in awhile.
Watch for Geekie to break out of his shell with more puck touches in 2023-24.
Way too early stat predictions: 20 goals, 32 assists (52 points)
Jesper Boqvist – C
When the Bruins first signed Jesper Boqvist, many fans didn’t know what to make of it. He was at-best a swap-out for Tomas Nosek, whom they had lost to the team that Boqvist had departed from: the New Jersey Devils.
With Boston, however, Boqvist is bound to see a lot more ice time, and more opportunities to score.
Eliteprospects.com had this to say about Boqvist:
“Boqvist is an offensive skilled player with impressive skating and puck skills. Shifty player who scores spectacular goals from time to time. There’s some consistency issues, but when on top of his game, Boqvist can be quite dominant with the puck and an offensive threat.”
Sounds like someone poised to break out of their shell, no?
According to NHL.com, in the 2022-23 season Boqvist played in a career-high 70 games and matched a career-high in goals with 10, but fell just short two short of his career-high in assists. He also set a career-high in plus-minus rating at +8.
With increased ice time potentially coming his way playing in Boston, watch for Boqvist to pounce and make it a career year.