The Boston Bruins have had quite a few streaky players for both the better and worse this season. Some may have found their way onto this list, but we’re not talking about any of their hot streaks. Instead, this is a discussion about why I feel the following three players, two skaters, and a goalie, haven’t been showing up the way they’ve been expected to so far.
The good news is that you’ll find a trio of outstanding players listed, so by no means am I implying that their respective seasons are doomed. I’m not even saying they’ve had awful campaigns to this point, but that they’ve simply not played to the level expected.
Let’s start with one player who many of us thought would have at least found his groove as mid-December approaches. And while he’s played better lately, goaltender Jeremy Swayman still has a lot of ground to make up.
Jeremy Swayman
A few weeks back, I talked about why Joonas Korpisalo turned out to be a decent acquisition following a disastrous first game. And here we are, approaching mid-December, and Korpisalo is still proving to be a capable No. 2 man while Swayman, though he’s looking better, is still facing his share of struggles in the net.
He’s won his last three starts, but he’s also allowed a trio of goals in two of those three contests, with an overall save percentage still under 0.900 and a GAA still over 3.00. Still, his numbers have been better, but all signs still point to this one being a down season for Swayman.
Charlie Coyle
For a while, Pavel Zacha looked like the Underperformer of the Year in Boston, but his recent play has been a complete turnaround. You can’t say the same about Charlie Coyle, who has just nine points and a minus-7 rating through 29 games.
Yeah, he’s been scoring a lot, with seven goals and a solid 16.7 shooting percentage, but his playmaking has been off just one year after logging 35 assists. That said, he’s still a solid asset in the faceoff circle, he remains a physical player, and he’s also been effective scoring on the power play.
Still, I’m cringing at Coyle’s lack of playmaking nearly 30 games into the season. Should he find a way to turn his lack of assists around, watch out because he could be one of the better top-six forwards on this team.
Elias Lindholm
I’m starting to think Elias Lindholm’s best days will remain in Calgary. He didn’t look like a great fit with the Vancouver Canucks, and it’s starting to look that way in Boston. Yeah, I know he’s still a respectable fifth on the team in points, but I wanted to see more than just 13 alongside a measly three goals and 7.9 shooting percentage.
Like Coyle, I can’t be too critical of Lindholm, who is also good at guaranteeing the Bruins possession at the faceoff dot. Unlike Coyle, Lindholm is rocking and rolling with 10 assists, so it’s nowhere near doom and gloom here. I was just hoping for more complete play from who was supposed to be one of the offseason’s better free agent pickups.