It has been noted multiple times that the Boston Bruins were one of the surprise teams that made the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season in Marco Sturm's first season in charge of the Black and Gold. What made it even more of a surprise was the slow start that they had to the season in general.
Behind career seasons from some players, the Bruins finished with 100 points and the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot. They ended up with a first-round matchup with the Atlantic Division champion Buffalo Sabres, who bounced Boston in six games in the first round. However, there is no guarantee that the Bruins will get back to the playoffs this season with how deep the division and conference are.
If they are going to get there, they will need some players to have career years again and even get production from an area that they have struggled to get production from: the defensemen. After Saturday afternoon's 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the TD Garden, Boston's second-year coach made sure to mention the need for production from the backend in 2026-27.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm drops a quote that most fans would agree with
Make no mistake about it, the Bruins are not blessed with a ton of offensive firepower compared to other teams in the East. They have spread the scoring around early in the season, which is nice, but how sustainable is it? Regardless of how sustainable it is, he made one thing clear: more offense is needed from the defensemen.
“I want it to be part of our game,” said Sturm, per Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. “Because if I look at some other teams, the ones that give us headaches are the ones that always activate their defensemen. I feel like in the past we didn’t do that enough.”
Well, the returns have been somewhat good for Sturm through six games. In the last two games, Mason Lohrei has had a goal in each game, and both were rather big ones. His goal against the Utah Mammoth in the first period on Thursday night was part of a three-goal first-period onslaught en route to a 6-1 win. Then, in Saturday's win over Philadelphia, he scored when he was the trailing player on an odd-man rush and picked his spot on Flyers goalie Dan Vladar for a 2-0 lead.
You have to think that the offense from the defensemen is going to pick up with Charlie McAvoy returning to the lineup on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks to kick off a four-game road trip after his six-game suspension ended. Bruins fans can at least hope.
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