Boston Bruins 2023-24 Player Grades: Charlie Coyle filled a big hole at center

When the Boston Bruins entered training camp for the 2023-24 season, they did it without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Both players announced last summer that they were retiring leaving a huge hole down the middle for the Black and Gold.

GM Don Sweeney had very little cap space to work with, so that meant that they were beginning the season with Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha as their top two centers. Nobody knew how that was going to play out and truth be told, it went better than most expected.

Charlie Coyle's 2023-24 regular season

Coyle had an interesting regular season for second-year coach Jim Montgomery. Once again he played in all situations which drove his time on ice up to 18:03 during the 82-game season, which he played for a third consecutive season. Good old Mr. Reliable.

He scored a career-high 25 goals and dished out 35 assists for the Bruins while landing 147 shots on the net. He won 51.6% of his face-offs, but as the season went along and during the postseason, he once again played very well next to Trent Frederic and brought out the best in the St. Louis native. It's a connection that Boston really needs to consider going forward in 2024-25.

Charlie Coyle's playoffs

The Bruins were hoping to get the 2022-23 playoff version of Coyle this season after he really turned up his play against the Florida Panthers last postseason in the absence of Bergeron and Krejci at different points in the series. Unfortunately, they didn't get that playoff version of the Weymouth, Mass. native.

In 13 games, seven against the Toronto Maple Leafs and six against the Panthers, he had one goal and five points, but won just 48% of his draws, something that needed to be higher after he won 56% a year ago against Florida. He did see his time on ice jump up to 18:48 a night. He scored his lone goal in Game 2 against the Panthers in the second round to give the Black and Gold a 1-0 first period in what turned into a 6-1 loss.

Charlie Coyle's future in Boston

Coyle without a doubt is a big piece of the Bruins as we advance as he will be entering the fifth year next season of his current six-year deal. As mentioned above, if the Bruins are going to make some moves this summer and add a center, playing Coyle next season with Frederic is a combination that proves that it works really well together. Overall, this was a good season for Coyle.

Grade: A-