On day one of free agency across the league, the Bruins made a few big splashes to fix some important needs entering next season. First, they signed center Elias Lindholm, who will be a top six fixture for the Bruins as the move improves their situation at center.
Next, they added a piece to the defense as they brought in left shot Nikita Zadorov. The Bruins signed him for six years at $5 million per year as the coming season will be his age 29 season. With this move, the Bruins defense depth chart has Mason Lohrei, Hampus Lindholm, and Zadorov as their top three left shots in the wake of Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort departing in free agency, with Parker Wotherspoon set to be the team's seventh defenseman again.
With Zadorov filling a void on the team's left side, the Bruins add some thump and physicality as well while also getting a player who had a strong playoff run, producing eight points in 13 games. Now that he's officially under contract, it's time to look at who he might partner with.
Which Bruins defenseman could Nikita Zadorov partner with during his tenure in Boston?
There are three options on the right side for Zadorov to partner with, those being Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Andrew Peeke. Peeke seems like an unlikely partner for Zadorov, as the two play similar games with physicality and defense-first play. It makes sense for Jim Montgomery to split them up to have a more well-rounded defense.
With that, McAvoy and Carlo remain. Carlo is also a defense-first player, but if the Bruins want to play Hampus Lindholm with McAvoy more regularly, that would likely leave someone like Zadorov with Carlo on the second pair. Zadorov has showed he can bring the scoring when it's necessary, evidenced by his strong postseason and the fact that he's one year removed from a 14 goal season. That could make things work with Carlo, as Zadorov is also a solid puck mover in any zone.
However, the best solution seems to be a pairing with Charlie McAvoy. Zadorov's willingness to hit anyone in his path and puck moving ability can complement McAvoy's game well, potentially giving McAvoy more offensive opportunities on the rush and freeing him up to be more aggressive all over the ice. An aggressive Charlie McAvoy is a good thing, and a pairing with Zadorov can make that happen.
As such, I expect Zadorov to be McAvoy's defense partner on opening night, and I'll also project Hampus Lindholm to be partnered with Carlo while Mason Lohrei and Peeke occupy the third pair when they take on the Florida Panthers to open the regular season.
That's a pretty good defense in front of the Bruins netminders, and it puts the team in a pretty good position with their blueliners entering season 101. Is it opening night yet?