Boston Bruins fans always remember the great players of the 21st century, who brought the team a bunch of success despite winning only one Stanley Cup. However, it wasn't just Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Tuukka Rask who shaped the core. When books are written about the Bruins' run in the past two decades, there are a few underrated players who need to be included in the story.
David Krejci
David Krejci could qualify as one of the most underrated players in the entire league during the 21st century. When he played the same position as Patrice Bergeron for his entire career, it was tough to be the more well-known player, but most general NHL fans forget that Krejci centered the first line on Boston's great teams.
What made Krejci underrated wasn't that he was overshadowed by Bergeron, but that he was also overshadowed by his linemates, Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic. Horton scored a bunch of massive goals during his time in Boston, and Lucic brought the excitement with his playstyle, but Krejci orchestrated most of the excellence.
Bruins fans came to realize that being the quiet, underrated player was exactly what Krejci wanted, but it still sucked to see the lack of appreciation he received from the outside hockey world. 128 points in 160 playoff games, to go along with his 692 regular season points, deserved a bit more love.
Dennis Seidenberg
Much like Krejci with Bergeron, Dennis Seidenberg was overshadowed in the early 2010s because of the large shadow of his defense partner, Zdeno Chara. However, a lot of Chara's success can be attributed to his German partner. Both were stay-at-home defensemen, and in fact, Chara was the more offensive of the two at that time, but Seidenberg's positional play and rock-steady approach propelled that team to some of the best defensive performances of any championship team in the 21st century.
Rich Peverley
It isn't too surprising that three of the five most underrated Bruins players of the 21st century come from possibly the most underrated Stanley Cup Championship team in 2011. The Bruins had a great team entering the 2011 trade deadline, and they traded a future Winnipeg Jets captain, Blake Wheeler, to get him, but Rich Peverley was one of the missing pieces that put that team over the top.
Peverley was right at home on the third line in that playoff run, but he also played a big part when Aaron Rome's hit took Nathan Horton out of the finals, and he had to fill in at times in the top six. Many players fall in the category of that team wouldn't have won without them, but Peverley doesn't get enough credit as one of those players.
Charlie Coyle
If Krejci was the overlooked player behind Bergeron, Charlie Coyle was the overlooked player behind two of them when he came to the Bruins in 2019. Some were skeptical about the role he would play when Boston acquired him, chalking it up to a bit of homegrown bias in the acquisition, but his 16 points in 24 games in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final run were special.
When the Bruins needed him to step up after Bergeron and Krejci's retirements, Coyle recorded 60 points in 82 games, playing a role where he was a bit in over his head. The Weymouth native received some unnecessary hate during his time in Boston, and it felt like fans didn't appreciate what they had until he was gone.
Jaroslav Halak
Speaking of that 2019 run, Tuukka Rask wouldn't have been as fresh and superb during that run if Halak hadn't taken on such a big role during the season. His 2.34 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 40 games were good enough to be a starter with every other team, but the backup then stayed with Boston for two more seasons and gave them some performances.
Bruins fans mostly remember the chain of Tim Thomas to Rask to Linus Ullmark to Jeremy Swayman, but Halak deserves a bit more respect there.
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