The Boston Bruins have one more game to play without their star defenseman Charlie McAvoy, which makes their 6-1 win over the Utah Mammoth even more impressive. With McAvoy out, the team is now 3-2, which guarantees that they'll be at least .500 during his disappointing suspension. However, bringing McAvoy in means one defenseman will have to come out, which will be an unfortunate decision for Marco Sturm.
Both defensemen have plenty of it to change that in Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, but after Thursday's game, there is no way that either Frederic Brunet or Mason Lohrei can come out of the lineup. Brunet has been nothing but impressive since entering the lineup, even in the tough 4-1 loss in his first game, and is now quarterbacking a top powerplay unit that went three-for-four on Thursday night.
McAvoy would likely get that spot on the powerplay back, but if the top unit rolls again on Saturday, Sturm may not want to face the scrutiny of changing it and having them struggle again. Regardless, Brunet has been good enough at five-on-five that it'd be a hard scratch to justify, with the only real reason being that he is the rookie amongst a veteran group.
Lohrei had the potential to run the powerplay in McAvoy's absence, but it didn't have the greatest success in his limited opportunities. Despite his offensive gifts being his only positive to offer the team heading into the season, the 25-year-old has clearly emphasized his defensive game more this season and has arguably been the team's best blueliner with McAvoy out.
If Lohrei had struggled on the powerplay and was also a liability in the defensive zone, he was going to be the easy choice for Sturm. However, that seems even less likely than Brunet at this point.
Who leaves Bruins' lineup for Charlie McAvoy?
There is a segment of the Bruins' fanbase that loves Cliffy Hockey, who'll hate me for this one, but I have to call it as I see it, even though I'm one of those fans myself. If we're looking for someone to join Jonathan Aspirot in the press box, the easy answer is Connor Clifton.
Clifton hasn't been terrible to start the season, but there have definitely been times when he and Nikita Zadorov have gotten hemmed in too many times and are lucky that they haven't been on the ice for more goals against. They are getting outchanced 44 to 29 when they are on the ice, which should have them thanking Jeremy Swayman.
With McAvoy returning and Clifton going out, the team has two options. They can pair Brunet with McAvoy on the top pair, which they were already setting up this preseason, leaving Lohrei to play his weak side with Zadorov. Or, they can keep Brunet and Lohrei together, setting up a formidable top pairing with Zadorov and McAvoy.
A Zadorov and McAvoy pairing wasn't the perfect fit last season, and in the end, their advanced numbers were bad enough that the team went in a different direction. If Brunet can continue to play the way he has, he should be more than capable of playing with the team's best defenseman, but whether he can sustain it is the question.
If Brunet does falter, the good news is that the Bruins have Clifton waiting to come back into the lineup, where you can pair him and Zadorov back together while moving Lohrei to the top pair. Having too many options isn't a bad thing for Sturm.
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