Top Questions Facing The Boston Bruins
Can they get secondary scoring? The Boston Bruins live and die by their top line of Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak, and rightly so given how talented the trio are.
However, they contributed 40% of Boston’s offensive output last year and they are going to need a little bit more help in 2019-20.
Jake DeBrusk has the potential to be an elite player in the NHL but he needs to add consistency to his game, while David Krejci still has the legs to be a 40-50 point scorer.
But, the Bruins are going to need the likes of Charlie Coyle, Danton Heinen, David Backes and Par Lindholm to step up and elevate their games in order to ease the burden on that dynamic top line.
Take their 1-0 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night. The Bruins got an outstanding 35-save performance by Jaroslav Halak but could only score one goal themselves, which came thanks to Brad Marchand’s first tuck of the year.
That simply won’t do.
Can the Bruins shed hefty contracts in order to address roster needs? We mentioned earlier in this piece that the Boston Bruins, like the Rangers, have had their own fair share of cap troubles this summer.
They currently have $2,169,167 in cap space remaining and, as stated already, they do have a couple of holes on the roster that needs filling, most notably a top six quality right winger.
The Bruins crave secondary scoring so adding a high-end forward to complete the makeup of that dynamic and explosive top six would solve that problem, while bringing balance to the rest of the roster.
Boston General Manager Don Sweeney is known for being active and aggressive at the Trade Deadline, and he should be again this year with the Bruins’ window to win another Stanley Cup open right now before the likes of Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron regress.
How can they achieve this? By shedding the contract of David Backes which acts as an albatross around this franchise’s neck.
Backes is currently carrying an average annual value of $6 million and that is a ridiculously expensive contract anyway, and even more so when you consider that the power forward only contributed 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 70 games last year. That won’t get it done.
The Bruins would probably have to give up a few draft picks in order to persuade a team to take on Backes’ contract, but it would be worth it if they could acquire a key piece that would push them closer to another championship.
Can the Bruins iron out the kinks in their power play? The Boston Bruins boasted the third best power play in the NHL last year, scoring 65 goals, but they were also tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most shorthanded goals allowed with 15.
That is extraordinary.
There is no doubting that the Bruins have a plethora of weapons they can utilize to good effect on the PP, but they can’t afford to give up a boatload of goals while on the man advantage either.
It is all about striking that fine balance with having enough quality on the power play unit in order to make it count, while ensuring you don’t go too gung-ho and leave yourselves exposed.
That is a juggling act Head Coach Bruce Cassidy is going to have to figure out this year in order to prevent one of his team’s biggest strengths becoming one of their biggest weaknesses.
When You Can See Them
We don’t have to wait long until the New York Rangers do battle with the Boston Bruins in 2019-20, with the Blueshirts set for a road trip to TD Garden on Sunday, October 27.
The two teams will then meet at TD Garden again on November 29 as part of the NHL’s Thanksgiving Showdown slate. It’s a 1pm start on Black Friday to be televised nationally on NBC. The Bruins will make their only trip to MSG on February 16 for the final regular season showdown between the two franchises. It’s another matinee, scheduled for a 3:30pm start.