Following their elimination from the 2020 bubble playoffs, the Bruins defense took a drastic, but partially expected turn. It began with the early-October departure of 5’9” offensive defenseman Torey Krug. The undersized puck-mover left the B’s organization, whom he had been a part of since 2013, and in doing so signed a 7-year $45.5M contract with the St. Louis Blues. Many tried to make sense of this from Don’s perspective, and it seemingly came down to Sweeney not being willing to commit to Torey for as long-a-term as the Blues did. And in the world of the flat cap, that reason certainly holds valid.
Then, months later, Bruins fans were greeted with an unpleasant surprise, just as the year full of unpleasant surprises was finally coming to a close. Longtime captain and 43 year old, Zdeno Chara, had signed a 1-year contract worth just above the league minimum to join Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Even with the apparent regression in his play, Zdeno still played a big role for the Bruins despite climbing into his 40’s. He ate the bulk of the minutes on the left side alongside Charlie McAvoy during the B’s deep run into the 2019 playoffs, and played a similar role during the 2020 regular season. Although he struggled to find his legs in the bubble, with the uncertainty and the huge layoff, that’s an awfully small sample size to use as a way of considering what Chara can still bring to the table. However, it proved to be enough for Don and his staff to cut ties with Big Zee, in favor of younger and more skillful personnel on the backend.
Now, the Bruins build towards a new era, without their 14-year captain and without their best offensive defenseman; and to replace them is a handful of youthful, unproven blue-liners.
First Pair Prediction: Grzelcyk - McAvoy
We know Charlie McAvoy will be the Bruins top right-handed guy, and a guy who night-in-night-out will lead the team in TOI. But his left-handed counterpart will be in question for the first time in his young career. In all likelihood, it’ll be Matt Grzelcyk taking the charge there. Him and McAvoy found themselves as a makeshift pair of sorts in the bubble, and the two meshed really well. The biggest cause of concern would be just how capable the undersized Grzelcyk would be of handling the heavy shutdown minutes that McAvoy inevitably will, but that is where the flexibility comes into play. Young shutdown d-man Jeremy Lauzon could be a guy to slot in there when Boston holds onto leads late, John Moore is another option who brings good size and mobility, even Jakub Zboril, although a long shot for this hefty of a role, has emerged as a candidate to make a roster push out of camp this year and is an option to be thrown in next to McAvoy.
Second Pair Prediction: Lauzon - Carlo
A potentially-deadly shutdown second pair for the Bruins is what is bestowed upon us here, as a pair of players who enjoyed really successful 2020 regular campaigns will look to see more of the same in 2021. As long as the two can avoid the problems with foot-speed they had during the NHL’s Return to Play last year, that’ll be a reliable and steady second pair for Boston that is likely to see plenty of defensive-zone reps.
Third Pair Prediction: Moore - Clifton
With the drastic shift in the top 4 behind us, we can move into a much more traditional bottom-pairing when you consider the past couple of seasons, and that includes John Moore suiting up alongside Connor Clifton. As previously touched on, Moore is a good-sized puck moving defenseman, who gets things moving north with a strong first pass and fluent, quick strides. Clifton is a guy who is slightly undersized, but certainly makes up for it physically using great technique to gain leverage on larger opponents and separate them from the puck. He too possesses solid mobile qualities as well.
Yes, this prediction leaves out the likes of Jakub Zboril, Kevan Miller, and Urho Vaakanainen. Zboril is a guy who could take on a reserve-role of sorts with the team, and he is required to clear waivers to make it to the AHL so a demotion to the minors is not likely. Kevan Miller will need some time to adapt to game-speed through the occasional insertions into the lineup on back-to-backs, and through continuing full-contact practices with the team. And Vaakanainen is a guy who could use some sharpening up, particularly in his own end of the ice, before he establishes himself as an NHL regular.
コメント