Back in 2015 the Boston Bruins drafted defense-man Jakub Zboril from the St. Johns Sea Dogs. He was yet to claim a roster spot but after five years of waiting he finally has after notable departures from the back end. He has excited and been one of best defense-man to watch in the Boston Bruins organization so far this season.
Taking a look at some of his standard stats he hasn’t been too productive offensively recording just one assist in eight games played this season. This is pretty common among rookie defense-man especially Jakub Zboril who is facing a lot of pressure with his outstanding draft class. He has taken the opportunity he has gotten and showed up playing with veteran defender Kevan Miller.
Despite low offensive production, Zboril has a 59.1 GF% and a 55.41 CF%. Along with a 1.36 GF/60, 0.94 GA/60, 2.27 xGF/60 and 1.66 xGA/60 in 5v5 play (via Evolving-Hockey). On average he ranks 3rd among Boston Bruins defense-man for those statistics. Zboril also has a 70.1 oZS% and 29.9 dZS% at even strength. He consistently is earning his ice-time with each game and it is showing. He has logged the second most minutes among bruins defense-man this season despite playing on the third pair.
Even while Zboril was in Providence he was always much stronger defensively. Despite it being a small sample size, his Isolated +/- shows exactly that.
He has had a much stronger impact on defense at Even strength than he has offensively. Although his offensive impact hasn’t been that great, I expect it to pick up. He has a very hard and good shot but he has little control to it. Once he becomes more calm, poise, and efficient offensively he is worthy of playing on the top pair with Charlie McAvoy over Jeremy Lauzon.
To back up all this data here are some plays from Jakub Zboril in Saturdays game versus the Washington Capitals where he single stopped a goal and effectively shut down elite offensive player Alex Ovechkin.
Jakub Zboril has been a pleasure to watch so far this season and I have high hopes for him in Boston. I think he can be a good addition and an effective piece to the Boston Bruins as they are on the hunt for Stanley Cup number seven.
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