Boston Bruins: 3 Keys To Success for 2017-18

The Boston Bruins must build on their success from last season to compete in what should be a very competitive Atlantic Division.

The Boston Bruins 2017-18 season is hard to project. There are a ton of variables and the team enters the season with numerous uncertainties. However, the Atlantic Division should be very competitive this year. And if the Bruins want to return to the postseason, they’ll have to play their hearts out. Even this might not be enough, especially if the Tampa Bay Lightning return to form after an off year.

It remains to be seen what direction they will go in. Will the Bruins be Stanley Cup contenders? Or could some significant changes be coming in the near future? These questions will be among those answered this season.

Let’s look at a list of the things that must happen for the Bruins to make a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and potentially make a deep playoff run.

Better Goaltending

Boston has a proud tradition of goaltenders. Tiny Thompson, Frank Brimsek and Gerry Cheevers are among the best. Tuukka Rask ranks fourth on the Bruins’ career wins list, just ahead of his mentor Tim Thomas.

However, lately, he hasn’t been himself. Rask has been declining ever since he won the Vezina Trophy in 2013-14. The Bruins are a fairly well balanced team, in that they’re above average at scoring and their blue line should be good enough to keep opponent’s to three goals or less every game.

Rask, however, could be the difference maker. Goalies have the opportunity to change games in ways skaters simply can’t. If Brandon Carlo blows his coverage, Patrice Bergeron can’t make up for it. Rask, however, can. Most likely, he will be a difference maker. But whether it’s in a positive or negative light will likely determine just how good the Bruins are.

Balancing the Defense

The Bruins have been rebuilding their blue line on the fly the past few seasons. Last year in the playoffs, Boston finally started harvesting the fruits of their labor. Rookie defenseman and 2016 first round pick Charlie McAvoy made his NHL debut. With three points in six postseason games, he was impressive.

McAvoy’s arrival makes Bruce Cassidy’s job a little bit tougher, in a good way. Last season, the Bruins rode the Zdeno Chara and Carlo pairing into the ground. While both are very good defensively, neither is overwhelmingly effective moving the puck. That’s an important skill to have in today’s NHL.

Having the eternally underrated Torey Krug and McAvoy gives the Bruins a chance to balance their blue line. Chara and Carlo would both benefit from playing alongside someone who can handle the stress of moving the puck. If the Bruins play their cards right, they could have two extremely solid pairings.

Riding The First Forward Line

Ultimately, the three most important Boston Bruins players are on the same forward line. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak are going to determine how far the team goes this season. Sure, getting some complementary scoring would certainly help. But at the end of the day, the Bruins live and die by their first line.

94 of their 234 goals last season, or just over 40 percent of them, were scored by one of the trio. And that’s with Bergeron having a career low shooting percentage. Each had a plus-minus rating of at least +11 and ranked in the top four on the Bruins in plus-minus. So it’s safe to say the keys to their success this season are in extremely capable hands.

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