Boston Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien Says Team Will Upgrade Defense By Playing Better
By now most Boston Bruins fans have come to accept the team’s failure to upgrade their defense this offseason. But the team’s Head Coach Claude Julien says the team has a simple answer to upgrading their defense.
So what does the winningest coach in team history have in mind?
"My plan is to upgrade our D with our play [on the ice]. I think I really, honestly feel that we can be a lot better with that D group just by our play,” said Julien. “We’re going to do some things this year. We’re talking about tweaking some things. The game evolves and we’re going to evolve right along with it, so I think we have the ability to make our D-corps better this year with our play. That’s where we’re going to start.More from Boston Bruins2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley CupThe Boston Bruins announced an incredible All-Centennial teamThe Boston Bruins are bringing back another old friendThe new faces on the Bruins heading into the 2023-24 season3 centers the Boston Bruins should target to replace Bergeron, Krejci"
Seems Julien has a lot of faith in his current defensive group, a group that ranked in the bottom half of the league last year and cost the team a chance at making the playoffs. If they do roll into the season with their current group like Julien and Team President Cam Neely have suggested, fans better bunker down for a wild ride.
Their current group only has a pair of proven top-four defenders: a soon-to-be 40-year-old Zdeno Chara as their No. 1 defenseman, and 5-foot-8 puck-mover Torey Krug as the second best defensemen on the roster.
No Real Changes For Boston Bruins Defensive Group
The only real changes were a buyout of the aging Dennis Seidenberg, and the decision not to re-sign free agent Zach Trotman. Otherwise, it’s all of the same incumbents from last season’s group that ranked 19th in the NHL and mightily struggled at times to simply break the puck out of their own zone with speed and precision.
Krug was one of Boston’s most effective defensemen last season, and he believes that this year’s defenseman are determined to improve.
"“I don’t want to keep dwelling on last year, but we hear everything that’s being said,” said Krug. “We know people want to make changes to our back end, so we’re using that as motivation. This group knows that we can be better. We’ve developed together. We’ve grown up together. Now being in this locker room we want to be better for our team and more accountable. We are motivated, for sure.”"
Next: Neely Expects Improvement From Defense
One thing that does bode well for the team is they have a young group of defenseman including Colin Miller, Brandon Carlo and Joseph Morrow. All of which have the chance of stepping up and turning into top four defensemen. Miller received some high compliments from Julien who said Miller has top pairing potential but just needs to limit his mistakes. Betting on these players and other prospects is risky business for a team that desperately needs a playoff berth to save themselves from a major shakeup.