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Boston Bruins: Patrice Bergeron and Marchand lead Stanley Cup charge

By Dave Stevenson

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 19: Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins celebrates a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 Stanley Cup play-offs at the Air Canada Centre on April 19, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 19: Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins celebrates a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 Stanley Cup play-offs at the Air Canada Centre on April 19, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images /

Strengths

Elite Talent

You need superstars to win Stanley Cups. The Bruins are extremely lucky, as they have no fewer than two elite players. Patrice Bergeron narrowly missed out on his fifth Selke Trophy and put up the highest points per game total (0.98) of his career. He had his third season with at least 30 goals in his past five seasons.

Brad Marchand had his second consecutive season with 85 points despite missing 14 games. Ever since he signed his huge long-term extension, he’s been bent on proving he deserves it. Marchand’s dirty play makes him a liabliity at times, but he makes up for it a lot more often than he doesn’t.

Pastrnak is a borderline elite talent. He’s not quite elite, but he’s darn close. Pastrnak has seen his point total increase each season and, at just 22 years old, his best days are ahead of him and he should only get better.

Must Read. Top 10 Bruins Prospects. light

Young Depth

The Bruins have accumulated an impressive core of young players to complement their best players. Heinen and DeBrusk stood out, but even past them, Boston has a number of young, exciting role players.

Their best young player is McAvoy, who did outstanding as Chara’s primary defensive partner. The Bruins trust him a lot at even strength, as he finished 25th in the league in even strength ice time per game. It’ll be hard for him to get more power play time with Krug leading the top unit, but it’s hard not to argue McAvoy is Boston’s best defenseman right now. Even if you think he isn’t, he will be very soon.

Donato, Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo, and Anders Bjork are some other young Bruins players to keep an eye on.

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