4 Big Questions for the Boston Bruins in 2020-21
There’s four big questions the Boston Bruins will need to answer in 2020-21.
We continue to roll with our 2020-21 NHL Season Previews today and, after taking a long look at the Anaheim Ducks and the Arizona Coyotes, today it is the turn of the Boston Bruins to fall under the microscope.
It was a weird 2019-20 for the Bruins who were absolutely dominant during the regular season, but the enforced hiatus because of the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared to hurt their momentum, leading to a hugely disappointing Second Round exit at the hands of eventual champions the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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What followed was an even stranger offseason as the front office, led by General Manager Don Sweeney, didn’t appear to make any moves that would push this roster over the top, while they also made the strange decision to not re-sign Captain and franchise icon Zdeno Chara.
Therefore, with an aging core coupled with some gaping holes on this roster, there will be some uncertainty hovering over this Bruins team heading into the 2020-21 season.
So, without further ado, let’s delve into the Four Biggest Questions facing the Boston Bruins during the 2020-21 NHL season…
4. Is there another move to be made?
You just get the feeling with this Boston Bruins team that they are still another piece or two away from being a true Stanley Cup contender. That was the case in 2018-19 when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final, only to lose to the St. Louis Blues in seven games, and that is very much the case heading into this season.
Now, it does seem a rather strange statement to make considering that the Bruins were the best team in the entire NHL during the 2019-20 regular season, boasting an impressive Points Percentage of .714, but postseason hockey is a whole different beast.
Whether it was entirely down to the hiatus or whether it was thanks to certain weaknesses on this roster, Boston just didn’t look like the same team after the restart and, after eventually finding a way past the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round, they were absolutely dominated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Second Round.
It was a really disappointing showing from the Bruins who almost looked as if they had nothing left to give, and big time players like David Pastrnak were okay but were not spectacular, and that’s exactly what you need during the most important time of the year.
And, after a tough offseason which saw elite defensemen Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara depart, while forward Craig Smith was the biggest addition, is there another move to be made by the front office? Does there need to be another move?
It does appear as though General Manager Don Sweeney seems committed to injecting some youth into this roster in 2020-21 in order to supplement an aging core, and the likes of Jack Studnicka, Jakub Zboril, Urho Vaakanainen and Jeremy Lauzon will play much bigger roles this coming season.
However, it is also clear that the Bruins were interested in adding another big piece to this team after kicking the tyres on top-four defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson during the offseason, before the Arizona Coyotes Captain decided to stay put.
And, as long as the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Tuukka Rask are part of the franchise, this organization will stay committed to winning and it isn’t out of the realms of possibility that they will make a big move at some point during the 2020-21 season.
Revisiting the Ekman-Larsson situation could be likely if things continue to blow up in Arizona, and the B’s need some help on the blueline, while this team has been chasing another legit weapon to slide into that top-six group for quite a while, so that could well come to the forefront at some point in the not-too-distant future.
This Boston Bruins team is still in win-now mode thanks to a strong core but, having seen some of their shine disappear, don’t be surprised if the front office go all out and make a huge splash at the Trade Deadline if they need to shake things up in the locker room.
3. Is there enough toughness on the roster?
This very question would have been unheard of back in the heyday of the Big, Bad, Bruising Bruins, who beat up on teams at will and just crushed opponents for fun, showing no signs of having any mercy whatsoever.
From Zdeno Chara to Mark Recchi to Dennis Seidenberg to Shawn Thornton and Milan Lucic, the 2011 Stanley Cup championship team was built on fear and toughness, attributes that have long been associated with Boston Bruins hockey.
However, that proud history has been just that with the current vintage losing some of their snarl and grit in recent years, a sad fact that was exposed in alarming fashion during the Stanley Cup Final loss to the St. Louis Blues two years ago, with the Blues just tougher and more formidable in all areas of the ice.
Of course, being tough and being able to beat the crap out of anyone isn’t as important in the modern-day NHL as it once was, but it still plays a part.
And, while some may have overplayed the fact that the Bruins were not as tough as they used to be, their offseason moves have raised a lot of concerns in that area once again.
For starters, Zdeno Chara was not only the heartbeat and the leader of this team but, at an imposing 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, he was an absolute human wrecking ball for this team and still dished out 78 hits at the grand old age of 43-years-old in 2019-20.
Chara is now gone, though, having signed with the Washington Capitals as a Free Agent, as too is Torey Krug who was built like a featherweight but played like a heavyweight, and will now suit up for the St. Louis Blues after signing a seven-year, $45,500,000 contract in Free Agency.
Both players leave a massive void when it comes to toughness and, while Brad Marchand is still on the team, there isn’t really anyone else who can really excel in the dark arts of the game. I mean, there is veteran defenseman Kevan Miller who can certainly play with a bucketload of grit and snarl but, having not played a single NHL game in over 21 months, can he really be relied upon to take the mantle from Chara and Krug give how battered and bruised his body is?
The jury is still very much out.
And the front office even admitted themselves that they were suffering from a lack of toughness after going out at the Trade Deadline last year and acquiring Nick Ritchie from the Anaheim Ducks for Danton Heinen, an experiment that failed in emphatic fashion after Ritchie flamed out in Boston.
Instead, it appears as though the Boston Bruins will have to rely on the likes of Sean Kuraly, Chris Wagner, Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand to really step up and provide the grit, snarl, toughness and tenacity that this team needs and prides itself on but, whether it will be enough, remains to be see.
2. How will the defense cope without Chara and Krug?
It was very much the end of an era for the Boston Bruins in more ways than one this offseason after franchise icon and Captain Zdeno Chara was allowed to walk after 14 outstanding years, while tough-as-nails defenseman Torey Krug also departed to sign a big-ticket deal with the St. Louis Blues in Free Agency.
As a result, Bruins fans will be watching a new-look defense in 2020-21 and you can’t blame them if they have some trepidation heading in because, quite frankly, there is more than a few question marks hovering over this group.
For starters, both Chara and Krug leave a massive void when it comes to their elite play but also their experience, leadership and toughness, intangibles that aren’t easily replaced.
Boston GM Don Sweeney tried to engineer a trade for Arizona Coyotes Captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson but that never came off, so a lot of the workload and burden will fall on the shoulders of Charlie McAvoy, who is still only 23-years-old.
McAvoy has been considered a star in the making for quite some time now and, after equalling his career-high in points with 32 (5 G, 27 A) in 67 games in 2019-20, the right-shot defenseman will be expected to take that next giant leap in 2020-21.
Brandon Carlo is developing nicely into a premier shutdown defenseman in the NHL, while Matt Grzelcyk will be leaned on to help replace the 50 points Krug consistently put up, alongside McAvoy, and the pair will also no doubt eat monster minutes and play in all situations now both Chara and Krug are gone.
Plus, McAvoy ranked third on the Bruins in hits with 131 in 2019-20, while he led all B’s with 131 blocked shots and he plays with some snarl, so he will be able to play tough and become a high-end top-pairing blueliner who can do everything, and do it well, for this team.
The rest of the backend is then a bit of a crapshoot, however, with Connor Clifton and veteran Kevan Miller, who hasn’t played in the NHL in 21 months due to injury, almost locks to be on the Opening Night roster, with John Moore and then a young group featuring the likes of Jakub Zboril, Urho Vaakanainen and Jeremy Lauzon all battling it out for the remaining spots on that blueline.
It is almost certain that two of Lauzon, Zboril and Vaakanainen will be handed elevated roles in 2020-21, and time will tell if they are equipped to handle a big step up in minutes and responsibility for a Bruins team that will still expect to be one of the top dogs in an incredibly stacked East Division.
Both Lauzon and Vaakanainen boast high upsides and have the skills needed to stick in the NHL, but will they be ready to be thrown straight into the fire in 2020-21 and take the roster spots vacated by Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug?
It is going to be a bit of a newfangled and a mishmash of a blueline for the Boston Bruins in 2020-21, so it is a good job that they can still rely on an elite goalie tandem of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak, who will both need to be prepared to see their workload increase in a shortened 56-game schedule.
1. Can the top line carry this team again?
Where would the Boston Bruins be without one of the best lines in all of hockey in Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak?
It is the million dollar question and one that could get a lot more attention throughout the 2020-21 NHL season.
With huge question marks looming over a new-look and incredibly young defense, a lack of improvement to this roster during the offseason and a failure to address a lack of secondary scoring, there will be even more pressure on Boston’s elite top line to produce the goods in 2020-21.
It will be hard right out of the gates though, given that elite winger David Pastrnak will miss the start of the season after recovering from hip surgery and may not be back until early February.
The good news, however, is that Pastrnak is making progress and is already skating on his own, while Brad Marchand is way ahead of schedule in his recovery from sports hernia surgery and could actually be ready for opening night.
When the Bruins do get Pastrnak back and that top line is reunited, then they will need their reliable trio to do what they do best – create offense. And lots of it.
Because, as we’ve covered in a previous slide, there are legit concerns over the lack of secondary scoring on this team and, once again, General Manager Don Sweeney failed to go out and acquire a top-six winger for David Krejci‘s line.
Sweeney did sign veteran winger Craig Smith in Free Agency, who has recorded at least 30 points in each of his last three seasons, but the 31-year-old looks more of a fit for the third-line alongside center Charlie Coyle and Anders Bjork.
Therefore, it will be on Jake DeBrusk to become a ligitmate and consistent scoring threat in the NHL and there will also be big expectations on Ondrej Kase to provide a real offensive punch in his first full season with the B’s, while either of those two could be bumped up to the top line in Pasternak’s absence.
But, given that the top line of Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak has combined for a staggering 489 points in the last two seasons combined, their importance to this team and to this franchise cannot be underlined.
And, no matter what happens in 2020-21, the Bruins will need that line to produce at a high rate once again, especially in a shortened 56-game season where every single game will count for double, not to mention the fact that the East Division is absolutely stacked and six or seven teams could easily win it.
Plus, with Pastrnak taking that next giant leap in his game in 2019-20 by recording 48 goals and sharing the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy with Alex Ovechkin, the right-winger will be expected to once again light the lamp at a crazy rate in order to ensure this team stays afloat in a highly-competitive East Division.
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So, while so much of the Boston Bruins will be new and unknown in 2020-21, their one constant will never be more important and could prove to be the difference between ultimate success or perhaps a further changing of the guard in 2021-22.
Only time will tell.