I have fired up my BigOl’JetAirliner to do a recon of each and every team the Winnipeg Jets will have to face in the upcoming campaign. When the wheels eventually touch back down in good ol’ River Heights, I hope to have a good idea of our competition’s key players/prospects, their strengths & weaknesses, and the overall depth of each franchise. To assist with that last topic, I opted to use the projected line ups provided by DailyFaceOff.com but since the visual display of the lines was better on PuckPedia, I ended up using that site to create the graphics included in the articles. Thanks to both of those helpful sites.
After starting Arctic Ice Hockey’s season preview articles in sunny California, I crossed the United States in the direction of Massachusetts and the thought popped into my mind that my itinerary isn’t very eco-friendly. I guess using the order of the alphabet wasn’t the best idea for planning my trip. Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song? That classic Steven Wright joke was sort of the perfect segue as we start our look at his home state’s NHL team.
BOSTON BRUINS:
Despite losing key players like Patrice Bergeron & David Krejci before the 2023-24 campaign, the Bruins weathered the storm to finish with the 4th best record in the Eastern Conference & tied for 9th in the entire NHL (47-20-15). You have to go all the way back to the 2015-16 season before you find a post-season that didn’t include the Boston Bruins as one of the 16 teams vying for Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Last season’s playoffs saw goaltender Jeremy Swayman elevate his play to another level (.933 save %) as the B’s made it to the second round and that leads us to GM Don Sweeney’s final task on his To Do list….get his starting goalie under contract. After the team shipped Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators earlier in the off-season, that is something utterly important if the B’s hope to make noise in 2024-25. From all reports, it does sound like it is just a matter of time before the team & player put pen to paper and officially make him their long-term starter. According to PuckPedia, management could likely go as high as $9M per year and stay under the cap, but obviously would prefer to leave themselves a larger cushion to accrue more cap space to make in-season moves.
The Boston Bruins were one of the NHL’s elite defensive squads last season (224 GA for 6th lowest), while still maintaining a fairly deadly offense (267 GF for 12th highest). David Pastrnak is clearly the key to the Bruins’ offense, coming off a 47 goal, 110 point season to easily lead the franchise in scoring. Other important contributors for the Bruins include veterans Brad Marchand (67 pts), Charlie Coyle (60 pts), and Pavel Zacha (59 pts). Uber-pest Marchand had off-season surgery and is expected to be healthy to start the season…should be interesting to see what the 36 yr old does this season coming off what could be seen as one of the worst years of his career. At least, according to the GF% statistic, where his 54.3% was the 2nd worst of his career. Hate the veteran Bruin all you want, but you have to admit that having a 50.59 GF% as your worst statistical NHL season is damn impressive!
Sweeney has brought in quite a few new faces this off-season, with Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov being the key additions. Lindholm is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career (44 pts in 75 gms), but things will likely be brighter now that he has Pastrnak on his wing every night. Defenseman Zadorov doesn’t bring much offense with him since he typically is only good for about 20 pts per season, however the positives from his play on the other side of the puck make him a worthwhile addition. Bruins’ fans will quickly warm up to his physical play, while opposing Atlantic Division squads will regret having to play the 236 lb Russian on a regular basis. Boston also added some size to their bottom six with players like 6’3″ Max Jones (ANA) and 6’4″ Mark Kastelic (OTT) coming over from other teams. Finally, the B’s have a new back up goaltender in Joonas Korpisalo and he will be looking to bounce back from an awful season in Canada’s capital (.890 save %). The big Finn has flashed signs of NHL starter potential over the years with Columbus & Los Angeles, however his play has been wildly inconsistent from season to season throughout his career. The biggest positive for Korpisalo is that Boston has the defensemen and system capable of making life a bit easier on their masked men, so it’s possible they can resurrect his career.
Here is how both DailyFaceOff and PuckPedia have the Boston Bruins lineup at this point (missing unsigned Swayman):
Since I am really just starting these team reviews, I can’t really say for certain where Boston’s top six forwards rank against other NHL teams…but I have to believe it will be fairly high up there. The one potential weakness may be having Morgan Geekie on the right wing of the 2nd line, since he doesn’t have the history of scoring at that level. The 26 yr old Manitoban did manage to surpass his previous high point total by 11 pts last season to almost hit the 40 pt plateau, so it may be too much to expect him to make the same leap in 2024-25. Regardless of the 2RW production, the proven scorers Boston has at the top of the lineup will ensure they are in the playoff hunt.
Whether it is solely due to cap constraints or part of a good player development plan, I like that the Bruins are giving some of their young prospects a look in the bottom six. The early projections have the 20 yr old Matthew Poitras (15 pts in 33 gms) holding the 3rd line center position, but Trent Frederic (40 pts in 82 gms) is certainly capable of filling that role as well. However, due to his high upside and right handed shot, Poitras may get top six time if Geekie falters during the season. After putting up 10 pts in 52 games last season, 23 yr old John Beecher seems set to add yet another big player (6’3″) to the B’s 4th line.
I think any GM in the league would be happy with Boston’s top 4 defensemen. While Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Brandon Carlo, & Zadorov do take up 28% of the available cap, they provide an enviable level of talent for the Bruins’ backend. And size….McAvoy 6’1″, Lindholm 6’4″, Carlo 6’5″, & Zadorov 6’6″. I guess McAvoy makes up for being “small” by being the only true offensive threat in the group (averaged 51 pts over the past 3 yrs). Andrew Peeke provided Boston with strong play (53.3 GF%) after being acquired at the trade deadline and will be probably be partnered with 6’5″ Mason Lohrei on the third pairing. The 23 yr old Lohrei debuted last season with 41 appearances and 13 pts, but did lose the goal scored battle (48.2 GF%) so could use a steading presence at his side.
Even without Ullmark to share the crease, I am sure Swayman will provide the Boston Bruins with above average tending this season. However it will be interesting to see how he copes with the likely need to start 15 to 20 more games in 2024-25.
PROBABLE FATE:
I will start off by saying the Atlantic Division is a very tough division, maybe the league’s most difficult one. The “Big Four” of the Atlantic include the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, & Florida Panthers…all teams that have qualified for each of the 5 prior post-seasons. Then you have a group of squads that are getting close to reaching their goal of a playoff appearance in the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators (strengthened by the addition of Ullmark), & Montreal Canadiens. No easy nights there.
Maybe after 8 straight tickets to “The Show” it is time for them to work on their golf game? Anything is possible, but with a very strong top 6 forward & top 4 defense, plus with Swayman being the real deal I can’t see that happening. Overall depth may become an issue, but if the young and/or blue collar players can step up then another Presidents’ Trophy isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Boston Bruin fans should have plenty to cheer about in 2024-25.
UP NEXT: The Buffalo Sabres…..
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