BY: MARISA KULIS
With the new season coming up quick, the Boston Bruins have their work cut out for them. The organization has had a quiet but ugly off season. They didn’t make any noise during free agency and continue to draft poorly. Management took the offer off the table for power-play defensemen, Torey Krug, and told their Captain of 14 years, Zdeno Chara, they didn’t want him anymore.
Somehow there’s a lot to digest from this underwhelming offseason so, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.
The most this offseason had to offer was the signing of the winger, Craig Smith. After nine seasons with the Nashville Predators, he signed a three year deal for $3.1 million per year. Smith seems like he’d be a good fit to slot in on either the second line with David Krejci or the third line with local kid, Charlie Coyle. Before the season pause he was on track to be a 20-plus goal scorer. Compared to the rest of the roster, he fits right in. Not bad at all.
The offseason also gave Bruins fans bad news that both top line wingers Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak were injured and will be out for the beginning of the season. Marchand underwent sports hernia repair early in September and is on track for recovery but could miss the first game or two but hopefully not. Pastrnak underwent right hip arthroscopy and labral repair. His recovery time will set him to return mid-February.
Speaking of the top line, who is stepping into those roles? Although it might be too early to tell, it looks as though Anders Bjork and Jack Studnicka. This is a great opportunity for younger players such as these two to step up and prove themselves they can get the job done. Hear me out, after seeing Studnicka continuously show that he’s not afraid to shoot during the Bubble playoffs, I don’t see why not. He’s got plenty of confidence and it’ll be a great learning experience for a young player being slotted in next to Patrice Bergeron.
It might be a bit early but here’s some line predictions:
Anders Bjork–Patrice Bergeron–Jack Studnicka
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Ondrej Kase
Nick Ritchie–Charlie Coyle–Craig Smith
Sean Kuraly–Trent Frederic–Chris Wagner
The only line that has not changed since the Bubble is the second line with veteran forward David Krejci. Bruins management have been having a tough time finding the right piece to the second line but it seems as though Kase has been the right fit to balance Krejci on the right. With Krejci’s contract coming to an end, he might be the next to get the Bruins’ boot along with goaltender Tuukka Rask.
During both the regular season and the Bubble playoffs, Bruins fans had to endure the unfortunate situation of goaltender Tuukka Rask taking a step back from the team to deal with personal issues. According to General Manager, Don Sweeney, Rask is our guy for the season and Jaroslav Halak will be the backup. Don’t get me wrong Rask is a stellar goaltender but he can’t steal games like Tim Thomas had done in the past. He’s streaky and can’t always stand on his head. Truthfully, I don’t see the Bruins resigning Rask after this season.
Management seemed to be on a hot streak of doing nothing and letting people walk. Defenseman and power play specialist, Torey Krug, signed with the St. Louis Blues worth $45 million for seven years. From what Krug said management offered him a deal but took it off the table with minimal communication. Kinda rude if you ask me.
Just when we thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, management said goodbye to our Captain of 14 years, Zdeno Chara. With one Stanley Cup, multiple trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, playoff pushes and more, Big Z signed with the Washington Capitals for $795,000 for a one-year deal.
THE BOSTON BRUINS MANAGEMENT SIGNED KEVAN MILLER, WHO HAS NOT PLAYED IN A SINGLE GAME IN ALMOST TWO YEARS WITH GLASS KNEE CAPS FOR MORE THAN WHAT THE CAPS PAID CHARA. Absolutely mind blowing.
Management is looking to move away from the veteran defenseman and stick with the younger players. Sadly, they’re looking a bit more weak on the left side without Chara’s massive body now that they have to rely on younger guys such as Matt Gryzelyck, Jeremy Lauzon, and Jakub Zboril.
This is what we’re looking at for D-pairing predictions:
If you couldn’t tell, I am concerned.
With Chara gone, that leaves a vacancy for the Captain position. There’s only one player who has played in multiple Stanley Cup Final games with numerous injuries like a punctured lung, separated shoulder, broken rib etc. that deserves to be named Captain. That player, Patrice Bergeron. He’s an exceptional person on and off the ice and leads by example. There’s no other player on the roster that deserves it more than him and it’s been a long time coming.
Hopefully, management has some kind of plan to bring in some support in size, strength and skill but for now it’s looking like it’s going to be a long season for the black and gold.
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com