After offseason changes, Bruins still believe they have winning core
The attention paid to the Boston Bruins for trading high-profile veterans Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic this summer was overdone to the point that no one noticed that the players left behind still believed they could win.
When the fallout dissipated from new general manager Don Sweeney’s two blockbuster trades, the Bruins still owned one of the NHL’s best one-two center combinations in David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron, a former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman in Zdeno Chara, an elite level goalie in Tuukka Rask and one of the hockey world’s most dynamic young forwards in David Pastrnak.
“The way teams are built now,” Rask told Paste BN Sports, “you try to get that group of four to six guys and try to build around them. We still have that.”
Bruins players view this summer’s wheeling and dealing as a redesign more than a rebuilding project. “We added players as well,” Rask said. “I don’t think we are weaker.”
The Bruins signed free agent left wing Matt Beleskey, who actually scored more goals than Lucic (22-18), but does not offer the same physical presence. The Bruins also traded Reilly Smith for Jimmy Hayes. Free agent Matt Irwin was signed to take one of the spots on defense.
“We are still a very good team, even with the changes we made,” said Chara, the Bruins' captain. “It’s never easy to see longtime teammates or talented guys getting traded. But that’s the way it is. It’s the business side. But we are gaining new faces. It’s exciting to have new people on your team.”
The real hope for the Bruins rests in the belief that a recommitment to playing detail-oriented hockey could return them to playoffs. Their performance level varied significantly from game-to-game last season.
“If we had to pick one or two things, we all talk about the inconsistency,” Chara said. “We were up and down the whole year.”
The Bruins lost four of their first six games. Chara was injured in the ninth game and Krejci was out for two long stretches because of injuries. They never found their rhythm. With 97 points, it wasn't as if the team bottomed out, though.
They were not as formidable as years past, a stretch of seven seasons in which they made the playoffs. The Bruins also had salary cap issues. Those two factors prompted the major moves.
“At one point, we had six or seven regulars out of the lineup,” Chara recalled. “I’m not making excuses. We were not playing consistent, and not playing with the passion we had in previous years – being hard to play against. The energy – we were missing that. It was there some nights, and some nights it was not.”
Bergeron said it is hard to pinpoint exactly why the team couldn’t sustain a high performance level game-to-game. “Sometimes, we were letting our guard down,” Bergeron said. “There were a few times when we were up by a goal heading into the third period, and we would have a stretch of inconsistency. We would let teams back in the game.”
The Bruins were 4-10 (.286) in shootouts, so their inability to close out games cost them. With the NHL instituting a 3-on-3 overtime this season, shootouts should decrease.
But they also need to find more goals. They were among the NHL’s top defensive teams last season, but they were in the lower-third in scoring.
Krejci's health and Pastrnak’s development are the keys. Pastrnak could be a 20-plus goal scorer. He posted 10 goals and 27 points in 46 games last season before he turned 19.
“Very talented and for his age, he is very mature,” Chara said. “It’s never easy for an 18-year-old to get everything right, but I see a lot of potential. He’s a player with a lot of speed and a lot of skill. For sure, he’s going to be a great player.”
Although some Boston fans were angry because Sweeney didn’t land a player who can help the team now in the Hamilton deal, there seems to be an understanding that the moves on a whole may revitalize the roster.
Bergeron said that the new players might bring some fresh energy. “Maybe that was missing a bit last year,” he said. “…Sometimes you do need some changes to go forward.”
PHOTOS: Players changing teams in 2015-16