Coach: Bruce Cassidy (since 2017). 7.5/10
2017-18 record: 50-20-12, 112 points, 4th overall, 2nd in the Atlantic. Eliminated in second round.
Departures: Anton Khudobin (G), Riley Nash (C), Nick Holden (D), Tim Schaller (C), Kenny Agostino (RW), Austin Czarnik (C).
Arrivals: Jaroslav Halak (G), Joakim Nordstrom (LW), John Moore (D), Chris Wagner (C).
Top forwards: David Pastrnak (65-80 points), Brad Marchand (60-75 points, 35 goals), Patrice Bergeron (55-65 points, amazing face-off numbers), David Krejci (55-65 points), Ryan Spooner (30-40 points), Frank Vatrano (20-30 points).
Must-improve forward: David Backes. Again. 33 points last year. 38 the year before that. 45 the year before that. 58 the year before that. That's a pretty constant regression. Like Milan Lucic in Edmonton, he's starting to look like a extremely expensive fourth-line grinder.
Top defensemen: Torey Krug (40-50 points), Charlie McAvoy (35-40 points), Zdeno Chara (20-30 points), Brandon Carlo (20-35 points), Kevan Miller (15-22 points).
Goalies: Tuuka Rask (90/100), Halak (88/100).
Top rookies: Ryan Donato (22, C), Urho Vaakanainen (19, 18th overall pick in 2017, D), Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson (22, C), Zachary Senyshyn (21, 15th overall pick in 2015, RW), Jakob Sboril (21, 13th overall pick in 2015, D).
Analysis:
I was hard on head coach Cassidy last year. The truth of the matter is he led his team to a fourth-place finish when they should be rebuilding, what with all the veterans they have. He also helped Marchand focus on playing hockey for 97% of the time he's on the ice, making him a lethal offensive force when paired with Pastrnak and Bergeron. He'll still fly off the handle a few times, but he seems like less of a diver/faker nowadays, at least.
McAvoy, Krug, Chara and Carlo make a decent top-4 on the back end, but look for Chara to regress more and more as his 40s take hold; take a look at Jagr, who seemed timeless and immortal on the Panthers' first line then with just one summer of not training at full capacity (he was spending more time looking for a job than preparing for it) went on to become a healthy scratch in Calgary - that's what awaits #33 eventually. Soon. And injuries will also start piling up on his 41-year-old body, each one harder to come back from. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already a gigantic jumble of arthritis and pain.
Rask is still an elite goaltender. As I said last year, he just needed help. He gets that with Halak, a 1A goalie who could be in the crease for as many as 41 games, leaving Rask rested for the playoffs. And ready to take over if Rask keeps failing in the Spring.
Offensively for the Bruins, the biggest question mark is Krejci. Will he again miss nearly half a season of play? Can he get back to the 60-70-point mark? At 32, he should still be in what's left of his prime, but he fell to 44 points in 64 games last year and only hit the 20-goal mark once in the last six years. If he can't put up at least 45-50 assists to compensate, he's a waste of $7.25M on the second line.
Boston still desperately needs to add depth both on their third and fourth lines and in their bottom-pairings to make a dent in the playoff picture. A lot of teams have what it takes to make the playoffs close to a Wild Card spot, but only a few powerhouses have rosters that, on paper, project to go deep. The Bruins lack what the Bolts, Preds, Caps, Jackets and Jets have - a line-up that doesn't have five-to-ten minutes per game where the other team just has free reign on the ice because the guys playing are a deep cut below the opposition's in terms of raw talent.
Prediction: 3rd in the Atlantic Division.
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