Boston Bruins Season Preview

The Bruins snuck into the playoffs last season thanks to play from Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask but they will need more from other players if they are to do it again. Boston was quiet over the off season signing one depth player, Paul Postma, while letting many veterans walk. The Bruins will be relying on lots of young talent this year and will probably be outside of the playoffs but with good goaltending they could sneak into a wild card spot.

Arrivals/Departures

Arrivals: Paul Postma
Departures: Colin Miller, Drew Stafford, Jimmy Hayes, Dominic Moore, John Michael-Liles, Joe Morrow



Forwards:

Brad Marchand was the best Bruins player last season exploding into Hart trophy contention with his 85-point season lifting the Bruins into the post-season. Expect another great year from the Nose Face Killah where he cracks 70 points. Patrice Bergeron may be the best two-way forward in the NHL centering the top line coming off his fourth Selke trophy. The last member of the first line is David Pastrnak who erupted for 34 goals showing he has the skill to eventually score 40. Reliable David Krejci is no longer the same player he once was but he is still among the best second-line centers in the NHL. David Backes will play right wing for Krejci while Frank Vatrano may get a crack on the second line in his first full NHL season. Ryan Spooner has proven his worth as a very valuable third-line center, but could struggle scoring this season with little depth on this Boston team. Matt Beleskey was a disappointment last season producing eight points while Riley Nash is more a fourth liner or depth forward playing on the third line. The fourth line will consist of unproven players; Tim Schaller, Austin Czarnik, Noel Acciari, Sean Kuraly, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson and Kenny Agostino will all get a shot to make the team.



Defenceman:

Torey Krug is the best defenceman on the Bruins now that Zdeno Chara has taken a big step backwards with age. Krug put up a career high 51 points last year anchoring the power play while playing shutdown defence. Longtime Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is still a dominating presence on the ice with his 6-ft-9 frame even though he is not the player he once was. Charlie McAvoy made his NHL debut in the playoffs last year playing in all six of the games showing bright things for the future. Brandon Carlo will round out the top four defenceman after a solid rookie season where he teamed up with Chara on the top pair for a majority of the season. The bottom pair will feature tough guy Adam Mcquaid who enters his ninth NHL season (all in a Bruins jersey) as well as Kevan Miller who has been a solid bottom-pair defenceman his short career. The only off season addition to the Bruins was Paul Postma who should play if an injury occurs to one of Boston's other defencemen.



Goaltending:

Tuukka Rask is one of the elite goalies in the NHL and has been for a while now single handidly stealing games for the Bruins. The Bruins will be playoff contenders because of Rask, making up for a weak defence. Anton Khudobin is the backup but as he struggled last year, Rask may be relied on to start 65 games this year.

Projected Lineup:

Brad Marchand	Patrice Bergeron	David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano	David Krejci	David Backes
Matt Beleskey	Ryan Spooner	Riley Nash
Tim Schaller	Austin Czarnik	Noel Acciari
Sean Kuraly	Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson	Kenny Agostino

Zdeno Chara	Torey Krug
Charlie McAvoy	Brandon Carlo
Adam McQuaid	Kevan Miller
Paul Postma	Jakob Zboril

Tuukka Rask

Anton Khudobin

Malcolm Subban

Top 10 Players:

10. Brandon Carlo 

9. Ryan Spooner 

8. David Backes 

7. Zdeno Chara 

6. Torey Krug 

5. David Pastrnak 

4. David Krejci 

.

3. Tuukka Rask

2. Patrice Bergeron 

1. Brad Marchand 

Projected Finish: 91 Points (5th in Atlantic)
Last Year: 95 Points (3rd in Atlantic) 

Photo credit for Paul Postma goes to https://www.thescore.com/trending. Brad Marchand and Torey Krug goes to https://www.usatoday.com/. Tuukka Rask goes to http://nesn.com/.