Team Preview - Boston Bruins

2009/2010 Stats:
39-30-13 (83 points)
Eastern Conference: 6th; Overall: 14th

    A promising season saw a bitter end in 2010 as the Boston Bruins were practically swept out of their playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers losing the last four games straight to be bounced out. The Bruins defense was their rock last season seeing as they were last in the eastern conference in goals scored but were only second to the New Jersey Devils in goals against. This is a testament to their strong defensive play molded by coach Claude Julien and the emergence of young goaltender Tuukka Rask. After trading away disgruntled Phil Kessel to Toronto for draft picks (including a first round 2010 pick), GM Peter Chiarelli was handed a bit of luck as that first round pick ended up being the second overall pick with which they selected the dynamic Tyler Seguin. Seguin shared the OHL scoring lead with first overall pick Taylor Hall putting up 106 points (48-58) in 63 games. Not a bad return at all for Kessel. Chiarelli also address his scoring needs this off-season by trading for unhappy Florida Panthers forward Nathan Horton who put up 57 points (20-37) in only 66 games last season. Horton is definitely a large piece going forward for this franchise (only making $4mil per season through 2013). In addition to his scoring prowess, Horton is a very physical forward and can also play center (not that the Bruins need more centers, but it doesn't hurt that he can).

"My position remains the same. I'd like to see how he (Seguin) does in camp. He's a terrific young player. I think he's going to open some eyes at camp, but we'll see how he does. Right now I'd say he'd be on the wing (instead of his natural center position). But you never know, things can change" - Chiarelli on Tyler Seguin.

    Chiarelli seems to have a legitimate salary issue on his hands this off-season. Not only is he paying $7.5mil to Zdeno Chara and $5mil to Tim Thomas, he is paying eight forwards $3.5mil or more, not something you will find on most NHL payrolls. If there was a way to shed Thomas' salary, it would fix their problems, however Thomas is only a year removed from winning the Vezina Trophy as the best NHL and provides a great mentor to young Tuukka Rask. I am fairly sure Chiarelli is more or less looking at way to dispose of the $4mil owed to Michael Ryder seeing as he only put up a disappointing 33 points (18-25) in a full 82 games. The positive here is that Ryder is in the final year of his contract, which makes a buyout/waive sound appealing. They would still have to pay the man but they would gain some cap flexibility. Marco Sturm will be on injury reserve and won't come back until November which gives Michael Ryder a fighting chance seeing as cap room wont need to be trimmed until Sturm returns.

“We’re over the cap. But we also have a player, Marco Sturm, who we’ll put on Long-Term injury. So at some point we’d have to make some changes when Marco’s ready to come back, but that’s the reason why you have long-term injury that you can go in excess of the cap and see how your team unfolds while the other player is rehabbing and recuperating.” - Chiarelli on Bruins cap issues.

    Assuming Ryder is out of the picture for the most part, the Bruins have a really nice looking top six with more talent on the bottom lines than a handful of teams. Look for a top line of Marc Savard (10-23-33 in only 41 games) between David Krejci (17-35-52 in 79 games) and Nathan Horton (20-37-57 in 66 games) in which all 3 players skill sets seem to very nicely compliment each other. For those thinking Tyler Seguin is going to be the man right away, you need to put that thought to bed. A team like Edmonton would have to do this due to limited options, but Boston has options. Seguin didn't have slick teammates in the junior ranks and had to create a lot of his own chances. This is why I see him playing with Patrice Bergeron (19-33-52 in 72 games) who is a smooth all around player and playmaker, and Milan Lucic (9-11-20 in 50 games) who can dish the puck but more importantly would clear out a lot of room for Seguin and Bergeron to create offense. This would leave Boston's third unit with three players that danced around the 20-goal/40-point mark last season in Mark Recchi, Blake Wheeler, and Marco Sturm. Recchi and Sturm are the versatile veterans who can still get the job done and can be bumped up the the second line if need be with no problem, while Wheeler is the kid that failed to meet high expectations but definitely showed glimpses of second line talent. With the increase of offensive firepower, look for players such as Wheeler, Krejci, Lucic, and Bergeron to post up much better numbers this time around. Chiarelli also acquired Gregory Campbell who proved to be a reliable 3rd/4th line center from the Florida Panthers and should be a solid body on the 4th unit and on the penalty kill. Look for him to be playing between resident tough guy Shawn Thornton and Dan Paille. Prospects Joe Colborne and Brad Marchand will be knocking on the door to take a spot but Colborne is a scoring forward who Boston will want to season in the minors while Marchand had 20 games in the NHL last season and literally didn't produce anything. Rugged Trent Whitfield would also be in this mix but he suffered an Achilles tendon injury in August which will most likely cause him to miss most of the season. Expect Boston to at least be in the middle of the conference this season in the goals for category.

    Despite having a strong season on defense, changes were needed to keep the cap number down. Boston parted with Derek Morris (traded to Phoenix for a 2011 pick) and Dennis Wideman who was part of the much needed deal that brought Horton and Campbell to Boston to solidify the offense. This shows a great confidence in the youth on the back end. The real loss is Morris as Dennis Seidenberg (who was injured for the playoffs) will almost replace Wideman points wise and is a more skilled defender (we saw this in the Olympics as he and Christian Ehrhoff were Germany's offense, blasting slap shots left and right from the point). Look for all-star Zdeno Chara (7-37-44 in 80 games) and Seidenberg to hold down the top pairing with great defensive acumen. Johnny Boychuk has climbed up the depth chart with his defensive play (+10) and slight scoring ability (5-10-15 in 51 games) which should put him on the second pairing with Mark Stuart who is a pure stay-at-home defenseman.  This leaves veteran Andrew Ference on the third pair with young Matt Hunwick who could have a breakout year after gaining valuable experience last season. We also saw a glimpse of Adam McQuaid and Andrew Bodnarchuk who look to be stealing a spot which will be hard seeing as the Bruins have their top 6 on one-way deals but these two provide the club with solid injury call-ups. 2010 could see the Bruins allowing a slight amount more of goals against but still maintaining their image of a defensively responsible team.

    You think there would be a giant cause for concern as Boston's prized Vezina winning goalie Tim Thomas didn't respond with top form, but things couldn't have worked out better. Highly touted prospect Tuukka Rask took the helm and led the league in save percentage (.931) and goals against average (1.97) while posting a 22-12-5 record in 39 games with 5 shutouts, solidifying his spot as the teams goaltender of the future. Rask didn't hold up in the playoffs but should be just fine in his second season. Thomas wasn't horrible going 17-18-8 in 43 games with 5 shutouts, but didn't look elite. Thomas is a competitor who cares a great deal about his team and his pride, so he will be looking to rebound and at the least form a disgusting tandem in net for Boston while showing he is worth $5mil. It may be expensive but Thomas is signed through 2013, hopefully providing this club with top notch goaltending. It couldn't work out better for the B's if both men come back this year with stellar efforts.

    After an embarrassing exit to the playoffs, expect a revamped and rejuvenated Bruins roster to come out swinging this campaign.

Transactions to Date:

In:
Nathan Horton
Gregory Campbell
Dennis Seidenberg
Tyler Seguin

Out:
Steve Begin
Miroslav Satan
Drew Larman
Drew Fata
Mikko Lehtonen
Vladimir Sobotka
Byron Bitz
Chuck Kobasew
Craig Weller
Dennis Wideman
Derek Morris

-Dustin Lundberg