Post by Boston Bruins on Jul 6, 2022 21:13:28 GMT -6
This season didn't go as GM Davidson had planned. While admittedly, the original draft did put more focus on future than he normally would do, the plan was still that his team could make the playoffs in year one. That turned out not to be true however and was known fairly early on in the year. Not all was done and gloom though. The most important pieces of this team either lay in wait to be further developed, or of course the two headed monster on defence. McAvoy and Nurse both had incredible seasons and were the Bruins two best players all season long. Both fell just shy of 20 goals each, both were in the top 20 in defence scoring. Both played around 2000 minutes each as well. Those numbers could go up next year even if they could both play with a touch more discipline next year, as they combined for 241 penalty minutes. That said, with a combined 403 hits and 220 shot blocks, it's hard to stop these two from playing on the edge. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. No matter how you slice it though, these guys are the heart and the engine of the Bruins for years to come.
In goal, the Bruins will send a tandem out next year. Tuukka Rask was 7th in save percentage this year, but tired out later in the season. Chris Drieder is more than capable of splitting duties and can push the future hall of famer for the net. That also would open the door to a possible trade piece should the Bruins get off to a slow start. Rask would be a huge add for a contending team.
Where the team lacked most was scoring goals. The entire group of forwards are signed for next year, but is that a good thing for a team that couldn’t score? A Team that traded away their one superstar goal scorer, sending Johnny Hockey out the door. Facts are. Johnny hockey could have marched out the door next year for nothing. The focus last half of the year was building the MIDDLE six. The team still finished the year with 5 twenty goal scorers, and had the two big D just shy of that mark. We really like Garland, Hall, Smith, Mantha and Lowry in that middle six group. Girgensons is a very solid 3rd line center too. Problem is the Bruins lack an entire first line. So where does the improvement come from? The biggest improvement will be from the high end prospects but none will likely be activated this year. Quinton Byfield can be that number one center but will wait on nhl rerate at the end of NEXT season. Mavrik Bourque also has a ton of potential but like Byfield isn’t yet ready. Ten million in cap space can get you one top line player be it trade or free agency, but that still leaves the B’s Two guys short.
This may be an interesting team to watch this offseason as this GM doesn’t like to sit idle and wait. Davidson could go after some big fish, or may just do nothing at all and wait one more season. The defence and goaltending can do enough to keep them in games, so a lot may just depend on how kind or bitchy the sim is early in the year.
We had trouble getting much out of Davidson and only received one quote……
“The Bruins will win a playoff game before Aaron Sanderson in Vancouver” is all he would say.
Bring on the summer season!
