2016-17 Boston Bruins Season Preview

 

 

By: Mike Grinnell

NHL Writer and Host of Dump N’ Chase Podcast

16-17 Season Preview:

After missing out on post season play the past two seasons, the Boston Bruins will open their 2016-17 campaign looking to get back into the hunt for the playoffs. While ownership has made comments about expectations being high this season and an extremely impatient fan base calling for major trades and the coach to be fired there are an immense about of questions surrounding this Bruins team heading into the season.

 

The Young Guns:

• Bruins fans have called for their team to get younger and faster for years now, well this season, they get their wish. The Bruins starting roster has four players who have never played a regular season NHL game before. Danton Heinen, Austin Czarnik, Brandon Carlo & Rob O’Gara will all be in the Bruins opening night lineup and will all be playing their first NHL game.
• Heinen and Czarnik will add speed to the offensive side of the puck that the team has lacked for the past few seasons, add in Claude Julien announcing the team will play a new fast-paced style of hockey and the Bruins will look much different up front this season.
• Brandon Carlo and Rob O’Gara will draw the attention of Bruins fans and opponents due to their size and length, but Bruins fans may not fall in love with them right off the bat. 6’5’’ Brandon Carlo has a lot of hype surrounding him heading into the year and at only 19-years-old, may disappoint Bruins fans at first, but they need to be patient with the young rookie. O’Gara, alittle more seasoned after playing four years at Yale, at 23-years-old, should get a decent chunk of minutes this season for the black and gold, but again, be patient Bruins fans, the kid is only a rookie.

 

More New Faces:

• Along with adding the young new faces, the Bruins also added some veterans to the roster. David Backes, Reilly Nash, Dom Moore, and Anton Khudobin were all added this off-season to help bolster the depth and the locker room of this team. David Backes is obviously the name that stands out most on the list, an extremely passionate hockey player who lays his body on the line every night for his team, add about 20 goals to his repertoire and Bruins fans will be going gaga over this guy come February. Formally the captain of the St. Louis Blues, David Backes will bring a much needed vocal leadership role to the B’s locker room that the team has lacked since the departures of Shawn Thornton and Johnny Boychuk.
• Nash and Moore will provide more of a depth presence for the bottom-six forwards and Khudobin will give Tuukka Rask a reliable backup.

 

AUDIO: David Backes will make an immediate impact on this Bruins team.

 

The Defense:

• Without a doubt the biggest question heading into the season is the Bruins defense. Zdeno Chara is no longer a top pairing defenseman, Torey Krug needs to prove he’s a top pairing defenseman and the Bruins need to go out and acquire a top pairing defenseman. Despite the teams lack of a top pairing defenseman, I actually don’t mind the defense heading into the season. With injuries to Kevan Miller and Adam McQuaid, young defenseman like Colin Miller, Rob O’Gara, and Brandon Carlo will be thrown into the lineup and will be expected to put up big minutes. If the young defenseman can prove themselves, who knows, the defense situation then gets a lot different.

 

The Coach:

• Claude Julien is on the hot seat, plain and simple and if the Bruins get off to a slow start, don’t expect Julien to be here long. GM Don Sweeney promoted former Providence Bruins Head Coach Bruce Cassidy to Assistant Coach to Claude Julien, meaning if Claude needs to go, they have their guy in the organization ready to go if need be.
• Julien has said his team will play a faster paced style of hockey this season, adapting to the rest of the NHL. This can be worrisome, Julien has coached the same way his whole career and now all of a sudden he is just going to change? I don’t like the sounds of that. Stick with what you know, Claude. For Don Sweeney and Cam Neely, If you want to play a new style, bring in a new coach.

 

The Goalie:

• After getting virtually no love this off season and not even being mentioned in the ‘NHL Networks 10 Ten Goalies’ Tuukka Rask will have to prove himself this season. While Tuukka Rask shouldn’t have to prove anything to anyone, Bruins fans continue to suggest to trade the former Vezina Trophy winner due to the teams poor defensive play the past few season. The defense didn’t get any better so Rask better hope his game did, because I’m sure Bruins fans will let him have it otherwise.

 

Overall I predict an improvement from the Bruins this season compared to the last two playoffless seasons. Will the Bruins win the Stanley Cu? Probably not, but will they be in the playoffs? My guess is yes.