Boston Bruins Show Improvements Despite Losses, While Junior, NCAA and AHL Prospects Show Promise

As the Bruins come off five straight losses after a tough California road trip against some of the strongest teams of the Western Conference and a couple more in the East, they’ve dropped to 7^th place overall in a crowded Eastern Conference playoff race and are teetering just a point away from being pushed out of the postseason party altogether.

But for a year where the Bruins underwent major offseason turnover and have skated with a cast of several newcomers and young players to go with a dwindling core of veterans and a lack of any big stars -- in addition to adopting a new strategy to push a quicker pace up ice with a defenseman trailing the play into the offensive zone -- they have surprised many onlookers with their progress.

“We were able to show that we’re capable of playing with these guys when we set our minds to it,” Boston coach Claude Julien said on the Bruins twitter feed following the team’s narrow 2-1 loss March 19 to the mighty LA Kings, despite a valiant comeback push.

The B’s have been improving their team speed throughout the year to adapt to the NHL’s new emphasis on a faster, high octane skilled, entertaining sport, and are on their way to making incremental changes needed to eventually compete with the league’s big contenders. It would be nice if they can get into the playoff dance and get that ultimate experience as a developing team, especially for young players David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner, Noel Acciari, Frank Vatrano, Colin Miller and Joe Morrow and newbies like Matt Beleskey and Landon Ferraro.

And in looking ahead to next season, they have several prospects that will look to help fill a few remaining holes – such as the need for a big, strong top two-way defenseman and a second mobile D-man to eventually replace aging vets Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, as well as a couple of skilled, scoring wingers who can bring a knack for getting to the goal with finish which will be compounded by the likely loss of Loui Ericksson to free agency in the summer. They could also use a game-breaking talent that can turn a game around with creativity, speed and skill.

Boston Bruins Prospects Turn in Good Seasons

The B’s best prospect may be surprise 2015 first round pick Zach Senyshyn, who lit up the OHL this year with 45 goals and 20 assists at just 18 years old in his second junior season. He also had a whopping 263 shots in just 66 games. Extremely fast with size, skill and determination to drive the net, the right wing was the top vote getter in the OHL Coaches Poll announced last week as ‘Best Skater’ of the Western Conference (he was third last year). He also finished third as ‘Most Dangerous in the Goal Area’.

On defense the Bruins will look to 6’5” Brandon Carlo, who turned in a dominating performance for the USA bronze medal-winning team at the World Junior Championship in December and January, stuffing the opposition while notching four points in seven games and continuing to progress with his WHL team (27 points in 52 games). Carlo was pegged on 2015 pre-draft boards as a first rounder, and Boston was fortunate to snag him in the second round.

Both Carlo and Senyshyn may be close to NHL ready and also have the traits the B’s are looking for to fill some of their key remaining needs, so will likely get extended looks at training camp. Carlo will get a headstart with Providence for the stretch run of the season, while Senyshyn continues his tear into the OHL playoffs (2 goals and 4 points in two wins for Sault Ste Marie already).

Other top Bruins prospects include BU senior captain Matt Grzelcyk, who was named a Hockey East First-Team All Star for the second straight  season with 10 goals and 23 points in 27 games despite missing 12 at the start of the year to injury and should get a look as a puck mover to complement Torey Krug perhaps on the second powerplay or in Providence as a top possible call-up. “The Charlestown native has become one of the top blueliners in the nation,” according to the Bruins website.

"I think we always look at these young kids and we always want to see them up here because there's parts of their games that excite us."  

 - Bruins Coach Claude Julien 

University of Denver sophomore center and dynamic puck handler Danton Heinen (48 points in 40 games) earned First Team All-Conference honors as the top NCHC vote-getter at forward after making all-rookie and second-team all star last year, while scrappy, skilled Jesse Gabrielle had a big year in the WHL (40 goals) and big, smooth-skating QMJHL all-star defenseman Jeremy Lauzon (50 points in 46 games) nearly made the ultra-competitive Team Canada World Junior team at 18.

Senyshyn’s fellow 2015 first rounders, defenseman Jakub Zboril (20 points in 50 QMJHL games, down from 33 in 44 last year) dropped in points but had a top D role for the Czech Republic in the World Junior Championship, and left winger Jake DeBrusk took a little dip but still had a decent final season in the WHL. DeBrusk had a great start, but then missed 11 games with an injury and was slowed by it in several more before rounding out his game as the year went along. Although he didn’t nearly match the 42 goals he notched a year ago for Swift Current, he still managed to put up 21 goals and 65 points in 61 games while being voted as one of the hardest working players by fans on a loaded Red Deer team where he didn’t need to be the top scorer all the time. He's added four goals and six assists in 10 playoff games. 

Another tier of B’s prospects progressed further, such as 2015 second rounder Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson who turned in a solid performance for Sweden at World Juniors (5 points) and had a good year for BU (29 points in 38 games) often centering the top line and making Hockey East’s All-Rookie Team. BC junior forward Ryan Fitzgerald (22 goals, 45 points in 38 games) made first team all star in the division, while USA World Junior hero (3 goals) and Notre Dame standout winger (35 points in 35 games) Anders Bjork was selected as a second team all star. Harvard freshman forward Ryan Donato put up 21 points in 32 games and added a solid 4 points for USA World Juniors, while 6'4" defender Rob O'Gara finished off his Yale career after having earned ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman last season and 6'2" Miami University of Ohio senior Sean Kuraly was named the NCHC's top defensive forward this year. 

In net, Czech World Junior backup Daniel Vladar won goalie of the week recently while ranking second for the year among USHL backstops in goals against average (2.08) and save percentage (.926).

Providence Solid Source of Talent, Next Draft Key

Meanwhile young Providence Bruins forwards Seth Griffith, Alexander Khokhlachev, Vatrano and speedy Austin Czarnik all rank in the top 20 in AHL scoring, while hard-shooting, swift D-man Colin Miller and goalies Malcolm Subban (working back from injury) and Zane McIntyre (former NCAA Richter award winner) make the dangerous Baby B’s a solid all-around source for talent. Vatrano, in particular, has had an incredible year leading the AHL with 33 goals in just 33 games and adding another 7 for the varsity over 32 games. He is a great shooter, but is working on his overall game.

“I think we always look at these young kids and we always want to see them up here because there’s parts of their game that excite us,” Julien told BostonBruins.com. “As much as we like his shot and his scoring, there’s other parts of his game that we want him to work on and it’s a lot more comfortable and easier to work on those parts of their game down in the American League. I think he’s exceeded expectations for a guy in his first year.”

“I just wanted to come down here and get better every day and that’s what I’ve been trying to do,” Vatrano added. “Consistency is the biggest thing, especially up there.”

The only downside of the Bruins improving pipeline is the possible lack of true star prospects. The B’s elected to pass on highly touted forwards Kyle Connor, Mathew Barzal and Travis Konecny in the 2015 draft (they were ranked in the 5th-14th range, significantly higher than Zboril, DeBrusk and Senyshyn at the time), and that still may come back to haunt them. All three had stellar seasons and project to be potential NHL first liners. A Hobey Baker favorite and referred to by some as the top NHL prospect out there, Connor torched the NCAA this year as a rookie at the University of Michigan posting Jack Eichel-like numbers with 35 goals and 71 points in 38 games, while Konecny racked up 30 goals and 101 points in 60 games in the OHL and Barzal notched 88 points in 58 WHL games.

Further, Hockey’s Future gives all top Bruins prospects only a B or C in their probability of NHL success. It does list goalie depth, as well as both forward and defense talent and depth as strengths, but a lack of elite forwards as a weakness.

With two firsts and a second in the upcoming June draft, the B’s will need to continue to build their prospect pool with the hope that they could still grab that next gamebreaking A-list star if they play their cards right.