With the Bruins top puck mover and powerplay quarterback Torey Krug
expected to miss the start of the 2016-17 season recovering from shoulder surgery,
Boston has a temporary opening on the blueline for a young defenseman to lead the B’s
charge on the man advantage and breaking out of the defensive zone.
It may be short-lived as Krug’s recovery time of
six months should put him back on the ice by mid to late October (he had
successful surgery on his right shoulder April 21, according to the Bruins website), but
the Bruins will need a second puck mover anyway as poor breakouts, defensive zone
turnovers and getting hemmed inside their own zone were the Achilles Heels of
several bad losses including the Winter Classic and the season finale bowout of
the playoffs. So one or two new mainstays in the defensive lineup are possible, in addition to Krug when he returns.
"We have gaps in that area. At times we didn't transition the puck as well as we'd like out of our own end." - Bruins GM Don Sweeney
Krug was one of the few consistent bright spots on D, as he
posted career highs in points (44), assists (40), shots (244) and blocks (94) and finished
second on the team in average ice time per game at 21:37. He showcased his breakout ability, quickness, poise with the puck and playmaking skills as a top NHL offensive defenseman, finishing 19th in
the league in points by blueliners while leading all B’s defensemen in scoring
and a 58.1
% Corsi - which indicates a high puck possession ability as it shows Boston
gets many more scoring chances than opposing teams when Krug is on the ice. In
fact, only Patrice Bergeron had a higher Corsi for the Bruins than Krug.
Other B's defenders struggled mightily at times during the season in getting the puck out smoothly and in helping Boston push a new emphasis on a quicker pace to adapt to the league's new speed trends. Zdeno Chara, 39, still led the team in minutes played at 24:06 a game, which is probably 2-3 too many, as he posted the highest number of turnovers in his Bruins career with 87 and his lowest Corsi at just 46.4%. He still managed 134 hits and 123 blocked shots and a +12, but if the Bruins are hemmed in their zone all of the time it makes it tough to transition to offense or control the play.
Dennis Seidenberg, who turns 35 in July, had a career-low 42.9% Corsi, while unrestricted free agent to be Kevan Miller (44.4% Corsi and a career-high 33 giveaways) and Adam McQuaid (career-low 43.4% Corsi and career-high 27 giveaways) also struggled with puck possession, breakouts and turnovers at times. All three had decent numbers of hits and blocks but again part of that is due to being stuck defending in their zone for more time than playing in the opposing end. The Bruins tried to address the issue at the trade deadline by picking up John-Michael Liles, 35, who has a career 54.2% Corsi and was a 40-point a year blueliner in his peak years, but it didn't pay off as he finished a -7 with 12 giveaways, only six assists and a 48.1% Corsi in 17 games with Boston while the B's gave up a bundle of draft picks for him.
"We have gaps in that area," said Bruins GM Don Sweeney during the team's season-ending press conference last month. "At times we didn't transition the puck as well as we'd like out of our own end."
Some B's defenders also had trouble with coverage at various times, and were slow to pick up forwards or track the offensive play into their zone from a defensive perspective. "At times our group wasn't as galvanized defensively," Sweeney added.
Other B's defenders struggled mightily at times during the season in getting the puck out smoothly and in helping Boston push a new emphasis on a quicker pace to adapt to the league's new speed trends. Zdeno Chara, 39, still led the team in minutes played at 24:06 a game, which is probably 2-3 too many, as he posted the highest number of turnovers in his Bruins career with 87 and his lowest Corsi at just 46.4%. He still managed 134 hits and 123 blocked shots and a +12, but if the Bruins are hemmed in their zone all of the time it makes it tough to transition to offense or control the play.
Dennis Seidenberg, who turns 35 in July, had a career-low 42.9% Corsi, while unrestricted free agent to be Kevan Miller (44.4% Corsi and a career-high 33 giveaways) and Adam McQuaid (career-low 43.4% Corsi and career-high 27 giveaways) also struggled with puck possession, breakouts and turnovers at times. All three had decent numbers of hits and blocks but again part of that is due to being stuck defending in their zone for more time than playing in the opposing end. The Bruins tried to address the issue at the trade deadline by picking up John-Michael Liles, 35, who has a career 54.2% Corsi and was a 40-point a year blueliner in his peak years, but it didn't pay off as he finished a -7 with 12 giveaways, only six assists and a 48.1% Corsi in 17 games with Boston while the B's gave up a bundle of draft picks for him.
"We have gaps in that area," said Bruins GM Don Sweeney during the team's season-ending press conference last month. "At times we didn't transition the puck as well as we'd like out of our own end."
Some B's defenders also had trouble with coverage at various times, and were slow to pick up forwards or track the offensive play into their zone from a defensive perspective. "At times our group wasn't as galvanized defensively," Sweeney added.
Candidates to cover for Krug and perhaps stay on when he returns and maintain a role on the second power play include Colin
Miller, 23, who had 3 goals and 16 points in 42 games as a rookie for Boston
this season while adding 45 hits and 36 blocked shots. He also had a solid 54.5%
Corsi, has a wicked slapper and brings excellent speed from the back end that can help Boston tremendously with clean breakouts and pushing the pace quickly up
ice to the forwards.
Former Dallas 1st rounder Joe Morrow, 23, also brings some speed from the blueline but had ups and downs with turnovers and only 7 points over 33 games for the B's this season, while showing flashes in generating offense at times - including a nice stretch prior to the Liles trade where he started to look like a legit NHLer.
Former Dallas 1st rounder Joe Morrow, 23, also brings some speed from the blueline but had ups and downs with turnovers and only 7 points over 33 games for the B's this season, while showing flashes in generating offense at times - including a nice stretch prior to the Liles trade where he started to look like a legit NHLer.
The Bruins also have several promising young defensemen on the way. Boston's high picks with a lot of potential from last June’s draft include fleet-footed two-way defenders Jakub
Zboril (13th overall) and Jeremy
Lauzon (52nd overall) and more defensive-minded but solid skating 6'5" Brandon
Carlo (37th overall), as well as offensive blueliner Matt Grzelcyk (2012 3rd rounder) and 6'4" college free agent signee Rob O’Gara (ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman in 2014-15) - who all should get extended looks
in camp.
Bruins President Cam Neely identified
defense as a top priority, in addition to finding a heavy, skilled right wing and backup
goalie as the team’s top three offseason needs.
“Hopefully some of the prospects that we have
drafted and that will come in for development camp in July, hopefully one or
two will pop for us,” said Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs last month on the Bruins
website. “Providence is (also) stacked right now with the kids we sent down
and given the kids we signed out of college. We got some really good 'grade A' prospects that are on the way. I expect one or two of them to be on our roster
come October.”
The Bruins may also try to go after a free agent
defenseman like Keith Yandle or test the waters on draft day deals. They have two
first round picks and a second rounder in the upcoming June NHL draft, but are
probably better off hanging onto all of them as they need to continue to replenish
their prospect pool after years of neglect and trading away high picks and young stars like Tyler Seguin that have set the team back a few years.
Although they have recently drafted promising forwards such as Zach Senyshyn and Jake DeBrusk and also have college free agent signee winger Frank Vatrano, they could further use a gamebreaking elite level scorer that they may want to try to pry from the draft or free agency, as well.
Although they have recently drafted promising forwards such as Zach Senyshyn and Jake DeBrusk and also have college free agent signee winger Frank Vatrano, they could further use a gamebreaking elite level scorer that they may want to try to pry from the draft or free agency, as well.
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