The season previews continue for the Bruins where we look at the defense, which hasn’t had as much of a major overhaul as the forwards have this offseason.
KEY DEPARTURES: Connor Clifton, Dmitry Orlov
KEY ADDITIONS: Kevin Shattenkirk
PROJECTED PAIRINGS:
Matt Grzelcyk — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort — Kevin Shattenkirk
If you were looking for some silver linings for the Boston Bruins this year, it’s that the defense is generally not that much off from the stellar season it had last year. What will be interesting with the departure of Clifton and Orlov and the addition of Shattenkirk is how the blueline will pair off.
Grzelcyk and McAvoy played just over 600 minutes together last season at even strength. In that time, they outscored the opposition 36-15, which is a pretty healthy margin for a first pairing likely going up against some of the best on the other side of the ice. It’s probably worth exploring that particular partnership further this season.
Head coach Jim Montgomery likes to have balanced pairings throughout his lineup, when possible, so having Lindholm anchor the second pairing seems fairly logical. This would allow Boston to spread out the offense and puck movement in the top four on the blueline. This pairing could also act as a de facto top pairing strategically at times, logging some of the heavier defensive-zone starts and being used to lock down leads at key points in games.
The top four of this defense will do a lot of the heavy lifting, and the bottom pairing will feature some players that will set up well for success with easier workloads most nights. If only Shattenkirk was prime Shattenkirk, that would really bolster this bottom pairing. However, he’s still a very able NHLer at his age and should maybe get some rejuvenation not being in Anaheim where the Ducks are still squarely in a rebuilding mode.
OUTLOOK:
It’s not like the Bruins have a new coach this year that is going to put in some new system that screws with something that’s been working pretty well for the team the last few years. You have to go back seven seasons to find the last time the Bruins didn’t rank in the top five in goals against average in the league (9th, in 2016-17) and eight seasons to find the last time they were outside the top ten in the league in that category (19th, in 2015-16).
Feels unlikely that the backslide is going to be that dramatic for the defensive side of the equation in Beantown. The reasonable expectation should still be a decently stout defense that ranks as one of the 10 best in the league this year.