Bruins roster projection, version 1.0: A pre-training camp look at a crowded group

Author Ty Anderson

September 22nd, 2021 1:10 AM

The Boston Bruins are just 24 hours away from the true start of their 2021-22 season.

Once the Bruins get through Wednesday’s off-ice testing, the Bruins will take their first official steps on the ice for a two-session Thursday that will mark the official start of their 2021 training camp. From there, the Bruins will embark on a six-game preseason slate, and with the training camp roster whittled down throughout the month.

For the Bruins, this is perhaps the most crowded NHL grouping we’ve seen in the Don Sweeney era, with almost no openings for the organization’s younger talents after an offseason that included five Day 1 signings with a direct impact on the NHL team.

But before things shake out, why not take one (mostly) blind stab at what the Bruins could look like on Oct. 16?

• Forwards

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  Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
  
  Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy loves this line too much to break it up. Perhaps that's truer than ever with David Krejci no longer on the B's second line and begging for Pastrnak to skate to his right. But it's worth mentioning that Cassidy has already confirmed that they're sticking together to begin the 2021-22 season.
  
  Taylor Hall - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
  
  The Bruins consider Charlie Coyle the favorite for the team's second-line center vacancy, which makes it easy to project that Coyle is the eventual winner of that competition. There's some familiarity here, too, as Craig Smith actually started his Bruins career with Coyle as his center. The big question here: Can Taylor Hall be a 'driver' on this line with David Krejci out of the mix? The Bruins bought in on Hall's Boston sample, and there's hope that another year of Hall watching Brad Marchand with a close eye (Hall cited how watching Machand made him a better player) can do wonders for his game.
  
  Jake DeBrusk - Erik Haula - Nick Foligno
  
  After the worst season of his NHL career, the Bruins have made it clear that they want to get Jake DeBrusk back to his natural left wing spot in an attempted hard reset. The Bruins signed Erik Haula with the idea that he could provide some center depth with Krejci then an unknown, and they loved fellow free agent addition Nick Foligno's ability to play all over the lineup. Do the math and you got yourself a Frankenstein third line for the Black and Gold.
  
  This honestly feels like the line that has the most room for in-camp tinkering from the B's.
  
  Trent Frederic - Tomas Nosek - Curtis Lazar
  
  There's been some talk of moving Trent Frederic, signed to a two-year deal earlier this year, back to his natural center position. But the Bruins went out and signed Tomas Nosek and talked openly about Nosek's desire and ability to play in the middle of the ice. The money and experience would almost indicate that Nosek gets the call there out of the gate for the Bruins.

• Defense

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  Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
  
  One of 66 pairings to log at least 300 minutes of five-on-five action last year, the Grzelcyk-McAvoy pairing ranked first in corsi-for percentage (63.56), shots-for percentage (68.31), higher-danger goals-for percentage (76.92), and second in goals-for percentage (74.07), expected goals-for percentage (66.13), and scoring chances-for percentage (64.31). This pairing was a super-pace pairing for the Bruins that dominated the puck towards the offensive end of the rink every time they were out there. The Bruins have entertained the idea of mixing up the pairings based on their opponent — that was their original plan for the 2021 season, too, to be honest — but sticking with the Comm Ave. pairing out of the gate in 2021-22 seems like an easy call.
  
  Mike Reilly - Brandon Carlo
  
  Brandon Carlo wants a puck-moving defenseman to his left, and if Grzelcyk stays with McAvoy, that basically leaves Mike Reilly as his next-best option. This duo played over 124 minutes together during the 2021 postseason and the results were largely positive, with the Bruins holding a 60-55 advantage in shots and 14-11 advantage in high-danger scoring chances with this pairing on the ice. They also seemed to got better at zone exits as the postseason went along — and against two hard forechecking forward groups in Washington and the Islanders — before Carlo's postseason-ending concussion in round two.
  
  Derek Forbort - Connor Clifton
  
  Perhaps this isn't what the Bruins had in mind when they made Derek Forbort their first signing of the free agent frenzy, but if the Bruins are signing Forbort to be their Jeremy Lauzon replacement (and they are), then it probably makes the most sense to start him out logging hard minutes on the Black and Gold's third pairing when not killing penalties.
  
  Clifton, meanwhile, is the heir apparent to the B's right-side, third-pairing spot with Kevan Miller retired and without a notable free agent or trade market addition at the position.

• Goalies

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  Linus Ullmark
  
  Signed to a $20 million contract, Linus Ullmark is coming from an absolute mess with the Buffalo Sabres and the Bruins are clearly hoping that the switch to Boston will bring the best out of the 28-year-old's game.
  
  In addition to their belief that a more structured system will limit the injuries that have plagued Ullmark throughout his career, the Bruins believe Bob Essensa and Mike Duham can help Ullmark elevate his game to an even higher level.
  
  Ullmark is coming off a career-best .917 save percentage in 2021, and his .937 save percentage at five-on-five was actually tied with Semyon Varlamov for the fourth-best in hockey among goalies with at least 900 minutes of five-on-five action to their name in 2021, trailing Juuse Saros and Alex Nedeljkovic’s dueling .945s and Chris Driedger’s .942. Ullmark’s .937 at five-on-five was even better than Andrei Vasilevskiy and his .933 and 2021 Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury’s .929.
  
  Jeremy Swayman 
  
  A late-season surprise, Jeremy Swayman has essentially skipped a year of development (a full year in the AHL as the P-Bruins' No. 1 goaltender) out of the gate for 2021 with a 7-3-0 record and .945 save percentage down the stretch in 2021. (As a quick aside, it's worth wondering if that's still the case if Tuukka Rask did not suffer an injury that will shelf him until late December at the earliest, as the Bruins are notoriously patient with their prospects.) Now comes proving that he's the real deal.
  
  I thought Swayman had a great quote earlier this month; Swayman was basically asked about teams having the ability to do their homework on his tendencies and skills now that he's carved out an NHL gig for himself and if that would be a challenge and he replied that he's also doing his homework on them. Confidence has never been an issue for the Alaska native.
• Extra skaters

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  Chris Wagner seems to be the likely 13th skater up front to begin the season. Now, that said, it could easily be Frederic or Lazar who begins the season out of the rotation for the B's.
  
  In other words, barring a breakout camp from Frederic, Lazar, or Wagner, this spot seems like it'll be 100 percent matchup based for the Bruins. This would lead you to believe that Wagner and/or Frederic will get the call against heavier, grittier teams in front of the Bruins while Lazar could/should be considered the favorite if and when the Bruins want another faceoff option available.
  
  The Bruins have also made it a bit of a habit to carry two extra defensemen on their roster and 2021 doesn't feel any different in that respect, with veteran John Moore and second-year NHLer Jakub Zboril the likely candidates at No. 7 and 8 on the defensive depth chart. The Bruins have already penciled in Moore as a 'depth' option for 2021-22, while Zboril lost his spot on last year's roster to Reilly and that was before the Bruins added another left-handed defenseman (Forbort) to the mix.

Click here for 98.5 The Sports Hub’s complete coverage of the Bruins.

Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.

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Author Ty Anderson

Category:

• Bruins
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• Ty Anderson

Tags:

2021-22 Bruins Training Camp,boston bruins,Bruce Cassidy,Charlie Coyle,charlie mcavoy,Linus Ullmark,matt grzelcyk