Bruins provide insight into requirements for key training camp battle on tap
The Bruins haven’t even opened camp yet, but it appears that all but one of the B’s spots in their top-six forward grouping have been filled, at least when it comes to the start of their 2024-25 campaign.
Beginning up top, it appears that Elias Lindholm will begin his Bruins career slotted between Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak on the Black and Gold’s top line, while Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle will make up the club’s one-two punch on line two. Just who gets the call to the right of the Marchand-Coyle combo remains one of the biggest (if not the biggest) question entering B’s camp, but speaking following a captains’ practice at Brighton’s Warrior Ice Arena this week, Marchand made it clear what’s to be expected out of the eventual winner of that ‘RW2’ battle.
“I mean the biggest thing is that guys [sometimes] come in and try to do too much, so understand, for our group especially, the details are what allows you to have success to stay,” Marchand said. “I think first and foremost, they want to see you be able to make plays and take advantage of the situations. But you got to be able to be responsible both sides of the puck and managing how you play with it.”
Having some semblance of defensive know-how seems like a must at that spot, as the Marchand-Coyle duo was on the ice for 311 defensive-zone faceoffs in 685 minutes of five-on-five time on ice together a year ago. Compare that to their work at the other end, with 75 fewer faceoffs in the offensive zone (236). In fact, Marchand and Coyle were on the ice for 29 percent of Boston’s total defensive-zone faceoffs at five-on-five play during the regular season, with the Bruins out there for 757 D-zone faceoffs in over 2,500 minutes of five-on-five play with Coyle and Marchand off the ice.
And given the way you expect Boston’s top line to be fed offensive-zone minutes, that workload may only intensify for Marchand, Coyle, and the linemate to be the named later.
“Just because you’re a skill guy doesn’t mean you’re gonna earn that spot because you can dangle through three guys, you know?” Marchand continued, by all means reinforcing the idea that this won’t be a pure scorer’s role. “You gotta be able to be very responsible defensively, especially playing with [Coyle] and I. We tend to play both sides of the puck and play against a lot of other teams’ top lines.
“It’s as much about being really strong defensively as it is offensive and understanding the game management [like] when to try to beat guys and when you have to chip it in, and it takes a lot of time.”
Marchand knows this from experience, in fact.
“I remember one game I played with Marc Savard, I felt like I had to do something every time I touched the puck and [try] to make highlight-reel plays and the game went awful for me,” Marchand recalled. “It’s just about being comfortable with what allows you to have success and playing within the system.”
Given what Marchand alone expects out of his future linemate, it’s hard to imagine that any young player (be it Fabian Lysell or Georgii Merkulov) is considered the current in-house favorite to win the gig, with veteran options like Morgan Geekie, Trent Frederic, or perhaps even camp invitee Tyler Johnson looking like stronger fits for what will be asked out of that line when camp begins in just two weeks.
