When the Boston Bruins lost essentially their entire internal free agent list — a list that was headline by top-six forwards such as Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Tyler Bertuzzi — it didn’t take long for everybody to realize that the Bruins were going to shift their identity more towards being a ‘defense and goaltending’ kind of team.
On the goaltending front, the Bruins’ one-two of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark has more than delivered, as their combined .918 save percentage is second only to the Jets’ .921.
But what about Boston’s defense?
And more specifically, does this defense have enough as currently constituted?
Dec 27, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) and defenseman Brandon Carlo (25) talk during a stoppage in play against the Buffalo Sabres. (Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)
When it comes to this year’s team, the Bruins have seen an uptick in terms of what they’re allowing per game.
Their 31.5 shots against per game is the 10th-most in the NHL. That’s a considerable change — at least from a league rankings standpoint — from last year’s 29.8 per game, which was the 8th-fewest per game. The Bruins are also allowing the 12th-most high-danger chances per 60 at even-strength play, at 11.67 (per NaturalStatTrick). They allowed the 10th-fewest chances per 60 in this stat a year ago. The Bruins are also no longer the dominant puck possession team they were a year ago, and part of these numbers have something to do with that, and it’s worth noting that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery expected the Bruins to take a dip from a possession standpoint given their losses.
But when it comes to the defense, there’s no denying the mixed bag that the B’s blue line has presented through their first 49 games of the year. Some nights they put on a clinic (their third period lockdowns have been much better this month), and other nights you’re wondering if this team has any sort of stability, especially on the left side.
At the midway point, here are some thoughts on all the B’s defensemen we’ve seen thus far…
Brandon Carlo
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 30: Brandon Carlo #25 of the Bruins and Evan Rodrigues #17 of the Panthers battle for control of the puck during the second period at TD Garden on October 30, 2023. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
If you’re asking me who has been the pound-for-pound, best — or most consistent, at the very least — Bruins defenseman this season, it would be hard to say anybody other than Brandon Carlo.
Through 44 games this season, the 27-year-old Carlo has recorded three goals and 13 points, and been credited with 61 hits and 78 blocks. Should he continue on that pace, Carlo will almost certainly set new career-highs in assists (he had 15 in 2019-20), points (19 in 2019-20), and blocks (116 last season). Carlo also has a team-best plus-23 rating this season, which is six better than the next closest Bruin, and is actually the fifth-best mark in all of hockey this season.
The offensive growth in Carlo’s game is a welcomed addition to the Boston blue line, but it’s especially impressive when you look at the way the Bruins utilize Carlo as a defense-first, shutdown type.
And that part of his game hasn’t gotten any easier.
Among a group of 427 skaters with at least 500 even-strength minutes this season, Carlo’s 22.6 percent offensive-zone faceoff percentage ranks 425th. It’s the lowest among all NHL defensemen, and is third to only the Isles’ Cal Clutterbuck (18.71 percent) and Washington’s Beck Malenstyn (8.68 percent). Carlo is also one of just nine NHL defensemen to log at least 150 minutes on the penalty kill this season, and has shown tremendous poise when it comes to killing plays, and limiting the high-danger chances against when the B’s have been down a man. And while Carlo will never be the face-eater that many want him to be given his size, there’s been a definite uptick in his snarl this season.
Another bonus: When Carlo was hit with yet another concussion last month (his sixth documented concussion), he was back in the lineup within a couple of weeks. That alone was huge.
Derek Forbort
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 30: Derek Forbort #28 of the Bruins skates past Ryan Carpenter #22 of the Sharks during the second period at TD Garden on November 30, 2023. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
In the third (and perhaps final) year of The Derek Forbort Experience, I’ve come to accept one thing above else: If you love graphs, you probably have some really strong takes on Forbort, and I have to imagine that they’re mostly negative. The Black and Gold’s penalty-killing specialist and top shot-blocking option (the Minnesota-born Forbort credits his insane youth hockey coach for getting him to block shots), Forbort’s never the type to have overwhelmingly strong analytics.
But what’s been interesting about Forbort’s 2023-24 campaign is that his five-on-five numbers have actually been pretty strong. Despite being utilized in a defensive role once again, the Bruins have actually doubled up the opposition in scoring (22-11) with Forbort on the ice at even strength. And despite that heavy defensive-zone deployment, the on-ice shot differential with Forbort out there is just a minus-16. Forbort has certainly been aided by an uptick in Boston’s shooting at the offensive end (the B’s on-ice shooting percentage is a team-high 14.38 with Forbort out there), but he hasn’t been this unplayably bad even-strength liability that the graphs have told people in recent seasons.
That said, Forbort is still your third-pairing left-side defense on this team (he’s not fit to skate top pairing opposite Charlie McAvoy and not mobile enough to make it work with Brandon Carlo), and Forbort could have a legitimate challenger for that spot with the emergence of Parker Wotherspoon.
Matt Grzelcyk
TEMPE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 09: Matt Grzelcyk #48 of the Boston Bruins passes the puck during the NHL game at Mullett Arena on January 09, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
When this season began, I honestly figured that the Bruins and Matt Grzelcyk would hammer out a contract extension, even if it’d piss a whole bunch of callers and readers off. (That’s never stopped Sweeney from conducting his business, and Grzelcyk may very well have been the closest thing to Kevan Miller, a player who was WILDLY polarizing during his time here but ultimately signed multiple contract extensions with the club.) And when it came to Grzelcyk, the Bruins didn’t have anybody necessarily pounding down the door for his minutes, and Grzelcyk’s been a fit in a variety of roles throughout his time with the club. A little more than halfway through the season, I don’t exactly feel the same now as I did then.
If anything, I’ve graduated to a point where I’m truly not sure what the Bruins do with Grzelcyk.
Montgomery (and Grzelcyk to a degree) had the chance to play narrative buster last year when it came to the ‘Grzelcyk in the playoffs’ narrative. But Montgomery scratched Grzelcyk in the playoffs once again, that narrative remained on the table. (I also don’t even think Grzelcyk was Boston’s worst defenseman in last year’s playoff bust against Florida, but that’s another story for another day.) But then Grzelcyk remained with the Bruins through the summer (and Sweeney was real combative when it came to Grzelcyk trade rumors), and it’s been right back to the top pairing this season.
If the Bruins go through all that just to scratch Grzelcyk in the playoffs once again, man oh man, will that have been a colossal waste of everyone’s time.
But, the other part of this: Grzelcyk hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency this season. I do think he’s played better of late (he entered the bye week with one goal and six points in 15 games since returning to action on Dec. 30), but he’s also had a few games where he’s been downright disastrous when it comes to his own-zone play and puck decisions.
All of that, in a contract year, makes things messy.
If Grzelcyk is not in the Bruins’ future plans, it would almost make sense for the club to explore their options there ahead of the Mar. 8 trade deadline. In a thin defensive market (most of the pending free agent defensemen are on playoff teams, including Grzelcyk), could the Bruins get a higher-than-usual return for the 5-foot-9 defender? Or is his salary moved in more of a ‘hockey trade’ given the B’s current salary cap limitations when it comes to adding?
For the Bruins, trying to answer their potential Grzelcyk-related questions in the now just seems a lot better — maybe even mandatory for the club, all things considered — than trying to answer them in April and May.
Hampus Lindholm
Dec 3, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) controls the puck while Columbus Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson (91) defends during the first period at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm set the bar pretty damn high in his first full season with the club. 53 point, a plus-49 rating, and a fourth-place finish in the Norris Trophy voting? I mean, come on.
Of course, opportunity had a lot to do with that career year. Lindholm was immediately off to the races last season thanks to the injury that delayed Charlie McAvoy’s 2022-23 season, as he was quarterbacking a top power-play unit, and was being utilized in any and every offensive situation. That opportunity wasn’t going to be there out of the gate this year with a healthy McAvoy. And that, along with some potentially unrealistic expectations given last year’s aforementioned offensive totals, always put Lindholm in danger of having a ‘disappointing’ follow up.
And sure enough, that seemingly defined Lindholm’s first half.
Now, while I understand that he hasn’t met the expectations he set for himself a year ago, I do think there’s been an element of people heavily sleeping on just how different and difficult Lindholm’s role has been this season.
At the All-Star break, did you know that Lindholm has been out there for the third-most defensive-zone faceoffs in hockey, with 521? That means that with 33 games remaining on the schedule, Lindholm is only 136 defensive-zone faceoffs away from matching last year’s total. If Lindholm remains on this pace, he’ll finish this season with over 870 defensive-zone faceoffs. Brandon Carlo led all Bruins with 702 defensive-zone faceoffs a year ago, and no NHLer had more than Darnel Nurse and his 867 defensive-zone faceoffs last year. It’s a truly taxing ask, and Lindholm is not doing that against third and fourth lines. The Bruins are putting him against the other team’s top talents every single night.
And I do think that that usage has limited some of the offensive pop at the other end.
For a good stretch there, it just felt like there was too much on Lindholm’s plate from puck drop to the final horn. (I understand the natural conflict of saying that when he was a do-it-all type for the Bruins a year ago and excelled as exactly that, but this year has felt more slanted towards the defensive end of the rink, which is more exhausting.)
The good news is that there’s been some strong progress there lately, as Lindholm entered the break with 12 assists in his last 15 games. When Lindholm’s offensive game is humming along, it feels like there’s less thinking and more action. He seems to know what he’s gonna do with the puck before it even hits his tape. It’s when he holds, holds, and holds that he tends to find himself in trouble and let a chance slip by the wayside.
If the Bruins get more of that in the second half, their left side is about to get some much-needed stability.
Mason Lohrei
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 09: Mason Lohrei #6 of the Boston Bruins skates against the New York Islanders during the first period at TD Garden on November 09, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Let me say this: I love Mason Lohrei’s ceiling. I even love his timeline. He’s definitely ahead of where I thought he would be when he decided to jump to the pro game after two seasons with Ohio State. But, when it comes to Lohrei’s NHL sample this year, I do think there has been quite a bit of watching with hearts and not eyes.
When it comes to his offensive-zone abilities, you see the way Lohrei moves with the puck and the way he can walk the blue line and make plays and you’re absolutely impressed. But you’ve also seen the way Lohrei handles the puck in his own zone, which at this point, is a bit too grenade-like for a win-now club. Now, I will say that Lohrei was better in the defensive zone on his second NHL recall than his first (that was to be expected), but it still wasn’t enough to make you think that he’s absolutely a slam dunk, must-play piece that would push a veteran option out via trade or the waiver wire.
The Bruins hyper-managed Lohrei’s usage to put him in the best spot to succeed (his offensive-zone deployment was second only to Matt Poitras on his second NHL run), and it was still a bit… adventurous.
Looking at his year as a whole, Lohrei’s 2.16 giveaways per 60 ranks 29th among 203 defensemen with at least 25 appearances this season. The Bruins were also outscored 21-17 with Lohrei on the ice at even strength (worst ration among all Boston defensemen), and opponents averaged 30.58 scoring chances per 60 and 12.57 high-danger scoring chances per 60 with Lohrei out there. That scoring chance per 60 figure was the 34th-worst out of 197 defensemen with at least 400 minutes of even-strength play, while that high-scoring chance against per 60 rate was the 45th-worst.
The Bruins couldn’t even get away with stapling Lohrei to the left of Charlie McAvoy. In just under 152 five-on-five minutes together, the Lohrei-McAvoy pairing was outshot 95-64, outscored 10-7, and out-chanced 96-79. In almost 570 minute of McAvoy without Lohrei, the Bruins held a plus-57 differential in on-ice shots, and plus-14 edge in scoring.
Again, the good new is that it looks like the Bruins have a winner with Lohrei. But some patience will go a long way.
Charlie McAvoy
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 30: Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the third period against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on October 30, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Overall, it’s tough to have too many complaints about Charlie McAvoy’s game this year. His numbers are solid; McAvoy has posted seven goals and 33 points through 41 games this season. It’s tops among all Boston defensemen, and at 0.80 points per game, he’s been the NHL’s eighth-most productive defenseman through the first half of the season. At the same time, it does feel like McAvoy has another level to reach this season. Much like Brad Marchand up front, McAvoy is a tone-setting, heartbeat-type player for the Black and Gold’s backend. Expect a strong second-half charge from No. 73.
Ian Mitchell
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 09: Ian Mitchell #14 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the first period against the New York Islanders at TD Garden on November 09, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Boston’s seventh defenseman out of the gate this season, Ian Mitchell had a 13-game run with the big club this season, and recorded two assists and a plus-6 rating over that run. Mitchell last played an NHL game on Dec. 23, and is currently with AHL Providence, where he’s recorded three goals and 10 points in 16 appearances. Mitchell is your perfect 8th or 9th defenseman on the depth chart, and has a bit of Steven Kampfer to his game as a guy who can slide in and out of your lineup and contribute in a way that doesn’t make you terrified of his 15 minutes out there.
Kevin Shattenkirk
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 28: Kevin Shattenkirk #12 of the Boston Bruins takes a shot against the Detroit Red Wings during the first period at TD Garden on October 28, 2023. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
When the Bruins signed Kevin Shattenkirk to a one-year deal for just a hair over $1 million, the easiest way to look at it was that the veteran Shattenkirk was replacing Connor Clifton. Now, Shattenkirk’s usage wasn’t going to be the exact same as Clifton (the Bruins thought Shattenkirk had a bit more offense to his game than Clift0n), but if that was their thought, perhaps that’s the best way to measure his first half. At the All-Star break, Shattenkirk has scored five goals and totaled 13 points in 41 games with Boston. At the end of January 2023 last year, Clifton had recorded four goals and 14 points.
Overall, not a bad tradeoff for the Black and Gold given their cap constraints.
Parker Wotherspoon
Jan 22, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon (29) tries to hold Winnipeg Jets center Mason Appleton (22) off the puck during the first period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)
When the Bruins signed Parker Wotherspoon last summer, the idea was that he’d be a veteran voice for some of the younger defensemen in Providence to hear. Keyword there: Providence.
The Bruins themselves didn’t necessarily expect Wotherspoon, a lifelong AHLer, to challenge for an NHL spot. And to be honest, he really didn’t. Wotherspoon was a rather pedestrian cut from B’s training camp, and you almost figured it’d be the last you heard of him given the way that Mitchell and Lohrei had impressed in training camp.
But when Wotherspoon was given another NHL run in December, he simply took the ball and ran with it. To the point where you almost have to feel that the Bruins have been a better team with Wotherspoon in their lineup than without him. (It’s seriously felt noticeable some nights, which is honestly the last thing October 2023 me expected to read in 2024.)
The Bruins have already invested in Wotherspoon in the sense that they’ve made him their new permanent seventh defenseman, and now comes seeing if he can turn this into a full-time role with the club. For the confidence to build there, you almost wanna see the Bruins go full Jon Taffer here and ‘stress test’ the hell out of Wotherspoon with minutes.
