The Boston Bruins: 3rd
The Bruins have been able to roll out the underrated Patrice Bergeron year after year as their number one center. The four-time Selke Trophy winner is known for his defensive abilities, but he is also a dynamic offensive playmaker.
Bergeron, a pass-first player, is a scoring wingers dream to play alongside. Bergeron recorded 30 goals last year and 63 points through an injury-plagued season, left him to compete in 64 contests. A point a game, that is impressive.
Zdeno Chara was at one time an immovable force on the Boston Bruins back-end. Chara still a tough matchup for many forwards isn’t quite as impressive as he once was. Chara recorded 24 points last season and was a plus 22.
Future Stars/ Key Players:
The 22-year-old star David Pastrnak has posted back to back 30 plus goal seasons for the Bruins. Pastranak along with the pesky Brad Marchand usually skate with Bergeron between them makes for a top line that can play against any other top line in the NHL.
Jake DeBrusk and Ryan Donato are a pair of young forwards who are about to take off and provide the Boston Bruins with three sharp lines to roll out against the competition. David Krejci is an outstanding second line center. He plays a big two-way style similar to Bergeron but a little more physical but not quite as offensively gifted.
On the back-end, the Bruins have Torey Krug and Charlie McAvoy who are both offensively gifted. Both defenders can really skate and create from the defensive position. Chara still plays big minutes, but the pressure is spread out a bit more these days with the youthful legs taking a chunk of minutes Chara use to play.
The Ugly:
The Bruins have three solid lines, and that should be enough to keep them rocking all season long but the fourth line is not what it once was. Joakim Nordstrom, Chris Wagner, and Noel Acciari look to make up the Bruins fourth line.
Last year the Bruins depth was noticed during their playoff run with Tim Scheller and Riley Nash. Both players have moved on because of cap reasons.
Tuukka Rask is still elite, but when he struggled for a month last season, the Bruins were able to plug-in Anton Khudobin who has now moved to play for the Dallas Stars. The Bruins back-up now is Jaroslav Halak. A definite downgrade.
The Bruins really lean on their top 4 defenders, and it is simple. John Moore and Brandon Carlo can be unreliable at times.