Projecting Bruins’ lines, pairings for Opening Night originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins will have to overcome injuries to some key players to begin the 2022-23 NHL season, but based on what we’ve seen in training camp and the first two preseason games, the team’s depth might be better than expected.
There’s lots of good internal competition going on right now, primarily for bottom-six forward spots and the third defense pairing.
Which players should we expect to make the NHL roster at this point? Here are our projected Bruins lines and pairings for Opening Night.
Forwards
The first two lines are pretty much set in stone. Things could obviously change if injuries occur during training camp and the preseason, but head coach Jim Montgomery has already hinted at what these line combos will be to start the season.
Pavel Zacha playing with Patrice Bergeron is a great way to integrate him into the lineup after the Bruins acquired him from the New Jersey Devils in the offseason. Jake DeBrusk had a strong finish to last season after moving to the Bergeron line, so keeping him there makes sense.
Bergeron excited for Zacha’s opportunity in Marchand’s absence
The Taylor Hall-David Krejci-David Pastrnak line speaks for itself. It could easily be the best second line in hockey.
The bottom six is where the real debates lie.
Trent Frederic will probably get another chance to prove he’s a useful NHL player. He found good chemistry with Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith last season, so he’ll probably return to third-line left wing to start the season. Frederic scored a career-high eight goals and 15 points in 60 games last season. If he could get to 13-15 goals, that would be a nice improvement and help him remain in the lineup.
Nick Foligno is an interesting one. He was awful last season, scoring just two goals in 64 games and zero goals in seven playoff games. His 2.0 shooting percentage was a career low, so he’s due for a mean reversal rebound. That said, Foligno’s offensive struggles have been a trend for a few years now. Foligno scored 1.07 goals per 60 minutes in 2016-17 with the Blue Jackets. He hasn’t scored 0.8 goals per 60 minutes or higher in the five seasons since, per Natural Stat Trick.
He also has a $3.8 million salary cap hit for this season. It’s hard to bench a player with a cap hit that large, but the Bruins must do what’s best for the team, and that is finding a better option than Foligno for the fourth line.
One of those options is A.J. Greer, who has more offensive skill and speed than Foligno and plays a similarly physical style. Marc McLaughlin is another skilled, versatile young forward who should get a look over Foligno, but the former Boston College product probably will start the season in the AHL.
Greer is exactly what Bruins need from their fourth line this season
Foligno shouldn’t be in the lineup, but the Bruins likely will give him a chance early in the year to prove he can play better.
Fourth-line center is an intriguing spot, too. Can Jack Studnicka win the job over Tomas Nosek? Studnicka brings more offense to the table, but Nosek is better on faceoffs and kills penalties. Nosek’s penalty-killing ability is more valuable to the B’s with one of their best penalty killers, Brad Marchand, out for more than a month to begin the campaign. Nosek’s lack of offense is concerning, though. He did not score a single goal after Jan. 2 last season.
You’ll notice top prospect Fabian Lysell isn’t on the chart. It doesn’t make much sense to put a player with his talent and offensive skill level on the third or fourth line. There also isn’t a spot for him at right wing in the top nine. Could the Bruins move DeBrusk to Frederic’s spot at third-line left wing and then slot in Lysell next to Bergeron on the first line? Maybe, but then will DeBrusk’s production fall off a cliff?
Going to Providence and playing against AHL competition to start the season would be valuable for the 19-year-old Lysell. Regardless of if he plays Opening Night, Lysell almost certainly will make his NHL debut at some point in 2022-23.
Defensemen
The blue line will be without two important players — Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk — as they rehab from offseason shoulder surgeries. Hampus Lindholm will shoulder a huge burden in all situations, including special teams, with McAvoy out. There are two realistic partners for Lindholm on the first pairing. Brandon Carlo is a natural fit given both of their playing styles. Anton Stralman, who the B’s signed to a PTO contract for camp, also is an option. Stralman played with Lindholm in Tuesday’s preseason win over the Rangers and that duo impressed.
Why Stralman could be a sneaky good pickup for Bruins’ blue line
Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton played 529:19 of 5-on-5 ice time together last season and the Bruins had a nice advantage in shots, shot attempts and scoring chances during those minutes. They have strong chemistry, so keeping them together would be smart.
Jakub Zboril has played well in camp and the preseason so far, picking up right where he was prior to his ACL injury last November that ended his 2021-22 season. Mike Reilly, who’s a potential trade candidate later in the season for salary cap reasons, should get plenty of opportunity with Grzelcyk out of the lineup. If Stralman earns a regular role, Zboril and Reilly will compete for LD on the third pairing.
Goaltenders
Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark both played 41 regular season games in 2021-22 and their stats (save percentage, GAA) were almost the same. Ullmark started the first-round series versus the Hurricanes and was pulled after two losses. He didn’t play horribly in either game, but his performance still wasn’t what Boston needed.
Swayman came in and won three of the five games he played, including a Game 7 defeat in Carolina. All of his victories in the series were at TD Garden.
We can expect Montgomery to give both goalies plenty of opportunities to prove themselves early in the regular season. You don’t want to burn out one of these netminders early on, thus hurting their energy level for a potential playoff run.
The ideal scenario for the Bruins is one of these goalies taking a firm grasp of the No. 1 role and turning this tandem from a 1A/1B scenario into a 1/2 situation. Swayman becoming that player, given his age and contractual status, would be best for the Bruins long term. But for this season, either one taking hold of the starting job would be great. You don’t want to go into the playoffs not knowing who to start each game. Rarely do we see teams get to the Cup Final alternating goalies through multiple rounds.
