BOSTON — Bruins center David Krejci’s high hockey IQ, patience with the puck and ability to deliver pinpoint passes make him a tremendous playmaker.
One element of Krejci’s game that doesn’t get enough credit is his goal-scoring ability.
The 28-year-old forward has been a pass-first player for most of his time with the B’s, primarily because he has centered goal-scoring power forwards such as Milan Lucic, Jarome Iginla and Nathan Horton over the last five years.
Iginla’s departure in free agency has created an opening at right wing on Boston’s top line, and the most likely candidate to fill that role is Loui Eriksson. Krejci said Monday at a press conference to discuss his new six-year, $43.5 million contract extension that he likes playing with Eriksson and the Swedish forward could help him score more goals because of his playmaking skill.
“Chemistry you can create pretty fast, and if you have the right guy, a guy who listens, who likes to know what’s going on and how you play, then it could be easy,” Krejci said. “(Lucic and I) played a couple of games with Loui last year, and I like playing with him. He’s a great player, he can pass the puck, and I feel if I play with him, I’ll have even more goals because he’s a great passer.
“Maybe for me personally it means I will get more passes than when Horton or Iginla were skating down the right side and they just shot it. … Maybe I will get more pucks and more passes to have better scoring chances.”
Krejci has scored 110 goals in 504 career regular-season games, and he has hit the 20-goal mark just twice (2007-08 and 2011-12) during his seven full seasons in Boston. The Czech forward usually is more aggressive in looking to score during the playoffs, where he has netted 29 goals in 93 contests — a rate about 30 percent higher than his regular-season output.
One of Krejci’s objectives for the duration of his extension is to score more regular-season goals, which the Bruins will need without Iginla, who tied for the team lead with 30 tallies in 2013-14.
“I do want to score more goals, that’s for sure,” Krejci said. “Not necessarily because I signed a new deal, but just because I want to get better every year.”
“With Loui, he’s a little bit more of a playmaker than a power forward.”
We’ve already seen examples of Eriksson and Krejci working well together on the first line, although the sample size is small. One game that comes to mind is the Bruins’ 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on April 5.
Eriksson tallied a season-high four points (all assists) and set up Lucic for two goals and Krejci for one. The three of them also gained relatively easy entrance into the attacking zone and worked the cycle game below the goal line to maintain consistent puck possession. It’s certainly a combination that has the potential to be productive.
Patrice Bergeron took 243 shots last season (a 52-shot increase from the previous year) and scored 30 goals for the second time in his career. We could see the same results with Krejci — who never has taken more than 169 shots in a season — if he shows similar aggressiveness in the attacking zone. We know Krejci has the shot power and accuracy needed to score goals consistently, and if Eriksson is on his wing full time, the Czech center could set a career high in 2014-15.
