Despite losing a 30-goal scorer in Jarome Iginla and a top-four defenseman in Johnny Boychuk during the offseason, Boston’s roster is well set up for another championship run.
Zdeno Chara still is one of the NHL’s best defenseman, starting goalie Tuukka Rask is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, and Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci form a 1-2 punch at center that’s good as any in the NHL.
Claude Julien is entering his eighth season behind the bench and has proven to be one of the league’s top tacticians — his defensive system has led to great success in Boston and with Canada’s Olympic team.
All of these strengths make Boston the favorite to win the Eastern Conference for the third time in the last five seasons.
“Well, I usually have high expectations,” Bruins president Cam Neely said Tuesday. “We had a successful regular season last year, as we all know, (but) we fell short of what we wanted to accomplish in the playoffs. I know the guys are hungry. We have a lot of returning players that want to improve upon what we did last year.
“Based on what I’ve seen and the way they’re talking, I think they’re excited about getting the season going, but the expectations are high.”
Additions/Subtractions
Key arrivals: None
Key departures: Jarome Iginla, Johnny Boychuk, Shawn Thornton, Chad Johnson
Player to Watch
Dougie Hamilton is one player who will need to step up with Boychuk gone, and the 21-year-old defenseman is poised for a breakout season. Hamilton had an inconsistent regular season in 2013-14 with 25 points in 64 games, but he really shined in the playoffs, when he was one of Boston’s best players with seven points in 12 games.
Hamilton also shined on the power play as a playmaker at the point. His ability to move the puck quickly, enter the attacking zone cleanly and create scoring chances with his playmaking skills with the man advantage allowed Zdeno Chara to move to the front of the net, where he scored 10 goals.
Hamilton’s defense really started to improve last season. He used his size to play a more physical game, blocked more shots, was better positioned and made fewer mistakes with the puck in his own end. The former first-round draft pick also played against opponents’ top lines as part of the B’s top pairing with Chara.
“I think it was a pretty tough adjustment when I first did it, and I’m used to it now,” Hamilton said Tuesday when asked about playing against top competition. “It’s a challenge every night — every team has different players on that line with different skill sets and everything — so you really have to focus and be aware of certain guys at all times. I think it’s a different game when you’re playing third and fourth lines. You kind of have to change the way you play. For me, I just want to play and keep focusing on defense.”
Hamilton is developing an impressive two-way game, and his confidence level has increased substantially since his rookie season. He’s the favorite to end the 2014-15 campaign as Boston’s most improved player.
Biggest Strengths
Scoring Depth: The Bruins ranked third in scoring last season (including a league-leading 104 third-period goals) with six 50-plus point scorers, five 20-plus goal scorers and 10 double-digit goal scorers. Losing Iginla’s 30 goals will hurt, but Boston should be able to make up for it if Loui Eriksson, Carl Soderberg, Matt Fraser, Ryan Spooner and David Krejci improve their scoring totals.
The Bruins have never been dependent on one elite goal scorer — it’s a collective, balanced effort. The top six, which lost only Iginla from last season, remains one of the most impressive groups in the league.
Special Teams: Boston improved its power play dramatically in 2013-14 by ranking third with a 21.7 percent success rate. The B’s penalty kill ranked eighth with an 83.6 percent success rate. The healthy return of center Chris Kelly and defenseman Dennis Seidenberg should help the Bruins’ PK become a top-five unit again.
Puck Possession: The Bruins ranked third with a 5-on-5 Corsi-for percentage of 53.85, and they outshot opponents by an average of 2.8 per game. They also ranked eighth with a 51.6 win percentage on faceoffs. Expect more of the same puck-possession success in 2014-15 with the majority of the roster returning.
Goaltending: Rask ranked second in save percentage, fourth in goals against average, fifth in wins and first in shutouts last season — his first as the full-time starter. He won the Vezina Trophy as a result and is entering the prime of his career.
Most Glaring Weakness
Taking bad penalties is one of the Bruins’ few weaknesses. They’ll always take penalties with their hard, physical style of play, but the B’s need to eliminate the foolish penalties — such as snowing the goalie and shoving opponents after the whistle — that put teams on the power play.
Boston allowed eight power-play goals to Montreal in last season’s playoff series, and a few of them were the result of dumb penalties that should have been avoided. The Bruins must keep their composure against teams trying to get under their skin.
Expectations In 2014-15
The Bruins’ goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and anything less will be a disappointment. The Eastern Conference weakened in the offseason through the free agent and trade markets, which has given Boston an easier path to the Cup Final than in recent seasons.
This team arguably has the best goaltender in the world, a talented/deep blue line, an offense that should finish in the top 10 of goals scored and a core of players who have won a championship together (Boston’s 40 wins over the last four years is the second-most behind Los Angeles’ 43).
The Bruins have all of the ingredients to win another Stanley Cup. The only thing that could hold them back is injuries.
