It won’t take long for Marcus Johansson to get a crash course in being a Boston Bruin.
Johansson, acquired Monday from the New Jersey Devils, will make his Bruins debut Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden. Following morning skate, B’s coach Bruce Cassidy said Johansson will skate on Boston’s second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk.
Here’s what the lines will look like, via the Bruins’ Twitter account’s recap of Cassidy’s media session.
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Danton Heinen
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Marcus Johansson
Joakim Nordstrom — Charlie Coyle — David Backes
Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari — Chris Wagner
The Johansson experiment will be interesting to watch, as the 28-year-old had primarily played on the left side with the Devils. But Johansson has played all three forward roles, and that versatility is a big reason general manager Don Sweeney went out and made the deal Monday to acquire the veteran forward.
“He has produced. He can play in different roles,” Sweeney told reporters Monday. “He’s a three-position player, as well, primarily playing more on the left side, but he has played a lot of center — he was drafted as a center.”
The shuffling likely is to continue when David Pastrnak recovers from his hand injury.
“Marcus will be the first one to — he said, ‘I’m going to play wherever you guys want me to play and feel comfortable playing there,'” Sweeney relayed Monday. “So, that’s a player with an awful lot of games under his belt in different situations. He’s got playoff experience, and I think the versatility is something that remains to be an important part for us.”
