WILMINGTON, Mass. — Throughout the offseason, the Bruins thought the dilemma they would be facing was a glut of centers.
That led to the initial plan of breaking in rookie Tyler Seguin at the less-demanding position of wing.
But just 11 games into the season, the Bruins find themselves scrambling for centers even with Seguin staying in the middle. Marc Savard has yet to play after suffering a recurrence of post-concussion symptoms, prospects like Joe Colborne and Zach Hamill required more seasoning in the minors and now David Krejci has been sidelined with a concussion.
Thus on Monday, the team unveiled its new second-line center — Blake Wheeler.
"Today was a bit of the shock to the system, all the skating and stuff," said Wheeler after Monday's practice. "It's always nice. I find that it really gets you into the game, gets you involved a lot faster than wing does sometimes because you're up and down the ice and you've got to be really focused defensively. I've always liked playing center, so it should be a good challenge."
Wheeler, 24, does have some experience playing the position. The third-year pro played center in his final two seasons at the University of Minnesota, and saw some time there again in training camp as coach Claude Julien explored his different personnel options.
"That helped a lot," said Wheeler of the preseason primer at center. "It was kind of a crash-course refresher with all the little nuances of playing center. That was huge. It gave me the confidence to know that I could still do that at this level and be effective. For me, that was the biggest thing, just knowing you can do it, and I guess we'll see how it goes."
Julien is confident that Wheeler is capable of doing the job while Krejci is out.
"We're in a situation now where somebody has to replace [Krejci], and Blake as we talked about at the beginning of the year is one of the guys that has played that position," said Julien. "It's an opportunity to take advantage of that experience that he's had in the past and maybe bail us out for the time being."
On Monday, Wheeler skated between rookie Jordan Caron and veteran Mark Recchi. Wheeler has played with both of those wingers this year, starting the season on a line with Recchi and Patrice Bergeron, then playing with Bergeron and Caron for most of the year. After a couple games alongside Seguin and Michael Ryder, Wheeler was put back with Bergeron and Recchi on Saturday when Julien shortened his bench in the third period.
Wheeler believes playing with familiar linemates will help ease the transition to center.
"That definitely helps, to have familiarity with guys," said Wheeler. "Rex always makes it easier on you no matter where you are. That's always nice, and Jordan's really strong on the puck, too, so it won't be any problem for us. We're going to have to help each other out and pick each other up. It should be no different."
The biggest issue for Wheeler could be getting used to taking draws again. That's not something he's had to do often this year, though he was quick to point out that he's done well in his limited opportunities.
"I think I'm 66 percent, so that's pretty good," said Wheeler of his face-off percentage, before sheepishly adding, "I won two of three."
When asked if he could keep up the 66-percent rate with a regular workload, Wheeler offered a more realistic goal.
"That will be tough," said Wheeler. "If you can keep it around 50 [percent], then you've won. I'm just trying to stay anywhere north of 40 [percent].
"That will be the biggest challenge, the face-offs," added Wheeler. "That's always the toughest part when you haven't taken them in a while. I'll just try to do my best and battle. I know those two guys [Caron and Recchi] will be in there helping me out, trying to get some good wins for me. I guess the job for me is not to lose them clean. As long as you're in a battle and creating sort of a scrum, that's half the battle."
