The reigning champs have gotten off to a bit of a slow start, which is bad for the Bruins but good for mailbox fodder. And there was no shortage of questions to this season's inaugural mailbag, with many focusing on the club's struggling power play, Tyler Seguin's fast start and Tuukka Rask's role in the goalie rotation.
I've done my best to answer as many of your questions as possible this week, and even picked out a few more than usual to kick-start a new season of mailbags. Still, there were plenty of questions I couldn't get to, so I'd like to thank all the readers who sent in questions and apologize in advance if I wasn't able to get to yours. Please keep submitting your questions and I'll answer as many of them as I can as we continue on in the season.
1. Doug, I know you'll probably get this question a lot, but I'm wondering, what do the Bruins need to do to improve their power play? Also, who is to take the blame for the struggling man advantage? Is it the coaching staff perhaps? I'd like to get your thoughts on all of this.
— John, Holyoke, Mass.
A lot of questions this week about the power play, and there's a lot of blame to go around for the continued struggles. Some of that has to go to the coaches, particularly assistant Geoff Ward, who runs that unit, and Claude Julien, who is ultimately accountable for the staff under him. That said, Julien and Ward have tried just about everything possible through the playoffs and now at the start of this year to get the power play going, and nothing has worked yet. The players have to shoulder their share of blame as the Bruins should have enough talent to convert a decent amount of chances, especially with Joe Corvo's big shot from the point added to the mix and Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand now getting regular power-play duty. The biggest issue right now seems to be mental, as the pressure mounts with each successive failure. The Bruins did finally snap their drought on Tuesday in one of the few bright spots from that loss, and if they can build off that with a couple more goals they might finally get some confidence and be able to put these struggles behind them.
2. Hey Doug, Any word on the Bruins looking for power-play help? They have a few bucks in the coffers, after 1 1/2 seasons isn't it safe to say we need a specialist?
— Don Jones, Montreal, Que.
A slightly different take on the power-play question from north of the border. While the Bruins do have some cap space and it's possible they will look to make a deal at some point, I don't think we'll see any major shakeups early in the season. The Bruins won the Cup last year in large part due to their chemistry and camaraderie, and Peter Chiarelli stated numerous times this offseason that he was not looking to upset that balance with any major changes. I also don't think a power-play specialist really fits into Julien's system or the way the Bruins like to play. Boston rolls four lines and wears teams down with their physical play, so I don't see them sitting a fourth-liner like Shawn Thornton or a guy like Daniel Paille who is so valuable on the penalty kill in favor of a power-play specialist who can't contribute in other areas.
I also don't see them sitting a defenseman in favor of specialist like a Marc-Andre Bergeron on the blue line. When everyone is healthy, the Bruins have a very strong six-man rotation on defense who can all play quality minutes. That will enable them to keep Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg fresh for the stretch run and playoffs. I don't see them sacrificing that for a more offensive point man for the power play. With Corvo, Chara, Seidenberg and Boychuk, plus Patrice Bergeron at times, the Bruins have enough players capable of manning the points on the power play while also helping in so many other areas.
3. Why haven't we seen more of Rask? All preseason he and a lot of other people are saying how he's going to play more games. We are five games in now and he's played all of one! I feel as though he had a very strong game against Colorado, giving up very few rebounds. I understand [Tim] Thomas is a very good goalie and without him last year there would be no Cup, however in the last few games he's played he's given up a number of rebounds, as well as badly placed rebounds that, if shot on net, instead of wide as they have gone (luckily), would be goals.
— David, South Boston, Mass.
Well, it appears you got your wish, at least for a night, as Rask got his second start in Game No. 6 Tuesday night against Carolina, though he once again had little support in front of him. I really don't believe it was just lip service from Julien this preseason when he talked about having a more balanced workload between Thomas and Rask. After how much Thomas played last year and considering his age and past hip injuries, the Bruins will need to pace him a bit more this season to keep him fresh for the stretch run and playoffs. At the same time, Rask needs to play more regularly to get into a rhythm and regain the form he flashed two years ago, so a more even distribution of starts should benefit both netminders.
That said, I haven't seen a heck of a lot to complain about from Thomas so far this season. The Bruins' problems have been more to do with the skaters in front of him than any major issues with the goaltending. Thomas is just 2-2-0, but his goals-against average (1.98) is actually slightly better than his league-leading 2.00 from last year and his save percentage (.932) isn't far off his NHL-record .938 of a year ago. Thomas deserves to be the No. 1 and get the majority of starts, but the it should be a smaller gap between their playing time this season to get the most out of both goalies.
4. Doug, not liking what I see from [Jordan] Caron so far. [He] looks slow and not physically engaged. How long do you see him sticking with the club? Thanks.
— phillybruin, Philadelphia
Caron has gotten off to a slow start, and has been outplayed by Benoit Pouliot in the early going. There's still time for Caron to turn things around, and he is getting a chance to play every night while David Krejci is injured. Still, if he doesn't start producing more, he could definitely find himself back in Providence for more seasoning when the Bruins get healthy up front. At this stage of his career, he's better off logging big minutes in the AHL than sitting in the press box in Boston.
5. What can the Bruins do about [Marc] Savard's contract? He seems like he's done so can they fill his spot and let him go? Thank you.
— Chris McIntosh, Santa Cruz, Cal.
NHL contracts are guaranteed, so the Bruins cannot simply release him to end the agreement and contracts cannot be bought out if the player is injured. Savard's contract really isn't an issue, though. The salary cap is rather complex, but the Bruins can get relief and spend above the cap up to the amount of Savard's cap hit ($4.007 million) if they put him on long-term injured reserve as they did last year. So far this season they have not done that because they are under the cap even with his salary, but that is an option they can use later in the year if they add salary in deals.
6. With the large amount of cap space in the off season and only Rask and Krejci needing to be re-signed, what are the chances the Bruins try and sign Zach Parise if he doesn't re-sign with the Devils during the season?
— Shaun, Boston
An interesting follow to the last query. The Bruins are in good shape cap wise for this season, but are not necessarily in a good position to go after a player like Parise. Rask and Krejci are not the only the free agents the Bruins have to deal with next summer. They are the two primary restricted free agents, but Pouliot is also an RFA and Chris Kelly, Gregory Campbell, Thornton, Paille, Corvo and Johnny Boychuk are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents. Some of those role players can be replaced, though the Bruins should be careful with how much turnover they have considering how much team chemistry played into their success last season.
More importantly, after next year the Bruins will have to deal with Milan Lucic, Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand, Caron and Kampfer as RFAs and Nathan Horton, Thomas and Andrew Ference as UFAs. How many of those guys do you want to lose to try to land Parise? Personally, I favor the way the team has been built now, with a balanced attack featuring a host of very good players rather than a top-heavy approach with a couple of stars taking up the bulk of their cap space.
7. Hi Doug, I'm new to hockey. I've read a lot over the past year but I'm curious as to where I go to get info on the Bruins' various lines for forwards and for defensemen, e.g. who's on each? Thanks – and I particularly loved your series on Big Shawn Thornton. Great writing!
— Tom Groome, Columbia, Md.
Glad you enjoyed the Thornton stories. That was one of most enjoyable projects I've worked on. It's easy to see how Thornton has developed into the character player and quality person he is when you get a chance to talk at length with his family and the coaches who were so instrumental to his development. If anyone missed that series, you can read the stories here.
As for the line combinations and defense pairings, I file a story after the morning skate each game day with the projected lineups for both teams. That should give you a pretty good guide to who's playing together. Sometimes things can change between the morning skate and the start of the game, but I usually post the lines again in the live blog after warm-ups.
8. Do you think the B's shaky start is due to the Stanley Cup hangover thing or is it just plain poor playing? I think it's just their inability to get anything off the power play! Those power plays are killing us!
— @Jaesinn, via twitter
I've addressed the power play above and that certainly is a factor in the club's slow start to the season. I do think that the hangover effect is real, though. The run to the Cup is such a grind, surviving three increasingly intense seven-game series, followed by a short offseason packed with celebrations and commitments, can take a lot out of you. Add in every opponent now having extra incentive to prove themselves against the champs, and it's easy to see how it can be difficult for a team to get its game back to where it needs to be in the early going. The key is to minimize that transition period as much as possible and avoid digging too deep a hole in the early season.
9. There is no questioning Tyler Seguin's skill, but I wonder if placing him on the "first" line was a good idea, particularly on the road. Lucic and Horton are dependent on their physical game and it seems to me having Seguin centering them sort of forced them to play a slightly more finesse style with more carry-ins rather than dump and chase and it seemed to put them somewhat out of their comfort zone. Your thoughts?
— Bobby, Holbrook, Mass.
I don't think the lack of physical play from Lucic and Horton can be blamed on Seguin's influence. Neither was much of a presence in the first three games of the season when Krejci was centering them. If anything, both have come to life a bit more skating alongside Seguin. Horton had no points, just one shot and no hits in those first three games, but had 1-1-2 totals and four shots in his first two games with Seguin, and even had his first two hits of the season Saturday in Chicago. Horton and Lucic were also plenty physical against Carolina on Tuesday, though not exactly in the most productive of ways with the penalties they took. The Bruins need more from Lucic and Horton both physically and offensively, but I don't think it's Seguin who's holding them back.
10. After Seguin's past few games, is there any chance we'll see Seguin move to the Bergeron/Marchand line and replace Peverley?
— Bryce Lechiaro, Millis, Mass.
It will definitely be interesting to see what Julien does when Krejci returns. Seguin has shown he's ready to take on a bigger role in the offense, but despite the slow start of the Lucic-Krejci-Horton combination before Krejci's injury, I think Julien might give them a little more time together to try to capture their magic from last season. Seguin's skill set could mesh nicely with Bergeron and Marchand, but Peverley has already shown good chemistry with them and I'm not sure breaking up the club's most effective line is the best option right now.
Leave your questions for Douglas Flynn's mailbag in the comments section below, send them to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send them here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week. Be sure to check back to see if your question was answered.
