The Boston Bruins will begin their 2019-20 season Thursday night when they take on Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars. With much of the team returning after a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final loss, the Black and Gold likely will be out for revenge in hopes of returning to playoff action.
But before that happens, Boston must make it through 82 regular season games. The Bruins certainly will have their work cut out for them in a tough Atlantic Division as they look to avoid the dreaded “hangover” that tends to follow teams after a trip to the championship.
The B’s already are without some of their players to begin the year with Joakim Nordstrom on injured reserve, while John Moore and Kevan Miller could begin the season on long-term IR.
With that in mind, here are four burning questions to be answered over the course of the season.
Will secondary scoring be an issue again?
The Bruins’ incredible trio of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand combined for a whopping 106 goals and 154 assists last season. However, they were relied upon heavily to put pucks in nets and seemed to struggle a bit throughout the course of the playoffs.
Bruce Cassidy harped on the need for others to step up and at times seemed frustrated that secondary scoring was hard to come by. But the head coach already has said Pastrnak will see time with second-line center David Krejci, with whom he has great chemistry. That would put Jake DeBrusk on Krejci’s right side, something that has been a revolving door for the veteran.
The bottom-six, however, did show signs of life in the playoffs, particularly in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly, Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson (now with the Buffalo Sabres) all netting goals in Boston’s 5-1 win. But the bottom-six forwards will need to be as potent in the regular season this year as they were in the playoffs.
How will the Bruins stack up against the Atlantic Division?
The Bruins have a lot of depth between who’s on their bench and who they have in Providence, but just how will they fare against the rest of the Atlantic Division? The Tampa Bay Lightning imploded during last year’s playoffs, but they still stand as a powerhouse, and the Maple Leafs added some defensive help in Tyson Barrie a year after signing John Tavares to bolster their offense. The Montreal Canadiens always pose a good matchup due to their rivalry with Boston, but the Canadiens were sneaky good last season with a record of 44-30-8. The Buffalo Sabres had a strong offseason and now could be considered a threat for a top-three seed, while the Florida Panthers signed Sergei Bobrovsky to an already-talented team.
The Red Wings may be an aggressive team this year, but it’s likely Detroit and the Ottawa Senators will have a trying season.
Will the “hangover” have an impact on the Bruins?
The championship hangover has been known to haunt teams that have made it to the finals of its respective sport the following year, but will Boston have that experience? There already are questions surrounding the health of David Krejci and, to some degree, Patrice Bergeron with his groin injury.
But the B’s essentially are bringing back the same team with the exception of Johansson. And they have a ton of depth with names like Anders Bjork, Par Lindholm and Urho Vaakanainen in Providence. So if Cassidy needs to shake things up and look to the P-Bruins, whether it be due to injury or an under-performing player, he’ll have plenty of options.
The Bruins do have the fourth-best odds to win the Stanley Cup, trailing the Lightning, Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights (whom they’re pegged to beat in the Cup Final in “NHL 20’s” simulation), according to Oddshark. But a lot can happen between now and June.
Where does David Backes fit in the lineup?
David Backes was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career last season, including the final three games of the Stanley Cup Final. Many believed he would be the odd man out and Boston would try to move on from him. But he remains on the team and has impressed this preseason. The 35-year-old admitted he’s ready to help the Bruins in 2019-20 no matter what his role may be. Backes has put in work this preseason and  even enlisted the help of skating coach Kate McDonough in order to improve his skating. So it certainly will be interesting to see how the Bruins utilize the veteran, especially when Boston has a full, healthy squad.
