Bruins Notes: How Battle For Final Third Pairing Defenseman Job Is Being Assessed

While plenty will be made over the coming weeks about who fits where in Boston’s middle six, there’s a bit of a roster battle brewing in the back end.

Jeremy Lauzon got an extended look in the NHL earlier this season, doing a fantastic job of grabbing hold of the opportunity and effectively cementing himself as the Bruins’ third-pairing defenseman beside Matt Grzelcyk. John Moore was struggling to get back on track after a shoulder injury delayed his start to the season, while an upper-body injury sidelined Connor Clifton for a while, paving the way for Lauzon.

Now, that’s three guys jockeying for one spot, with the gig at this point more or less Lauzon’s to lose.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy shared some insight into how he plans on managing that roster battle over the next couple weeks.

“We’ve got eight guys that can play in the league,” Cassidy said Wednesday morning. “We’ll have the luxury of putting anybody we want there. Now Cliffy’s obviously a right stick, so comfortable on the right side, John Moore’s not as comfortable on the right side as Lauzon is as a left-handed shot and neither is Grizz for that matter, so that has factored into a bit of the decision.

“At the end of the day we’ll play our six best, but Lauzy went in there and played right and gave us an element of size, grit, some abrasiveness that I thought we were lacking at the time when he went in. So good timing for him and he took advantage of a situation, played to his strengths. So we like what he’s done, we’re trying to build our D-core here with younger guys as the next wave, as well.

“That will not be a factor in the playoffs, we’re not going to sit there and go, ‘Well we’re going to develop a guy during the playoffs.’ We’re playing the six best, in January we had that luxury for where we were in the standings and what we wanted to do, so we’ll make those decisions as we get a little bit closer. But like I said, I like what Jeremy did, so I don’t see any reason why if he doesn’t keep playing the same way he can’t go in there and stay on that third pair.

“But let’s get through the round-robin and see where he’s at, see where Johnny’s at, I think the time off has helped his shoulder with his injury last year, the recovery he had to do for that put him a little bit behind going into the season. Cliffy had an injury, so everyone’s fresh now, so that’s the advantage those two guys have over Jeremy is they’re completely healed and ready to go whereas during the season they were working their way back, I think Cliffy was always playing catch up this year and he won’t have to do that now — I mean, he has to do it but no more than anybody else coming out of this pause.”

Clifton appeared in 31 games this season, while Moore played in 24 and Lauzon 19.

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Here are some other notes from Wednesday:

— Every player on the Bruins now has appeared at Warrior Ice Arena.

The Bruins held a small main practice today comprised of 11 guys, mostly AHL call-ups, but a big exception was David Pastrnak. Boston’s star winger returned to Warrior Ice Arena, and it was clear his one-timer is ready to go.

Ondrej Kase was expected to skate with the main group, however, he was not spotted during the 9:30 a.m. skate. However, he skated afterward with Trent Frederic, who also has yet to appear in a main practice thus far.

— As much as Torey Krug would like to put talks about his contract situation to rest, the reality is that chatter probably isn’t going away anytime soon.

Cassidy was asked Wednesday if he would talk with Krug at all about his future. The head coach’s response was both interesting and insightful.

— Anders Bjork had no choice but to sit and think the last few months.

The winger had a largely successful 2019-20 season all things considered, but particularly after the additions of Kase and Nick Ritchie, Bjork more or less became the 13th forward, getting healthy scratched routinely in late February into March.

But he’s gotten off to a solid start in camp, and on Wednesday he reflected on what the last couple months were like thinking about how things were going for him.

— It’s unlikely Jack Studnicka will play in games once the Bruins reach the bubble, but it’s not totally impossible.

However he’s used, the young center (or maybe winger) is comfortable and ready.

“I think if an opportunity were to arise I’d be fully comfortable hopping in there and contributing to winning,” Studnicka said Wednesday morning. “But right now I’m just trying to put my head down and work as hard as I can and show the management that if an opportunity like that were to happen that they should have confidence in me.”

— Although Wednesday’s session was a small one, the full group is expected back Thursday. Cassidy indicated there might be some scrimmaging later in the week, and that Sunday is the next scheduled off day.

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