The Boston Bruins are past the midway point of their season, and now the All-Star break has arrived for them.
So, what better time than now to assess where everyone is at.
We’re handing out grades for every Bruins player who has appeared in five or more games. Only five players — Tuukka Rask, Tyler Lewington, Jack Ahcan, Jesper Froden and Steven Fogarty — have dressed for Boston this season but played in fewer than five games, making it tough to accurately grade them.
Also, note that we’re grading relative to role. Curtis Lazar, for example, won’t be graded the same way we’d grade Brad Marchand.
Patrice Bergeron, A — The captain has won 63% of his face-offs this season. If that number holds or improves, it’ll be the best win percentage of his career. He continues to do that and a bunch of other things at a high level.
Anton Blidh, B — Blidh is a great story. He’s been grinding for years, and finally proved he’s an NHL player. Tough injury luck at different turns, but in this writer’s opinion Blidh belongs in the top 12 forwards.
Brandon Carlo, C+ — Carlo has been fine, but there have been some critical mistakes in games and it took a long time for his combination with Mike Reilly to get on track. They’ve been much better recently, and that’s the way it needs to stay.
Connor Clifton, B- — He’s continuing to grow as an NHL player, most noticeably by better picking spots to be aggressive. Clifton has been steady, and that’s a plus.
Charlie Coyle B+ — Coyle has been really good this season, and that seems to be flying under the radar. He was doing a good job on the second line but he’s in a better position now that he’s centering the third unit. He’s playing like someone back fully healthy, and that’s big for Boston.
Jake DeBrusk, C- — Credit to him, it doesn’t seem like his trade request caused a locker room rift. He continues to be a good soldier but hasn’t been particularly impressive. He’s shown encouraging flashes, but the consistency isn’t there.
Nick Foligno, C — This one is almost an incomplete because of the bad health luck. He does plenty of things right, but the scoring isn’t there. The Bruins will be a better team if Foligno can come around.
Derek Forbort, B- — A textbook “he’s probably doing a good job if you don’t notice him” kind of player. Now settled in on the third pairing, he’s been fine.
Trent Frederic, C+ — Another player with bad injury luck, Frederic has been given every opportunity to lock down a roster spot. To date, he hasn’t been overly dependable, but he’s still finding his way.
Matt Grzelcyk, B+ — Easily the best partner for Charlie McAvoy, Grzelcyk has popped in multiple games this season. A choppy start to the campaign keeps his grade from being an A-.
Taylor Hall, B+ — After occasional quiet stretches in the autumn, Hall has been dependable for scoring. His speed is such a weapon, and his combination with David Pastrnak has been such a delight to watch.
Erik Haula, B- — There’s a chicken and egg thing here. Haula got off to a slow start, but is he better as the second-line center because of his play style or because anyone can be good with Hall and Pastrnak? Either way, the Bruins need him to continue at a good pace.
Curtis Lazar B+ — Lazar quietly has been very good this season. He’s a good penalty killer and defensive player, and his versatility as a winger and center has been valuable. It’s also fun when he does things on offense that show why he was a first-round pick years ago.
Brad Marchand, A+ — It’s incredible how Marchand continues to find higher gears with each passing season. He’s an elite player, among the league’s best, and deserves to be on both Hart and Selke ballots.
Charlie McAvoy, A+ — McAvoy is an absolute horse. When his contract extension kicks in next season, he’ll be deserving of every penny.
John Moore, C — You can’t blame a guy for bad breaks with health, but Moore simply hasn’t been available enough. The Bruins do trust him, though, as evidenced by his ice time when he does play. From a pure playing standpoint, this is his second-best season in Boston (2018-19 is the runaway No. 1).
Tomas Nosek, A- — Not sure if the Bruins intended for Nosek to be a jack of all trades when they signed him, but that’s what he’s been and he’s filled that role well. He’s best served as the fourth-line center, but he really can do it all.
David Pastrnak, A- — Pastrnak has been so good the last month that it offsets a lot of the early-season struggles. If he stays even remotely close to continuing on this scoring pace, the Bruins will be hard to beat.
Mike Reilly, B- — When things are going well for Reilly, he’s such an important piece of the defense. But it’s hard to ignore the deserved healthy scratch and the occasional run where he’s invisible. That said, he’s more often been good than bad.
Craig Smith, B- — The bump up to the first line was great for Smith, and when he’s going he is on another level. However, he’s been a little unsteady this season and the Bruins need him to provide consistent scoring and energy.
Oskar Steen, B+ — Steen definitely belongs in the NHL. He typically makes some sort of impact every time he goes over the boards, but lately, there’s been a touch more inconsistency. Historically an offense-first player, it would be great for Boston if that side comes around more.
Jack Studnicka, C+ — Studnicka has been fine, but it’s disappointing he hasn’t done enough yet to prove he can be an NHL regular. The potential still is there, though, and it would be interesting to see him get a crack between Pastrnak and Hall. With Bergeron’s uncertain future, they need to see more of what they have in Studnicka.
Jeremy Swayman, B+ — Swayman has been a lot better than most rookie goaltenders thrown into the fire right away. He’ll be around for a long time, and as he continues to blossom, he has a chance to be right in the thick of the NHL’s star goaltenders of the future.
Linus Ullmark, B — The Bruins needed better from him early in the season, but he’s another player who has ratcheted up his play over the last month-plus. It’s clear why Boston gave him the contract it did. He’s largely been good.
Urho Vaakanainen, B+ — Like Steen, Vaakanainen is showing he doesn’t have much left to prove in the AHL. A lot of areas of his game have improved, and now he’s at the “OK, now do it consistently” level. Some players take time, and Vaakanainen still hasn’t hit his ceiling. Let’s see where he goes.
Jakub Zboril, B+ — A healthy scratch to start the season, Zboril was taking huge strides before sustaining a season-ending injury. That’s too bad, because he was shaping up to becoming a legitimate top-four defenseman.
