Hopes were high when it came to Jack Studnicka after the Bruins selected him in the second round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
But it never quite worked out in Boston.
Studnicka was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night during the Bruins’ 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden. He’ll likely get the ice time north of the border he never got while with the Black and Gold and get the NHL reps he’s been working so hard to get.
It’s been a tough road to the NHL for Studnicka, who looked like a lock last season to crack the Bruins roster after bulking up and having a strong camp. But he only played in 15 games and that was due to injuries and COVID-19 problems.
With a new head coach in town and some bottom-six players struggling, many thought this could be the year Studnicka finally broke out. Even after a rough preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers, he took Jim Montgomery’s message to heart and bounced back with a strong showing the next game against the New York Rangers.
Studnicka made the Opening Night roster but never made it into the lineup. It’s unfortunate for the 23-year-old, but with how the Bruins started the season, there just wasn’t room for him on a consistent basis. At some point, Bruins management needed to decide what to do with Studnicka and decide whether he fit with this team or would be better suited elsewhere.
That’s what happened Thursday, and Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was asked why it never worked out with Studnicka despite the promise and potential.
“It’s a good question overall, because his initial onboarding was really good and his trajectory was really good,” Sweeney told reporters after the Bruins’ win Thursday at TD Garden. “During the COVID year, which was disjointed for a lot of players, he just kind of stalled just a little bit and then it was up and down with opportunities, in and out. No fault of Jack’s, but maybe more fault on ours in terms of not being able to just get him fully acclimated to the level that he had been playing at the AHL and producing, you know, tried it in different positions, played him on wing a little bit.
“Just didn’t find the traction when he had his opportunities to really take advantage of it. And I think Jack would admit it he didn’t play his absolute best hockey, even the other night. But he’s a great kid. He works awful hard, really cares, probably is hard on himself to allow some mistakes to just pass through.”
Studnicka probably would have been the player put on waivers with the return of Brad Marchand and he likely wouldn’t have cleared. It was best for the Bruins to get something in return rather than lose Studnicka for nothing.
Maybe a fresh start is exactly what Studnicka needs in order to showcase why he’s had so much hype around him since being drafted.
