The Boston Bruins have a very good problem on their hands. There simply aren’t enough roster spots for all of their defensemen.
The Bruins went out and traded for Washington Capitals veteran Dmitry Orlov — alongside winger Garnet Hathaway — prior to the NHL trade deadline. That move added yet another defenseman to their lineup that is capable of serving on a top pair and essentially left three spots left four players to battle for on Boston’s d-corps.
Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Orlov each have a spot on the first, second and third pair of the Bruins lineup. Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton and Derek Forbort are the remaining, and very capable, defensemen left to fill in the spots alongside the guys who play each and every night.
So how has Boston head coach Jim Montgomery attacked his little lineup issue?
The Bruins are sharing.
In the three games since entering Orlov into the lineup, the Bruins have shuffled Grzelcyk, Carlo and Clifton out of the lineup. Forbort, for all of his penalty-killing prowess, has been the constant. Clifton sat in a win over the Vancouver Canucks, Grzelcyk sat in a win over the Edmonton Oilers and Carlo is now slated to sit against the Calgary Flames.
While it’s not a steadfast rule that Montgomery has laid out, the idea of cycling through defensemen certainly can’t hurt in the long run. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to see McAvoy, Lindholm or Orlov get a night or two off before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
While other teams in the Atlantic Division are scrambling to catch up, the Bruins are dealing with first-world problems.
