Bruins Training Camp Observations: Takeaways, Thoughts On Day 1

BRIGHTON, Mass. — The Boston Bruins took the ice for their first practice of training camp on Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena.

Separated into two groups, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery mixed players, mainly without rhyme or reason, just to get them into the swing of things.

“We had one young guy with two vets or two young guys with a vet so kind of show them the Bruins way,” Montgomery said. “We have a lot of new faces so it’s not a lot of guys that know our drills.”

GROUP A
Forward Lines:
Brad Marchand — Charlie Coyle — Fabian Lysell
Danton Heinen — Georgii Merkulov — Jake DeBrusk
Anthony Richard — Morgan Geekie — Trent Frederic
Brett Harrison — Jayson Megna — Oskar Steen

Defense Pairs:
Parker Wotherspoon — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Reilly Walsh
Jakub Zboril — Kevin Shaattenkirk
Michael Callahan — Ryan Mast

Goaltenders:
Linus Ullmark
Michael DiPietro
Shane Starrett

OBSERVATIONS
— The boys are ready to go. They are skating hard, hitting and battling for pucks in the corner and in front of the net.

One play that stands out was between Marchand, McAvoy and Jackson Edward. The trio was battling along the wall and Marchand ended up taking down McAvoy. McAvoy was knocked down by Heinen later in the session.

— Lysell is showing his speed. Although Montgomery noticed Lysell was “struggling defensively,” he noticed his incredible speed and puck control.

After drills, Lysell was seen getting direction from Coyle and Lindholm.

Lindholm and Lysell pic.twitter.com/l0fWuWvWqD

— Gayle Troiani (@Gayle_Troiani) September 21, 2023

— Marchand took the time to work the corner with Frederic as the session was winding down. The captain is leading by example on the ice.

Marchand and Frederic continue to work along the boards pic.twitter.com/EWySCJ53QZ

— Gayle Troiani (@Gayle_Troiani) September 21, 2023

GROUP B
Forward Lines:
Jesper Boqvist — Matthew Poitras — David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk — Pavel Zacha — Marc McLaughlin
Milan Lucic — John Beecher — Jakub Lauko
A.J. Greer — Patrick Brown — Alex Chiasson

Defense Pairs:
Mason Lohrei — Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk — Alec Regula
Derek Forbort — Ian Mitchell
Frederic Brunet — Dan Renouf
Ethan Ritchie

Goaltenders:
Jeremy Swayman
Brandon Bussi
Kyle Keyser

OBSERVATIONS
— McLaughlin is taking no prisoners on the ice. At one point he slammed Renouf to the ice during a puck scrum showing that he is not afraid to take the body. Skating with Zacha and van Riemsdyk allowed him to showcase a lot of his skills, including puck possession.

— Lucic skating with Beecher and Lauko gave us “Merlot Line” vibes. They are hard, fast and have a bit of a scoring touch. Montgomery said the team is in need of a left-shot center and Beecher fills that role. Could see that line work itself into the roster.

Lucic pic.twitter.com/HXciSchlg3

— Gayle Troiani (@Gayle_Troiani) September 21, 2023

— Pastrnak is still elite no matter who he is skating with. Poitras admitted he was nervous playing on the same line as Pastrnak on the first day, but also added it was “really cool.” Montgomery recognizes the nervousness and wants the players to understand the first practice is never perfect.

MONTGOMERY’S TAKE
— Montgomery’s message to the players, vet or prospect, is simple: details, details, details.

“Details matter,” Montgomery said. “We’re going to work on our details and we will work on our pace and execution really matters when the effort is required as far as being first on pucks in battle drills.”

— Montgomery expects the physicality in camp and wants it to carry over into the season to fill a void from last year.

“We want this. We need to be a more physical team this year than we were last year in our opinion,” Montgomery said. “So we like the physicality. Guys are fighting for jobs. There should be physicality out there when the drill requires it.

“I think we’re a little bit of a bigger and heavier team. But also, we just think that we need to be more physical at net fronts — offensively and defensively. We saw that as an area to improve from what we learned from the playoffs last year.”

Practices are open to the public at Warrior Ice Arena and will continue through Oct. 7.