The Boston Bruins had a lot of turnover in the offseason, but the majority of the players who are missing from the lineup are upfront, not back on the blue line.
One player who has stood out in the defensive core this season is Brando Carlo.
In 24 games, Carlo is averaging 20:14 minutes of ice time and has already generated 32 shots on goal. Last season, the 27-year-old Colorado native recorded 94 shots in 75 games.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery acknowledged how well Carlo has been playing for Boston this far.
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“He’s one of the players, we know what we’re gonna get out of his effort-wise, execution-wise. Obviously shutting plays and killing plays defensively,” Montgomery said, per the team.
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Aside from playing shutdown defense, Montgomery noted Carlo’s instincts offensively have grown from last season as well.
Describing the play when David Pastrnak made an exceptional pass to Pavel Zacha in a previous game, Montgomery explained the play never would have happened without Carlo.
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“He settles that play down defensively and has the poise to hold it and wait a second and find Pasta,” Montgomery said. I think if this was the same time last year it would have been a dump-in. (Carlo) did the same thing in the neutral zone in Toronto on the Pasta goal.”
Montgomery added: “(Carlo) rolls middle like we like our defensemen to do and he’s actually on his offside doing it. he turns and goes against the grain to find Pasta. I think it’s just him having the confidence and poise to know that he has time to make plays and that we encourage him to.”
This season, Carlo has lit the lamp once to go along with five assists for six points. Defensively, he has 45 blocked shots, 27 hits and eight takeaways. He is a plus-13 through 24 games.
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Montgomery has praised Carlo all season saying he “puts out a lot of fires” when his teammates make mistakes on the ice.
Featured image via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
