Bruins overacheive yearly review

[yave1964]

PRESEASON OUTLOOK Most felt the Bruins were on the short list of teams which might come out of the East, a deep talented roster and a nice mix of veterans and kids. I admit I thought they would slip some this season.

 

FINAL RECORD 49-24-9 107 points second in the Atlantic, second best record in the game. Defeated the Leafs in 7 in the first round, beat the Jackets in six in the second round and swept the Hurricanes in four games in the conference final before bowing out in seven games to the Blues in the cup finals.

 

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR Sweeping the Canes was certainly one, a fantastic series against the Blues was good for the game even if they came up just short. The high may have been the stretch of games between Feb 3rd and Mar 9th wen they put up possibly the best month of hockey for any team in the game during the season going 15-0-2 to serve notice that they were going to be a postseason force. The trade deadline moves picking up Coyle and Johanssen were big as well.

 

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR losing the cup final on home ice after crushing the Blues on the road in game six but really, they didn't have a low point to speak of.

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT Rask had his finest season in quite some time and you can make the case that he deserved to win the Conn Smythe. The line of Pastrnak, Marchand and Bergeron was simply amazing all year. Krug had a fine regular season and was key to their deep playoff run. Coyle and Johansson were key to balancing out their top nine.Krejci had a fantastic bounce back season scoring nearly a point a game.Debrusk scored 27 goals. McAvoy provided nice secondary scoring from the back end, Chara aging and slowing had a solid return to form. Halak had a wonderful season in a limited role in net.

 

WHAT WENT WRONG Backes has never fit in Boston, cannot stay healthy and is unproductive when in the lineup. Kevan Miller had an off year on the back end. Kids like Trent Frederic,, Conner CliftonBlidh, Bjork and Lauzan were all given double digit auditions and none did anything. That is kind of nitpicky tho, other than Backes it is hard to find much fault.

 

FREE AGENTS Johansson and Accairi are both UFA and the Bears may not be able to return either. Carlo, McAvoy and Heinen are all arbitration eligible and will want money/term. Looking ahead a year Krug and Coyle will be UFAs at the end of next season.

 

OFFSEASON QUESTIONS The entire team had a collective career year, how much longer can Chara, Rask, Bergeron and Krejci keep it up at their current pace? Can the kids who were non entities this season but who got much needed experience step up into more key roles going forward? 

 

 If the veteran centers and Rask hold up the team will be in the mix again next year. If not, a slip back will be likely.