Bruins Notebook: Playing time up for grabs on fourth line

Chris Wagner has no guarantee of playing time this year. With the addition of Tomas Nosek to play fourth-line center, and Curtis Lazar being pushed to right wing, Wagner finds himself in a battle just to get in the lineup.

That would seem like a big difference from Wagner’s first three years as a Bruin.

For the Walpole native drafted by Anaheim in the fifth round in 2010, that’s just how it’s always been.

“I’m never comfortable. I haven’t been comfortable in 10 years,” said Wagner on Tuesday. “I’m just trying to do the best I can, work as hard as anybody on the ice, be physical, forecheck, penalty kill, all that and try to be an asset to help the team win.”

Wagner was given Tuesday’s game in New York off, but he played in the season opener in Washington. He played 14:25, getting one shot on net, delivering two hits and blocking a shot.

“It’s always weird once you get going, like in the first period, you’re like ‘Oh yeah, we’re playing against other guys,’” said Wagner. “Then by the third period it usually ratchets up and gets physical. There was that cheap shot there. And then everyone wants to win, so it was nice to get the win because everybody looks better.”

Coach Bruce Cassidy hopes he can create a sort of a fourth-line rotation similar to the one he had in 2018-19 with Wagner, Noel Acciari, Joakim Nordstrom and Sean Kuraly, a highly effective four-man group that not only worked together but pushed each other for playing time.

“The beauty of this is all four guys have played center,” said Cassidy. “Wags has played left in his career. The other two lefties (Nosek and Trent Frederic) are not going to play the left side, so there is room to shuffle the chairs around, too, so it’s not automatic that it would be just one guy out all the time. So there is competition. All four guys played in the league last year. Some have longer resumes than others. All have attributes that are good individually and can contribute to a fourth line. I think Freddy’s the only guy who hasn’t played a whole lot in that role over his career, so that’s something he’s going to have to embrace, playing against good players, starting in your own end, doing a lot of grunt work that might not show up on the scoresheet. For younger guys, that’s sometimes a challenge. He knows what’s in front of him and hopefully he’s up to the task that way and work his way up the lineup. They all want to do that.”

Frederic proved last season he’s not afraid to bring the belligerence and he’s willing to take on some of the toughest customers in the league. But the B’s would like to see more offensive production from the left-shooting forward. He had just four goals and an assist in 42 games.

The message to Frederic?

“Work on consistency every night, getting his feet moving when he gets the puck, because I think he can shoot the puck well. So that’s the next part, having a little more of a shot mentality and then the plays will come to you,” said Cassidy. “Some offense comes to some players by putting pucks to the net, others slow the game down and see the ice. It’s OK to have a bit of both, but you do need a calling card. And for Freddie, it’s a little more straight line, shooting the puck, thinking about that every time you get it, and less about moving it as soon as you get it. Move your feet first and let things open up.”

Frederic, who worked with a skating coach over the summer to improve his initial burst, was re-signed to a two-year deal worth $1.05 million. While he was developed mostly as a center, the B’s buying spree brought in three players that could play the pivot and Frederic has played left wing next to new center Nosek in training camp so far.

He hopes that “shot mentality” will come with experience.

“Hopefully this year is easier for that, just because you know the guys better and they understand you’re not being selfish. You’re just trying to help the team by shooting it,” said Frederic.

Forbort settling in

Through the first five days of camp, Derek Forbort has found himself in a familiar spot — providing steady stay-at-home work to complement his more offensive-minded defense partner.

Forbort, signed to a three-year deal worth $3 million per season, has been skating with No. 1 defenseman Charlie McAvoy and he’s feeling right at home.

“My whole career I’ve been with guys like him — (Drew) Doughty and then (Neal) Pionk last year. They all three play similar to each other. I know my role in that (kind of tandem),” said the former Los Angeles King and Winnipeg Jet.

It hasn’t taken long for Forbort to get comfortable.

“He’s been doing a good job of helping me out with the new terminology and the D-zone style. It’s a little different than what I played before. But it’s been good. He does a really good job of communicating and he’s such a good player that he’s pretty easy to play with,” said Forbort.

Possible opportunity on the right side

John Moore, on the comeback trail following hip surgery, was back in the lineup on Tuesday. With the left side solid with Forbort, Matt Grzelcyk and Mike Reilly, demonstrating an efficacy for playing the right side, which Moore did in the preseason opener, will put him in better position to get in the lineup.

“He’ll play both, both him and (Jakub) Zboril,” said Cassidy. “If you look at our lineup, they should want to play on the right and work on playing on the right side because if there’s an injury on the right side, they want to be the one going in. Or they want to push, for example, (Connor) Clifton. I think it’s safe to say Charlie (McAvoy) is in, (Brandon) Carlo‘s in and Cliffy’s the guy who has a leg up because he shoots righty and because he played well. … That would be an advantage to both those guys as the seventh and eighth guys.”

Wagner still a Pats fan

Having grown up down the road from Foxboro, Wagner has his opinions on Tom Brady‘s return.

“It’s weird, obviously, kind of sad that he’s doing real well,” said Wagner. “I’m kind of sick of the whole social media thing and I haven’t even followed along with what he said and his Dad said versus what Bill (Belichick) said. He’s gone, give it a rest. Let’s move on and win on Sunday.”

But Wagner expressed a feeling many Patriots’ fans have right now.

“I just really hope they don’t get killed,” said Wagner.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3F3wXUQ