Bruins report card: Grading the team at the break

After the Bruins’ uneven first half of the season that ended with a promising January, we are left with the same question we had when the season started: Is this team good enough?

It’s pretty clear they are good enough to make the playoffs. But can they actually compete for a Stanley Cup? There needs to be more positive data – and most likely a home run at the trade deadline by GM Don Sweeney – to be able to comfortably say they indeed can hang in a seven-game series against the likes of the Panthers, Lightning, Hurricanes or even the Rangers.

But as the B’s recharge during this All-Star break, we take stock of what the B’s have been so far with these mid-term grades (minimum 20 games for skaters). Keep in mind that expectations and job descriptions matter.

FORWARDS

Brad Marchand – A+. He has slowed a bit in the last couple of weeks because of an apparent shoulder injury, but he has been the B’s best, most reliable player. He’s well above a point-per-game pace and his passion sets the tone on most nights.

David Pastrnak – A-. If there is an MVP since the New Year turnaround, it is Pastrnak. He’s got 14 goals in his last 15 games. His slow start is all but forgotten.

Patrice Bergeron – B+. The goalscoring has been spotty. Four of his 12 goals came in one game and he has one goal in his last 15 games. But as we’ve all seen for half of the captain’s natural life, the sum of Bergeron’s game is greater than the parts. With his league-leading faceoff win percentage of 63 percent (of players with over 700 draws), he drives Bruin possessions and just thinks the game a tick faster than most other players.

Charlie Coyle – B. While the trial of Coyle centering Taylor Hall did not work, the centerman still contributed when that wasn’t working. He’s had his lulls in production, as it happens with him, but they have not lasted too long. In short, Coyle has been an asset.

Tomas Nosek – B. The former Golden Knight was signed to center the fourth line, chip in on the penalty kill and help his unit take on some top line assignments. He’s done his job.

Curtis Lazar – B. On a pace for double-digit goal season, Lazar has given the fourth line just the dash of scoring necessary for success. He’s got an old school quality about him that’s hard to dislike.

Anton Blidh – B. – For a guy who nobody pegged to be on the roster at the start of the season, Blidh has brought tenacious forechecking and a little bit of sandpaper to the fourth line.

Taylor Hall – B-. It feels like a switch was flipped when Pastrnak was dropped down to his line. The hope was that, with David Krejci gone, Hall would be able to drive a line on his own. It didn’t happen. But at least he’s producing now.

Erik Haula – C+. Haula was a healthy scratch early in the season and, until Jan. 1, he was trending toward being a bust of a signing. He deserves credit for turning it around when given the chance to center Pastrnak and Haula. His game was trending in the right direction when COVID knocked him out of the last two games before the break. This grade will bump up considerably if he continues on this path.

Jake DeBrusk – C+. He started OK, slumped a bit, was scratched and his trade request became public. When his Bruin career will come to an end is not clear, but Sweeney is working to accommodate him. All that being said, DeBrusk has played pretty well in the last month, even when he hasn’t been rewarded with points.

Craig Smith – C-. With the way Smith works shift in, shift out, it’s a good bet he’ll bounce back into the solid “B” category. He does need to find his game, however. He started the season with an eight-game point-less streak and just snapped a six-game goose egg streak. The drought periods need to be shortened.

Nick Foligno – D. Foligno’s excitement to be a Bruin was palpable and that positive energy should not be dismissed, but 1-6-7 totals just isn’t enough, especially when a player has been given the ample opportunity to play on the first power-play unit as Foligno has. With the injuries piling up, the prospects for a second half turnaround are not promising.

Trent Frederic – D. Frederic was starting to play some effective hockey when he was knocked out of the lineup on Jan. 10, but he has not been able to establish himself as the physical presence it is still believed can be. The Bruins could use that element.

Incomplete – Oskar Steen, Jack Studnicka, Steven Fogarty.

 

DEFENSE

Charlie McAvoy – A. The former Terrier has become the true No. 1 defenseman that everyone expected him to be. This year, he’s taken advantage of his top power-play time to grow his offensive game. With 7-21-28 totals in 40 games, he’s set to shatter his previous personal best.

Matt Grzelcyk – A-. Grzelcyk may be challenged in certain defensive situations, but he defends by retrieving the puck and moving it quickly out of the D-zone. He’s especially effective when paired with McAvoy.

Brandon Carlo – B-. Carlo has had his share of rough games, but his reach and skating ability allow him to be effective on most nights.

Derek Forbort – B-. Forbort was hired to give McAvoy a more stout partner after Grzelcyk had trouble with bigger forwards in the playoffs, but the experiment has mostly been abandoned. For a classic stay-at-home, no-frills D-man, Forbort does a decent job of getting pucks through from the blue line.

Connor Clifton – B-. Clifton is ever a gamer, but he’s had a hard time holding off competition for a job from first Jakub Zboril and later Urho Vaakanainen.

Mike Reilly – C+. After a slow start, Reilly found himself as a healthy scratch, not what you want after Reilly was signed to a three-year $9 million contract. He’s had a hard time consistently reaching the level of play he displayed last season after being obtained at the deadline.

Incomplete – Jakub Zboril, Urho Vaakanainen, John Moore.

GOALTENDING

Linus Ullmark – B+. The four-year, $20 million deal is looking much more palatable than it did earlier in the year, when the odd soft goal was more prevalent in his game. Don’t look now, but his record is up to 16-6-1.

Jeremy Swayman – B. The rookie set a very high bar with his short call-up last year and, early on, he had a hard time reaching it as he battled troubles with his rebound control. But by the time he became the odd man out to make room for the Tuukka Rask gambit, he had righted his game.

Incomplete – Tuukka Rask

 

COACHING

Bruce Cassidy – B+. You can say it took him too long to break up the top line, dropping down David Pastrnak to play with Taylor Hall, and it would be fair. But he eventually did it and the move turned the B’s season around, not to mention the individual seasons for players like Hall and Haula. He’s still got his work cut out for him in finding the right mix on the back end and juggling the goalie situation.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/ZImGznq