The Bruins are 4-2, but the next stretch will tell them plenty.
It starts Tuesday night in San Jose, where Boston opens its annual California trip with an 11 p.m. puck drop and, almost as importantly, the return of Charlie McAvoy. After serving a six-game suspension, the top defenseman is back in the mix just as the Bruins head into a four-game road test that runs through the Sharks, Ducks, Kings and Stars.
That creates the kind of blue-line puzzle coach Marco Sturm and assistant Matt McIlvane have to solve on the fly. McAvoy’s return helps enormously, but it also forces some hard decisions about who plays with whom and which defenseman gets squeezed out.
At Monday’s practice at SAP Center, the first version had Hampus Lindholm sliding onto the top pair with McAvoy, Nikita Zadorov lining up with Will Borgen, and rookie Frederic Brunet with Mason Lohrei. If that sticks, Connor Clifton would be the odd man out and head to the press box alongside Jonathan Aspirot, who has sat the last three games.
Clifton’s case isn’t built on poor play. He led the Bruins in ice time in Saturday’s win over Philly, which makes the call more about fit than performance. Still, the alignment makes sense on paper, especially with Brunet and Lohrei both making strong cases to stay in the lineup.
Brunet, 23, has looked comfortable in his first three games and seems to be building toward exactly the kind of draft-and-develop win the Bruins like to see. Lohrei has been even more noticeable lately, scoring in each of his last two games, including the insurance goal that finally blew open the Flyers game. With Lohrei also sitting in the middle of trade speculation as a pending restricted free agent after this season, scratching him would be a strange way to handle a player whose value is trending up.
Sturm made it clear the picture is still fluid.
“They’re tough choices. It’s not because they guys aren’t playing well.
That’s not the truth. I think they’ve all played well,” Sturm told reporters in San Jose.
“Sometimes it goes by (righty or lefty) or by feeling, whatever it is. We’re early, too.
We’ve got to figure it out. We have to do that moving forward.
But we feel really comfortable as of (Tuesday). It’s a tough road trip.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we might need all of them at some point, including the forwards. So we’ll see.”
Boston’s depth on defense is one of the quieter strengths on the roster right now. The Bruins have eight usable defensemen, and even Henri Jokiharju or Jordan Harris in Providence could step in as an extra if needed. That’s a luxury plenty of teams don’t have.
It also doesn’t make the trip any easier. San Jose’s young offense, led by Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, will be a real test, even with McAvoy back in the fold. The Bruins know that, and McAvoy knows his role doesn’t change no matter where he lands.
“I’m really excited to be back,” McAvoy told reporters. “The guys have been doing a great job so I’m really excited to be rejoining a team that’s starting to find their stride and playing really good.”
He spent much of camp paired with Brunet, but this time Sturm appears set to keep the rookie with Lohrei and move Lindholm up beside McAvoy. Lindholm has already spent the early part of the season with Borgen, and that pairing had been working well.
“I played with (Lindholm) before and I truly think I’ve played with everybody before,” McAvoy said. “I got some reps with Bru in the preseason so I think I can say that I have played with everybody.
No matter who I’m with, my job always stays the same, to be the absolute best that I can be and try and elevate my partner. … Let’s make each other’s lives easier.
If it’s (Lindholm) or someone else moving forward, that doesn’t change.”
If Lindholm and McAvoy do end up together, there’s at least a clear upside: a pair with enough defensive stability to let each of them jump into the attack when the moment is right.
“I’m going to try and get involved in that side of the game and try and do it responsibly. I know he can do the same,” McAvoy said.
“When the time is right, I think every one of our defensemen here has that ability to join and be that second layer. I know he does open that up for me, being as good defensively as he is, but he likes to go sometimes, too.
We’ll take care of each other.”
In Other News...
Bruins Just Got A Big Blue Line Question On This Road Trip
Charlie McAvoy is poised to rejoin the Bruins for the opening game of their four-game West Coast trip against the San Jose Sharks, giving Boston a familiar anchor back on the blue line at a time when the schedule is about to tighten up. It is the kind of return that can settle a defense group quickly, especially on the road, where matchups and pairings tend to matter even more.
The question now is which defenseman will skate next to him when the Bruins set their lineup for San Jose. Mason Lohrei, Jonathan Aspirot and Frederic Brunet are all in the mix, and the choice says plenty about how Boston wants to balance puck movement, size and reliability as the trip begins. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Push Comes With One Offensive Pressure Point
The Bruins are trying to carry some of last seasons late push into a new year, and one of the quieter themes coming out of camp is where the offense has to come from beyond the forward lines. Boston got itself into the Stanley Cup Playoffs under Marco Sturm despite a sluggish start, and the coach has been clear that the next step is building a more dangerous attack from the blue line. It is not just about puck movement or clean exits, but about defensemen making themselves part of the scoring answer more often.
Mason Lohrei has given that idea a timely boost. The young defenseman has come through with important goals in each of the last two games, helping the Bruins in wins and giving Sturm a useful example of the kind of contribution he wants to see more consistently. Whether that becomes a real trend will matter for a Boston team that is still trying to define how much offense it can expect from its back end. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Blue Line Questions Arent Gone Just Because Charlie McAvoy Is Back
Charlie McAvoy is back from his suspension, and the Bruins wasted little time reshuffling the blue line around him. At practice, McAvoy skated with Hampus Lindholm on the top defensive pair, while Nikita Zadorov and Will Borgen worked together on the second unit and Mason Lohrei lined up with Frederic Brunet on the third.
Coach Marco Sturm suggested those looks are the most likely combinations for the upcoming game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. It gives Boston a clearer picture for now, but it also underscores that the defensive puzzle is still being sorted out even with McAvoy available again. [Read more 🡒]