Boston Bruins 2013-14 Season Primer

• Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide

  One of the big questions going into the 2013 campaign was if Tuukka Rask would be able to provide the Boston Bruins with the same level of superb goaltending that they have become accustomed to during the Tim Thomas era.  He did.

  While he didn’t single-handedly carry the team – they’re far too talented for that to be necessary – Rask did however play a prominent role in the Bruins’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.

  Even still, goaltending remains a mild area of concern going into 2013-14.  Rask’s abilities aren’t in question, but last season he had the benefit of Anton Khudobin to help carry the load.  With Chad Johnson serving as the new understudy, the Bruins will be counting on Rask to carry a bigger load – and shatter his previous career high of 45 NHL games in a single season.

  That might not sound like a big issue, but part of the reason that’s noteworthy is because the Bruins are a team of few weaknesses.  Nathan Horton and Tyler Seguin are gone, but newcomers Loui Eriksson and Jarome Iginla will join Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Brad Marchand, to provide the team an abundance of offensive threats.

  Throw in the defensive leadership of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, along with arguably the best third and fourth lines in the league, and there are plenty of reasons to think the Bruins will remain a serious threat to win the Stanley Cup.

• Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide– Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness.

  Dobber’s lowdown on: Torey Krug – With points in seven of the first nine NHL games that he’s ever played, the 5-9 Krug made quite the splash in Boston. Especially when six of those games were in the postseason. His play tapered off as the team went deeper into the playoffs, but much of that was the opponent adapting to Boston’s new threat. He has a lot of upside and should post reasonable numbers right away.

  Over the last three seasons, when Nathan Horton was out of the lineup, Krejci managed just 29 points in 47 games (0.62). Otherwise, he had 128 in 154 (0.83). So despite Krejci’s excellent postseason, I don’t see a jump in the numbers.

  Soderberg was a prospect the Bruins tried for years to get over to North America. Now 27 (he’ll be 28 in October), he finally signed that three-year entry-level contract, but he was pretty much assured that he won’t be spending time in the AHL. So whether he slides in as a successful NHL regular right away, the way Damien Brunner did last year, or he spends time in thepress box, the way Roman Cervenka did last year, remains to be seen. Treat his fantasy value the way you treated Cervenka’s last summer.

  Paille had a surprising impact on the Bruins last season, posting his best points-per-game average in four years and then stepping it up even more in the playoffs. He’s in his niche as a third-liner, but there is no reason why he can’t get 35 or even 40 points. His ice time has inched up a full minute per game over the last two years to about 12:40, so the coach is warming up to him. More importantly, he’s not an offensive liability if someone – say Soderberg, for example – gets stuck on his line.

  Bergeron returned from a concussion in mid-April and managed just two points in 13 games, which dragged his overall average down. He had 30 points in 29 games prior to the injury.

Follow link for more info and stats

Additions: D Chris Casto, D Loui Eriksson, F Matt Fraser, F Jarome Iginla, G Chad Johnson, F Nick Johnson, F Matt Lindblad, D Mike Moore, D Joe Morrow, F Bobby Robins, F Reilly Smith

Subtractions: D Ryan Button, D Colby Cohen, F Kaspars Daugavins, D Garnet Exelby, D Andrew Ference, D Christian Hanson, F Nathan Horton, G Michael Hutchinson, F Jaromir Jagr, D Aaron Johnson, G Anton Khudobin, F Jay Pandolfo, F Rich Peverley, D Wade Redden, F Tyler Seguin, F Jamie Tardif, F Trent Whitfield

Promotion candidates>: G Niklas Svedberg, C Jared Knight, C Ryan Spooner, D Joseph Morrow

Player salaries: $66,040,000 (23)
Cap Number: $70,823,810
Bonuses: $5,787,500
Cap Space: -$1,701,310
Forwards: $44,275,476 (14)
Defensemen: $18,948,333 (7)
Goalies: $7,600,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek

Forwards
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Loui Eriksson
Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Jarome Iginla
Carl Soderberg – Chris Kelly – Reilly Smith
Daniel Paille – Gregory Campbell – Shawn Thornton
Jordan Caron

Defensemen
Zdeno Chara – Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg – Dougie Hamilton
Torey Krug – Adam McQuaid
Matt Bartkowski

Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Chad Johnson

2013 Boston Bruins Draft Results

Boston Bruins Top Prospects

2012-13 Boston Bruins Player Stats

Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.