Boston Bruins 2014-15 Season Primer

The Boston Bruins are the first team we are looking at in our 2014-15 Season Primer Series.

Use the below Tabs to view Bruins info for this upcoming season, as well as some numbers from last year.

2013-14 record: 54-19-9, 117 points
Where they finished: 1^st in the Atlantic; 1^st in the East; 1^st in the NHL; lost 4-3 in the second round of playoffs against Montreal 

Player Salaries: $70,062,000 (21)
Cap Payroll: $69,809,143
Bonuses: $600,000
Cap Space: $-809,143
Forwards: $38,635,476 (12)
Defensemen: $18,794,167 (7)
Goalies: $7,600,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek.com

In: Christopher Breen D, Jeremy Smith G
Out: Andrej Meszaros D, Blake Parlett D, Chad Johnson G, Jarome Iginla RW, Mike Moore D, Nick Johnson RW, Shawn Thornton RW

2014-15 Team Outlook:

During the regular season last year, the Bruins were one of the most dominant teams in the NHL, finishing 1^st in the entire league with 117 points on their way to winning the Presidents’ Trophy. The playoffs, however, were a different story.

After cruising by the beaten up Red Wings four games to one in the first round, the Bruins lost to their biggest rival, the Montreal Canadiens, in the second round during fierce series that went all seven games.

With what was thought of as the best team in the NHL, the Bruins not only failed to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but also fell to their enemy in the process; that’s got to sting a bit extra.

Due to financial reasons and the fact that their roster is still one of the better units in the league, this offseason the Bruins didn’t add a single NHL caliber player in free agency. Instead, the team lost useful players like Jerome Iginla (30 goals last season) to the Colorado Avalanche, Shawn Thornton to the Florida Panthers, Andrej Meszaros (who only appeared in 14 games for Boston) to the Buffalo Sabres, and goalie Chad Johnson (17-4 record with a .925 save percentage as the backup last season) to the New York Islanders.

Much attention has been drawn to the fact that Boston didn’t have the ability to add talent this offseason, but something that is being overlooked is the fact that the Bruins have the talent at the AHL level to replace some of those key players.

Offensively, the Bruins will be led by the deadly combination of Milan Lucic and David Krejci on their top line, with former 30 goal man Loui Eriksson (who was acquired in the Tyler Seguin trade with the Dallas Stars last year) likely to move up the depth chart and join them. Last season was one of the worst in Eriksson’s career, totaling just nine goals and 35 points in 58 games while dealing with concussion issues and getting used to the Boston system. If he can return to his former goal-scoring ways, Iginla’s replacement will have been found from within. On the second-line will be a familiar site, with Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith lining up on the wings around the two-way ace, Patrice Bergeron. The third-line is where it starts to get a little more difficult to figure out, with big winger Carl Soderberg being the only lock. The centre spot will be occupied by one of Chris Kelly, Ryan Spooner, or potentially 20 year old rookie Alexander Khokhlachev if the team wants to go with a more offensive style third-line. On the other empty wing spot will most likely be Jordan Caron, although young scoring wingers Matt Fraser, Seth Griffith and Craig Cunningham should also have a shot if they impress in camp. The fourth-line will consist of the usual suspects Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell, with either Spooner or Kelly (whoever doesn’t make the third-line) filling the other spot.

The Bruins defense is going to look very similar to last season, with Zdeno Chara and either Dennis Seidenberg or Dougie Hamilton on the first-pairing, Johnny Boychuk and either Hamilton or Seidenberg on the second, and Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid on the third. The only other defenseman with a legitimate shot at taking someone’s spot (McQuaid is the only expendable defenseman) is Joe Morrow, who like Eriksson, was acquired in the Seguin trade. The 21 year old 6’1” 206 lbs. defenseman is one of the Bruins top prospects who tallied six goals and 29 points in 56 games for the Providence Bruins last year.

Goalie-wise, the Bruins are set, even after losing Johnson. With the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Tuukka Rask, as the starter and Niklas Svedberg (only one game of NHL experience but has played in the Swedish Elite League and the AHL for the past two seasons) as the backup, Boston will be just fine. As crazy as it is to think, should Rask slip this season, and there is absolutely no reason he should, the Bruins also have their top prospect, according to HockeysFuture.com, Malcolm Subban (brother of P.K.) waiting in the wings as the starter for Providence.

Although they were unable to shake up their roster this offseason, the Bruins are still in a strong position heading into the 2014-15 season. With solid depth in all three areas (forward, defense, goaltending) the team will continue as one of the NHL’s best this year. They should have no problems making the playoffs in a top-three seeded position, but with that being said, this is the year that the Bruins need to decide if this is their core going forward, or if changes need to be made.

Written by Greg Stamper, who can be found on twitter @g_stamp91.

The depth chart listed below was taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30. Forward Reilly Smith and defenseman Torey Krug are restricted free agents that haven’t signed at time of this posting.

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Reilly Smith
Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Loui Eriksson
Ryan Spooner – Carl Soderberg – Chris Kelly
Daniel Paille – Gregory Campbell – Jordan Caron
Justin Florek – Matt Fraser

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

GOALTENDERS
Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg

A look at the Boston Bruins top prospects heading into this season. Each source may use different classifications as to if a player is deemed a prospect or has graduated on from a prospect.

* Dobber Prospects – Prospects based on relevance in a fantasy-hockey keeper league, not actual talent on the ice.

Draft History for the past five years.

Boston Bruins player stats from their 2013-14 season.

Performance and Usage Charts for the Boston Bruins for last season, from Extra Skater.