The Bruins amassed 112 points last year thanks to some truly spectacular individual seasons. David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand all topped 30 goals, Torey Krug set a career-high with 59 points in 76 games, and both Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen were among the leading rookie scorers in the entire NHL.
So naturally everybody wonders how the Bruins will fare this season. Here are some projections for the Bruins forwards, based on careful statistical examination and a dash of “gut feeling” thrown in for good measure. Today we look at the Bruins defensemen and goalies:
ALSO: How the forwards will perform
Torey Krug – 10 goals, 39 points and a plus-2 rating. Krug will miss a month or so with a left ankle injury, and that will take a bite out of his total, still solid production.
Charlie McAvoy – 10 goals, 45 points and a plus-20 rating. McAvoy should make the next step this season with a bigger role on the power play, and a healthy season where he can see just how good he can actually be at the NHL level.
Zdeno Chara – 6 goals, 25 points and a plus-25 rating. Chara doesn’t see much power play time these days, but he still makes his share of plays with his 108-mph shot and underrated offensive abilities.
Brandon Carlo – 3 goals, 13 points and a plus-12 rating. Carlo is better than his six-assist offensive total from last season, but let’s be honest here. His value is as a developing shutdown defender. That’s his bailiwick.
Boston Bruins
John Moore – 5 goals, 17 points and a plus-10 rating. Moore still has a bit of an undefined role with the Bruins given the other players on the roster, but it sure looks like he’s going to plug into a top-4 role with some offensive chances.
Matt Grzelcyk – 6 goals, 22 points and a plus-21 rating. Grzelcyk will make a step offensively after working on his shot in the offseason, and could also see a little bit of power play time this season from time to time.
Tuukka Rask – 32 wins, 12 losses and six loser points, a 2.45 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. The most polarizing guy on the Bruins roster will once again put up statistics that are perfectly solid, but will also once again come up short in some of the biggest moments in the season.
Jaroslav Halak – 16 wins, 7 losses and seven loser points, a 2.33 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Halak is coming to Boston to compete with Tuukka Rask and he might just end up with better stats while serving as Rask’s understudy. Wouldn’t that be special?
- Watch Bruins vs Capitals at 7:30pm Wednesday on NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey