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2013-14 Player Preview: Gregory Campbell

September 16, 2013, 5:02 PM ET [45 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After falling just short of their second Stanley Cup in three years, the Boston Bruins are charged up and ready to start their 2013-14 campaign.

With realignment giving the Northeast Division a new look and name, HockeyBuzz.com's Ty Anderson will take a look at the expectations of every big league Bruin for this year and beyond with his player previews.

First up, fan favorite and bottom-six stalwart Gregory Campbell.

The Basics
Name: Gregory Campbell (No. 11)

Position: Center

Height and weight: 6-foot, 197 pounds.

How he got here: Campbell (along with Nathan Horton) were sent to Boston in a June 2010 trade that moved Dennis Wideman and the Bruins’ 2010 first round pick to Florida.

The Stats

- In three years with the Bruins, Campbell has amassed 25 goals and 58 points in 206 games. Over that stretch, he has posted a plus-10 rating with 214 penalty minutes. For his career, however, Campbell’s recorded 54 goals and 143 points in 569 contests.

- During his time in Boston, the B’s have a 19-8-2 record in games that have seen Campbell drop the gloves. They were 4-1-1 in 2013 when Campbell engaged in a fighting major.

- Last season was the first season that saw Campbell win less than 50 percent of his faceoffs as a Bruin. He finished the year with 189 wins and 212 losses at the dot, a .471 faceoff percentage.

The Money

Campbell will enter this season in the second year of a three-year contract worth $4.8 million signed in June 2012, coming with a $1.6 million cap-hit (and an actual salary of $1.7 million).

Direct comparables come with Winnipeg’s Jim Slater and the Lightning’s Nate Thompson and their exact cap-hits to Campbell, and similar contracts can be found throughout the New York Rangers’ bottom six, with names like Brian Boyle ($1.7 million), Taylor Pyatt (1.55 million), and Derek Dorsett ($1.633 million).

Perhaps a bit expensive by fourth line standards, Campbell’s role in Boston has certainly made him seemingly worthy of that cap-hit, especially when looking at his direct and near-direct comparables. When needed, be it because of an injury or a slump, Campbell has proved himself capable of stepping up to the Bruins’ third line and not missing a beat. And while he’s not the most potent scorer, his career-best 13-goal year in 2010-11 told us that he’s got some power in that stick of his.

Like most Bruin forwards, and especially those on the bottom-six, it’s the consistency with the ‘other stuff’ that’s made his contract a relative steal for the Bruins over an 82-game grind.

The Past

In his third season with the Bruins, the 29-year-old Campbell continued to serve as the centerpiece of the club’s famed ‘Merlot Line’ featuring Shawn Thornton and Danny Paille on the wings. Jumping out to a hot start with a goal, three points and a fighting major in his first four games of the year, Campbell continued to serve as an embodiment of what the B’s want out of their bottom-six. He was mean, edgy, and wasn’t afraid to chip in with the occasional goal here and there.

And while Campbell suffered from some heinous cold-streaks from an offensive standpoint -- going 11 straight games without a point at one point and then eight games in a row later in the year -- the hard-nosed pivot remained a fixture on Boston’s ferocious penalty-kill, which finished with the fourth best percentage in the league at 87.1%.

Finishing with four goals and 13 points in 48 games, just three points away from matching his 2011-12 total in 30 fewer games, Campbell undoubtedly played a major part in the Bruins’ secondary scoring department this past season given the fractured tibia suffered by Chris Kelly. But without question flying under the radar was the nine-year veteran’s durability, as he finished the year as just one of the club’s two forwards to skate in all 48 games (Tyler Seguin was the other).

In the postseason, Campbell returned to his role of a pure energy forward out there, trusted for ‘kickstarting the Bruins’ engines’ with a key faceoff win or hard battle in the corner, Campbell’s dedicated and commitment to the three-zone war showed in the second round, as the Bruins’ fourth line simply took it to the New York Rangers. Absolutely hammering Henrik Lundqvist and dominating a matchup against the Rangers’ fourth line, Campbell finished the second round, five-game series victory over the Blueshirts with three goals and four points in five games, most notably scoring the game-winning, series-winning tally in Game 5.

However, those points seemed like a moot point when Campbell finished a name-chanting, folkhero-status-cementing shift on one damn leg. Breaking his leg on a blocked shot blasted his way from Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, the former third round pick got up, hobbling on one leg, and even helped keep the Pens off the board on the PK en route to a B’s overtime win at the Garden.

It was an absolutely unbelievable thing to watch live (and on your TV for that matter), and has probably earned Campbell free drinks in Boston for the rest of his life, even if he doesn’t want be glorified for the play.

The Future

When cleared for contact, not too much is going to change for Campbell in 2013-14.

He’ll still be centering the Bruins’ fourth line, be part of the club’s penalty-killing forward core, and get chances to provide a spark somewhere else in the lineup throughout the year. He’ll probably see some power-play time as well if the B’s special teams unit sputters once again, with Campbell providing a solid net-front option for tips and traffic. Given the upgrades to the Bruins’ top two lines, the club’s fourth line has the chance to take advantage of some favorable match ups, especially at home, and that’s something that’ll boil down to how Campbell performs when ready to go.

At the end of the day (or year in this case), I think you’ll see Campbell match his career-high for the third time in his career with 13 goals, and add 14 assists for 27 points in 77 games.

Subban vs. Subban tonight in Montreal

Finally, the preseason is officially upon the Black-and-Gold.

Heading up to Montreal for their preseason opener, the Bruins aren't bringing their A-squad to tonight's game at the Bell Centre, but are giving fans a peek at the club's projected top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Jarome Iginla. Along with the trio, notable NHLers making the trip include Shawn Thornton, Danny Paille, Adam McQuaid, Torey Krug, and Carl Soderberg.

In net, Malcolm Subban is expected to split time with likely 2013-14 backup Chad Johnson in his first appearance against older brother and defending Norris Trophy winner, P.K. Subban.
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