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The month of August has always been a dreadfully silent month in terms of hockey news. Like, to the point where I question what I’m even doing when I open my laptop in search of something new. (At one point, I swear to you that I saw a tumbleweed blow across the NHL.com homepage.) That’s why I’ve decided to try something semi-new, and make August a reader-request month of sorts. If it’s about the Bruins, hockey, or the NHL, and you wanna read it-- tweet it at me (@_TyAnderson), email me (
[email protected]), send a private message, or comment it in the boards of a blog.
Today’s blog comes courtesy of Twitter user @DavidManners, who asks for a line by line breakdown of the Boston Bruins projected forward lineup. Let’s break it down line by line, day by day.
After dissecting the fourth line on Wednesday, it’s time to take a look at Boston’s third line.
Following the offseason departure of third-line pivot
Carl Soderberg, the biggest change to the line will come with the official-yet-unofficial solidified spot for
Ryan Spooner after actual years of No. 51 struggling to carve out a full-time spot on the Big B’s. Given Soderberg’s ability to thrive in this role -- the Swede recorded 13 goals and 44 points this past season -- it’s not hard to imagine the smaller, speedier Spooner posting similar totals if he’s able to feast on bottom-pairings and power play minutes like Soderberg was a year (and then some) ago. And there’s reason to believe in Spooner, too.
When Spooner began the 2014-15 in Boston given injuries to David Krejci and Gregory Campbell, it was like he wasn’t even playing at all. He recorded zero points, just six shots on net, and won 17 of 37 faceoffs. He was soon banished to the American Hockey League and seemed like trade fodder for the B’s. But instead, Spooner finetuned his game in the areas head coach
Claude Julien and the front office wanted to see improvements in, and came back to Boston with a purpose.
And as another injury to Krejci opened the door for a second chance, Spooner never looked back.
Recording eight goals and 18 points in the final 24 games of the season, Spooner formed a serious connection with fellow youngster
David Pastrnak to his right and veteran power-forward
Milan Lucic on the left. Spooner, known as a pass-first centerman, also experienced greater success with his shot, especially on the man advantage, recording three power-play strikes.
It was that late surge that made the Bruins a bit more confident in moving on from Soderberg, too.
Finally, Spooner has Julien’s trust. And though it’s not to the degree of his trust in say any veteran on the Boston roster, it’s there, and fits into what the Bruins do with their third line perfectly.
So, if Spooner is centering the B’s third line this season, it only feels natural to slot Pastrnak in on his right wing. Fair or not, much was expected of the first-year pro last year. Sometimes he succeeded, and other times he stumbled and looked like, well, a first-year talent in the National Hockey League.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Pastrnak -- whose first professional year in North America finished with 21 goals and 55 points in 71 games between Boston and Providence (Pastrnak scored 10 goals and 27 points in 46 games with the Big B’s) -- will be a sensational offensive talent for the Bruins. He’ll be a high-end, top-tier talent. But he doesn’t have to be right now. And at 19 years old, a role on the B’s third line with a player he found an undeniable connection with in Spooner, seems like the perfect fit.
Given the minutes, the ability to go against different combinations (read as: easier), and lessened expectations, putting Pastrnak on the third line would seem like an easy win-win for both parties.
Of course, there’s nothing that says that No. 88 couldn’t work his way out of that spot, but throwing the Czech winger into the year with top-line expectations seems unnecessary at this point in his career.
But with Lucic traded to Los Angeles, there’s an open spot on the left wing of that line.
Now the Bruins tinkered with that spot a bit late in the year, giving it to
Chris Kelly with nightmarish results at one point. But if there’s a guy that I think the Bruins should seriously consider sticking on this line, it’s
Loui Eriksson. Although Eriksson has almost exclusively played on the right wing of Boston’s third line during his two-year tenure with the Black and Gold, he is a capable left-winger, and with a left-shot, could bring a strong complement to the Spooner and Pastrnak combo.
Eriksson is perhaps Boston’s strongest two-way winger, and has the offensive upside to hang with Spooner and Pastrnak’s speedier, high-intensity attacking game. He’s adept at playing third-line minutes, and would be ten times the defensive safety-net that Lucic was for that line. And that’s the biggest challenge for that line when it comes to Julien doling out their ice-time, you’d remember.
Julien wants to trust players late in tied games, and that was an issue last year when it came to the 17-51-88 trio, so putting Eriksson with the youngsters over a lumbering type like Lucic erases some of those worries, at least when it comes the support coming in the defensive zone.
Plugging Eriksson on the left wing would also prevent the Bruins from forcing natural right-wingers like Brett Connolly or Jimmy Hayes to play the left side, something they’ve never been keen on.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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