Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic and Jakub Zboril entered the 2020-21 season with a combined 26 games of NHL experience under their belt, with Frederic accounting for 17 of those.
Five games into the shortened 56-game season, the three youngsters have all made positive impacts for the Bruins.
“Zboril has been a really nice surprise and I don’t know if surprise is really the right word, we just didn’t know, we haven’t seen as much as him,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy. “But I find that he’s going back on pucks, showing lots of courage and lots of poise all wrapped into one and he’s coming out of piles with pucks.”
Zboril certainly has earned everything given to him so far, earning lots of trust from the coaching staff. Zboril’s 80:19 of five-on-five ice time only trails Charlie McAvoy (91:13) for the team lead in five-on-five ice time. In all-situations, he’s tied with Brad Marchand for second in ice time with 98:46, once again trailing McAvoy.
“We knew he could make good plays and know he’s going in and winning those battles, has the confidence to compete against men and if he can do that, he has the ability to transition pucks,” said Cassidy.
In Saturday’s 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, Zboril saw 1:16 of power play time, picking up his first point of the season, assisting on Marchand’s second goal of the game.
His assist was nothing flashy, but for a young defenseman that you want to see make the smart, safe plays while growing confidence in his game, it was exactly what he needs to do.
“Offensive blue line, he’s got some confidence there. Always had a good shot and we’ve liked what we’ve seen so far. He’s partnered with the right guy as well with Kevan Miller. Miller is a big brother, he’ll have his back and he’ll push him in practice and that’s been excellent.”
Of defensive pairings that have played at least 50 minutes of five-on-five time together, Miller and Zboril’s 57.14 corsi for percentage ranks fifth in the league. The pairs 1.7 expected goals against mark ranks 10th in the league.
Like Zboril, Frederic too picked up his first point of the season on Saturday, assisting on Charlie Coyle’s second period tally. Frederic was bumped up to the third line alongside Coyle and Craig Smith, making an immediate impact on the line.
“Freddy, only a matter of time. The more ice time he gets, the more—especially with those two guys, he’s around the puck. Made a really high-end play today,” said Cassidy.
It was by far the best game of Frederic’s young career, totaling 14:31 of ice time. He had an assist, drew an offensive-zone penalty that led to a Patrice Bergeron goal, drew another Flyers penalty, leading to Marchand’s tally and got far enough into Carter Hart’s personal space to allow Smith to pick up his first of the season
“Some of the video we showed him, he was going through and kicking pucks out, then going behind the net and off to the side,” Cassidy said. “Reroute yourself to the front. You can’t run over the goalie. But you’ve got to get to the top of the crease. The Smith goal is a great example of that. Good for him. He took it to heart.”
All of this is new to Frederic. Playing in the NHL and as a natural center, playing the wing. But none of that seems to be bothering him.
“He’s earned it. He’s gotten better and better as the weeks go by. He’s making a difference. Whether it’s playing that way, being a big body, winning battles, hanging on to the puck, getting under people’s skin the right way without going in the box himself, we saw that tonight too,” said Coyle.
“It’s huge. He knows what we need from him. He’s doing it very well. He’s a fun guy to play with. He’s always happy. He’s always talking on the bench. It makes it easy for us to play with.”
Although he didn’t factor in any of the scoring on Saturday, Studnicka seemingly opened the floodgates for the Bruins on Thursday, scoring the team’s first five-of-five goal of the season.
“Jack Thursday, gets his first goal, we need some contributions from those younger guys. Certainly don’t have to carry the team, but when they pinch in, everyone feels good about their game,” said Cassidy.”
With players like Bergeron, Marchand, McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and David Pastrnak—who should be returning to the lineup very soon—youngsters like Studnicka, Zboril and Frederic can continue to develop at their own pace, while contributing to the team on a nightly basis.
By not addressing some of the team’s bigger needs in the offseason, general manager Don Sweeney was showing an investment in the youth the Bruins have.
Investing in the unknown you can say.
So far, his investments are paying off.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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