With Rask back in mix, what is next for Bruins?
Things are really starting to look up for the Boston Bruins right now.
After their 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night, they are on a roll as a team and have been playing their best hockey of the season, sitting in a solid playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Their top line players — Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak — are all playing their usual dominant brand of hockey, especially Marchand who has a goal in for straight games, including three straight multi-goal games.
Defensively they are still one of the NHL’s best teams when it comes to suppressing shot attempts and scoring chances. Charlie McAvoy is once again leading the defensive performance with another outstanding season as he continues to be an annual Norris Trophy contender.
They are also getting Tuukka Rask, their longtime franchise goalie, back into the mix after he re-signed on a one-year, $1 million contract on Tuesday. He will make his season debut on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Put all of that together and there is a lot to be optimistic here for the Bruins. They may not currently be at the same level they have been at in recent seasons when they were one of the clear-cut top teams in the NHL, but they are not all that far off and are starting to play their way back to that point.
But even with everything starting to look really strong at the moment there are still a few things they could use to really bolster their roster for another playoff push and potential Stanley Cup Final run.
The obvious place to look is at second-line center where the Bruins are still trying to replace David Krejci. Scoring depth has been a problem for the Bruins for a couple of years now as they have typically struggled to get much beyond the top line of Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak. They briefly found something at the end of last year with Taylor Hall and Craig Smith playing next to Krejci, but the latter’s departure this offseason took some of that way.
