Projecting Bruins’ lines, pairings for Opening Night of 2022-23 NHL season
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Projecting Bruins’ lines, pairings for Opening Night originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins will have to overcome injuries to some key players to begin the 2022-23 NHL season, but based on what we’ve seen in training camp and the first two preseason games, the team’s depth might be better than expected.
There’s lots of good internal competition going on right now, primarily for bottom-six forward spots and the third defense pairing.
Which players should we expect to make the NHL roster at this point? Here are our projected Bruins lines and pairings for Opening Night.
Forwards
The first two lines are pretty much set in stone. Things could obviously change if injuries occur during training camp and the preseason, but head coach Jim Montgomery has already hinted at what these line combos will be to start the season.
Pavel Zacha playing with Patrice Bergeron is a great way to integrate him into the lineup after the Bruins acquired him from the New Jersey Devils in the offseason. Jake DeBrusk had a strong finish to last season after moving to the Bergeron line, so keeping him there makes sense.
Bergeron excited for Zacha’s opportunity in Marchand’s absence
The Taylor Hall-David Krejci-David Pastrnak line speaks for itself. It could easily be the best second line in hockey.
The bottom six is where the real debates lie.
Trent Frederic will probably get another chance to prove he’s a useful NHL player. He found good chemistry with Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith last season, so he’ll probably return to third-line left wing to start the season. Frederic scored a career-high eight goals and 15 points in 60 games last season. If he could get to 13-15 goals, that would be a nice improvement and help him remain in the lineup.
Nick Foligno is an interesting one. He was awful last season, scoring just two goals in 64 games and zero goals in seven playoff games. His 2.0 shooting percentage was a career low, so he’s due for a mean reversal rebound. That said, Foligno’s…
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Source : yahoo
