2020-21 Bruins Preview

There are a few teams in the NHL that have not seized the opportunity to sign some players during the off season. One of those teams is the Bruins, and they have only signed a total of three players. THREE. And they missed out on re-signing star defenseman Torey Krug, which wouldn’t be so bad, if he didn’t go to the rival St. Louis Blues.

That signing in particular really ticked off me and my friends because he was given the same contract by the Bruins at the beginning of last season, and he had to go to, of all places, St. Louis, a team that I absolutely hate. They finally re-signed young forward Jake DeBrusk a couple of weeks ago, but the season ended almost 2 months ago.

But they are yet to resign the captain, Zdeno Chara. Even if it’s a one year deal, they should still get him back, because he’s been leading the team since 2006. So to see him walk out of the organization during free agency would be a shame. 

I honestly think that if the Bruins don’t make the playoffs this year, then they should fire GM Don Sweeney.

He didn’t do anything on the first day of free agency, much like last summer, and that might reflect on how the Bruins did this year.

However I don’t think that they should sack the current coach, Bruce Cassidy, as he won the Jack Adams Award for best coach last season. 

Sweeney also has an award for best GM, which he got in 2019, but still no Stanley Cup ring. Last year was Stanley Cup or bust for the Bruins, and they failed to do that, much like 2019 when they choked in game 7 of the Cup Final.

But the Bruins not making the playoffs this year doesn’t seem likely to me. They just came off a President’s Trophy winning season, which means that the core is as good as it’s ever been. 

With the NHL season just about to start, the picture is becoming more clear as to how the Bruins will shape up. This season for the Bruins will be one of two situations. They will either be dominant, or they will crash and burn. 

Some of the experts are saying that the Bruins are a top 10 team in the NHL right now, which makes sense, as their core hasn’t really changed. They will most likely not crash and burn for a couple of reasons. 

The first reason is that they are a resilient and close-knit group, which was best exemplified last season when the Bruins avoided the post cup final hangover, and won the Presidents Trophy for the best record in the NHL. That was promising until Covid hit.

Personally, had Covid not been a thing, then the Bruins would have won the cup last year, guaranteed. The second reason is that the Bruins have some of the best scouting in the league. The Bruins don’t ever get high, first round draft picks, because they are very good, but they stay good because of the great scouting. David Pastrnak would be a good example. He was a late first round draft pick that nobody wanted, and the Bruins took him, 25th overall, and now he’s one of, if not, the best right wingers in the sport.

But, that core is getting old. Bergeron is 35, Marchand is 32, Chara is 43, and David Krejci is 34. So they are getting old. But the young players are really starting to improve greatly, like Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Gryzelcyk. However, the future of the Bruins is unknown, so we don’t know what it’ll look like for the next couple of years.