Boston Bruins 2015-16 Season Preview

By Alex Hobson

2014-15 LEADING SCORERS

Patrice Bergeron (23 G, 32 A, 55 P)
Loui Eriksson (22 G, 25 A, 47 P)
Carl Soderberg (13 G, 31 A, 44 P)

LAST SEASON

The 2014-15 Bruins season did not go as planned. A regular playoff team, something just didn't click this year in Beantown, and resulted in the Bruins missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2006-07 season. They lost one of their better defensive defensemen in Johnny Boychuk before the season began, in a trade with the New York Islanders that saw two second round picks and a third round pick head back the other way. In a last-ditch effort to improve their roster, they made two trades on deadline day, sending two second rounders to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Brett Connolly, and sending young forward Jordan Caron to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Maxime Talbot. They also completed a depth deal with the Minnesota Wild, sending Jared Knight in exchange for Zack Phillips. Unfortunately for the Bruins, this wasn't enough to help them reach the playoffs, and they ended up finishing fifth in the Atlantic Division.

OFFSEASON

IN

Colin Miller
Zac Rinaldo
Sean Kuraly
Jimmy Hayes
Matt Beleskey
Matt Irwin

OUT

Milan Lucic
Martin Jones
Dougie Hamilton
Justin Florek
Paul Carey
Chris Breen
Bobby Robins
Daniel Paille
Niklas Svedberg
Gregory Campbell
Matt Bartkowski
Rielly Smith

The Boston Bruins had the most wild start to the 2015 offseason than any other team. Beginning at the draft, where most of the action took place. Following the firing of former GM Peter Chiarelli and the hiring of new GM Don Sweeney, tons of moves happened in Beantown, beginning shortly before the draft when the Bruins sent forward Carl Soderberg to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a sixth round pick. They also made a further trade, sending Rielly Smith along with the contract of Marc Savard to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Jimmy Hayes. Then came the most hectic part of the moves, the draft. The Bruins already owned the 14th overall pick in the draft, but immediately added another when they traded defenseman Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames in exchange for their 15th overall pick, and then proceeded to trade fan favourite Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for goaltender Martin Jones and the Kings' 13th overall pick. And just like that, the Bruins owned picks #13, #14, and #15.

The Bruins then used those picks to select defenseman Jakub Zboril, forward Jake DeBrusk, and forward Zachary Senyshyn respectively. Many were blown away by these picks, given that DeBrusk was a projected late first round pick and Senyshyn was a projected third round pick, but eventually trusted that Sweeney knew what he was doing. Come free agency, the Bruins got rid of several players that had served for a while, such as Daniel Paille and Greg Campbell, and parted ways with players such as Lucic and Hamilton via trade. They brought in Matt Beleskey to provide the grit and scoring touch left by Lucic, along with a young forward in Jimmy Hayes to replace Rielly Smith, and brought in a few more depth players such as Zac Rinaldo and Matt Irvin.

NEXT SEASON PT 1. OFFENSE
The Bruins offense is very questionable heading into next year, given that they gave up several pieces of their scoring front such as Lucic and Smith, and also got rid of veteran forwards in Campbell and Paille. Nevertheless, look for Matt Beleskey to step in and try to fill the void left by Lucic to provide grit and offense. The offense will continue to be lead by David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand, with secondary scoring coming from Hayes, Beleskey, and Loui Eriksson. Look for youngsters such as Alexander Khokhlachev and Ryan Spooner to solidify themselves spots on the forward core, as well as young sniper David Pastrnak to step into a bigger role on the team.

NEXT SEASON PT 2. DEFENSE
The Bruins have an aging defensive core, with their top two defensemen being the 38 year old Zdeno Chara and the 34 year old Dennis Seidenberg. They got rid of their most promising young defenseman in Dougie Hamilton, so look for players such as Torey Krug and new acquisition Matt Irwin to step into bigger roles.

NEXT SEASON PT 3. GOALTENDING

Here is another interesting part to the Bruins' team, their goaltending. Tuukka Rask will without question be their starter this year, but their trusty backup in Niklas Svedberg left the team, so this leaves the Bruins three options in Malcolm Subban, Jeremy Smith, and Zane McIntyre. For the first little bit, it looks like the Bruins could give Subban the call behind Rask given his amount of experience compared to Smith and McIntyre, but anything could happen throughout the year. It's likely that all three see some NHL time this year.

POSSIBLE 2015-16 OPENING NIGHT LINEUP:
Matt Beleskey - David Krejci - Loui Eriksson
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Max Talbot - Ryan Spooner - Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo - Chris Kelly - Brett Connolly

Zdeno Chara - Torey Krug
Dennis Seidenberg - Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller - Matt Irwin

Tuukka Rask
Malcolm Subban

Trade Bait for the Bruins

 By Isaac Edwards
In today's NHL, It's not easy to have a team that's capable of winning the Stanley Cup, and staying within the salary cap. That's something that's been haunting the Boston Bruins for too long now. They've had the right pieces of the puzzle in previous years, but have had to let a few players walk due to the salary cap, and have paid the price for it, especially this past season. Here are a few players I think they could possibly deal during the off-season and the 2015-16 season as a whole.

Chris Kelly
At 34 years of age, Chris Kelly is a veteran forward in the NHL, and could be a valuable player for a young team who needs a veteran's experience like Toronto or Edmonton. I've been saying that the Bruins should try and deal Kelly along with Malcolm Subban, a few prospects, and maybe a draft pick or two for a guy like Jordan Eberle. The trade would work for both teams, as Edmonton needs a guy like Kelly to help lead the team to success. Subban has great potential, and could become a #1 starter in the NHL someday, and the Oilers could for sure use him. Even though Edmonton has a ton of young prospects without this years upcoming draft, a few other players couldn't hurt. As for Boston, they desperately need a goal scorer, and that's where Eberle comes in. One thing that could certainly hurt Boston in this deal is that they'd need the Oilers to retain some of Eberle's salary, just because Kelly's contract is only worth 3M, and Eberle's is 6M. If this trade was to ever happen, I'd really like to see it happen before the upcoming draft.

Dennis Seidenberg
Much like Chris Kelly, Dennis Seidenberg is a veteran player who would fit with a team who needs a player who rookies can look up to. He's 33 years old, with a cap hit of 4M for the next 3 seasons. I'm not exactly sure who they would trade Seidenberg for, or who they would get in return for him, but if they need to dump some cap space to make room for a player to sign, Dennis is a nice option to have. A possible destination for Seidenberg could possibly be Ottawa. Though they already have star players like Erik Karlsson and Mark Methot, they also have several younger defensemen like Cody Ceci who could use the extra help from the experienced D-man. I'm not quite sure what the Bruins would get in return, but I'd like to maybe see a guy like Colin Greening come over along with maybe a prospect and a draft pick or two.

Zdeno Chara
Every single Bruins fan has their own opinion on this topic, and I don't want to see Big Z get traded. He's one of the best defensemen in the league, and is an absolute monster at 6"9. But if the right deal ever came up, I think Bruins' GM Don Sweeney should consider it. I have no idea what they would get in return, or who they would send him to, but they would probably get something good in return. If he ever is traded, it will probably be around the trade deadline, and only if the Bruins are on the track of missing the playoffs again. He has a monster of a contract at just about 7M for the next two seasons, and then 4M after that.

Dougie Hamilton
I think that if the Bruins trade Dougie Hamilton it will for sure be before the draft this coming Friday/Saturday. I've heard rumors that they could possibly trade his rights to Arizona for their 3rd overall pick. I would like if that happened, because Boston could draft a goal scorer like Dylan Strome. Hamilton is asking for a monster contract extension this off-season and wants around a 6-7M deal which Boston obviously can't afford.

Reilly Smith
Like Chara and Hamilton, I don't really want the Bruins to trade Reilly Smith, just because he has great potential. He's inked for around 3.5M for the next two seasons, and probably deserves a bigger contract, but signed for cheap with Boston knowing their cap space issues. I think that if he is traded, it will be part of a big deal that could possibly involve a name like Zdeno Chara or Milan Lucic which I would not like to see. A more likable deal would be trading Smith and Marc Savard's contract somewhere's else. Savard's on the Long Term IR, and has a cap hit of just a bit over 4M for the next two seasons. Like Chara though, I'd doubt you'll see Smith get traded.

Potential Line Combinations for Boston in 2015

By Isaac Edwards:

This could be a little tricky to predict considering the off-season has yet to come, but I believe I can predict , or at least get a little bit of it right. The main thing that Boston needs to get via either trade or signing a Free Agent is a top 6 forward who can score 25-30 goals a season. If they had that this past season, I believe they would've qualified for the playoffs. Their lines were mixed all season long, but near the end of the year, they seemed to have fairly consistent lines which produced decent numbers. Some of my predictions aren't going to include some players who are currently on their roster, just because I believe they won't be come September.
Reilly Smith-Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand
This lines been together for most of the time that Reilly Smith's been in Boston. It was originally suppose to be Loui Eriksson on a line with Bergeron and Marchand, but in the 2013-14 season, Eriksson was injured, and that's when they figured out that Smith worked well with them. Usually, the Bruins' Head Coach Claude Julian has Milan Lucic and David Krejci on the first line, but unless they can get a goal scorer who fits on that line, Smith-Bergeron-Marchand should be on top.
David Pastrnak-David Krejci-Milan Lucic
I had to think this one through a lot. At first it was "Should David Krejci be on the third line, and then have Pastrnak-Spooner-Lucic on the second", but I thought about how Claude trusts his veteran players more then the younger ones. So I dropped Ryan Spooner to the third line, and put Krejci with Looch and Pasta. Lucic and Krejci have always been together, either with Nathan Horton or Jarome Iginla. At least that was the case before Krejci caught the injury bug and missed a lot of the season. If the Bruins do in fact get a goal scorer (Jordan Eberle for example) then you can expect to see David Pastrnak drop a line in order to make space for the new player. Also, if the Bruins get a player like Eberle, you can expect to see this line take the top spot over Smith-Bergeron-Marchand
Alex Khokhlachev-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson have been great together in the two years that they've been with the Bruins, and you can expect to see them on the same line, unless either Soderberg Isn't re-signed by Boston, or any of them are traded (which is a possibility). Alex "Coco" Khokhlachev is a wild card to me, just because there's a few rookies who could be in the position. He's never cracked the Bruins' starting roster, so it could be hard to say. I have him on the third line, because it makes more since then putting him on the fourth line. Chris Kelly has always been on Boston's third line, but I believe he will be involved in a trade that will bring in a goal scorer that the Bruins need so badly. They'll be getting rid of a good chunk of change, and will be gaining more then they'll be losing. A possible trade could be for a guy like Jordan Eberle, because Boston also has draft picks they'd be willing to part with, along with a young goaltender with great potential like Malcolm Subban.
Brett Connolly-Ryan Spooner-Max Talbot
This line was the hardest for me to predict, just because like the third line, all of them could be involved in a trade, so I don't know if this will be a for sure thing. One of the hardest things about it though was putting Connolly on the fourth line, and have Coco on the third, because Connolly has much more experience over Khokhlachev. The reason I did it though was because Connolly's a RW, and both Spooner and Talbot are natural centers. Again, I'm sure this line won't be a thing for very long, if it even is.
Dougie Hamilton-Zdeno Chara
This is a classic veteran player placed with a younger player scenario. This combination has worked greatly over these past few seasons. They're both big guys, play great hockey, and Chara is always there to help Dougie whenever he needs it. Hamilton's an RFA come July 1st, but you can certainly count on him being re-signed. You'll see this combo almost every single night.
Torey Krug-Dennis Seidenberg
These are both players that people mention in trade talks, and personally, I'd trade Seidenberg over Krug. But aside from that, if they're both on the Bruins' roster at the beginning of the season, you can count on them being on the same line. Krug is a great offensive defensemen, while Seidenberg is the opposite, and plays solid defense.
Kevan Miller-Zach Trotman
Like Boston's fourth line, this is a tough one. Adam McQuaid is a long time D-man for Boston and is a UFA, but I think he's not going to be re-signed by Boston just because he's been so prone to injury. I'd love to see him back in the Black and Gold, but I just don't think he will be. Another thing that I found tough was do I choose Trotman or Joe Morrow? I ended up going with Trotman mainly because he has some experience, and a blistering shot. I think that they'll keep Miller just because if they get rid of McQuaid, they're going to need some toughness, and that's right up Miller's ally.
Tuukka Rask
Zane McIntyre
Obviously Tuukka Rask will be starting between the pipes for Boston, and it doesn't really need much of an explanation. But Zane McIntyre's a name not very many people recognize. He's had tremendous success with the University of North Dakota for the past three seasons, and has proved that he's ready to see some time in the NHL. As I said before, Malcolm Subban could be used a great trade bait, and that's why I don't have him as the backup.
***Final Lines***
Reilly Smith-Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand
David Pastrnak-David Krejci-Milan Lucic
Alex Khokhlachev-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Brett Connolly-Ryan Spooner-Max Talbot
Dougie Hamilton-Zdeno Chara
Torey Krug-Dennis Seidenberg
Kevan Miller-Zach Trotman
Tuukka Rask
Zane McIntyre