At the start of this offseason, Bruins president Cam Neely identified “that elusive left D we’ve been looking for” as the area of the roster he’d most like to see addressed. He went on to describe an all-around left-shot defenseman who “can chew up a lot of minutes” and play “more of a shutdown” role while also bringing “some puck movement, some offensive acumen.”
The offseason isn’t over yet, but the Bruins have made their free-agent moves, have little cap space remaining, and so far have not added a defenseman who really fits that description.
They did sign Derek Forbort in free agency. He checks some of the boxes the Bruins were looking for -- he’s bigger, he has played more of a shutdown role, and he kills penalties, but he brings little offensively. He has played top-four minutes, but on poor defensive teams. On a true Stanley Cup contender, he’s probably better suited to a third-pairing role.
As things stand now, the Bruins still don’t have a true top-pairing, left-shot defenseman to pair with Charlie McAvoy. Forbort, Matt Grzelcyk and Mike Reilly are all capable of playing 20 minutes on any given night, and it’s possible all three end up with average ice times right around that range, with none stretching into the 22-to-24-minute range. Things are more straightforward on the right side, with McAvoy atop the depth chart, Brandon Carlo on the second pairing, and Connor Clifton the third.
As for who will line up where, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy has already given it quite a bit of thought and shared his plans on a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday.
“We know Grizz and Charlie can play together,” Cassidy said. “Didn’t work out as well in the playoffs as we’d like. It’s a lot of demand on Grizz, so we brought in a guy like Forbort that’s bigger, more of a defender than Grizz -- I shouldn’t say that, but bigger defender, different type of defender. So we want to see how that’ll look with Charlie. Whether we do that every night or not remains to be seen. That’s a big ask. We know Grizz can slot in there at times. I think you’ll see some toggling there.
“We did not see Reilly with Charlie, probably won’t. I think he was a good fit with both Carlo and Clifton. I think we’re gonna see those guys move up and down a little bit, Forbort and Grizz with Charlie, see how it best works out. Clifton has a great shot to be that regular guy on the right side, A) because he shoots right, and B) because he’s gotten better every year. And now with a bit of an opening there, let’s see if he can take advantage of it.”
Jakub Zboril, John Moore and Urho Vaakanainen would be next on the depth chart, with Jack Ahcan, Brady Lyle and Tyler Lewington looming as possible dark horses. Cassidy isn’t closing the door on any competition for spots, but it certainly seems like the six regulars are pretty well set barring a surprise or injury.
“We also have Vaak and Zboril and Johnny Moore that shoot left, but have played the right side,” Cassidy said. “So we don’t want to give any spots away. There’s certainly some competition there. We like our depth. But Derek Forbort was brought in with the intention of competing for big minutes on this team. We know he can kill penalties, decent first pass, he’s a great teammate from what we’ve heard, so could be a great complement to Charlie McAvoy. Again, is he ready to handle that every night? Time will tell.
“I think you’ll see some pieces move around, and hopefully we stay healthy. But like I said, those other guys are there to push those six guys. That’s what you want on every good team. We’re going to miss Jeremy Lauzon obviously. He was a great Bruin, was getting better, good teammate. We put a lot of work in with Jeremy, but unfortunately that’s the hand we were dealt in expansion. Wish him the best in Seattle. I’m sure he’ll do a great job for them, but we have to get the next guy ready.”
Related
