Going into this season, the expectation was that the Bruins' new-look young defense would require some patience.
Then the first month of the season -- in which the Bruins had the best record in the NHL and the fewest goals allowed -- tricked us into thinking maybe it wouldn't require as much patience as anticipated.
The last month and a half has certainly disabused everyone of that notion. While the raw numbers over the Bruins' last 22 games still aren't horrible -- their 2.86 goals-against average during that stretch is basically middle-of-the-pack -- it's clear the defense has taken a step back.
Part of that is obviously injuries. Not having Brandon Carlo to lead the second pairing or Kevan Miller the third has stripped away some steady veteran play this group could certainly use right now.
But part of it is also that the young blue-liners behind the top pairing of Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy (which has been one of the best pairs in the NHL since being put together) have all come back to earth to varying extents and have been showing some of the inexperience you would have expected to see earlier in the season.
The easiest of the bunch to pick on right now is Jeremy Lauzon. After holding his own on the top pairing next to McAvoy to start the season, Lauzon has struggled mightily since returning from a fractured hand. In Monday night's 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers, it was two bad holding penalties, one of which led to the Flyers' tying goal in the third. Before that, it was a pair of bad turnovers that led to goals in one game last week and bad gap control that led to him getting beat one-on-one for a goal in another.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy acknowledged that Lauzon is still playing through some discomfort -- he also suffered a cut last week that required stitches -- and you could sense that he was trying not to rip him too much postgame Monday night, but he also made it clear that Lauzon needs to be better.
"He has to play through it," Cassidy said of Lauzon. "If he can't, we'll have to make a determination of putting the next guy up in. We had a plan in place early on. I thought he was doing a good job. Obviously anybody playing with Charlie is going to look more effective, so that's something else we have to look at. We're going on the road, if Kevan Miller's a possibility, that helps solidify another pair. So that's a little bit part of it too. We've been down a few guys with Carlo and Miller being out.
"Those are guys that can solidify pairs, but they're not in the lineup, so guys have to play through it, find ways. That's it. I don't know how else to say it. Yes, he's in the lineup, and when you're in, play through your mistakes, get better, learn from them, move on. And hopefully that'll be the case [Tuesday]."
Jakub Zboril and Connor Clifton haven't been any better recently, even if their mistakes haven't been quite as obvious. Like Lauzon, both have struggled to break pucks out, forcing them to spend too much time in their own zone.
And it was when asked about the breakout that Cassidy delivered another telling quote Monday night, one that makes it clear his patience is being tested.
"Listen, we've had trouble all year below the goal line," Cassidy said. "We don't have those guys… late in the game, Sean Kuraly made a hell of a play down low, kind of recovers a puck below the goal line as a center, and he makes a little hesitation move, a little deception, and drops it to, I think it was Lauzon -- in that particular case, the open guy. Some confidence probably, a guy who's been in that position before, but a really nice play to put out a fire, so to speak, in terms of a forecheck. We just don't have enough of that back there right now.
"Guys are working on it. Some of it is, it's not in their DNA as much as others. I mean, Matt Grzelcyk has been excellent at that since he walked in the door. We've encouraged that, as long as he doesn't get sort of in the crosshairs, where he can't get away. But in general, we need a little more of that, a little deception, maybe a better read so that we execute the right read and the right play. But that's still a work-in-progress back there, and it will be until guys are more comfortable, and that's a fact of life for us."
Cassidy isn't explicitly begging general manager Don Sweeney to acquire some more help on the back end there, but he sure sounds like a coach who knows he needs it. "We just don't have enough of that." "It's not in their DNA as much as others." "We need a little more of that."
He expressed similar sentiments last week when talking about his D's play at the other end of the ice, specifically when it comes to getting shots through from the point.
"I get frustrated with the younger guys that make the same mistakes, or can't get their shot through from the point," Cassidy said then. "It's frustrating when teams collapse against you and you get a low-to-high and you look like you've got some action, and you get a shot blocked and back they come and you're in the penalty box, and you lose some momentum. That's the frustration and that's just a learning curve for some of them. And some of them will learn it and be better off for it. Some won't and they won't be here."
With less than a week to go before the April 12 trade deadline, Sweeney and Co. must decide if they think these young defensemen can still get to a place where they'll be able to execute at a high enough level come playoff time, or if it's going to require significant investment at the position via trade. And that's to say nothing of the need to still add a forward as well.
Yes, patience is needed with young players. The Bruins have exhibited quite a bit of it when it comes to their defense so far. But they're now at a point where patience alone might not fix this.
