Thursday was a feel-good night for the Bruins, and not just because they exorcised some final-minute demons when David Pastrnak scored with 17.2 seconds remaining to lift them to a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks.
It was also a night that featured a first career goal, an event that lifts everyone’s spirits. This one came from 24-year-old defenseman Jack Ahcan, playing in his eighth career NHL game. Getting a shift with the Bruins’ top power-play unit, Ahcan made a good pinch down the right wall, then made a good second-effort play to win back possession before firing a shot off the post and in.
The first player to celebrate with him was Pastrnak, quickly followed by Brad Marchand (who also fetched the puck for Ahcan), Patrice Bergeron and Taylor Hall. Not a bad group hug to be in the middle of.
“I didn't really know what to do with my hands or my body. I just kind of got off the ice and sat on the bench and things started to come back,” said Ahcan, who added that he would be giving the puck to his mom. “You work so hard to get here, and I dreamed about scoring a goal in the NHL. … My mind was racing, and I had to dial it back in, because there's still a lot of game left, and I think I did a good job.
“It is just such a great feeling. You do picture it in your head over and over before it actually happens. I didn't think once it would be like that, but it was a pretty awesome goal, and nice to get out of the way.”
Ahcan gave the Bruins something to celebrate Thursday night. Going forward, he gives them an interesting player to ponder. Ahcan has not looked out of place in his limited NHL experience, but until Thursday, his previous seven games had all been one-off opportunities.
This was the first time he had played in back-to-back games, and that only happened because Matt Grzelcyk was under the weather and unable to play. Otherwise, Grzelcyk would’ve returned and Ahcan would’ve been bumped out of the lineup.
But Ahcan has actually been with the team for a few weeks now. He joined them for their recent six-game West Coast road trip as an extra D, and even though he didn’t play on that trip, Ahcan said it was a great experience for him and helped him get more comfortable.
“Getting on the road with the guys for two weeks,” Ahcan said, “getting to know them a little more on a personal level, practicing with them every day -- I didn’t get a game on the road trip, but practicing every morning, hanging out in the hotel definitely made a big difference just on a comfort level.”
How much longer Ahcan stays with the NHL club remains to be seen. Assuming Grzelcyk’s illness is nothing serious, he should be back soon. Urho Vaakanainen has been practicing this week and is nearing a return from injury. Once both are back, one of Ahcan or Vaakanainen likely goes down to Providence. Vaakanainen had been playing well before his injury and has been trusted with more minutes than Ahcan (19:17 per game for Vaakanainen, 14:48 for Ahcan).
Ahcan hasn’t been perfect by any means. He was also on the ice for two goals against Thursday, although neither was really a bad play by him. One was a 4-on-1 resulting from a bad pinch by his partner, Brandon Carlo. Ahcan acknowledged after the game he probably should’ve kept his stick in the passing lane longer, but still: It was a 4-on-1 with one of the most dangerous offensive players of this generation, Patrick Kane, carrying the puck.
On the other, he actually did a good job forcing Brandon Hagel wide initially, but then as Hagel wrapped around the net neither Ahcan nor Jeremy Swayman were able to get to the far post to cut him off, in large part because Ahcan’s stick had gotten caught in Swayman’s pads. That can be cleaned up, but it was also a little bit of bad luck.
What Ahcan brings is enticing, though. Because of his size (5-foot-9) and being a left shot, Ahcan naturally draws comparisons to both Grzelcyk and Torey Krug. All three are a little different in terms of style, but there are plenty of commonalities: strong skating and puck-moving skills that help them break pucks out and get involved on the rush and in the offensive zone. Like Krug, Ahcan was also an undrafted free agent signed out of college.
Bruce Cassidy said it will come down to consistency in those areas of strength and refinement in other areas (like rush defense and d-zone coverage) for Ahcan to eventually establish himself as an NHL regular like Krug and Grzelcyk were able to do.
“Transition game, every touch, he has to value,” Cassidy said. “It's like when Grizz came up. Your bread and butter is going to be passing the puck up the ice and giving the forwards some transition opportunities in those areas, and he has to make sure he is very clean with those. Otherwise, if he's not, then most teams are going to prefer a bigger body to do the other things, so that's where he has to be good, and we'll keep working with him on it.”
The most likely road for the time being would seem to be Ahcan going back to Providence in the near future and continuing to develop there. At some point, though, he may force his way into a more permanent NHL job. Trying to do that with Grzelcyk ahead of him (and signed for two more years after this) raises the same question the Bruins faced when they had Grzelcyk and Krug on the same team. Is having two undersized D on the same side of the ice really ideal?
It’s worth remembering, however, that the Bruins came within one win of a Stanley Cup with a left side that featured Krug and Grzelcyk (and, of course, Zdeno Chara) in 2019. And they maybe win that Cup if Grzelcyk doesn’t get drilled from behind by Oskar Sundqvist and miss four games in the Cup Final.
There’s another possibility when it comes to Ahcan’s future. Because it’s trade deadline season, his value as a trade chip has to at least be considered. Ahcan isn’t even counted as a “prospect” anymore on some sites because of his age, but there were other teams interested in him two years ago when the Bruins signed him out of St. Cloud State, and he certainly hasn’t done anything to hurt his stock since. Teams looking for younger players who are NHL-ready or close to NHL-ready (a category Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril also fall under) could be particularly interested.
Everyone will worry about crossing that bridge if and when they get there, though. In the present, Thursday was a night for celebration.
“Everybody was so happy for me, and they've all been awesome to me lately and actually since I've signed,” Ahcan said. “It was just kind of overwhelming. Like I said, it was pretty sweet.”
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