Sean Kuraly found himself in an interesting spot around this year’s NHL trade deadline. While it would have been fairly surprising to see him traded, it wasn’t completely out of the question given that he’s a pending free agent.
But even staying put, Kuraly is one of the Bruins who could have been most affected by new acquisitions. He had already been a healthy scratch a couple times this season, so new players would obviously create even more competition for jobs.
The Bruins did add two forwards in Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar, along with defenseman Mike Reilly, but Kuraly still finds himself in the lineup for now. With all three new players in the lineup Tuesday night, Kuraly was the fourth-line left wing next to Lazar and Chris Wagner. Coach Bruce Cassidy has said that when Trent Frederic returns from his non-COVID illness, he’ll make it a four-man battle for the three fourth-line spots.
Appearing on The Greg Hill Show (with guest co-host Kendra Middleton) Thursday morning, Kuraly shared his reactions to the trades and first impressions of Hall in particular.
“It’s great,” Kuraly said. “I think any time you can add a piece like Taylor Hall to help with scoring and help the team, and he fits with our system really well with his speed and everything. Any trade deadline where you’re adding players is always a good trade deadline for a team, because you kind of get excited realizing that management thinks we’ve got a chance to make some noise in the playoffs. I think over the past three or four years, that’s been the case every time. Hopefully this year we can take the final step.”
Kuraly said that while he can’t speak to Hall’s offensive struggles this season in Buffalo (two goals in 37 games), he does think that sometimes a change of scenery can help get a player going.
“It would be tough for me to answer,” he said. “I think sometimes it’s a change of scenery -- sometimes there’s some pressures and things that happen in certain places, and you go somewhere new and it’s like you’ve got a clean slate and there’s kind of a fresh start.”
Kuraly said he and the rest of the team have tried to get the three new guys comfortable in their new home right off the bat. He already knew Mike Reilly, as the two played together a couple times growing up, including on the 2012-13 U.S. World Junior team. Being on a line with Lazar, Kuraly said he had to make sure they hit the ground running in terms of communication, including something as simple as what nickname he responds to on the ice (for the record, it’s “Lazer”).
“You’ve got the two coming from Buffalo, so they obviously know each other -- Lazar and Hall,” Kuraly said. “And I know Reilly from -- we’re the same age and played together on some other teams growing up and stuff, so that’s good. You try to definitely incorporate them.
“I think the first thing you ask is, what do you call them on the ice? What are their nicknames? What do they respond to on the ice? Like I was playing with Lazar, so I just asked him what he responds to on the ice. But yeah, it’s good. It’s fun. It’s new guys, fresh faces. They’re excited to be here. They weren’t on playoff teams, so they kind of come in with new life.”