"They've been our best line."
Bruce Cassidy wasn't talking about his usual top line when he said that Tuesday night. Two-thirds of that line has been out. He wasn't talking about the Taylor Hall-Erik Haula-David Pastrnak trio either.
No, the line Cassidy was discussing was the one that features Charlie Coyle centering Trent Frederic and Craig Smith. It's a trio that played together a little bit early on last season, but hadn't played together at all this season before Saturday.
Their two games together have been impressive, though. They have scored in both outings, and they've done it by doing exactly what you would want to see from a bigger line like this: Going to the net and banging away. Trent Frederic scored on a rebound chance in Saturday's win over the Senators, while Charlie Coyle did the same on the Bruins' lone goal in Tuesday's loss to the Rangers. The Bruins have outshot those two opponents 13-5 and out-attempted them 18-14 when they've been on the ice.
With Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron out, Frederic-Coyle-Smith has served as the Bruins' de facto second line, and has actually produced more than the Hall-Haula-Pastrnak temporary first line. Once Marchand and Bergeron return, they could be the Bruins' third line. That's an idea that is clearly appealing to Cassidy.
"To me, that's a really nice-looking third line," Cassidy said on Monday. "There's a bit of everything there. Guys can score, work, contribute on special teams, and probably be a good matchup line."
There's only one problem, though: Keeping Smith on the third line would leave the Bruins' top six a man short. If Cassidy keeps Pastrnak with Hall on the second line, who's playing right wing with Marchand and Bergeron?
By default, it has been Smith. Going forward, it would seem to continue to be Smith by default. While the top line with Smith hasn't scored at the same rate as it did with Pastrnak, their underlying numbers have been excellent: 67.6% Corsi-for percentage, 73.4% expected goals-for percentage.
Marchand and Bergeron have played 243 5-on-5 minutes with Pastrnak this season and 177 with Smith. The only other right wing who has seen any time at all with them is Oskar Steen, who got a grand total of 11 minutes there. The results weren't particularly great, and Steen is now back in Providence anyways after he had cooled off following a hot start in January.
What would the other options even be? Cassidy could try flipping Jake DeBrusk over to right wing and put him there. He did that for a few games last season. But DeBrusk, a natural left wing, has never really looked comfortable playing on the right, and he's also in the midst of another cold spell with zero points in his last five games and two goals in his last 20.
Maybe playing with Marchand and Bergeron would get DeBrusk going, or maybe he'd continue to struggle and drag that line down. Or maybe his trade request finally gets fulfilled and he's not even around much longer.
Nick Foligno can play right wing, but has done nothing this season to indicate he can still do it at a top-six level. Jack Studnicka is with the team right now and has played some right wing in the past, but his natural position is center and he's likely heading back to Providence once the Bruins get Bergeron and Marchand back anyways.
Don Sweeney could end up acquiring top-six help before the March 21 trade deadline, but it doesn't seem like anything is imminent, and his priority would seemingly be center over right wing anyways.
So… back to where we started. Putting Smith back with Marchand and Bergeron makes the most sense. Frederic-Coyle-Smith may indeed be "a really nice-looking third line," but shoring up the top six is more important, and the Bruins just don't have enough top-six forwards to keep Smith in a third-line role right now.
For the time being, Cassidy can keep Frederic, Coyle and Smith together until Marchand returns. He has three games left on his suspension, pending the outcome of his appeal hearing. Bergeron is expected to return Thursday night. Cassidy had him just going into Haula's place between Hall and Pastrnak, with Haula dropping down between DeBrusk and Foligno.
But once Marchand returns, another shakeup will be required, and it could be back to the drawing board to figure out the best fits next to Coyle.
