Each day in the month of August we’ll be examining a different NHL team — from looking back at last season to discussing a player under pressure to identifying X-factors to asking questions about the future. Today we look at the Boston Bruins.
2018-19
49-24-9 107 points (2nd in Atlantic Division, 2nd in Eastern Conference)
Playoffs: Lost Stanley Cup Final in seven games to Blues
IN
Brett Ritchie
Par Lindholm
Brendan Gaunce
Maxime Lagace
OUT
Marcus Johansson
Noel Acciari
Lee Stempniak
Jordan Szwarz
Gemel Smith
Zane MacIntyre
RE-SIGNED
Danton Heinen
Peter Cehlarik
Connor Clifton
Steven Kampfer
Ryan Fitzgerald
2018-19 Season Summary
One more win, that’s all they needed. The Bruins fought off the Blues in Game 6 to force a do-or-die game in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately for them, eight years after they won a Game 7 to top the Vancouver Canucks for the title, they fell short in a 4-1 defeat to St. Louis.
The loss put a sour note on an otherwise great season for the Bruins. They finished tied with the Calgary Flames for the second-most points in the NHL during the regular season. Brad Marchand stayed out of trouble for the most part and recorded a career-high 100 points. David Pastrnak, while playing only 66 games, topped his previous career marks with 38 goals and 81 points. Jake DeBrusk scored a career high 27 goals, and Patrice Bergeron, in his 15th NHL season hit a personal best 79 points and tied his career high in goals with 32. With a lighter workload (46 appearances), Tuukka Rask posted his best even strength save percentage (.925) in five seasons, and the power play clicked at 25.9%, the best success rate the franchise has seen since 1980-81 (25.4%).
Basically, everything went pretty swimmingly in 2018-19 for the Bruins. Head coach Bruce Cassidy continued the success that started after he replaced Claude Julien in Feb. 2017. Since that time the team has a 61% win percentage (117-52-22) and have accumulated the second-most points (256) in the NHL.
[MORE BRUINS: X-Factor | Under Pressure | Three questions]
So it was no surprise the Bruins cruised through the regular season and played their way into Cup contender status as the playoffs began. Waiting for them in Round 1 were the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were vanquished yet again in seven games for the third time in seven seasons. Next, the Cinderella Columbus Blue Jackets were ousted in six games after taking a 2-1 series lead. In the Eastern Conference Final, the other surprise team, the Carolina Hurricanes, were swept, putting Boston in the Cup Final for the 20th time in franchise history.
There were few good moments for the Bruins in the final series against the Blues, one was the return of Zdeno Chara to the lineup in Game 5 at TD Garden after breaking his jaw.
Zdeno Chara is introduced to a thunderous applause. pic.twitter.com/QMOsk9IdmB
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) June 7, 2019
But now as they rest up with a short summer in preparation to get back to the Cup Final and win it, the Bruins’ roster won’t be drastically different, at least at the start of the season. A cap crunch and needing to re-sign two important pieces on the blue line has kept general manager Don Sweeney from going out and adding big names to the lineup.
The offseason has been quiet, aside from some minor additions and a few departures. Atop Sweeney’s to-do list is to re-sign restricted free agents Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. There’s currently a little over $7 million in cap room and it’s a question if one or both will still be unsigned when training camp opens next month. There’s plenty of confidence both will get extensions given that McAvoy is ineligible for an offer sheet, and while Carlo is eligible, NHL GMs have shown a general dislike in using them.
MORE: ProHockeyTalk’s 2019 NHL free agency tracker
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.