Boston Bruins 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Boston Bruins 2017 Season Preview

Zdeno Chara is 40-years-old this year. Find out why I still think Chara is poised for a big year.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/15/2017.

Boston Bruins Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Brad Marchand	Left Wing	80	5-foot-9-inches	181-pounds	39	46	85
Patrice Bergeron	Center	79	6-foot-2-inches	194-pounds	21	32	53
David Pastrnak	Right Wing	75	6-foot-0-inches	181-pounds	34	36	70

Boston Bruins Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Frank Vatrano	Left Wing	44	5-foot-9-inches	201-pounds	10	8	18
David Krejci	Center	82	6-foot-0-inches	188-pounds	23	31	54
David Backes	Right Wing	74	6-foot-0-inches	181-pounds	17	21	38

Boston Bruins Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Matt Belesky	Left Wing	49	6-foot-0-inches	204-pounds	3	5	8
Ryan Spooner	Center	78	5-foot-11-inches	181-pounds	11	28	39
Tim Schaller	Right Wing	59	6-foot-2-inches	219-pounds	7	7	14

Boston Bruins Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Noel Acciari	Left Wing	29	5-foot-10-inches	208-pounds	2	3	5
Riley Nash	Center	81	6-foot-0-inches	200-pounds	7	10	17
Peter Cehlarik	Right Wing	11	5-foot-11-inches	169-pounds	0	2	2

Boston Bruins Forwards Review: The Boston Bruins have Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Ryan Spooner, and Riley Nash at center. Boston is 4-deep at center for the first time since the 2011 when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks to win the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. After the top line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak on the wing, this team is very thin at wingers.

Frank Vatrano and David Backes both have their moments as line 2 players at left wing and right wing. Both are inconsistent though. Playing with Krejci who led centers in points last year on Boston makes me believe both players will surprise and exceed expectations.

Matt Beleskey and Tim Schaller are wild cards on the third line as well. That's why Boston can be a dark horse if all of those wingers step up. Boston does not have the fourth line wingers to be a favorite just yet.

Boston was 13th in goals scored and 7th on the power play in 2016-2017. Even with the departure of Claude Julien they still got a good coaching hire in Bruce Cassidy who took over as an interim head coach in March afrter Julien left. I'm pretty optimistic about the Bruins moving forward if they can improve on their goal scoring in 2017-2018 which I think they can.

Boston Bruins Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Zdeno Chara	Line 1	75	6-foot-9-inches	255-pounds	10	19	29
Brandon Carlo	Line 1	82	6-foot-5-inches	203-pounds	6	10	16
Torey Krug	Line 2	78	5-foot-9-inches	181-pounds	8	43	51
Adam McQuaid	Line 2	77	6-foot-5-inches	209-pounds	2	8	10
Kevan Miller	Line 3	58	6-foot-2-inches	210-pounds	3	10	13
Charlie McAvoy	Line 3	38	6-foot-3-inches	205-pounds	5	21	26

Boston Bruins Defensemen Review Zdeno Chara can still anchor a blue line even at 40-years-old. Brandon Carlo has all the tools to be Chara's successor down the road as well. I had a first round grade on Carlo in 2015 so I'm not surprised by his emergence. Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid can anchor the second line when healthy. Kevan Miller can anchor the third line. Charlie McAvoy the Bruins 2016 first round draft pick had 21 assists in 38 games at Boston University last season. McAvoy is set to make his NHL Debut with the Boston Bruins on their third line.

The Boston Bruins' defense has finally rebounded after making trades that set this team back for a few years like trading Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Seidenberg. Boston ranked 9th in goals allowed and 1st in penalty killing in 2016-2017. The crazy thing is I can see the Bruins improving their goals allowed and matching their top ranked penalty killing unit from last season.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Tuuka Rask	Boston Bruins	64	37-20-5	8 Shutouts	.915	2.23 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Anton Khudobin	Boston Bruins	14	7-6-1	0 Shutouts	.904	2.64 GAA

Boston Bruins Goaltender Review Tuuka Rask had his best season to date last year with 8 shutouts thanks to having a remarkable defense in front of him. I don't think 10 shutouts is out of the realm of possibilities. Boston's defense is even stronger thanks to the addition of Charlie McAvoy.

Boston Bruins Prospect Pool: Boston has Malcolm Subban in their farm system still at goalie. He looks like a wasted pick.

The Bruins' drafted three players in the top 15 with defenseman Jakub Zboril going thirteenth overall, left winger Jake DeBrusk going fourteenth overall, and right winger Zachary Senyshyn went fifteenth overall.

Boston has one prospect at each of the key positions. The Bruins' still have the luxury of taking the best player available.

Boston Bruins 2017-2018 Prediction

Boston has their best team since 2013. I see a team that is a dark horse to win the Eastern Conference. All of their games in the opening round against Ottawa were decided by one goal or less. Boston is stronger on defense this season where as Ottawa is weaker on defense after losing one of their key players. Boston is one of the most complete teams in the Eastern Conference and I see them getting to the Eastern Conference Finals losing to the Penguins at the very worst. The Boston Bruins are my current pick to win the Eastern Conference, but I'll preview other teams in the Eastern Conference to see if anything changes.