Thirty-two games into the 2023-24 season, the Boston Bruins are sitting on top of the Atlantic Division standings, four points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. After an offseason of turnover with the roster and the retirements of centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, it’s surprising where they are in the standings.
There have been some surprises with the production and overall play of some players, mainly the new ones added last summer and of course, Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have been very good between the pipes. Despite sitting at 19-7-6, there have been some Bruins who have been disappointed this season and if they are going to have success heading into the New Year, they are going to need these players to step up.
Hampus Lindholm
Last season when the Bruins began the season minus Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm took over as the Black and Gold’s top defenseman. He excelled in all situations, he finished with 10 goals and a career-high 43 assists in 80 games. He also finished with an astonishing plus/minus of plus-49. He was an underrated player outside of Boston.
This season has not been, well, good for the former Anaheim Ducks blue liner. Stats-wise, he has just one goal and six assists playing in all 32 games. The concern has been his overall play in all three zones, some of his decision-making, and puck management. He’s not alone in that, but Boston needs more from him.
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He is on pace for a career-high in penalty minutes, but the Black and Gold need more from him, especially offensively. He showed last season that he can produce and the Bruins need that following the three-day Holiday break.
Matt Grzelcyk
Like McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk missed the beginning of the 2022-23 season recovering from an off-season surgery and the injury bug has got to him again this season. He has missed 12 games, including the last two against the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild on the road. When he has been in the lineup, he has struggled like Lindholm.
He has one goal offensively and he has never been thought of as a big offensive guy, but the 5-foot-10, 185-pound left-shot has struggled with what has been a strength of his throughout his career after playing at Boston University, it’s being a good puck-moving defenseman. If there has been an issue that Boston’s defense has had this season, it’s been getting the puck out of the defensive end and their breakouts. It’s all not Grzelcyk’s fault, but when he has been in the lineup, he has struggled. He is in a contract season and what his future holds in his hometown city remains to be seen, but through 20 games this season, this has been one of the most disappointing starts to a season he has had.
Kevin Shattenkirk
Signed to a one-year, $1 million bargain free agent contract, Kevin Shattenkirk was brought in as a replacement for Connor Clifton, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres. In the last three seasons, he was with the Ducks, but despite being on a team in a rebuild, he had three good seasons in Anaheim. This season, he’s struggled in Boston on the bottom pairing.
In 26 games he had two goals and eight points with a minus-3. Combined the last two seasons with the Ducks, he had 12 goals and 50 assists, including 23 last season. He has been inconsistent at times and with the Bruins forwards struggling, second-year head coach Jim Montgomery needs more from him as a veteran. His play in the defensive end has been shaky at times this season and he has found himself as a scratch on some nights. He did play well on the first power play unit in McAvoy’s absence recently, but he needs to be better in all three zones.
Honorable Mentions
Jake DeBrusk is another candidate who could have very easily made this list, however, my colleague Brendan Share-Cohen recently touched on his struggles in a contract season. Recently Charlie Coyle has struggled producing and at the face-off dot at times, while more could be gotten from Brad Marchand. I’m not suggesting that they have underperformed this season, but recently during the Bruins struggles, Boston and Montgomery could use more from them.
Despite their December struggles, Boston is set up for another postseason berth this season as the league creeps toward the halfway points in a couple of weeks, but there are certainly some members of the Black and Gold who are underperforming and need to turn things around.