There were several storylines that came out of the 2022-23 season for the Boston Bruins. One of them was the number of players that had good seasons under first-year head coach Jim Montgomery. In a couple of the cases, it was productive seasons that not many people saw coming.
As the NHL calendar changes toward the 2023-24 season, there are some members of the Black and Gold that be watched closely to see if they can prove that last season was not a fluke. Here are three Bruins who have the most to prove this upcoming season.
Trent Frederic
A restricted free agent (RFA), Trent Frederic is still waiting to see what his contract for next season will look like. He has an arbitration hearing scheduled for Aug. 1 and it’s possible that general manager (GM) Don Sweeney and Frederic came come to an agreement before the hearing. If not, the hearing will determine what his contract will look like and unless something strange happens, it’s likely he will return to the team that drafted him 29th overall in the 2016 Entry Draft.
In his first couple of seasons under former coach Bruce Cassidy, Frederic struggled between finding consistency and getting caught up in finding himself in the penalty box taking some ill-advised penalties. That all changed under Montgomery and you could say that the former University of Wisconsin standout found consistency in his game that led to a very successful season. He set career highs in goals (17), assists (14), and points (31), and even more impressive he finished with a plus/minus of plus-28 playing in the bottom six. In the postseason, he found it difficult in the playoffs against the Florida Panthers, playing in five games without recording a point.
Frederic offers versatility to the Bruins as his main position is at center, but he’s spent the majority of his time in Boston on the wing. He has found a connection the last two seasons with Charlie Coyle on the third line and he seems comfortable there, but it remains to be seen if that is where he slots, but he has a lot to prove this season that last season was no fluke.
Jake DeBrusk
The last year and a half has been the best stretch of hockey that Jake DeBrusk has played in the NHL. Struggling under Cassidy, DeBrusk requested a trade early in the 2021-22 season, only to not have Sweeney honor it and keep the 14th overall pick of the 2015 Entry Draft. Right before the trade deadline in March of 2022, the Bruins signed him to a two-year extension for $8 million with an average annual value of $4 million. Since then, the Edmonton, Alberta native has earned every single dollar after rescinding his trade request in July of 2022.
After thriving in February of 2022 after being moved to the first line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, Montgomery entered his first season behind the Boston bench with the motto, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” He left DeBrusk on the top line and he once again stepped up in all areas of his game. He tied his career-high in goals with 27 with 23 assists and a career-high 50 points. The 26-year-old more than likely would have set a career-high in goals if not for suffering an injury against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Jan. 2 that forced him to miss nearly six weeks. In the postseason, he had four goals and six points against the Panthers, while he became a strong penalty-killer both in the regular season and playoffs.
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He has been the subject of trade rumors this offseason, but it is in the Bruins’ best interest to keep him. He’s entering a contract season and generally, that’s when you get the most of players like DeBrusk. If things don’t work out, he can be moved closer to the trade deadline, but in a contract season, he still has something to prove that last season was not just a one-year success story.
Kevin Shattenkirk
As the season went on and with the Bruins’ cap situation this offseason, it became clear that Conor Clifton was playing himself out of Boston. That became reality on the first day of free agency when he got a major upgrade from the $1 million AAV he carried last season when he signed with the Buffalo Sabres for three years with an AAV of $3.33 million. That was way out of the Black and Gold’s range and Sweeney quickly turned his attention to a veteran to replace Clifton.
Boston signed Kevin Shattenkirk to a one-year, $1 million contract to fill the third pairing on the right side. He has played in 891 career regular season games, but after stints with the St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers, his last stop with the Anaheim Ducks is one where he played well on a team stuck in the middle of a rebuild. His offensive numbers were up the last two seasons with 12 goals and 50 assists, but coming to the Bruins, he won’t be counted on to fill up the scoresheet. Last season he averaged 19:10 a night for the Ducks.
he blocked 115 shots last season in 75 games and dished out 79 hits, both numbers that were lower than Clifton’s who blocked 120 shots and had 208 hits while averaging 17:51 in 78 regular season games. Clifton became a fan favorite in Boston and took a big leap in his career and would have been a perfect long-term solution on defense, but money got in the way and now Shattenkirk on a shorter, cheaper deal will be asked to replace the former University of Quinnipiac star. This could very well be one of the best bargains of the offseason for Sweeney, but the veteran blueliner has to go out and prove it.
With some changes to the roster, the Bruins are going to need some players to prove that last season was no fluke with Boston, or that they can replace a key part of the defense lost in free agency. They will need all hands on deck in 2023-24.
