In this latest edition of Boston Bruins News & Rumors, Bruins superstar winger David Pastrnak is not slowing down and is on pace for another spectacular season. Meanwhile, goaltender Jeremy Swayman had another excellent start against the Detroit Red Wings and is proving that he is the real deal. Jake DeBrusk, on the other hand, has had a cold start to the season. Will he pick up his play? Lastly, do the Bruins have star free-agent forward Patrick Kane on their radar? Let’s discuss all of this in today’s (Oct. 29) Bruins News & Rumors column.
Pastrnak Not Slowing Down
The entire hockey world knows that Pastrnak is one of the best in the sport. The 2014 first-round pick is coming off a 61-goal and 113-point season and is showing that he has the potential to do it again so far during this young season. After a two-goal and three-point night against the Red Wings, Pastrnak now has eight goals and 13 points in only eight games.
With outstanding numbers like these, it is fair to state that Pastrnak is a significant reason why the Bruins have had such an excellent start to the 2023-24 season. He is displaying that he can still dominate offensively, even with the offseason departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. If he keeps this kind of play up moving forward, he certainly will have a shot of winning his second Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.
It will be interesting to see if Pastrnak has a big game against the Florida Panthers tonight (Oct. 30) to keep his hot start going. When noting that he and the Bruins will be looking for redemption after last season’s epic playoff collapse, this should be a hard-fought contest.
Swayman Continues Excellent Start to Season
Speaking of hot starts, Swayman has been one of the best goalies in all of hockey this season. After saving 22 out of 23 shots against the Red Wings in his last appearance, the Alaska native has a 4-0-0 record, a 1.26 goals-against average, and a .957 save percentage (SV%) in four starts. At the time of this writing, his GAA is the second-best in the NHL, while his SV% is the third-best. Needless to say, the 24-year-old has been special so far this campaign.
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This is exactly the kind of play that we expect to see from Swayman at this juncture. Since entering the league, he has been an excellent goalie, and he took a big step forward last season, winning the William M. Jennings Trophy along with Linus Ullmark. However, when noting that he is still just 24 years old and only in his fourth NHL season, there is reason to believe that he has not hit his ceiling yet. We will now need to wait and see if he can keep this kind of play up moving forward. He certainly is not showing any signs of slowing down yet.
DeBrusk Looking to Heat Up
While top players like Pastrnak and Swayman have started the season off excellently for Boston, the same can’t be said for winger Jake DeBrusk. After a career-best season in 2022-23, the 2015 first-round pick has been off to a bit of a slow start in 2023-24, posting just two assists in seven games played. He was also scratched for missing a team meeting against the Los Angeles Kings, so it is fair to say that he has not had the start that both he and the team had hoped for.
This is a big season for DeBrusk, as he is a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA). With that, he has expressed the desire to stay in Boston, while general manager Don Sweeney said that they were having talks earlier this season.
When looking at how well DeBrusk played last season, we should start to see him pick up his production soon. Perhaps he will even pot his first goal of the season against Florida. He is due.
Bruins Unlikely to Target Kane
While the prospect of adding another top-six forward like Kane could be alluring to some, it seems unlikely that the Bruins will make a push for the future Hall of Famer. Per Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now, an NHL source told him that we should not expect the Bruins to be in the Kane sweepstakes. His source noted that the Bruins simply don’t have the cap space to sign Kane and that the Bruins have “plenty of wingers” and would need to trade one to fit in Kane.
Kane, 34, appeared in 73 games last season split between the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers, posting 21 goals and 57 points. It was a down year for the three-time Stanley Cup champion, but after offseason surgery, the hope is that he will have a bounce-back campaign in 2023-24.
