The 2024-25 season has not been going the way the Boston Bruins would like. They are 11-11-3 and are currently sitting in fourth in the Atlantic Division with over a quarter of the season gone. Since firing head coach Jim Montgomery, the team is 3-2-0 under new head coach Joe Sacco. However, problems continue to persist, and adjustments must be made to the roster.
The team is struggling to connect on the ice, and the guys are not playing up to par. It’s time to start trying out some of the young guys playing in Providence in the American Hockey League (AHL) and give them a legitimate chance in Boston. The Bruins need some new blood and a chance for a spark, and right now, that doesn’t seem to be coming from the current lineup. So why not give someone else a shot?
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One player in particular that would be interesting to see given a shot is Marc McLaughlin. The 25-year-old Massachusetts native is currently fourth in points on the Providence Bruins with five goals and 10 points in 15 games. He was called up for one game this past week against the Vancouver Canucks, which the team lost 2-0. He was only on ice for 9:36. He was sent back down to Providence on Nov. 28, but remained practicing in Boston, and got called back up.
McLaughlin is a good example of a guy the Bruins should be trying to move along in their system. After some struggles last season, he has bounced back so far in 2024-25. He’s been in the system for a few years now after signing with the team as a free agent out of college. With the current state of the team, there really isn’t much to lose giving him a legitimate chance, which means more than nine minutes of ice time and playing in a decent chunk of games.
The Bruins Need Change
After an initial stretch at the start of the season where the team was scoring, the Bruins have really struggled to get the puck in the back of the net. They have been held scoreless in four of 25 games, and have had only one goal in four other games. Their top two goal scorers, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, only have eight goals each, meaning no one on the team has reached double digits yet this season. They need a change, but given the state of the team and their need to hold onto their draft picks, there are very limited external options. They thus have to look internally for change.
While McLaughlin isn’t particularly known as a goal scorer, he’s certainly still a consistent contributor. He has five so far this season in the AHL and in 2022-23, he had 13 goals in 66 games. In his 15 career NHL games, he has four goals. He’s scored more than Tyler Johnson, Morgan Geekie, and Trent Frederic this season. It might be worth sitting one of those guys and giving McLaughlin a shot for a few games.
The Bruins need change, and it shouldn’t matter who or where it is coming from. The current makeup of the roster is struggling to convert, and it wouldn’t do any harm to switch things up and try out some new pieces. It really can’t get too much worse for the team. Yes, they are winning games, but they’re barely a .500 team. They also have the second-to-last ranked power play in the league, and no team has a legitimate shot at a Stanley Cup with numbers like that.
McLaughlin has had a good start to his season in Providence and has earned a call-up. There’s no guarantee that he’ll have success in Boston, but it is certainly worth giving him a shot. The Bruins prospect pool is what it is, but some guys might be surprised if given a legitimate opportunity that isn’t one or two games with less than 10 minutes of ice time. They need to look internally, and he is one of the prospects performing the best right now.
Time for Bruins Prospects
General manager Don Sweeney is now on the fourth head coach of his tenure, and if there is one thing this latest firing has shown, it’s that the problem with the Bruins right now isn’t entirely coaching, but the roster. Yes, coaching is obviously a part of the issue when you consider how bad the special teams have been, but the biggest reason why this team is struggling right now is in its makeup, which is Sweeney’s doing.
In the past decade, the Bruins have struggled with their prospect pipeline and a lot of the fault falls on Sweeney’s shoulders. He’s shown reluctance to give prospects legitimate chances and has made some questionable moves this season alone, like sending Matthew Poitras to Providence and calling Georgii Merkulov up, then sending him down after only three games that he played well in. Boston is not giving prospects enough time to prove themselves, and it’s only hindering the team.
With how this season is currently going, it really should be a time for some young guys to get a legitimate shot. The Bruins need to evaluate and figure out its prospect pipeline. McLaughlin is 25; now is the time to be figuring out if he has it in him to be an NHL player in Boston. If not, there really shouldn’t be much of a point in keeping him in the system, especially when he could find success in another team’s.
McLaughlin is, of course, not the only one who should be getting a legitimate shot in Boston. But as one of the top scorers in Providence at the moment and currently practicing with the team, he should appear in a decent stretch of games. Give him 10 games to prove himself. He could surprise, and help the team get some momentum forward. If he doesn’t, well, it’s not like the team has a ton of momentum going for them at the moment as they have not been able to string together more than two wins in a row yet. He most likely wouldn’t be taking the spot of anyone who has performed particularly well so far in 2024-25, and even if he didn’t play better than some of those guys, there isn’t much he could do to play worse.
Looking Ahead
The Bruins are a .500 team right now, but they have a chance to get some wins in the opening week of December as they face off against the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Blackhawks, who are all below them in the standings. It will be a good opportunity to potentially get some wins, but will also be some good games to put McLaughlin in for.
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The team needs to change something, and the head coaching change really hasn’t done all that much so far. Sweeney should be giving opportunities to prospects who are performing well in Providence so far in 2024-25. McLaughlin is one who has certainly earned the chance.
