The Boston Bruins knew that they were beginning the 2022-23 season shorthanded as a trio of players are recovering from off-season surgeries. Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Matt Grzelcyk will return at some point, with Grzelcyk being the closest to returning. Marchand and McAvoy are at least another month away. Add in an upper-body injury to Brandon Carlo in the first period of the home opener on Oct. 15 against the Arizona Coyotes, the depth is being tested all over the roster.
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One area that is becoming a bigger concern with each game that passes by is right wing and the lack of depth there. David Pastrnak has been doing Pastrnak things in the first four games with three goals and five assists and Jake DeBrusk, a left-shot, is also off to a strong start with two goals and three assists. After that, things fall off and it is something that sooner or later needs to be addressed and can be addressed internally.
Smith Struggles Carrying Over to 2022-23
When the Bruins signed Craig Smith as a free agent in October of 2020, general manager (GM) Don Sweeney was hoping that he could supply the Black and Gold with some secondary scoring. In five of his first nine seasons with the Nashville Predators, he was a 20-goal scorer. Unfortunately for Boston, he has not come to close to that mark in his first two seasons and his third season is off to a rough start.
Smith has been sliding up and down the lineup by Jim Montgomery and he has yet to find a home or any production. On Oct. 15 against the Arizona Coyotes, DeBrusk missed the game with an injury he suffered in the season-opener against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 12, and Smith was inserted on the first line with Taylor Hall and Patrice Bergeron. He had just one shot on the net and found himself in the bottom six before the game ended. Two nights later against the Florida Panthers at the TD Garden, Smith was on his customary third line, but he played a team-low 7:03 on 10 shifts and ended the game on the fourth line with Tomas Nosek and Nick Foligno.
That is a big fall from where he started out against the Coyotes, but his struggles should not come as a surprise. In his first season in Boston, he scored 13 goals in the 56-game shortened 2020-21 season, then in 74 games last season, he scored 16 goals. It’s not for a lack of effort on Smith’s part as he shoots from just about anywhere on the ice. He recorded 132 shots on the net in his first season in the Black and Gold, then 187 last season. He just runs into tough puck-luck. This season, in three games, the 98th overall pick in the fourth round by the Predators has just two.
His struggles landed him as a healthy scratch for the Bruins in a 7-5 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 18, which allowed Jakub Lauko to return to the lineup and recorded his first career NHL point on a second-period Nick Foligno goal when he picked up the primary assist.
Bruins Need Smith to Find Scoring Touch
It’s just four games into the season and the shorthanded Bruins are lacking production behind DeBrusk and Pastrnak. Smith was looked to as the answer to those woes, but it’s not starting out as he is going to be the solution. The options for Montgomery are few and far between. A.J. Greer has done a nice job, but he is not going to provide much offense to make up for Smith.
One option for Montgomery is an intriguing one in Jack Studnicka. He made the roster out of camp, but has yet to suit up for a game this season. The Bruins chose Lauko in Ottawa as Smith’s lineup replacement instead of Studnicka, the 53rd overall pick in the 2017 Entry Draft. A natural center, Studnicka does have experience on the wing, but he has shown that he’s more effective up the middle.
It’s clear as to why Studnicka is on the roster. If he was sent down to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL), he would be required to go through waivers and he most likely would have been claimed by another team. Boston doesn’t want to risk that as it is highly likely he would get claimed. Now that we’re four games into the season, it might be time to give him a shot.
We’ll see if Smith is in the lineup ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. If the Bruins want to be a contender or even make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference, right wing needs to be addressed. It can be addressed internally by Smith turning it around and giving them a third-line right-wing production and finding his goal-scoring touch. It’s only three games, but given his history, there is a cause for concern early in the season. Maybe a night off against Ottawa can get him going.