Bruins' priority in offseason rebuild: Speed at all positions
Heading into Thursday, Casey Mittelstadt, Henri Jokiharju, Jakub Lauko and Marat Khusnutdinov had combined for 1,023 career NHL games. Brad Marchand has them beat on his own with 1,090.
Add Charlie Coyle (937), Brandon Carlo (623), Trent Frederic (337) and Justin Brazeau (83), and it's clear the Boston Bruins are a far less experienced team now than before the trade deadline. Case in point: Jokiharju's next playoff appearance will be his first. It appears the former Buffalo Sabre will keep his streak alive.
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The Bruins also said goodbye to size, strength, below-the-dots presence and strength on the puck. But Mittelstadt, Jokiharju, Lauko and Khusnutdinov are unquestionably faster and quicker than the players they replaced. Mittelstadt, in particular, is perhaps the most necessary upgrade — skill, tempo and creativity in the middle at the expense of Coyle's three-zone dependability.
More speed is needed.
Management entered 2024-25 with beef as a priority. They figured the Bruins would be a handful because of how they would forecheck, possess pucks, wear out opposing attackers and keep the ice clear in front of Jeremy Swayman.
In retrospect, the Bruins' struggles highlighted the bosses' misjudgment: Their players could not get to pucks and places quickly enough.
It remains a problem.
Entering Thursday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Bruins had been outshot three straight times. This included the Tampa Bay Lightning's 20-0 shot advantage in the second period of the Bruins' 6-2 loss on March 15.
The Bruins have occupied the defensive zone too often. They have paid the price on the scoreboard.
'We're just defending too much,' said David Pastrnak following the Bruins' 3-2 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on March 17. 'The second period against Tampa, that was unacceptable. Not as bad, but (something) similar happened this second period. We were defending a lot against a very highly offensively skilled team. It's always tiring to defend. We have to play more on offense in the O-zone to create more opportunities.'
As of Thursday, opponents average 59.46 attempts per 60 minutes of five-on-five play against the Bruins, according to Natural Stat Trick. That is the 12th-worst in the NHL. In comparison, the Carolina Hurricanes allow a league-low 49.32 CA/60.
Of late, the Bruins have struggled to arrive on time in the defensive zone in multiple areas: on the puck, in wall battles and in support.
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'We can be a little bit quicker getting there,' interim coach Joe Sacco said. 'Doing a better job at times supporting, whether it's a defenseman holding the wall, defensemen below the goal line.'
Spending less time in the defensive zone isn't just on the defensemen. Mason Lohrei, for example, can be trusted to retrieve pucks. But if a wing like Cole Koepke can't arrive on time on the wall to be an outlet for Lohrei, it's too easy for opposing forechecks to swamp the defenseman and keep pucks trapped in the Bruins' end. Lohrei, like many young defenders, becomes subject to misplays when he doesn't have enough time to execute.
Other teams know the Bruins aren't among the swiftest at transitioning from defense to offense. Opponents have the green light to let loose on the forecheck because the reward of occupying the offensive zone is worth the risk.
'When you have teams that are coming at you, you have to make sure you know where your proper support is coming out of the defensive zone,' Sacco said. 'Know where your outs are. Know where your support is on the ice. That's just being in the right spots at the right times. So if our defenseman's under pressure or we have a forward under pressure, he has to know, 'I have support in this area, I can make these plays.' Or you have to get your feet moving. You can't get stuck. The puck has to move. Or your feet have to move. It's one or the other.'
It has not helped that the Bruins are down Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, their two sharpest puck-moving defensemen. Both are better than most at initiating exits, either by skating pucks out of danger or finding teammates up the ice. The 2025-26 Bruins will be better when both are back and healthy. The Bruins could also consider bringing back Jokiharju, who belongs in the mobile category.
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The defense could undergo additional makeovers if general manager Don Sweeney identifies swiftness as a priority. Nikita Zadorov is better known for his physicality than puck-playing predictability. The same goes for Andrew Peeke, although the Bruins are thinner on the right side than on the left.
Up front, the Bruins only have five forwards under contract for next year. Sweeney has more flexibility to optimize the 2025-26 Bruins for more pace at forward than he does on the back end.
Additional room for options, however, does not guarantee offseason execution. Everyone wants to get faster. The game is not slowing down. The Bruins learned that the hard way this year.
(Top photo of Elias Lindholm and Rasmus Dahlin: Bob DeChiara / Imagn Images)
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