The Boston Bruins early exit from the playoffs was disappointing, but there is some hope for this young and talented team.
The Boston Bruins Stanley Cup dreams were not meant to be in 2018. They seemed to have the skill and the heart to last long in the playoffs, but the Tampa Bay Lightning are the ones headed to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Bruins got production from their top line, they were able to control Tampa’s top pair and Tuukka Rask was giving the Bruins a chance to win every night, but it wasn’t enough.
They had their fair share of struggles. The defense had its issues clearing the puck out of the zone and the offense couldn’t get anything going. It was a disappointing end to a promising season.
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Now the Bruins will head into the offseason with more experience and some time to look back on what ended up being a great season. The Bruins realized what it takes to make it to the Eastern Conference finals and will look to be back in the playoffs next season. Even though the wounds are still fresh this is an exciting time to be a Boston Bruins fan.
So it may be painful, but let’s look back at the series and what the Bruins can takeaway from it. There is some good and some bad just like everything in life.
Tuukka Rask is good
This may be an unpopular opinion, but Tuukka Rask was one of the best players in the series. In the entire postseason Rask had a goals against average of 2.88 and a .903 save percentage. Even though these are some of the worst numbers of his career it may have been one of his best performances of his postseason career.
Rask’s contribution is beyond the numbers. There were multiple games where if it wasn’t for Tuukka standing on his head the Bruins would be facing a 5-0 deficit in the first period. Rask did his part to give the Bruins a chance to win and that’s what you want from your goaltender.
Do you wish he could just shutout teams? Of course, but that’s an unrealistic standard. There are people already saying the Bruins should get rid of Rask. Are you guys ok? Tell me who the Bruins could afford to get that plays better than Rask. It’s getting more and more expensive to sign an elite goaltender, just look at the deals Carey Price and Pekka Rinne are signed to. The deal that the Bruins signed Rask to is a bargain.
Tuukka Rask isn’t going anywhere and after his play this postseason I wouldn’t want to move him if the Bruins found a potential buyer.
The Bruins need some help on defense
It was pretty obvious in round 2 that the Boston Bruins could use some help in their own zone. The Torey Krug injury just magnified the issue.
The Bruins have plenty of puck moving defenseman, but they need to find a big body to help out Zdeno Chara. The ageless wonder logged a ton of minutes in the regular season and it showed in the postseason. Chara was able to keep Auston Matthews and Steven Stamkos in check, but he got no other help.
I think we may be seeing the last of Adam McQuaid. He is entering his last contract year so I think the Bruins may move him especially with the success of Matt Grzelcyk. If the Bruins could sign a guy like Jon Carlson it would take a ton of pressure off of Chara. He is 6’3″ and is an elite scorer. Carlson led the NHL in points for his position which isn’t a small feat.
The Bruins have just over $10 million in cap space for next season. Some of this will go to UFA’s like Anton Khudobin, Tim Schaller, and possibly Riley Nash (Rick Nash ain’t coming back folks). Even with these moves, the Bruins could afford to go after Carlson. With the Bruins wealth of youth, I wouldn’t be upset if we lost the Nash’s and Carlson could make an immediate impact.
The Boston Bruins are going to be just fine
The Bruins were expected to rebuild this season, and they almost made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Some of the Bruins best players just turned 21. People forget that David Pastrnak is about to turn 22. He is 22 and was the Bruins best offensive player in the postseason. Besides that some of the Bruins best players are only in their early 20’s. Jake DeBrusk had a decent postseason, Ryan Donato showed once again he can skate with the big boys, and Charlie McAvoy was the star of game 7 and Grzelcyk stepped up as well. Also Danton Heinen got experience, but that’s about it.
The future is extremely bright in Boston and they definitely exceeded their preseason expectations. It may not have ended like Bruins fans wanted, but this season was a resounding success. The Bruins will continue to be one of the best teams in the NHL. If they are able to make a few tweaks they will be even better.
Next: The Bruins storybook season has come to a close
This is a great time to be a Boston Bruins fan. The fun is only just getting started.