Boston Bruins: An ode to the 2017-2018 B’s

The cardiac kids made themselves at home

The production that the Boston Bruins got out of their rookies was incredible. Danton Heinen came out of nowhere and was one of the Boston Bruins top scorers. He scored 16 goals and 31 assists in his rookie year. Heinen played on all four lines and showed his flexibility as a player. Sadly this didn’t continue in the playoffs.

Another star was Jake DeBrusk. He is the prototypical Bruins player. He can knock someone down at one end of the ice and then snipe a goal on the other end. He had 16 goals and 27 assists on the Bruins 2nd line. DeBrusk seemed to mesh well with David Krejci and his performance proved this.

Now let’s look at the defensive side of the ice. Matt Grzelcyk stepped up big time. He had 3 goals and 12 assists which isn’t too shabby for a rookie defenseman. The hometown kid was great in the 3rd defensive pairing working alongside Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller and Brandon Carlo throughout various parts of the season. Grzelcyk is a quality defender who even though he isn’t the biggest guy can fight for the puck. He made some mistakes in the postseason but stepped up in game 5 with the Bruins missing Torey Krug.

Speaking of Krug he had one of the best seasons of his career. Krug became one of the top defenders on this Bruins squad. He scored 14 goals and 45 assists and improved on his physical game. In a couple years we may see Krug be the Bruins top defenseman. Zdeno Chara isn’t getting younger and his play can only diminish as time goes on.

Finally, don’t let me forget Ryan Donato. The forward from Harvard made his way to the NHL and proved he was ready for the bright lights. He had 5 goals and 4 assists in just 12 games. Next year will be an important year for him as he has to prove that he can last an entire NHL season. Donato has an amazing wrist shot just like DeBrusk. It may be May, but I would expect Donato and DeBrusk to be reunited on the second line next season.