Boston Bruins: Jakub Zboril expected to excel in 2021

It seems that Boston Bruins management is expecting a lot out of defensemen Jakub Zboril when the 2021 season arrives.

When the 2021 NHL season arrives, there will likely be a decent amount of new faces on the Boston Bruins roster. One place that will go under the most change is on the blueline. The Bruins will need some players to have breakout seasons. One player who seems like a perfect candidate is Jakub Zboril.

Two key pieces will not be in Boston come next season. Torey Krug is now a member of the St.Louis Blues, and Zdeno Chara still doesn’t have a new deal. These guys will not be easy to replace.

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Krug was amazing on the power play and also was a driving force in the offensive zone. Chara on the other hand has a boatload of experience and was a great leader both on and off the ice.

After being drafted by the Bruins in the first round of the 2015 draft, it seems like a perfect time for Zboril to become a full-time NHL player in 2021.

Zboril got his first taste of the NHL in the 2018-19 season. He only appeared in two games and was unable to make an impact.

Then Zboril would go on to spend the entirety of the 2019-20 season with the Providence Bruins. This seemed to help out Zboril a lot. in 58 games he racked up three goals and 16 assists with a personal rating of +20.

After his performance down in the AHL, it appears that Zboril has caught the attention of some members of the franchise. Bruins executive director of player personnel John Ferguson spoke about how excited he is about Zboril’s potential.

"“I would have said I was more hopeful than emphatic [in prior seasons],” Ferguson told Shinzawa. “I’m much closer to emphatic now. Because he made good strides, but we still wanted to see that high level sustained over a few weeks over just a few games. That happened. He was playing at the top of his class in our organization for an extended period. We saw that over months leading up to the pause — that extended view as opposed to games or weekends.”"

Zboril seems to be a perfect candidate for Boston’s bottom defensive pairing. With the possibility of Matt Grzelcyk gaining a promotion to the second defensive pairing that would open up a spot for Zboril.

No matter if Zboril is paired with Connor Clifton or Kevan Miller, he would be partnered up with an experienced defensemen who could help him get used to life in the big leagues.

Compared to Grzelcyk, Zboril is a bigger body who can lay the lumber on opponents. If Zboril is able to score as he did with the “baby Bruins,” he will be just fine.

So keep an eye out on Zboril as the 2021 season approaches. Bruins fans could finally get to see what Zboril is made of.