Boston Bruins: Ranking the 10 hottest players heading into playoffs
By Connor Floyd
Since the NHL trade deadline, the Boston Bruins are on an 11-3-1 roll and peaking at the right time.
Trade deadline acquisitions are actually making an impact for once and there are no major injuries that will linger into the postseason (fingers crossed), and the team is trending in the right direction for what is sure to be one of the last Cup runs for this Bruins core.
As it stands now, the Bruins are the third seed in the MassMutual East and would face the second seed Washington Capitals in the first playoff series. The Bruins are 4-1-2 against the Capitals this season.
The two teams will get a last look at each other on May 11 before the likely playoff series, both of their final matchups of the 2020-21 NHL regular season.
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With that being said, let’s take a look at the top ten Bruins with the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the horizon. Keep in mind that this list is intended to lean on recency bias, and reflects the player’s performance’s since the trade deadline on April 12.
Boston Bruins 9th and 10th best player since the NHL Trade Deadline
Leading off is Matt Grzelcyk. The undersized defenseman has made an impact playing a bigger role on defense and established himself as a top-4 defenseman this season.
Grz isn’t a guy whose skills will blow you away, he’s just a consistent and reliable guy to stick next to Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo.
He’s tallied seven points in ten games since the deadline, with a +7 personal rating, eight hits, and nine blocks.
Sliding it at the No.9 spot is Craig Smith. The 31-year-old free agency addition has been a solid addition for the Bruins, but the arrival of Taylor Hall in Boston has been a huge boost to his game.
Since the deadline, Smith has scored five of his 13 total goals on the season and has a +12 personal rating with one of the best Corsi percentages of his career.
If Smith is able to continue to click with Hall and David Krejci, we might finally be looking at an acceptable second line heading into the postseason.