When the Boston Bruins gather at Warrior Ice Arena in mid-September, there are going to be a lot of eyes on some of their young players. Not to be overlooked will be the veterans that they added in what was a big roster turnover this summer.
Last May, general manager (GM) Don Sweeney said that he was looking to insert some youth into the 2023-24 lineup, but with the free agent additions of Morgan Geekie, James van Riemsdyk, Patrick Brown, Jesper Boqvist, and Milan Lucic at forward and Kevin Shattenkirk on defense, it’s going to be hard for that to happen. Despite a lot of comings and goings, there are going to be players in training camp that are going to make it difficult on the coaching staff when it comes to the roster for Opening Night. Here are some players that are going to force some interesting decisions come early October.
A.J. Greer
Last season, A.J. Greer played in 63 games for the Bruins with five goals and 12 points. When he played mainly on the fourth line, he was a typical fourth-line grinder that was strong on the forecheck with Tomas Nosek, Jakub Lauko, Nick Foligno, and whoever was on his line. This season, it’s going to be harder for the former second-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2015 Entry Draft to find his way onto the roster.
The signings of Geekie, Brown, and Lucic could end up being key bottom-six additions, but it’s not out of the possibility that Geekie finds a role on the second line. It would be surprising to see Lauko left out of the lineup at the beginning of the season and Lucic was not brought back to Boston to be a healthy scratch, instead an enforcer presence in the lineup, something they missed last season and in the playoffs against the Florida Panthers. Greer is going to have to impress when given the opportunity in the preseason, but it’s not out of the question that the Canada native makes an impression to give the coaches something to think about.
Georgii Merkulov
Quickly becoming one of the top Bruins prospects, Georgii Merkulov had a strong first full professional season with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) after an impressive freshman season at Ohio State University in 2022-23. Signed as an undrafted free agent, Merkulov had 20 goals and 14 assists in his one season with the Buckeyes.
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Last season with the P-Bruins, he had 24 goals and 31 assists where he lead them in scoring. He clearly has an impressive offensive game and upside, but the question is going to be whether or not he can translate it to the NHL. The Black and Gold will be looking for production from their bottom six and Merkulov, who plays both center and on the wing and projects to be a wing in the NHL, is someone who can land a role on the fourth line. He is one of a handful of prospects who could earn a spot for Opening Night with a strong training camp and his strong skill set.
John Beecher
Aside from Merkulov, John Beecher is another prospect that is NHL-ready, but the question is, where would he fit in and who does he bump out? Looking at the Bruins’ center situation with David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron now officially retired, it’s filled with more questions than answers.
Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle are penciled in to be their replacements and after that is where Beecher can fit in. Geekie, Brown, and Frederic are going to get an opportunity, but if the Bruins are serious about adding youth into the lineup, Beecher has an opportunity to earn the fourth-line center spot. Boston let Joona Koppanen leave in free agency for the Pittsburgh Penguins after he was called up last season for five games over Beecher when Nosek was injured. A strong penalty-killer and good at the faceoff dot, the former University of Michigan standout and 30th overall pick of the 2019 Entry Draft has his best chance to earn an NHL spot in training camp.
Jakub Zboril
In the 2015 Draft, Sweeney’s first as Bruins’ GM, his first selection was defenseman Jakub Zboril, 13th overall. Eight years later, Zboril has yet to find a role with Boston and you have to wonder just how many more chances he’s going to get. Injuries have played a part in his career, as has the addition of left-shot blueliners through trades and free agency. This season it’s going to be tough to see him cracking the lineup, but that doesn’t mean he won’t make things interesting in camp.
Ahead of him currently on the left-shot depth on defense are Hampus Lindholm, Matt Grzelcyk, and Derek Forbort. All three bring different, but valuable things to the table ahead of Zboril, but what the Czechia native does bring to coach Jim Montgomery is the ability to play on his off-side. The right side is set with Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, but Shattenkirk is someone that Zboril could be in a fight with for that spot on the third pairing. Like Merkulov and Beecher, you have to think that when Sweeney spoke about adding youth into the lineup in 2023-24, Zboril was one of the payers he was thinking of and near the top of the list he put together. It’s been said before and will be said again, if not this year, then when for Zboril?
It’s going to be a different-looking Bruins team, but just how different is going to come down to decisions that are made by the coaching staff. The young players will get a chance to show what they can do in practices and preseason games, but will it be good enough to earn a spot? If anything, they will make the decisions hard on Jim Montgomery and his staff.