It was a busy week for the Boston Bruins, with the announcement of defenseman Brandon Carlo’s six-year extension, the announcement by veteran Kevan Miller that he is calling it quits and the submission of the team’s protection list for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft.
With the expansion and 2021 NHL Entry Drafts less than a week away, followed by the annual free agent frenzy on the 28th of July, everything is heating up as the summer rolls on.
In this week's edition, we break down the Carlo extension, salute Miller, predict who the B's will lose in the expansion draft. For a bonus, we'll some tidbits about the Boston coaching staff, a possible return to North America for a B's prospect, and we look at one last first-round draft target before the big event on Friday.
Carlo's real deal
The team announced that the 24-year-old veteran and 2015 second-round selection agreed to terms on his third contract with the team since he turned pro in 2016. The extension will pay the Colorado native $4.1 million per year through the 2026-27 season.
When healthy, the 6-foot-5 righty is a staple on Boston’s second pairing. He doesn’t produce much in the way of offense, but is a shutdown defensive presence with tremendous range, reach and strength. He logs big minutes and provides the team with another prime defender on the right side behind Charlie McAvoy.
The problem Carlo faces is with injuries. He’s had several major concussions, the first one going back to his rookie year when he was hit from behind into the boards by Alex Ovechkin in the 2017 regular season and missed the playoffs. With the head hits he’s already taken, he could be one more away from major calamity. The team is protected from his loss financially by insurance and long-term injured reserve, but they don’t have a replacement within the system if anything happens.
It’s a very good signing from the Bruins perspective, as Carlo agreed to term at a team-friendly rate. The keys will be for Carlo to stay healthy enough to play out the length of the extension, and for Don Sweeney to shore up the left side of the team’s defense this offseason and going forward.
Throwback rearguard retires after a decade
He came to the Bruins as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Vermont in 2011, and ten years later, Kevan Miller decided to walk away after 352 career NHL games, all with Boston. Like Carlo, injuries prevented the 6-foot-2, 210-pound right defenseman from being in the lineup for a lot of important games. In the end, a late hit by Washington’s Dmitry Orlov in the first round of the 2021 playoffs effectively ended his career.
Miller didn’t have a lot of skill, but he skated well enough and was a tenacious, physical defender who was difficult to play against. He was a natural leader and beloved in the B’s room for his effort, character and willingness to do the hard things necessary to win hockey games. Everyone loves an underdog, and that’s what Miller was as a California native who played prep hockey at Berkshire School and went on to a solid college career with the Catamounts, helping them reach the 2009 Frozen Four.
After a career best 71-game, 18-point season in 2015-16, Miller had trouble staying in the lineup. The B’s lost him for the entire 2019 playoffs, and many feel that had he been able to play, Boston might have been able to beat St. Louis to secure a second Stanley Cup since 2011. Unfortunately, we will never know. His 13 goals and 71 career points with 281 penalty minutes don’t tell the story of Miller’s impact on the team over the past decade.
At 33, he has a future in the game as a mentor and a coach. It’s a shame that it ended sooner for Miller than it should have, but he seems to be at peace with the decision to hang up the skates.
Who will Seattle pluck from B's?
All 30 NHL clubs participating in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft this Wednesday (Vegas is exempt) submitted their protected lists to the league Saturday, with those lists not being made public at the time of this writing. The guess here is that Boston will go with the 7 forward, 3 defense and 1 goaltender option, and it might look like this:
New England Hockey Journal projected Bruins expansion draft protected list
Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Charlie Coyle (NMC), Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Craig Smith
Defensemen: Brandon Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy
Goaltender: Dan Vladar
Taylor Hall, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask are unrestricted free agents and therefore don't have to be protected for the draft. Jeremy Swayman was not required to be protected because of his short term of pro service, but the B’s did have to qualify farmhand Callum Booth in order to meet the requirement for at least one player at the position to be exposed.
It looks like one of Nick Ritchie or Jeremy Lauzon will likely be in the cross hairs for the NHL’s 32nd club. Had Ritchie’s play not gone south in the final month of the regular season and playoffs, the restricted free agent would have been a no-brainer to be protected. Lauzon, whose youth and combination of mobility and toughness should translate into a serviceable NHL career, is the one who should be the most attractive to Seattle. He has one more year at a cap hit of $850k left on his current contract.
Bruins coaching rumor mill
We got a tip from Stratford, Ontario that the B’s are considering former defensive winger and fan favorite P.J. Axelsson as an option to replace Jay Pandolfo on the coaching staff. Axelsson, 46, played 797 career NHL games from 1997-2009, all with Boston. He has been a scout for the team since 2013, and served as the European scouting coordinator this past season.
Also being considered from within is another former B’s defensive stalwart in Chris Kelly. A member of the 2011 Stanley Cup-winning squad, the 40-year-old is Boston’s player development coordinator since 2019.
Expect to see the B’s make an announcement soon, going with a former player with a lot of experience and credibility within the organization. They can’t go wrong with either guy.
Return of JFK?
2015 second-round pick Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson voided his contract with Färjestad BK in Sweden earlier this spring and reportedly wants to make a return to North America.
The former Boston University standout played 29 games for the Bruins from 2017-19 when he turned pro, but never really won over the coaching staff with his play. Although smart and talented, the pace wasn’t what it could be.
Coming back to the Bruins is probably not a realistic option- he could use a change of scenery. The team still holds his NHL rights and could wheel him for a late pick or lower-end prospect that is in a similar situation with another club.
Draft target: 2021
Sasha Pastujov is one of the draft’s most natural scorers, as he tallied 40 goals for the U.S. National under-18 team this past season between their USHL and college/international schedules.
The University of Notre Dame-bound left winger is a pretty average skater, but he works hard and has a knack for finding quiet ice and anticipating where the puck will be. With a sublime set of hands, he can finish in tight or rip shots past the goaltender from further out. Pastujov was a real weapon on the USA power play, but at even strength, his play will need to improve in order to sustain the same kind of production as he goes up in levels.
New England Hockey Journal draft prediction: Taking Pastujov at 21 would be a tad early in our view, especially when you consider who could be available there. However, he’s absolutely one of the top players in the class at scoring goals, so it wouldn’t be that much of a reach. The biggest area of improvement is the skating, but he can do the things you can’t teach. We could see the B’s being interested in him. At the same time, he could slide to the bottom portion of the round or slip into the second altogether. This draft is near-impossible to predict once you get out of the top tier.
One final note... Sticktap to former Bruins defenseman Torey Krug and his wife, Melanie. They are expecting a second child, another daughter, any day now. We wish them all good health and success. They make their offseason home in Boston, which means both kids plus bulldog Fenway are native New Englanders.
