The last time the Boston Bruins took the ice was Dec. 16, losing on the road to the New York Islanders as a COVID-19 outbreak reduced the available lineup and met with predictable results.
A robust schedule of four games in six days leading to Christmas never took flight, as the league postponed those contests and announced that the scheduled B’s-Pittsburgh Penguins home game Monday will also have to be played at a later date. That leaves a Dec.29 road tilt against the Ottawa Senators as the next potential mark on the calendar for Boston’s first game back.
With postponements stacking up around the NHL, and a growing number of scheduled games needing to be put back in the mix, the NHL announced that it will no longer be participating in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and will instead use the original three-week break to fill in the missed dates. Although a major disappointment for the players who were expected to go, it’s the right call.
Hockey is a business, and given the existing pandemic protocols were stretching certain teams to an untenable breaking point in terms of being able to reschedule the postponed games, the league’s obligation to its fans and sponsors had to take priority over the opportunity for players to represent their countries at a time when the coronavirus has returned to create major global disruptions once again.
Bigger picture of Olympic decision
On its face, the NHL’s decision to pull out of the Olympics is a tough blow to many players for whom this was probably going to be their only chance to represent their country at that level.
Brad Marchand has reason to be the most disappointed of the Bruins players. He was just emerging as an NHL superstar in 2018, when the last games were played in South Korea, but the league had opted out of that competition after participating in five cycles of winter games going back to 1998. For the 31-year-old, 2022 meant his best shot at playing for Team Canada. He’s still in the upper tier of top NHL talent and was a lock to make his country’s roster for the games in Beijing.
"In just talking to a number of the guys leading up to the announcement, just with all these games being canceled and the fear of the Olympics being canceled, they were disappointed," Bruins President Cam Neely said during media availability earlier this week. "Some players, they're thinking they're gonna make a team, could be their last chance to play in the Olympics. I think it's disappointing for those guys and others that want to play for their country. But they certainly understand the circumstances."
It was going to be Patrice Bergeron’s last hurrah at the Olympics, with a chance to make it an Olympic gold medal trifecta after being a part of Team Canada wins in 2010 and 2014.
David Pastrnak will still be in his prime at age 29 when the 2026 Olympics come around, but for Marchand, it’s a missed opportunity that he may never see again.
The B’s still have 56 contests remaining on their slate. That means that the originally scheduled Feb. 6-22 break for the Olympics can now be used to plug in the five games (and counting) that were taken off the board because of COVID. While Neely said that there are some events that have been scheduled at TD Garden in anticipation of the B’s being on hiatus during that time, the team has some dates in mind that could work to take care of the postponements.
The bigger picture impact of the unscheduled Dec. break and no Olympics means that the Bruins benefit from what was going to be a difficult two months, with 30 total games on the schedule through Feb. 1. Missing the last week-plus has reduced the wear and tear that likely would have accumulated leading into Christmas, and has allowed for a reset on a Bruins roster that has been inconsistent thus far as it struggles to find its identity and get steady contributions across the lineup, especially from the bulk of the newcomers who were brought in over the summer.
Rescheduling the missed dates for February means that the B’s will get more of an even balance of games to offset a heavy January, rather than two consecutive months of the grind.
It by no means takes away the disappointment for players like Marchand who were looking forward to the Olympic experience, but it probably bodes well for the Bruins as things go forward.
Zboril done for regular season
It was another round of bad news when the team released an update on injured defenseman Jakub Zboril, confirming he had recent knee surgery for a torn ACL after an awkward hit in Nashville Dec. 2 that knocked him out of the game.
New England Hockey Journal contributor Mark Divver reported the news of the surgery Dec. 20, with the team issuing the update that Zboril will miss the rest of the 2021-22 regular season a day later.
For Zboril, it’s the height of frustration, as he had sat out of most of the team’s first 10 games, only to get a chance and run with it by playing the best hockey of his limited NHL career. He was defending better, moving pucks, playing with more urgency and his confidence was coming to the fore.
Now, he’ll put all of his attention on the rehab in his lost season. The good news is that he’s finally shown some consistency to go with the talent that saw him chosen 13th overall in 2015, and he’ll get another chance to build on the success he was having. Unfortunately, his loss is one more hit to the thin defensive depth that the Bruins could ill afford to take.
Senyshyn asks for trade
In another report from Divver, the third of Boston’s 2015 first-round picks has made it known that he would like to move on from the Bruins. Zach Senyshyn, who was taken 15th overall and well ahead of where he was projected to go, spoke to Divver by phone from his home in Ottawa while home for the holidays.
https://twitter.com/MarkDivver/status/1473779591655395334?s=20
Senyshyn, a fifth-year pro after putting up two back-to-back 40+-goal seasons with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, has only seen limited NHL action with the Bruins. Even when showing some positive flashes, he was knocked out of the lineup with injuries and didn’t get the chance to work his way back in.
Based on comments Senyshyn made to Divver in his Rink Insider Rhode Island blog, the frustration has hit a boiling point, as the 24-year-old feels that he’s simply not in the team’s plans after not being in on any of the recent recalls the B’s have made while juggling injuries and COVID challenges.
“I feel like my game has gotten to that level where I’m ready to play and I’m ready to make an impact. With the way the Bruins organization has been going, it just doesn’t seem like I’m in the mix,’ he told Divver.
The problem for Senyshyn and the Bruins is that he doesn’t have much if any trade value. He’s been exposed on waivers for the purpose of being assigned to the AHL, and there were no takers. At one time, the 6-foot-1, 207-pound right wing looked like he was going to be at the very least, a solid 3rd/4th line NHL option with his speed, shot and ability to beat defenses off the edge. However, the two-way skills necessary to play that kind of role have yet to materialize in earnest for him. In 21 AHL games, he’s third in Providence in scoring with eight goals and 13 points. He’s tied with leading scorer Oskar Steen for the team lead in goals and on pace to establish a new season high, but even with that modest success, he’s not been an option for Boston.
He now joins Jake Debrusk as the second of Boston’s three firsts to officially ask out of Boston, with rumors that Zboril at one time had made his own unhappiness known at his lack of upward mobility with the organization known. That all changed for him this season (and before the injury), but it’s yet another negative development for a draft that should have set the Bruins up for another run of contention well into the new decade.
With 87 goals in his final two OHL campaigns proved that there was something to him at the time the decision was made to pass on other higher-rated players available to them like Kyle Connor, Mat Barzal, Travis Konecny and Brock Boeser, but in a results-oriented business, Senyshyn has never really gotten out of second gear in his pro career.
Trade option: Jakob Chychrun on the block?
With the Arizona Coyotes in free fall and GM Bill Armstrong looking to acquire as many draft picks and young assets he can to kickstart the full rebuild, rumor has it that 23-year-old Jakob Chychrun is on the trade block.
The 16th overall selection in 2016, taken just two spots after Boston grabbed Charlie McAvoy, has already amassed more than 300 NHL games worth of experience, having made the Coyotes at age 18, right after they drafted the 6-foot-2, 210-pound son of former NHLer Jeff Chychrun.
For Boston, Chychrun would be a strong fit as a big, mobile two-way left-shot defender who would immediately shore up and bolster the left side of Boston’s blue line.
On the downside, the price Armstrong is likely looking to extract is cost prohibitive and doesn’t make the Bruins a realistic trade partner. DeBrusk would likely be an attractive piece for Arizona, but the reality is- the Coyotes can probably get something similar if not better from another team that knows getting a talented defenseman so young but seasoned would be a major coup.
Although currently on IR, Chychrun carries a reasonable cap hit of $4.6 million per year on a deal that runs through 2025.
Boston GM Don Sweeney has a lot of needs, and as previously discussed, a future No. 1 center is more of a priority than adding another defenseman is on paper. However, when you consider the importance of building from the net out and what a potential top-four rotation of McAvoy-Chychrun-Brandon Carlo-Matt Grzelcyk could bring, it’s worth exploring.
The obstacles in getting Chychrun will be the ask- DeBrusk would be more of a secondary piece, with a top prospect like Mason Lohrei at a minimum, followed by multiple picks, with a first-rounder likely to start it off. While that seems like a lot, it’s the going rate for a young defender who is a proven player in the NHL and has a decade left in his prime.
