With Boston Bruins rookie camp concluding in Buffalo with the Prospects Challenge at the LECOM HarborCenter, the veterans will now take center stage in Brighton, Mass.
There is a significant number of new faces in Boston this season, which will not have both of David Krejci and Tuukka Rask officially on the NHL roster together for the first time since 2008-09. Krejci is back in his native Czech Republic playing for Olomouc HC in the Czech Extraliga, while Rask is recovering from hip surgery. The B’s have not completely closed the door on their Boston careers, but for now, neither is in the mix, but their absence comprises several threads of the camp fabric.
To that extent, left wing Taylor Hall enters his first full season with the Bruins after coming over in a late-season trade and signing a contract extension. Soon turning 30, he is still very much in his prime and could possibly post career numbers on the second line. Who will most likely be the one to center the second line with Hall and Craig Smith?
The plot thickens, as New England Hockey Journal looks at Hall and what he will do for that second line, plus a final review of how stood out at the Prospects Challenge in the first game against the Buffalo rookies.
We will continue our coverage of the Bruins this week and next with more key storylines and questions surrounding the team as camp gets underway.
Taylor Hall’s long journey to Boston
He wanted to be a Bruin 11 years ago when the team had the second overall selection in the 2010 NHL draft, and it was between Boston and Edmonton, who had the first overall selection. The Oilers tabbed Hall with the top pick of course, and the rest is history, but when the former Windsor Spitfires star had the chance to come to Boston, he put action behind his desire.
Saying that he realized a trade from Buffalo was likely in the works after signing a one-year deal worth $8 million last season, Hall worked behind the scenes to shape that impending deal to bring him to the team he had long admired from afar.
“It’s been great to come to Boston 10 days before camp and move into a place that I know I’m going to be in for a while,” he told media recently. “Just to kind of set up a home base. It’s not something you’re going to see on the scoresheet the first five games of the year, but mentally, it makes it a lot easier for an athlete when he’s more settled and comfortable.”
To that end, just before the NHL draft in late July, the team announced Hall had come to terms on a four-year contract worth $6 million per season.
Getting the former first overall pick, whose playing style and skill set is an excellent match for the way the Bruins play and the organizational values the team embraces. Although it might have seemed that Hall’s signing was predicated on bringing a long-time veteran in Krejci back, No. 71 asserted that was not the case when he committed to the organization on the contract extension.
“I have a lot of respect for (Krejci) and it would’ve been nice to see him back this year,” Hall said. “He’s a guy that I learned a lot from even in the 25, 30 games I played with him last year. But, there’s so many great guys on this team- the leadership group really pushes the pace, really drives the bus on what it is like to be a Bruin and how you gotta act around the room. It’s an inviting culture, a culture where you gotta work hard and just be a good person.”
Who will center Hall and Smith on the second line?
With Krejci’s departure, much of the discussion about the Bruins swirls around the second unit. For several years, Don Sweeney and his front office sought to find a stable winger to complement the team’s top trio Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.
After signing Smith and seeing him establish himself on the right side with Krejci, and then bringing in Hall to solidify the veteran line, the solution was finally in place. So, it was a tough pill to swallow in the short term when Krejci made good on the hints he had been dropping about going home to the Czech Republic with his young family.
As camp opens this week, the general feeling around the organization is that South Shore/East. Weymouth, Mass. native Charlie Coyle will be the next man up to address that need.
Smith played with Coyle and Trent Frederic at various points last season before settling in with Krejci but has an idea of what to expect.
“It was great,” Smith said of his chemistry with Coyle last season. “I had a lot of fun playing with him. Coming in last year, I didn’t have as much expectations (sic) of where I was going to be, I just wanted to fit in, and things just kind of work out themselves when you put the work in.”
He cited Coyle’s big body and ability to protect the puck as two key attributes to be able to step in at least initially make the second line a viable threat. Coyle may not have Krejci’s playmaking instincts or passing touch, but he’s going to be able to create space for Smith and Hall and when he gets to the net, all three have the tools to create matchup problems for opposing defenses.
Smith said he spent a month in Boston after the end of the 2020-21 season to get acclimated before heading home to Wisconsin and conducting his off-season work. At 32, the veteran is clearly excited at the prospect of staying in the B’s top six, and with two more years remaining on his $3.1M cap hit, represents real value for the team’s salary structure.
Hall’s explosive speed and offensive mindset, coupled with Smith’s grit, ability to disrupt and underrated shot, plus Coyle’s heavy-on-pucks style bring an intriguing versatility to that line. The former NHL MVP in 2016 gives the team a game-breaking element, and even if there are questions about the line’s ability to produce offense, Hall is confident and settled at age 29.
“It doesn’t really change my preparation or focus for the year,” said Hall. “My job is to come in and play as well as I can, whatever line I’m slotted in. Hopefully, I can drive that line like I have in the past, whoever the centerman is. I imagine I’ll play with (Smith) on the right side, and I think that we can work with anyone.”
Krejci is gone, so one of the major items of business for Bruce Cassidy and the Boston coaching staff will be to find the right fit. If Coyle, clicks, then the focus shifts to roster management and the business of sustaining consistency. If not, the coaches will look to new additions or younger options like Erik Haula or even Jack Studnicka. Realistically, putting the latter into the position of having to drive plays on the second line as an unproven NHLer who likely needs time and patience to first establish himself at this level and expecting him to produce is more the province of wishful thinking on Twitter from Bruins fans than a prime option, at least initially.
Regardless of who will be in the middle with Hall, things are shaping up for him to have a career year with the quality supporting cast around him and an organization that will be committed to putting him in a position to succeed.
“I never had a guarantee (David) Krejci would be back,” Hall said. “I just wanted to play for this team.”
2021 Prospects Challenge roundup
The B’s rookies played one of two games at the time of publication, beating the Sabres 5-2 behind a pair of goals from Jesper Froden. Sammy Asselin, Brett Harrison, and Fabian Lysell (empty-netter) also scored for Boston. J.J. Peterka and Brett Murray had the Sabres goals. Kyle Keyser held the fort in net for the win.
The Sabres, who shut out New Jersey the night before in a 7 p.m. start, had to turn around and play Boston at 3 p.m. Saturday and only had 10 forwards to draw from. The lack of push from Buffalo started to show in the late second and third periods.
Aside from the empty-net goal at the end, Lysell showed off his speed, but as an 18-year-old, his learning curve is sure to be steep. The details aren’t quite there, and he has a lot of work to do before he will be ready for the NHL. He’ll either play in the WHL with Vancouver or AHL with Providence by the looks of it, and based on that first game, major junior might be the best option so he can play a lot of minutes and in top special teams roles.
Beyond Lysell, here’s a quick review of the players who stood out in the action, streamed via the Buffalo Sabres website on Saturday afternoon.
Sammy Asselin- He earned his NHL contract with Boston the hard way, by playing fast and with energy and opportunistic scoring. Yesterday, he centered the blazing bookends Lysell and Jakub Lauko. Asselin scored on a tip of Jack Ahcan’s point shot in the second period and was noticeable throughout the game by moving his feet and slicing through layers in the Buffalo defense to create opportunities for himself and his linemates.
Jesper Froden- The oldest player here (he turns 27 on Tues.), Froden showed off a smart, refined game honed by years playing pro hockey overseas. His second goal put the game out of reach on a two-man advantage and was a prime example of finding quiet ice and one-timing a pass before the goaltender (Mack Guzda) could get set. Wearing No. 38, which brought back memories of Vladimir "Rosie" Ruzicka (though the styles are different) for the B’s three decades ago, Froden gives Ryan Mougenel a ready-made option up front in Providence and will be able to help Boston if the need arises.
https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1439567450421477377?s=20
Jakub Lauko- He didn’t have the production of other players, but Lauko showed off his tremendous speed and pushed the pace, generating several scoring chances off the rush and disrupting the gaps Buffalo’s defenders tried to establish on him. He’s going to be a top-line player in the AHL and will probably get a chance to see his first NHL action. This is a future NHL player in waiting, he just needs to be patient and master the current level he’s at.
Brett Harrison- Scored the winning goal by going to the net and putting a rebound home. This is what the Oshawa Generals standout does: he’s not going to dazzle you with a lot of nifty, agile moves or high-level creativity, but when he uses his big body and quick release to get to the dirty areas, he’s effective and productive.
Jack Ahcan- Boston’s top prospect on defense in Providence drove the bus from the back end, earning that recognition from former NHL goaltender and Buffalo color man Marty Biron. He can skate, handle pucks and played with the kind of assertiveness that caused Mougenel to bring forth effusive praise after the performance.
“He’s a guy that we can celebrate for his offense, and we can celebrate him for how he defends. He’s a special player,” Mougenel said in a Bruins release after the game.
Nick Wolff- Big man struggled with the pace and was exposed by top Buffalo forwards like JJ Peterka. On one sequence, he was off-balance and attempted a point shot, falling to the ice and looking generally awkward, lacking fluidity to his movements. You admire the toughness and he was a difficult player to face in college with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, but has his work cut out for him to reach the NHL with his pedestrian footwork and average puck game.
Kyle Keyser- Got the job done by squaring up to shooters and not wasting a lot of energy with excess motion. At one point in the third looked like he was coming out of the game after a goalmouth collision with Brett Murray, but it was reported after he was cramping up and stayed in the game to secure the win. He will form a strong AHL tandem with Troy Grosenick. He is ready to take the next step in his development.
