Bruins Training Camp Competition Breakdown: Defensemen And Goaltenders
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- There are available jobs aplenty for Bruins forwards, as we examined in an earlier column. Not only are there openings to be filled, but there are established players looking to move up the depth chart.
When it comes to the Bruins' defense and goaltending, however, there aren't any openings. Instead there's competition between defensemen to be cast in high-profile roles and to make it into the lineup. And in the goaltending department, there's competition to be the first call-up should something unfortunate happen to one of the Bruins' top two.
It's time to examine the position battles that will play out on defense and at goaltender after training camp starts Sept. 10.
Let's start on defense, where we know the Bruins have eight defensemen under contract, and Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy and Torey Krug are going to play. Although general manager Don Sweeney didn't sign John Moore solely for Moore to be a healthy scratch, the player's friendly $2.75 million charge against the NHL salary cap doesn't guarantee him playing time.
We know what strides Kevan Miller has made in order to be more than a stay-at-home defenseman. Brandon Carlo was starting to turn around his sophomore season when injury ended his season for the second straight year. Matt Grzelcyk not only proved to be a proficient puck-mover last season, but he's also been a personal favorite (based on the number of times his name is mentioned) of coach Bruce Cassidy. And then there's Adam McQuaid, a penalty killing beast with limitations in other areas of his game, who's entering the final year of his contract at a cap hit of $2.75 million.
Chara and McAvoy formed a great top pair last season, and Chara proved to be the perfect mentor for the rookie. Considering McAvoy's skill set and his year (plus the 2017 playoffs) of experience, McAvoy may be ready to venture off to his own pair.
Carlo's sophomore slump nearly cost him his regular job last season before he turned things around by becoming more confident and physical. His pairing with Krug produced a 53.4 Corsi For percentage in 655 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time (courtesy of Natural Stat Trick), with 30 goals scored and 20 goals allowed.
Considering Carlo will be coming back from a serious leg injury and might be a slow starter, reuniting him with Chara could be the best way to get him up to speed. That would free up McAvoy to play with either Krug or Grzelcyk. McAvoy and Grzelcyk played just 59 minutes 5-on-5 together last season but had a 70.4 Corsi For percentage with seven goals scored and one allowed. Because of the small sample size it's easy to ignore that production, but Cassidy has to be excited by the idea of pairing the two former Boston University defensemen against certain faster teams.
At the start, though, we're probably looking at a Krug-McAvoy pair, which played 97 minutes together last season and had a 56.4 Corsi For percentage. With Chara-Carlo taking on the most difficult assignments, McAvoy will be freer to think offense and (assuming he's continued to improve since last season) he should be able to help out Krug in front of the net.
That would leave four players for two spots. McQuaid would seem like the odd man out because of his lack of offensive prowess and the return of Carlo to the penalty kill. McAvoy should get more shorthanded ice time now and Moore can also help out in that department.
As a left-handed shot, Moore seems like competition for Grzelcyk, but Moore could also play his off side and challenge Miller. A lot will be determined by what work Grzelcyk and Miller did this offseason to improve and what the Bruins need on defense based on how the other pairs pan out.
I'd suspect we'll see Moore and Miller get time to mesh, with Grzelcyk possibly rotating in against certain matchups early in the season. Of course you can all but guarantee at least one injury to the defense corps during training camp.
But unless Sweeney makes a trade before the season, Cassidy is going to have the toughest decision of his brief Boston coaching career when it comes time to pick six out eight defensemen to play.
In the crease, let's state the obvious: Tuukka Rask is No. 1, Jaroslav Halak is No. 2 with hopes of being considered 1A (by both him and the team). The better Halak plays, the better off the Bruins will be. Some will have fun drumming up goalie controversies every time Rask loses a game and Halak wins one, but it'll take a major Rask catastrophe to change the pecking order. Halak pushing Rask and getting Rask more rest, though, will pay off in the postseason.
Beyond the top two, there will be an interesting battle to be the No. 3, which could come in to play if injuries hit. Remember two years ago the Bruins went four goalies deep in the first couple of months of the season.
Zane McIntyre is 26 years old and entering his fourth pro season. Ideally he'd be challenging Halak (if not Rask) by now. The Bruins would be satisfied if McIntyre pushed Halak a little and just proved that he's ready if called upon to return to the NHL.
But McIntyre may have the added task of holding off Daniel Vladar for the No. 1 spot in Providence and the No. 3 spot on Boston's depth chart. The 21-year-old played well with Atlanta of the ECHL and in his four-game stint with the P-Bruins. An underrated battle for the upcoming training camp will pit McIntyre and Vladar for the title of goaltender of the future.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @MattKalman.
