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Bruins appear to remain Stanley Cup contenders after adding Smith

Following the NHL draft, free agency, and other offseason moves, NHL.com is reviewing where each team stands in preparation for the 2020-21 regular season, which is slated to begin January 1st. Today the Boston Bruins are:

The Boston Bruins will look different from the team that won the Presidents’ Trophy last season because they have the best percentage of points in the NHL.

The Bruins (44-14-12, 0.714 point percent), eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the second round of the Best-of-7-Eastern Conference, have yet to make up for the defender’s departure Torey mugwho signed a seven-year deal with the St. Louis Blues on October 9, possibly losing the captain Zdeno Chara. The 43-year-old defender, who has played for Boston for the past 14 seasons, is an unreserved free agent, but the door hasn’t been closed to bring him back into a closer role.

“No, we have been communicating consistently with Zdeno and (Agent) Matt Keator again,” said Don Sweeney, general manager of Bruins, on October 17th. “We’re just waiting for him to initiate what he wants to do in the future. I will feel very comfortable if you take the time and let Zdeno … make the decisions along the way.”

[RELATED: Complete Team Reset coverage]

The Bruins have improved their depth forward by signing Craig Smith as a free agent. He’ll likely score points and a solid two-way game in the third row, but Boston hasn’t taken any other important steps. Although Sweeney said he still strives for experience, he also expects younger players and prospects to battle for the Ice Age, especially at the start of the season when the first line is moving forward Brad Marchand (Sports hernia) and David Pastrnak (Shoulder) Everyone is expected to still recover from an off-season surgery.

“As I mentioned, there are several players knocking on the door and we want them to keep pushing, both in our forward group and in our backend,” said Sweeney. “A bit of a growth opportunity in – we have yet to figure out how the season plays out but we will be fine at some point when we’re ready and our boys will be ready.” All along we felt that we needed internal growth. “

This is what the Bruins look like today:

Key arrivals

Craig Smith, F: The 31-year-old signed a three-year in-depth assessment contract on October 10th. With the Nashville Predators he scored at least 21 goals five times in nine seasons and 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 69 games last season. … Greg McKegg, F: The 28-year-old signed a two-way contract for one year on October 14th. He has played 185 NHL games with six teams. At the New York Rangers last season, he scored nine points (five goals, four assists) in 58 games.

Video: STL @ NSH: Smith buries the rebound to start the gate

Key departure

Torey Krug, D: Got 49 points (nine goals, 40 assists) in 61 games to lead Bruins defender and finish fourth in Boston. He had an average ice age of 20:29 in the regular season Brandon Carlo for the third on the Bruins behind defenders Charlie McAvoy (23:10) and Chara (21:01) and had six assists in 13 postseason games.

At the top

Trent Frederic, F: The 22-year-old center has played 17 games with Boston in the last two seasons and is still looking for his first NHL point. Last season he scored 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists) in 59 games with the Providence of the American Hockey League. … Jack Studnicka, F: The 21-year-old led Providence in his rookie season with 49 points (23 goals, 26 assists) in 60 games. He played five games for the Bruins in the postseason and didn’t look out of place. … Urho Vaakanainen, D: The 21-year-old had five games with the Bruins last season but didn’t score. He’ll be one of those trying to break into the regular line-up after Krug’s departure and the possible loss of Chara. … Jakub Zboril, F: The 23-year-old has been re-signed as a restricted free agent and is a candidate for the bottom six strikers. He has played in Providence for the past three seasons, scoring 19 points each.

What else do you need

A power play quarterback. That role was taken over by Krug, who scored 28 power play points last season, including 26 Bruins-sized assists. Pastrnak sometimes played the role last season, even during the postseason, but he’s out until February after undergoing a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on September 16, so the Bruins may try to leave the organization to meet the need.

Fantasy focus

Moving forward with two top 10 fantasy players, Pastrnak and Marchand, who are likely to miss the start of the season Jake DeBrusk should do the next step for the Bruins. Known as a fantasy sleeper contestant for the past two seasons, DeBrusk can finally break through when exposed to the Elite Center Patrice Bergeron. DeBrusk plays a prominent role in even strength and power play for a safe fantasy team, and is an obvious late round target. – Pete Jensen

Projected placement

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk– David Krejci – – Ondrej cheese

Björk is different – – Charlie Coyle – Craig Smith

Nick Ritchie – – Sean Kuraly – – Chris Wagner

Jeremy Lauzon – Charlie McAvoy

Matt Grzelcyk – Brandon Carlo

John Moore – – Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jaroslav Halak

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