Five keys to success
As we embark on the 2017-18 season, no prediction for your Bruins should be considered crazy. They have a good enough core of veterans to think that, if the rookies pull their weight, they could finish in the top third of the league. On the other hand, t
1. The kids have to be all right
The B's are not just going with youth, but youth in vital positions: Anders Bjork on the first line, Jake DeBrusk on the second line, Charlie McAvoy among the top four defensemen. McAvoy demonstrated in the playoffs last year that he's ready for the big moments, but he has to be ready for all the little moments that come in an 82game schedule. Bjork and DeBrusk showed a lot of potential in preseason, but will no doubt have to raise their game when they see real live
NHL action for the first time.
2. Back it up, Anton
Lack of a solid No. 2 goaltender helped sink the B's in two of the last three seasons. When Tuukka Rask won the Verzina Trophy in 2014, he played 58 games, and that's a good target to get him back to elite status. Last year, Anton Khudobin could not buy a win in the first few months of the season and, with neither Zane McIntyre nor Malcolm Subban doing any better, Rask was overworked for the third straight year. Khudobin found his game just in time to come up with a couple of huge wins that allowed the team to return to the playoffs. The B's need that from Khudobin at the start this time around. It doesn't hurt that he's in a contract year.
3. Zdeno Chara needs to channel Tom Brady
His workload may have to be managed even more at age 40, but the performance last year from captain Zdeno Chara was impressive. He was quite simply the B's best defender, sometimes remaining on ice for an entire penalty kill — and the B's had the best PK in the league. Chara also served as an excellent mentor for Brandon Carlo, whose debut NHL season surely would have had some deeper valleys had the 6-foot-9 Chara not been at his side on a nightly basis. Chara, too, is playing for a contract, and he unequivocally wants to continue after this season.
4. Winging it on the second line
Things look better for a healthy David Krejci, who's been hampered by both injuries and a revolving door at both wings the last three years. David Pastrnak, who played most of last season with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, is a proven commodity after scoring 34 goals, and he's shown a dynamic chemistry at times when paired with his Czech countryman. Jake DeBrusk is an unknown, but he had a good preseason and seems to be the kind of self-motivated player that makes it at this level. They'll also need to keep the puck out of their own net. Krejci finished with a careerworst, minus-12 last year.
5. More of the same from Bruce Cassidy
With all the fresh faces, it's easy to forget that Bruce Cassidy is starting a new season as an NHL head coach for the first time in 14 years. While he tried to maintain the same commitment to defending as the B's had under Claude Julien, he threw some different wrinkles at his team. Cassidy activated the defensemen even more, he changed up his line combinations at will, and he generally encouraged his guys to play at a faster pace. In a February-to-April sprint, Cassidy worked wonders. Now he must make that translate over an 82-game schedule.