Trade pushes Kuhlman down BRUINS NOTEBOOK
Young winger to play on third or fourth line
VANCOUVER — The Bruins needed to make a move for an established winger to play top-six minutes.
That’s no reflection on
Karson Kuhlman, though; the young winger has done everything the Bruins want with the big ask that it was to play in the top six.
No matter what happens with trade acquisition Ondrej Kase, Kuhlman has made a case for himself to stay in the lineup and, while perhaps not play that big of a role, his impact has been enough to get the Bruins to where they are without that typical top winger.
“He’s a guy that we’ve got to be careful we don’t ask too much from, because he’s playing up in the lineup,” said Bruins head coach
Bruce Cassidy earlier in the trip. “He’s still a young guy that’s finding his way, that we know is a complementary player.”
With it likely Kuhlman will be bumped down to play with the third or maybe even fourth line, he got a tryout on Friday night in Calgary alongside Charlie Coyle.
The Minnesota-Duluth alum sent Coyle streaking down the ice for a breakaway in the first period that tied the game, leading to the Bruins ultimate comeback.
Consider Coyle someone in Kuhlman’s corner.
“I was really impressed last year when I first came over,” said Coyle. “I didn’t really know that much about him. But just seeing how hard he works in the battles and coming out with the puck for a guy his size, I really like playing with him. It’s nice to click and get one the first game.”
Kuhlman hasn’t secured anything yet, not with Anders Bjork and Danton Heinen also vying for more permanent roles in Kase’s presence, not to mention the fourth line wingers.
“That’s what you want, right?” Heinen said of the competition. “You want a competitive group and we know we have a bunch of guys, anybody can step in at any point and play and that’s what you want. It’s great to have another guy in the mix and it’ll be great to have him.”
Right now, though, even without scoring on a regular basis, Kuhlman is making a strong argument in his favor.
Lauzon banged up
Jeremy Lauzon has become a fan favorite rather quickly. Shifts like late in the game against Calgary, where he helped kill off a late Flames power play, is a big reason why.
He blocked a shot in that shift though that had him as a question mark on the second game of a back-to-back in Vancouver.
Much like Connor Clifton last year, though, Lauzon has come out of relatively nowhere to become a high impact defenseman.
He also got into a fight in Calgary; that’s going to earn some points, too.
“I think that’s what he does,” said Cassidy. “He’s willing to drop the gloves if he has to. Listen, he’s by no way a heavyweight in this league, who knows where it’ll go from here. At the end of the day, he’ll answer the bell. The shot-blocks, he’s willing to do that. Sometimes they hit you, sometimes they don’t.”