Studnicka beefs up in offseason
Former top forward prospect looks to live up to hype
What really matters for Jack Studnicka will begin Thursday, when the Bruins start on-ice sessions of training camp at Warrior Ice Arena and the true competition for NHL jobs begins.
But Studnicka has at least done the required offseason work that a disappointing 2020-21 season dictated.
The narrow-framed Studnicka — blessed with soft hands and good two-way hockey sense but not exactly a power forward’s body — made a point of sticking around the Boston area over the summer to work out in Foxboro with strength and conditioning coach Brian McDonough at Edge Performance Systems.
The result? Studnicka has put on 15 pounds of what he feels is good weight on his 6-foot-1 body that will help him better handle the physical rigors of NHL play. He’s hopeful that it will.
“I feel more explosive,” said Studnicka on Monday after captain’s practice. “I wasn’t trying to put on all this bad weight, just trying to get faster, more explosive. I think it was just my body’s time, just catching up. Fortunately I weigh a bit more and hopefully I’ll be able to push off guys and hold onto the puck longer and gain more explosiveness.”
At 22 — four-plus years removed from being drafted 53rd overall — Studnicka needs to regain some career traction. Up until last season, he’d been checking off all the boxes that made him the B’s top forward prospect. After being drafted, he posted 155 points in 126 junior games between Oshawa and Niagara. Then in his rookie pro season in 2019-20, the production kept coming as he notched 23-26-49 totals in 60 games in Providence’s COVID-shortened season.
But last season he started with the big club in Boston, and hit a sizable pothole similar to our city streets. The opportunities for playing time presented themselves more at right wing as a opposed to his natural cenEPS. ter position, and his game did not flourish. In 20 games, he had just 1-2-3 totals before being returned to Providence.
The season served as a reality check.
“It’s a man’s league, so the focus was getting stronger, obviously,” said Studnicka. “In past levels, in the American League, you could hold on to the puck easier regardless of your stature. Here, there’s big strong defensemen always in your face. I knew I had to get stronger, so I believe I achieved that. Hopefully it translates. The numbers weren’t really there offensively for me and I kind of pride myself on being an offensive guy. When I look back on it, there were opportunities and hopefully I can just build on that this year.”
Sticking around the area was helpful in both obtaining his offseason goals and getting acclimated to Boston.
“It was huge,” said Studnicka. “Last year with COVID, I wasn’t really able to see the city a lot. I got around (this summer) and saw it a lot and I was working out down in Foxboro with Brian McDonough and It’s a great group down there, tons of NHL players who want to get better and work super hard and push each other. When you’re in that environment, it’s super easy to achieve goals and get stronger and faster.”
The B’s could use one of their draft picks to pop. That’s especially true for a centerman like Studnicka now that the dreaded future is coming into full view.
David Krejci has returned to the Czech Republic and the 36-year-old Patrice Bergeron is entering the final year of his contract. The B’s longtime hallmark — strength down the middle — will not be challenged.
Studnicka, still on his entry-level deal and exempt from waivers, will not be handed a spot in the lineup. Charlie Coyle is expected to get the first crack at replacing Krejci on the second line, though he will be limited early in camp after offseason knee surgery. The B’s also picked up three forwards in Nick Foligno, Erik Haula and Tomas Nosek, all of whom can play center. The B’s can make do if Studnicka stagnates, but it would create some enviable depth if he succeeds like he was projected to not so long ago.
Said Studnicka:“I just want to put my best foot forward, show that I had a good offseason, come in and work as hard as I can, play my game and hopefully everything works out well and I get a good opportunity here.”
Bruins ink Senyshyn
The Bruins took care of bit of business on Monday by signing right wing Zach Senyshyn, a 2015 first round draft pick (15th overall), to a oneyear, two-way deal worth an NHL cap hit of $750,000. With the veteran additions that the B’s made to their bottom six, Senyshyn, who has been slow to develop and has suffered untimely injuries right when it appeared he’d get an NHL opportunity, would seem like a long shot to make the opening night roster.