By: Tom Calautti | Follow me on Twitter @TCalauttis
We’re now five games into the 2024-25 NHL season, and the best line on the Boston Bruins isn’t who you expected. The trio of Cole Koepke, Mark Kastelic, and Johnny Beecher has been nothing short of phenomenal, driving Boston’s offense and leading the team (and, in many cases, the league) in scoring.
It’s somewhat absurd how efficient and productive this line has been across the season’s first five games. Each player has started off the season with two goals, three assists, and five points, good enough to be tied for 38th in the league in scoring. As a unit, they’ve combined for 6-9-15 and are a whopping +26.
The trio isn’t just having a good start as far as fourth lines go; they’re having arguably the best start of any line in the NHL. For reference, 179 lines in the NHL have registered at least 10 minutes of ice time together. The Koepke-Kastelic-Beecher line leads ALL trios with eight five-on-five goals. No line in the entire league has scored with the frequency and productivity of this unit.
As a team, the Boston Bruins are tied for eighth in the league with 12 5v5 goals. This means the new-look fourth line has been responsible for 66.7 percent of the team’s scoring at full strength. When you look at scoring as a whole, Boston is tied for second in the league with 20 goals across all situations. Accordingly, the Koepke-Kastelic-Beecher line has scored or assisted on 40 percent of all Boston Bruins goals this season.
Head Coach Jim Montgomery has noticed the trio’s production, saying after Wednesday night’s victory, “I think we’ve got to stop calling them the fourth line.” They have been, without a doubt, Boston’s best offensive trio and, as outlined above, have been one of the most productive trios in the league.
But it isn’t just their scoring output that has gotten their coach’s attention; it’s the details in their game that make them so reliable. “They’re earning all the ice time they’re getting,” said Montgomery. “Their details, their work ethic, their puck support of one another, offensively and defensively, is allowing them to have tremendous success.”
It’s true that for this team to make a deep playoff run, they’ll need more scoring from their top six. It’s also true that the top six have too much talent to stay stagnant for longer. But until they find their groove, the Bruins can lean on (currently) the best line in hockey for success.
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