By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The best team in hockey doesn’t always win the Stanley Cup; it’s won by the toughest. It sounds so simple to say, but if it hasn’t been evident for decades, the Florida Panthers emphatically hammered it home with their second consecutive Stanley Cup last week. The Panthers have dominated the playoffs in recent years not only because they’re a complete and well-coached team, but they’re also the toughest, greasiest, and nastiest.
Florida plays with an edge to their game reminiscent of the peak Cup-contending Bruins of the early 2010s. The Panthers approach every series with the same ferocity and aggression that those Bruins brought against Vancouver, and their relentless physicality wears on their opponent to make their victories decisive. Their success has made it clear that Boston has a long way to go, not only to measure up within the Atlantic Division, but also to truly get back to being Cup contenders.
The hard truth is that the Bruins haven’t been a difficult team to play against for the better part of a decade. The punishing, grind-you-to-a-paste brand of hockey that led them to a Stanley Cup, another Cup Final, and a Presidents’ Trophy is long gone. As the veterans of those Cup-contending teams moved on, Boston has gradually shifted from delivering the big hits more often than not, to taking them.
That has become increasingly apparent in recent years, as the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs on several occasions by more physical opponents. Florida was decisively the aggressor in both series and got Boston off their game by dragging them into the mud. The Islanders ground the Bruins down to the point where Jarred Tinordi and Jeremy Lauzon had to play regular shifts in an elimination game. Most painfully of all, St. Louis was so overwhelming that the Bruins were entirely out of gas for Game 7 of the Cup Final.
If you take a moment to think about it, how many current Bruins could you confidently say play with that “edge”? Nikita Zadorov immediately comes to mind. He plays a big, physical, intimidating game and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves with the league’s toughest. Kastelic is right behind in the hit chart and doesn’t shy away from a scrap either. McAvoy is capable of punishing opponents from time to time. Lauko and Koepke are forechecking machines, but after that, who’s next? Boston has a ways to go before it can withstand, match, or surpass the physical play of a team like Florida in the playoffs.
Fortunately for the Bruins, it’s not unheard of for teams to toughen up and become “built for the playoffs” very quickly, and they don’t have to look outside the Atlantic Division for inspiration. The Lightning were considered a perennial contender who repeatedly shrank when the physical play intensified in the playoffs. But within less than a year after getting beaten up by Columbus they acquired Blake Coleman, Pat Maroon, Barclay Goodrow, and Zach Bogosian, making them bigger, tougher, and meaner, pushing them over the hump to win back-to-back Cups.
Before Matthew Tkachuk arrived in Florida, the Panthers were a high-flying team brimming with offensive skill, but lacked the pushback to match those same Lightning juggernauts in the playoffs. The addition of Tkachuk transformed them overnight into the greasy, ratty, infuriating juggernaut they are today, winning back-to-back Cups of their own, and leaving nearly every opponent, including the Lightning, crying foul over their physical play.
Rather than attempt to burn up significant cap space or assets chasing Sam Bennett or Matthew Knies on the free agent market, the Bruins should look to the draft, where they could find a Sam Bennett of their own with the seventh overall pick: Brady Martin. Martin, a Center who has been described as a “destructive force” for his physical play, could be exactly what the Bruins need, and come Friday night, he may very well become one.
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