By: Zach Beauchaine |Follow Me On Twitter @OtisTheMango
The Boston Bruins, 2022-23 season has been remarkable. The team has shattered expectations throughout and have accomplished several record-breaking milestones. This Bruins team could find themselves on course to win it all for the first time since the 2011 season. If they can win the Cup, it would be the 7th in the history of the Boston Bruins franchise.
What better time to win the Stanley Cup than right now? Next year will be the Boston Bruins 100th season of electrifying hockey. Indeed, a Stanley Cup banner would be the perfect way to begin the centennial celebration of the historic franchise.
What separates this Bruins team from the rest of the pack of hungry contenders is their incredibly present depth. The team heads to battle every game with a powerful veteran core that knows precisely what it takes to succeed on and off the ice. They have a league superstar in winger David Pastrnak and plenty of young talent equally ready to make the next leap in their NHL careers. All of which is the recipe for an extremely hungry hockey team.
Veterans like captain Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have been rightful leaders of the team for years now. Their timely play-making and incredible locker room personas have been part of the Bruins glue all along. Brad Marchand is right there with them with his outstanding leadership. Throw in another seasoned veteran like Nick Foligno with this group, and the determination grows even stronger.
Forwards Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic, and Pavel Zacha are all having tremendous seasons in their professional careers this year. David Pastrnak is lighting the lamp time and time again. Pastrnak is the team leader in goals scored, with 56 currently on the season. The star forward is the first Bruin to total 50 goals in one season since Cam Neely did so in 1993-1994.
Those are just the forward skaters on the roster for Boston. The Bruins pack another entire section of depth on the blue line. Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm are, without question, two of the best defensemen in the NHL right now, but they aren’t doing it alone. Boston has several defenders to get the job done; Connor Clifton is an utter wrecking ball on the ice, and Derek Forbort is a critical shot blocker on the penalty kill. Veterans Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelyck have elevated their games as well.
The Bruins also added increased depth at this year’s NHL trade deadline. General manager Don Sweeney brought defenseman Dmitry Orlov, forward Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals, and rugged Tyler Bertuzzi forward from the Detroit Red Wings. All three players have been a vital boost to the team’s roster since joining at the beginning of March, and they have all made consistent contributions to the club as they prepare for the playoffs.
The depth does not stop there either for Boston. The B’s have rolled out an immensely dynamic goalie duo of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. Both of Boston’s goaltenders are having elite-caliber seasons. They have efficiently shared the reps in the net and took over games for the Bruins. The goalies also have unmatched chemistry with one another and share a goal of excellence that has contributed mainly to the team’s success this year.
The Boston Bruins can roll any combination of four forward lines, pairs of defensemen, and goalies and beat the best of the NHL on any given night. This is not the 2019 Bruins that fell to the St. Louis Blues in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. This team is different from past B’s contending teams. They can deal with adversity head-on, and they can play for one another every single game. Most importantly, the Bruins can win games that will really count in the playoffs.
The remarkable depth speaks volumes about what the Bruins management team and the players on the ice want to accomplish. One common goal is shared to bring the greatest trophy in sports back to the city of Boston. This team has the capacity to do it this year as a direct result of their incredible roster depth.
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