By: Joey Partridge | Follow Me On Twitter @joey_partridge
October has officially come and gone, and we are on to November. In what would be a traditional NHL regular season, the Boston Bruins would be about ten or so games into their 82-game regular season, and I’d have some game knowledge to break down and discuss how the team has been doing.
However, in the wild, forgettable year that has been 2020, the Boston Bruins are hopefully enjoying their offseason, and the National Hockey League has not come up with a return to play formula for the 2021 season. Speaking from a hockey fan perspective, this is not great news. Let’s admit it, we all love hockey and want to go to our living rooms right now and throw on a B’s game, but unfortunately, that is not the case.
With all that being said, time is actually one of the Bruins’ friends in this scenario. There are many reasons for that why if the NHL continues to take longer and longer to produce a plan for the 2021 season, the Bruins are one of the few teams who would actually benefit from that.
NHL/NHLPA still haven’t firmly booked their first Return to Play committee meeting, although it’s likely to be held next week. There are now 13 players on the committee, which is something. There were 5 players on the committee in the spring which help create the 24-team format.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 29, 2020
Back in September, both David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand had surgeries on their hip and sports hernia, respectively. Pastrnak is slated to have a five-month recovery while Marchand is to have a four-month recovery. There have been rumors of a January 1st start date for the NHL, which would likely cause both of them to miss regular-season time. However, the longer the NHL takes to make a decision and narrow down the specifics, the less likely that date is, and the less regular-season time that these two miss.
Another positive is Jake Debrusk. The Bruins have yet to sign Debrusk as he is a restricted free agent this current offseason. As he is restricted, there is no rush to sign him for anything more than the Bruins see the worth. They can take their time and sign him to a deal that makes sense for both sides, which in all likelihood will be a bridge deal. This reminds me a lot of when Pastrnak was an RFA, and there was a long holdout, which ended with Pastrnak signing one of the league-friendliest contracts.
Lastly, is Zdeno Chara. People have mixed opinions about whether he will help the Bruins next season, but the fact of the matter is that if he still wants to play, which he does, the Bruins should be in on him. It’s tough to see Chara playing anywhere else at this point in his career. The more time the league takes to make a decision, the longer Chara gets to rest, and the more time the Bruins have to figure out where certain pieces of the puzzle fit.
Believe me when I say that all I want to do in this crazy world is sit down and watch some Boston Bruins hockey, but as they say, you can find positives in almost anything. There are certainly some positives to an extended period of time with no plan in place, including the Bruins getting their two leading scorers back that much faster.
Leave a Reply