Cassidy: Coyle in Line for B's No. 2 Center Role

BOSTON - The Bruins have a massive hole to fill in the middle of their second line.
After 15 seasons with the Black & Gold, David Krejci announced last week that he would be returning home to his native Czech Republic for the 2021-22 season. That means Boston will be without a Stanley Cup champion, a two-time playoff scoring leader, and one of the club's all-time leaders in games played, assists, and points to anchor the No. 2 trio.
"David is the one, played a big role for us - sometimes quietly," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "Now all of a sudden, when he's not here, we'll probably realize how good of a player he was. I think we all knew it. But now we're gonna live it firsthand without that one-two punch."

Cassidy does believe, however, that he has a clear replacement already on the roster.
"I think the obvious choice is Charlie Coyle," Cassidy said following Day 4 of Bruins Development Camp at Warrior Ice Arena. "He's the most familiar with our guys. I'm the most familiar with him. Allow the other guys to fall into place. I know that [Erik] Haula and [Tomas] Nosek prefer to play in the middle. Nick Foligno is more of a guy that will move around so that's probably how it will play out for him.
"Charlie and Taylor Hall - and [Craig] Smith was on that line last year - if Coyle can bring some of what Krech did, it will be a real good line. That's the way we're leaning and we'll see how the other pieces shake out."
Cassidy also mentioned Jack Studnicka, who has been working out furiously on and off the ice throughout the summer at Warrior Ice Arena, as a potential option to solidify a spot in the lineup if he's able to show significant progress entering his third full professional season.
"How does he fit in? Some of that will depend on his growth," said Cassidy. "Didn't get to play a lot of hockey last year, unfortunately; like a lot of young players, missed some time with the COVID restrictions. But he's also in the mix and I know he looks bigger. He's gonna be really pushing for a spot so we have to include him in the mix as well."
With Brad Marchand and Hall locked in as the Bruins top two left wings, Cassidy envisions Jake DeBrusk slotting in on the third line, which could provide the 24-year-old with some lighter matchups as he tries to bounce back from a disappointing 2020-21 season.
"If Jake ends up as third-line left winger, he's not going against top pairs as much as he used to," said Cassidy. "Can you convince him to bring a little bit more in that regard? Then we have some new faces down there that we don't know a lot about so they should be excited to find their place in the lineup."
With several new faces in the mix and the potential for Coyle or Studnicka to jump up in the lineup, Cassidy expects there to be plenty of motivation and enthusiasm throughout the forward group.
"These guys are excited to move up in the lineup. It's opportunity," said Cassidy. "I would think a guy like Charlie Coyle…he'll be excited for that opportunity. Why wouldn't you be? You get some extra minutes, you're moving up in the lineup, a little more ask on the offensive side of things. Taylor Hall comes in and is excited to play. You've got an elite level left winger out there that has scored in this league.
"That's another area that maybe we didn't have before that now is in the fold for the next four years. You're gonna get some offense from Taylor that maybe you weren't getting as much from that position in the past just because of how good Taylor is."
One thing that Cassidy does not expect to change up front: his top trio of Patrice Bergeron, Marchand, and David Pastrnak.
"Bergy will still give us high-end minutes," said Cassidy. "I think we're gonna start with it together. We know what we have there. They're a handful to play against. Let's see how the other guys plays out, more than moving David around. And then as the year goes on, see how the chemistry's developing on the other lines.
"We know the top line has it. If we need to drop David down and move some pieces around then we'll look at that if it makes us a better team."
Ultimately, Cassidy has options as he tries to map out his lines for the upcoming campaign. With the additions of Haula, Foligno, and Nosek up front, Boston's bench boss has a bevy of versatile, responsible forwards capable of playing multiple positions at his disposal.
"We lose David, but we've made enough additions that we should be a solid offensive team," said Cassidy. "That's the exciting part of this year, we have some new people we're going to be relying on and we feel that they're up to the task. But time will tell."

On the Back End

Cassidy believes his defense corps - particularly the left side - could be a bit in flux to start the season as him and his staff try to determine which pairings work best together. After the retirement of Kevan Miller and the departure of Jeremy Lauzon to Seattle via the Expansion Draft, the Bruins inked 6-foot-4, 219-pound blue liner Derek Forbort to a three-year deal in the hopes of replacing some of that size, grit, and penalty-killing acumen.
According to Boston's bench boss, the 29-year-old could fit into the lineup alongside Charlie McAvoy or Connor Clifton depending on the situation.
"Derek was brought in with the intention of competing for big minutes on this team," said Cassidy. "We know he can kill penalties, decent first pass, great teammate from everything we've heard. Could be a great complement to a Charlie McAvoy. But again, is he ready to handle that every night? Time will tell.
"We know Grizz and Charlie can play together. Didn't work out as well in the playoffs as we'd like. It's a lot of demand on Grizz, so we brought in a guy like Forbort that's…a bigger defender, different type of defender."
Cassidy added that he expects re-signed blue liners Mike Reilly (three years, $3 million annual cap hit) and Brandon Carlo (six years, $4.1 million) to remain as Boston's second pairing. He also gave Clifton the edge when it comes to starting the year as the right-side defenseman on the third pair.
"Clifton has a great shot to be that regular guy on the right side - A, because he shoots right; and B, because he's gotten better every year. And now with a bit of an opening there, let's see if we can take advantage of it," said Cassidy.
"We also have [Urho Vaakanainen] and [Jakub] Zboril and Johnny Moore that shoot left but have played the right side. We don't want to give any spots away; there's certainly some competition there. We like our depth.
"Hopefully we stay healthy. If not, those other guys are there to push those six guys. That's what you want on every good team."

Between the Pipes

In goal, Cassidy expects rookie netminder Jeremy Swayman and free agent pick up Linus Ullmark "to compete for the majority of the starts" in goal at least to begin the year with Tuukka Rask unsigned and recovering from hip surgery and Jaroslav Halak having departed via free agency.
"Right now, it certainly looks like with the work Swayman did last year that he was able to handle what we threw at him," said Cassidy, who also mentioned backstops Kyle Keyser and Tyler Grosenick - signed to a two-way deal last week - as depth options.
"And then Ullmark playing in front of our team, does that change the way he approaches the game? At the end of the day, we feel he's a young goalie that's got a lot to give, some upside, put up some solid numbers in this league, but has certainly room to improve on those with our group.
"It's gonna be new for Sway to come in and potentially be the No. 1. And Ullmark, a new organization, having been a No. 1, how's it gonna play out with him? A different environment here, different expectations. At the end of the day, we're all looking forward to seeing where they're both at."
Cassidy acknowledged that it will be quite an adjustment for the club, as they get set to begin a season without Rask for the first time in over a decade.
"In the past it's been veteran guys, Jaro and Tuukka have been around," said Cassidy. "You knew what the expectation was…we knew what we were getting. This year it's going to be a little different in that regard - in a good way too, because they're both good, young goaltenders with a lot of room to grow."