BOSTON – Charlie Coyle is raring to get going.
After sitting out the first three preseason contests, the veteran centerman will make his exhibition debut on Monday night when the Bruins visit the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub).
“I’ve been looking forward to it for a while,” said Coyle, who will center Jake DeBrusk and Fabian Lysell. “Nice to finally make the lineup here and get a game in just to see where I stand, get the kinks out, get the good habits going.
“It’s been a good training camp. Practice is definitely useful, but you can’t mimic game-like situations, you know? It’s tough to do that. So, it’ll be nice to play against some other players and get that going again.”
Coyle is also set to take on more responsibility this season with the departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. The 31-year-old has spent extensive time in the middle of Brad Marchand and DeBrusk throughout training camp, forming what could be Boston’s top trio when the regular season commences on Oct. 11.
“It’s an opportunity that’s available – and I’m ready for it,” said Coyle. “I’ve been working towards this my whole career and wanted to play in a role of this caliber…you always want to improve your game. You want to be a guy who can be reliable on all situations, and that’s what I pride myself on. I want to keep showing that and improving.
“We all want to play more minutes, and that’s something I’m looking forward to working towards, and to be a better player for this team. I know I can, and I want to be.”
The Weymouth native is also eager to build on last season, during which he tallied 45 points, the second highest total of his 11-year NHL career behind a 56-point showing in 2016-17 with Minnesota.
“It’s huge,” said Coyle, who also potted 16 goals in 82 games while playing in nearly every situation for Boston’s record-setting squad. “It does give you confidence in what you’re capable of, and what the coaching staff thinks of you, and putting you out in certain situations like that, and you’re playing those big minutes.
“I want to keep improving that. You want to play as much as possible, you love the game, we all want to play, right? So, you want to play more minutes, and play more meaningful minutes. That’s something I look forward to and want to work towards.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery believes that Coyle’s reliability at 5-on-5, as well as on the power play and penalty kill, has made him a critical piece to the puzzle.
“I think it’s prepared him a lot,” said Montgomery. “I think Charlie’s a guy that can handle a lot of ice, he’s blessed physically…with his size, but also with his capabilities of endurance and his VO2 maxes and stuff. He’s a guy that can handle a lot of minutes, so it’s nice when you have him and [Pavel Zacha].
“Pav is very similar, they’re both workhorses, so them playing 19 or 20 minutes a night…that’s something that they can do.”
