Dobber’s offseason fantasy hockey grades – Boston Bruins

For the last 17 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 18th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer…er, winter. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Zdeno Chara, Joakim Nordstrom, Torey Krug, Brett Ritchie

Incoming – Greg McKegg, Craig Smith

Impact of changes – For the second consecutive offseason the Bruins did very little adding. But this time there was quite a bit of subtraction in losing both Chara and Krug to free agency. Smith provides good scoring depth in the top nine and that allows the Bruins to roll out three very good lines that at any given time could pop one into the net. But without replacing those two defensemen, Boston will have to promote from within. Suddenly, Matt Grzelcyk gets top-unit power-play time and becomes an immediate dark horse. He is a left-handed shot, which replaces Krug in that slot with a four-forward power play. Charlie McAvoy becomes the team's No.1 defenseman, ready or not. He is probably ready. But logging tons of even-strength and PK time, he probably won't see as much PP time as Grzelcyk, who isn't as good in those other areas. Towards the end of the season, I expect that won't matter as it becomes obvious that McAvoy is the better producer – period. So expect him to have a stronger second half than first half. Grzelcyk is probably not ready to run the main unit full time just yet. Either way, both players should see an uptick in production this year. But it is important that McAvoy stay healthy – and that's a big if.

Ready for full-time – With all the vacancies on the defense, it looks like Boston will be filling from within. The top candidate is Urho Vaakanainen, who was the 18^th overall draft pick in 2017. He wasn't selected for his offense, that's for sure. But his future lies in being the team's top shutdown guy. So far he's shown exactly that at the pro level. He played five games for Boston last season and did not look out of place. But a fantasy asset he is not. He may in time grow to become a 150-Hits, 80 BLKS defenseman who gets 25 points, but that's a little ways off. His talent is more along the lines of positioning, stickwork and smarts/anticipation.

Jeremy Lauzon split last season between AHL and NHL. He is a very physical rearguard who looks to become a middle- or bottom-pairing guy (the latter this year) who racks up the PIM, Hits and BLKS. With limited ice time in the playoffs with the Bruins, he had 13 Hits and 18 PIM in just six games.

Jack Studnicka probably won't make the team out of training camp, but will be too good to hold off for very long. I have him playing more than half the season in the bigs and with injuries he could work his way up to the second line by the midpoint. Long term he has a very promising fantasy future.

Kuhlman was a solid two-way college star who the Bruins signed as a free agent. He doesn't offer upside in any particular category, except perhaps for short-handed points because therein lies his NHL future. The 25-year-old will likely be the 13^th forward and even with injuries will likely remain there as Studnicka leapfrogs him on the depth chart. (Read up on Kuhlman here)

Jakub Zboril should also get in about half the season in the NHL as the Bruins try several different options to compensate for their losses. Zboril was the 13^th overall pick in 2015 so the wait has been a long one. And although he won't be the defenseman they hoped they were drafting so high, he should still be a serviceable bottom pairing guy who can chip in a little bit with every category – but will not excel in any one of them.

Boston Bruins prospect depth chart and fantasy upsides can be found here

Fantasy Outlook – Boston finished ninth in league scoring last year and with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak they boast two perennial Top 10 league scorers. Patrice Bergeron is a perfect complement to those guys, and as a linemate he gets pulled up to near-point-per-game status too. Marchand and Pastrnak were supposed to be out long-term, but Marchand looks as though he will be back in time for Game 1 while Pasta is eyeing the start of February for his return from hip surgery. Losing Krug was a big hit to the offense and may impact the top line a little. Grzelcyk and McAvoy can't compensate for that. And David Krejci has a broken-down and aging (now 34) body that may not be able to keep up with his impressive career production. In net the Bruins look good with Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak, one of the best duos in the league, and I love prospect Daniel Vladar as a future NHLer. But both Rask and Halak will be UFAs this summer and are 33 and 35 respectively. Is this Boston's last year of dominating the league before a rebuild is in order? Marchand is 32 and Bergeron is 35.

Fantasy Grade: B (last year was B+)

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2020 Offseason Fantasy Hockey Grades

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