Who has surprised the Bruins the most thus far in the first half?

January 31, 2024 Forgiveness Igbadio Sports 0

So much for a step back for the Bruins in 2023-24.No, Jim Montgomery’s squad is not on pace to smash last year’s record-setting 65-12-5 pace.Still, Boston enters the All-Star Break tied for first (Vancouver, 71 points) atop the NHL standings with a 31-9-9 record.

As expected, the usual suspects like David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Linus Ullmark, and Jeremy Swayman have all done their part to elevate Boston as a potential contender for yet another winter.

But the 2023-24 Bruins season has been marked by several supporting-cast skaters pulling on the rope, along with established veterans thriving under added minutes.

Here’s a look at some of the top surprises so far this season:

Charlie Coyle

There was no questioning Coyle’s capabilities as a puck-possessing, shutdown pivot at his usual perch on the third line.

But a top-line center? Considering his previous career-best scoring totals in a Bruins sweater were 16 goals and 45 points, there was plenty of skepticism over the Weymouth native’s ability to thrive atop the depth chart.

Just about all of that discourse has quieted, to say the least.

Coyle has already scored 18 goals and posted 42 points in 49 games this season. He’s projected to shatter his previous career-highs with 30 goals and 70 total points, while his 2.83 5v5 points per 60 minutes is tied for fifth in the NHL alongside Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov and Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson.

A 1-2 punch down the middle of Coyle and Pavel Zacha may not offer up as much panache and two-way dominance as was present when Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci anchored Boston’s forward corps. But it’s tough to argue with the results.

Last year, Bergeron and Krejci combined for an impressive 114 points in their final season with Boston. This year, Coyle and Zacha are on pace for 120 combined points.

Trent Frederic

Last season was a breakout year for Frederic, whose 5v5 scoring punch (17 goals), underrated defensive game and physicality is always welcomed in a bottom-six role.

This year, he’s proving that those strides were far from an aberration.

The 25-year-old forward has already accumulated 29 points through 49 games this season, which stands just two shy of his career high. He’s already set a new personal best with 15 helpers, lit the lamp 14 times, and been as advertised when it comes to landing welts against opponents.

Once viewed as a fourth-line pest, Frederic has evolved from a solid third-line contributor into a proven play-driver in Boston’s middle-six unit.

He’s now on pace for 23 goals and 49 points this season, but Frederic’s greatest asset might be his knack for elevating players around him. Despite having just 45.5 percent of his faceoffs at 5v5 play set in the offensive zone, the Bruins are outscoring teams, 35-21, in Frederic’s 616 minutes of 5v5 reps this year.

James van Riemsdyk 

One of the many bargain-bin signings for Don Sweeney this summer that has paid off several times over, van Riemsdyk is on pace for 13 goals and 52 points in 2023-24 — which would be the 34-year-old veteran’s highest-scoring output since the 2017-18 campaign.

Signed to a one-year, $1 million deal in July, van Riemsdyk currently holds the third-best cost per point ($31,250) contract among all standard NHL deals this season, trailing only Carolina’s Stefan Noesen ($28,240) and Colorado’s Jonathan Drouin ($29,464).

Despite the veteran forward only scoring two power-play goals (and 29 total points) with the Flyers last season, the Bruins placed their bet on a bounce-back campaign from him as a netfront specialist on their man advantage.

But van Riemsdyk has been more than just a big body in the crease on Boston’s power play. He has 12 primary assists at 5v5 play this season, while his 1.44 primary assists per 60 minutes rate is tied for first in the NHL alongside the Islanders’ Mathew Barzal. Don’t think anyone saw that coming.

Danton Heinen

Much like van Riemsdyk, Heinen has been a steal for Boston, especially when factoring in his one-year contract equating to just a $775,000 cap hit.

Heinen has scored nine goals and posted 18 points in 41 games this season — just two points behind Toronto’s Tyler Bertuzzi. His cost per point ($43,055) production ranks 12th among standard NHL contracts.

A cast-off in free agency this summer, Heinen had to fight for a roster spot in Boston while playing on a professional tryout (PTO) contract. Even after earning his keep, Heinen was stuck in limbo in October, with Boston eventually signing him to a contract nine games into the season.

But that waiting game has paid off for Heinen, who scored his first hat trick on Jan. 20 and has become a versatile tool throughout Montgomery’s forward grouping.

Parker Wotherspoon 

Wotherspoon’s game is far from flashy.

The 26-year-old makes simple plays with the puck, clogs up Grade-A ice by way of a spirited shove or painful blocked shot, and is more than willing to instigate after the whistle.

In other words, he’s exactly what the Bruins have needed further down on their D corps.

An under-the-radar signing in free agency, Wotherspoon has gone from a potential everyday option in Providence to a viable third-pairing option for Boston down the stretch.

A left-shot D who can play on his weak side, Wotherspoon has consistently drawn praise from Montgomery for his physicality and knack for not getting stretched too thin under taxing D-zone shifts.

Wotherspoon stands as quality insurance in case Derek Forbort’s lingering lower-body injuries persist. But the case can be made that Wotherspoon is vying for a starting spot over incumbent options like Kevin Shattenkirk or Matt Grzelcyk.

Matt Poitras

Yes, Poitras has been hampered by several hurdles during his first year in the NHL.

He’s trudged through a few prolonged scoring slumps, taken his lumps against the physicality present at hockey’s highest level, and has seen his ice time cut during several key junctures of games.

No surprises for a 19-year-old trying to find his footing at the top league in the world. What has been surprising is Poitras’ ability to still get off the mat time and time again.

The Bruins will welcome any production from the 2022 second-round pick (five goals, 10 assists this season), but his poise with the puck and burgeoning two-way game has impressed Boston’s top brass after he exceeded all expectations this preseason.

He might be more of a complementary piece this season for Boston, but Poitras continues to look like a featured middle-six option down the middle for this club moving forward.

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