The Bruins’ forwards have scored just 14 goals this season and seven of them have come from the fourth line. Cole Koepke, who signed with the Bruins in July after posting three career points over the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, leads Boston with six points (three goals, three assists). Johnny Beecher and Mark Katelic have five points each (two goals, three assists). Without this fourth line production.Boston’s scoring numbers would go from bad to downright terrible.
David Pastrnak has had back-to-back 100-point seasons and should do it again this year. He leads the team with four goals, but has only one point in the last four games. Important offseason addition Elias Lindholm is off to a great start with five points in his first three games, but the top-six center has stayed off the scoresheet in each of the last four matchups.
The rest of the front nine forwards have played even worse.
Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and Pavel Zacha each have a goal. Frederic and Coyle don’t have a single assist. Zacha has an assistant. Bruins captain Brad Marchand has failed to score a goal in seven games. Matthew Poitras and Justin Brazeau have not found the back of the net in five games. Morgan Geekie started the season as a second-row right back but is yet to score in six games.
Riley Tufte and Max Jones have been negatives for the Bruins. Neither of these two bottom-six forwards have picked up a point this season and both have taken some bad penalties. Tufte took two penalties in last Wednesday’s game and the Colorado Avalanche scored a goal on the ensuing power play each time. Jones took two penalties against the Predators and Nashville opened the scoring on a power play after the first in the first period.
So what’s the solution for the Bruins? Head coach Jim Montgomery has already changed his lines quite a bit over the last five games. We have seen many different line combinations. So far nothing has worked, except for the fourth Beecher-Kastelic-Koepke line.
It’s time to call up Providence’s Fabian Lysell and/or sign Tyler Johnson to a contract.
Let’s start with Lysell. He should have made the team on opening night. He is a dynamic offensive player with a very good shot, impressive playing ability and tremendous speed. His offensive instincts are really strong. Sure, he still has a lot to learn defensively, but the Bruins badly need a player with his type of offensive skills. That was true before the season and remains true after seven games.
Expectations for Lysell when he makes his NHL debut shouldn’t be crazy. Yes, he’s a very talented former first-round pick, but he’s also 21 years old with zero top-level experience. But he does have the skills to create scoring opportunities at 5-on-5, help in the transition game with his speed, and even drive the power play.
And with three home games facing opponents that have a lot of offensive firepower, now would be a good time to see what Lysell can do.
Johnson signed with the Bruins before camp in a professional trial agreement (PTO) and he played very well in the preseason, but right now he does not have a contract for the regular season. He scored 31 and 32 points in each of the last two seasons, respectively, for the Chicago Blackhawks, and while a good portion of last year’s production came on the power play, Johnson would still be an upgrade over players like Tufte , Jones and Brazeau right now. Johnson can also play center or wing, and can be effective in a top-six or bottom-six role, adding valuable versatility. He is a smart veteran who can be trusted.
Unless the Bruins think they can make a trade (and it’s probably too early in the season to go that route, anyway) improvements to this team’s offense will likely have to come from within the organization.
Putting Lysell (or another prospect like Georgii Merkulov) and/or Johnson in the lineup makes the most sense from a lineup change perspective. Either of those two players would be better than keeping Jones or Tufte.
The Bruins have only played seven games. It’s still very early in the season and there are a lot of new players in the lineup who are trying to see where they fit and build chemistry with their teammates. There is no need to panic.
But the Bruins have to figure this out because, unlike previous seasons, they don’t have two elite goaltenders. They will need to score goals more consistently. There is no goaltender of Vezina’s caliber starting every game who is capable of rescuing the team’s lackluster offensive production.