Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings #21: Boston Bruins
Boston is similar to Colorado, in that the Bruins have one of the best goalies in the NHL in Tuukka Rask. Boston had a very eventful off-season. They traded one of their best defensemen (Dougie Hamilton) at a relatively low price. They traded the always difficult to play against Milan Lucic to the Kings for a first round pick and Martin Jones. They also pulled an epic troll job by proceeding to trade Jones to the Sharks for a first round pick. If you can’t appreciate that level of trolling, I don’t know what to tell you.
One of the biggest questions that the Bruins are going to have to answer this season is how do you replace a guy like Zdeno Chara? The answer to that question is most likely “you don’t”. Chara, the biggest player in NHL history, is likely on the last leg of his career. Another question: who will get the first pairing minutes? Chara probably can’t be relied on to play on the first pairing at this stage in his career.
Boston made a not so terrible move in signing Matt Beleskey to a very reasonable contract. However, trading for Zac Rinaldo negated most of the “not bad” move karma that they had going for them. Boston has enough elite level talent (hi Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron) and young talent (David Pastrnak) for me to not be able to rule them out as a contender. Rask is going to have to be outstanding for them to do anything in the playoffs, though.
Next: #20