The Bruins’ playoff run exposed a huge roster flaw that must be fixed ASAP

The Bruins’ playoff run exposed a huge roster flaw that must be fixed ASAP originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins’ exit from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs was frustrating for fans.

Of course, the Florida Panthers were clearly a better team than the Bruinsand the Eastern Conference second round victory over the Original Six club in six games was deserved.

But the series was winnable for the Bruins. They had clues in games 4 and 6 but I lost them both. Bruins goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman played very well with a .917 save percentage in the series. He led all goaltenders with a .933 save percentage through the first two rounds.

The main reason the Bruins lost was their inability to score goals. Boston has failed to score more than two goals in each of the Panthers’ last five series games. In fact, the B’s have scored two or fewer goals in eight of their last nine playoff games. It’s very, very difficult to beat top-tier opponents in the postseason with an offense struggling so much.

Among the 16 playoff teams, Boston ranked 12th in goals scored per game, ninth in power-play percentage, 15th in shots per game and 14th in faceoff percentage after two rounds. The Bruins scored almost one less goal per game in the playoffs compared to the regular season, which is a pretty steep decline.

!function()”use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a)if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r[r].contentWindow===a.source)var i=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;e[r].style.height=i))();

“The lack of our ability to score in the playoffs, in general — you can’t win every game 2-1,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said after the Game 6 loss to the Panthers. “We had the opportunities. We had five freak drives after two periods (in Game 6). In Game 4, we had several breakaways. Their goaltender was good and we didn’t beat him.”

The upcoming offseason is crucial for the Bruins. There are many takeaways from the Bruins’ loss to the Panthers, but one major flaw in Boston’s roster that this series — and the playoffs as a whole — exposed is the lack of elite offensive talent.

How many elite offensive players do the Bruins have? David Pastrnak. That’s the end of the list. When your best player is a right winger and you don’t have a traditional top-six center, that’s typically not a recipe for being a Cup contender — even if that player is as talented as Pastrnak.

The advantage of having multiple game-breakers on offense is that the opponent cannot focus most of their attention and double down defensively on a single player. Anything can happen in one game, but over a seven-game series, it’s difficult to win with an elite striker. You might be able to get away with it in a single round, especially if your goalkeeper plays out of his mind – like Swayman did in the first round – but over four rounds this is not a winning strategy.

Brad Marchand is still a top-notch two-way left wing, but he’s 36 years old. Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle are very good players. Neither is the second or third best forward on a championship-caliber team. Zacha has scored one goal in 25 career playoff games. He was largely ineffective at center during the playoffs and as a result played a lot of left wing against the Panthers. Coyle scored one goal in 13 games during the 2024 playoffs and has scored just five goals in his last 27 postseason games.

Jake DeBrusk led the B’s in playoff scoring with 11 points in 13 games, but he’s too inconsistent to be trusted. Morgan Geekie is a very good third line player. If he’s one of your top six centers, which has been the case for most of the Panthers series, you’re in trouble. Apart from Pastrnak, no striker on this B’s squad is scaring the opponent.

Of course, Pastrnak should and needed to play better than he did in the playoffs. He had five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games against the Leafs, but scored just one goal in six games against the Panthers. Eight points (four goals, four assists) in 13 playoff games is a bit underwhelming for a player of Pastrnak’s caliber. Out of series-winning goal in overtime of game 7 against Toronto, Pastrnak didn’t have any memorable scoring moments in the postseason.

The opponents made a concerted effort to attack Pastrnak at every opportunity. He had 35 hits in 13 playoff games, the third most of any forward, even B. Pastrnak. fought Matthew Tkachuk in game 2 of the second round.

Pastrnak had an incredible regular season. Without the benefit of playing alongside Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci for the first time in his career, he led the Bruins with 47 goals, 18 more than second-place Brad Marchand. Pastrnak’s 63 assists were a new career high and 25 more than the next closest player on the roster.

The Bruins missed 102 of the 301 goals they scored during the 2022-23 season as a result of players leaving last summer. And they couldn’t replace any of those good players due to salary constraints. It was up to Pastrnak to deliver everything, and he did in the regular season.

He led the team in scoring by an impressive 43 points. The only player in the league who led his team in scoring by more than 43 points was Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov (he led by 54 points). But second on the Lightning was Brayden Point with 90 points, far more than Marchand’s 67. Only four teams — the Lightning, Rangers, Avalanche and Bruins — had a difference of 28 or more points between the first and second scorers this year. season.

The Bruins have only had two players reach the 65-point mark this season. Only nine teams had fewer and they all missed the playoffs. Pastrnak desperately needs help.

You can’t win the Stanley Cup with an elite, game-changing forward. Take a look at the last 10 Stanley Cup winners – Golden Knights, Avalanche, Lightning, Blues, Capitals, Penguins, Blackhawks and Kings. All of them, with the possible exception of the Blues, had at least two elite strikers.

And when you look at the rosters of the remaining playoff teams, they all have multiple forwards (and a few defensemen) who are game-changing talents. Players capable of winning a playoff game practically alone.

The Edmonton Oilers have Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman. The Florida Panthers have Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. The New York Rangers have Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider, and five 70-point scorers in total. The Vancouver Canucks have JT Miller, Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes. The Dallas Stars are something of an exception. They don’t have a top-10 offensive player, but they have had eight 20-goal scorers this season, as well as a top-five defenseman in Miro Heiskanen.

All these elite teams have a lot of firepower. If McDavid is struggling, Leon Draisaitl makes up for it. If Tkachuk isn’t effective or takes bad penalties, Barkov and Reinhart will step up, as we saw in the series against the Bruins. If Pastrnak and Marchand aren’t playing at an elite level, who else on this team can we trust to step up when it matters most?

Finding a second elite scorer won’t be easy. These players rarely reach free agency and trading for them is very expensive.

But the Bruins will have some roster flexibility in the summer. If they trade Linus Ullmark, they could have about $26 million in salary cap space, by CapFriendly. They would still need to re-sign Jeremy Swayman and perhaps DeBrusk, but they will have room to at least attempt a major move. They didn’t have that luxury last summer. And if there’s one area where Don Sweeney excels more than most of his peers, it’s making trades. His record is extremely strong there.

Veteran center Elias Lindholm is the free agent that makes the most sense.

He is a legitimate top-six forward and a very good two-way player. He’s also elite in faceoffs — an area the Bruins struggled in during the regular season and playoffs. The Bruins reportedly had interest in Lindholm before the trade deadline. He was acquired by the Vancouver Canucks and, after a slow start with his new team, had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 12 playoff games.

Panthers right wing Sam Reinhart, Lightning center Steven Stamkos, Devils right wing Tyler Toffoli and Hurricanes right wing Jake Guentzel are the other forwards who could hit the free agent market this summer . Reinhart has scored 57 goals this season. Stamkos just completed his seventh season with 40 goals despite being 34 years old. Toffoli scored more than 20 goals eight times. Guentzel scored more than 30 goals in three consecutive seasons and won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2017.

The Bruins have a solid foundation to build on from a roster standpoint. They have a top 10 goaltender in Swayman. They have a top 10/top 15 blue line, led by Charlie McAvoy. Pastrnak is a top-notch offensive player. Marchand is a great captain and one of the best two-way wings in the league. Mason Lohrei and Matthew Poitras showed great potential as rookies.

This team is not far from being a real contender. But if Sweeney doesn’t acquire another top-six forward, whether it’s a center or a natural scorer on the wing, it’s hard to imagine this group making it past the second round next season. Making this type of upgrade needs to be the Bruins’ No. 1 priority this offseason.