With what the Bruins have been up in opposition to on their blue line – Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk beginning the season on the shelf and now joined by Brandon Carlo – it’s anticipated that de facto No. 1 defenseman Hampus Lindholm would bear the brunt of the burden.
And he has, averaging over 24 minutes a sport. Lindholm, who has a aim an help, has been good, mentioned coach Jim Montgomery, and he thinks he could be higher.
“I texted him (Wednesday) and said I think he has another couple of levels in him. And he agrees,” mentioned Montgomery after the morning skate. “I think he’s been good for us. I think he’s been good since Day One of camp, but I think there’s another level where he can get to. I think once we have Grizzy (making his season debut on Thursday) and McAvoy and Carlo back, I think we’ll see his game go to another level because now he’ll be in that 22 to 24 minutes range instead of 27 on back to back nights, where you’ve got to conserve a little.”
Montgomery sees the realm in most want for development is within the offensive zone.
“Just with (the puck) on and off his tape, whether it’s him shooting or redistributing, especially on the power-play,” mentioned Montgomery, “because I think he looks to make the best play and he’s more of a pass-first defenseman as opposed to shot first and I just want to get him more into a attack mindset in the offensive zone with less stickhandling.”
Lindholm appreciated the best way Montgomery reached out to him.
“We’re all here in the same boat and want the same thing,” mentioned Lindholm. “I think it’s really good to communicate. I think it’s been a great start for us so far. Obviously, there are some things that we can clean up. But it’s a long year and it would be a surprise if there wasn’t something to build on here.”
Lindholm was wanting ahead to Thursday’s sport in opposition to the Anaheim Ducks, with whom he spent the primary 9 NHL seasons earlier than being traded to the B’s in a deadline deal final season for Urho Vaakanainen for the B’s 2022 first spherical decide (Nathan Gaucher), 2023 and 2024 second spherical picks, Urho Vaakanainen and John Moore.
“It’s going to be a special game for me, of course,” mentioned Lindholm. “I’m going to see some familiar faces and I had a lot of good years there. I’m super excited about being with the B’s here and I’m going to do whatever I can to get these two points.”
Vaakanainen was injured within the preseason in a scary fall into the tip boards and wanted to be stretchered off the ice. He has not performed but within the common season…..
After a selected sloppy sport, many coaches usually take a “burn the tape” strategy and simply transfer on. Montgomery didn’t put the B’s 7-5 loss in Ottawa in that class. He additionally conceded that the B’s had been lucky being 3-1 going into Thursday.
“We gave up seven even-strength goals. It’s unacceptable,” mentioned Montgomery. “The way we’ve been defending, I think our goalies have been really good or I don’t know if we win our first three games. We were up 3-0, it’s 3-2 in Washington. We’re up 3-1 against Arizona and it’s 3-3.We let Florida climb back in the game twice. The game should have just ended. We need to take more pride in our defending.”…
Jack Studnicka was set to make his season debut on Thursday, which brought on a rejiggering of the underside six. Studnicka was slated to play middle on the third line between Trent Frederic and Charlie Coyle, shifting from middle to wing, whereas A.J. Greer dropped all the way down to play proper wing on the fourth line with Nick Foligno and Tomas Nosek.
“I’ve been looking forward to it. Getting a little antsy. Just trying to play my game, be on my toes, be on pucks and be good defensively and maybe contribute being on a line with some offensive guys,” mentioned Studnicka, including he’s been specializing in “patience and staying positive. It’s not like I played a game and played my way out of the lineup. I just haven’t really gotten the opportunity yet. I’m just staying positive and I’m really excited.”
Montgomery needed to provide him a mushy touchdown spot in his first sport again by taking part in him in his pure place. That may not have been doable with out the flexibility of Coyle.
“There are guys that are in your lineup that are glue guys. They move up and down the lineup and move out of position and he’s one f them,” mentioned Montgomery. “I believe as a coach, he’s like a safety net and he allows you to either spark other players or help continue to develop others. He’s done a terrific job with Trent Frederic and Greer, but we want to get other people in the lineup, so there’s an opportunity where he’s going to work with Frederic and Studs.”….
Grzelcyk was getting his first probability to play in Montgomery’s extra aggressive system and believed it will match him.
“It seems like the guys have done a good job of buying in offensively. I definitely want to add to that for sure and it’s something I welcome,” mentioned Grzelcyk. “I’ve been following Monty ever since he was coaching at Denver and they’ve always had a great offensive team. I definitely want to pick his brain a little bit and be a sponge for these next few games and learn from the guys.”…
Patrice Bergeron didn’t take part within the morning skate, with Montgomery citing the truth that he had performed the captain too many minutes within the back-to-back for the coach’s liking. Filling in at Bergeron’s spot in line rushes was Brad Marchand, who continues to skate in a daily jersey as he makes his approach again from double hip surgical procedure. So far there was no reassessment of his timetable, which has him returning in late November.
“Nothing has changed as of yet, but I’m going to keep working on it – for you and the team,” mentioned Montgomery with a chuckle.
Source: www.bostonherald.com