MONTREAL, CANADA - MARCH 14: Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins skates during the first period against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on March 14, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Bruins First-Line Center Hunt Could Pose Difficult Challenges and Results.
In some ways, the Boston Bruins defied expectations this season, shrugging off the retirements of veteran stars Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to finish second in the Atlantic Division and win their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But as they discovered in their second-round series loss to the Florida Panthers, the Bruins are no longer a truly elite team. And one of
the biggest reasons why that has to do with their situation at the center position. Indeed, with Bergeron and Krejci leaving a massive hole down the middle this past year, the Bruins didn’t have the depth and high-end skill at center that the Panthers and other legit Cup front-runners possess. And there’s going to be a massive temptation on Bruins management to go out and acquire a No. 1 center – a temptation that could lead to disastrous results. With star Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins are set in net. And with defensemen Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Hampus Lindholm, they’re good to go on the blueline.
But it’s that center spot that sticks out like a sore thumb. Charlie Coyle had a career-best year on offense with 25 goals and 60 points, but those are hardly elite first-line center numbers. And second-line pivot Morgan Geekie (17 goals, 39 points) is more of a third-liner. But what options are realistic for Boston to bring in a first-line center? To be sure, the Bruins could throw a lot of money – much of their current $23.5 million in salary cap – at a looming UFA like Canucks center Elias Lindholm to be their first-line
center. But from this writer’s perspective, that would be a mistake. The 29-year-old Lindholm produced just 15 goals and 44 points in 75 games this past season, his worst totals in those categories since the 2017-18 campaign. Lindholm cost himself a lot of money with his sub-par season, and while some team is going to give him a significant raise on the $4.85 million he earned in 2023-24, it shouldn’t be the Bruins.
