Boston is on pace to having one of the best seasons in the history of the NHL, and nobody expected this to be the case going into the season. The Bruins 2021/22 season was disappointing to say the least. They went 51-26-5, finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division before exiting the playoffs in first round by the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. Changes and decisions needed to be made, and general manager Don Sweeney did just that in the offseason. Now, Boston is an absurd 37-5-4, with a cushion of 12 points to between them and the second place Hurricanes. I’m going to go through what I consider the four best moves made by the coaches and front office, and the impacts that those moves had on the Bruins climbing to the top of the league.
1 – Re-signing Patrice Bergeron
After the disheartening end to last season, Bergeron, whose contract expired that year, was hesitant to resign. Rumors of retirement and visions of a rebuild haunted the dreams of Bruins fans everywhere. Was this really going to be the end of the future hall of famer, team captain, and NHL record 11x nominated and 5x winner of the Selke award? Not so fast said GM Sweeney, who re-singed Bergy on August 8 to a one year, 2.5 million dollar deal with another 2.5 in performance-based incentives.
Having Bergeron back means everything to the Bruins, and it has shown this year. He has the league‘s second highest faceoff win percentage at a staggering 62.8%. That is only 0.6% behind the leader Jonathan Toews, who has visited the dot 220 fewer times. Along with this, Bergeron once again leads the league in plus minus from all centers with a +21 goal differential. When you combine his faceoff statistics, his plus minus, and the Bs overall record, it places Bergeron as the frontrunner for another Selke award. He’s won so many of these that I predict the league will rename the trophy when he retires. He’s that good.
2 – Moving on from Bruce Cassidy, hiring Jim Montgomery
This move came as a shock to me and every other Bruins fan I’ve talked to. I even remember scanning twitter and only seeing negative posts about how Sweeney was out of his mind, and that the Bruins were bound for rebuild. What’s important to remember is that Cassidy was fired in early June, and Montgomery was hired at the start of July, over a month before Bergeron re-signed.
I thought that the criticism from fans about the switch was justified. In Cassidy’s six seasons, he had a record of 245-108-46, which was far above the league median. He also led the Bs to a Stanley Cup Final against the St Louis Blues in 2019. Cassidy’s one problem seemed to be the playoffs. Along with losing the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, Cassidy’s playoff record over his six seasons was 36-37. I’m guessing the sub .500 record wasn’t cutting it for Sweeney, so he took a gamble and decided to move on from Bruce.
And boy has that gamble payed off. Montgomery’s hire has brought only good things to the Bruins locker room. His style of play is much faster and encourages players to use more of their skill in the offensive zone. The players seem to love him, and the record shows for it. They lead the league in goals per game, they have the fewest goals allowed per game (by a long-shot), and their home record is a bonkers 22-1-3. If you do the math, the Bruins are on pace to have a 66 win season, which would shatter the single season record of 62, held by the ’96 Red Wings and the 2019 Lightning. Overall, it was a terrific hire, and fans owe an apology to Don Sweeney.
3 – Bringing Back David Krejci
It is a severe understatement to say that last years Bruins missed Krejci’s presence. Since being fully pulled up from the Providence Bruins in 2008, he had been the longtime second line center for the Bs. Last year, Krejci went back to his roots, playing for HC Olomouc in the Czech Extraliga, which was the first club he played for in his junior days. With him gone, Boston had a massive hole in their second line, along with their power play and penalty kill units.
Recently, Krejci hit a milestone in his career, playing in his 1000th NHL game. This season, its like he never left. With Bergeron centering the first line, followed by Krejci and then Charlie Coyle, the Bruins look whole again.
Krejci is on pace to come close to his career high 73 points that he put up in the ’08/’09 and 2018/19 seasons. Along with that, at just over the halfway point in the season, he has matched his point differential of +16 from his last stint with Boston in 2020/21. Its looking like this year will go down as one of Krejci’s best, and the Bruins are reaping the rewards of him coming back.
4 – Linus Ullmark becoming the definite starter
Boston now has the league’s best goaltender in Ullmark, and if you were to tell me that last year I would’ve thought it was a joke. It’s not because Ullmark was terrible last season, he wasn’t. It’s because the Bruins were indecisive with who was starting between the pipes nearly every game.
Last year, Ullmark and the now backup Jeremy Swayman played 41 games each, and Tukka Rask came back to play in four games. Ullmark and Swayman finished with nearly identical stats, with 91.7% and 91.4% save percentages, along with 2.45 and 2.41 goals allowed per game respectively.
Ullmark has since earned the starting job, and his stats this season are unreal. Funny enough, as of now he has the same save percentage of 93.8% that Tim Thomas had when Boston won the Stanley Cup in 2011. That being said, Ullmark has a lower average for goals allowed per game at 1.82 compared to Thomas’ 2.00 from that same season. This year, no other goaltender is below the 2.0 mark for average goals allowed, never mind 2.2. Ullmark has been that much greater than every other goalie in the league, which has made the Bs exponentially better.
Notable mentions – Pavel Zacha, Hampus Lindholm
The Bruins acquired Pavel Zacha from the Devils in exchange for Erik Haula this past the offseason, and he has been a solid, reliable player in Boston’s locker room this year. He has 30 points in 46 games, notching eight goals and 22 assists, with a plus minus of +14. On January 14th Don Sweeney announced that the team signed Pavel to a four year extension through the 2026/27 season, meaning he’ll be in Boston for the foreseeable future.
Although the Bs traded for him last March, I think Hampus Lindholm has been the best addition to the Bruins lineup this season. He only played 10 games for the Bruins last season, but he finished with a goal differential of +10, which was a sneak peak for what has come this year. This season, he is leading the league with a plus minus of 33, while totaling six goals and 25 assists. In my mind, he has been a great addition to the locker room, and a perfect match for McAvoy who has been in desperate need of help the past few seasons.
The Bruins take on the Canadians tonight at 7pm EST, so tune in to watch greatness!