Moving on from their days of being a hard-nosed, defense first type of team, the Boston Bruins roster has some offensive firepower. These players, who led Boston to the postseason last year, are definitely worth drafting in fantasy leagues. In fact, it is their defenseman we recommend staying away from this season. While the Bruins still have Rask, the culture of the team has changed. They gave up 237 goals last season, which is high considering they gave up 230 the year before, 2011 in 2014-15 and 177 in 2013-14. You can see the direction that things are heading. As the team made a transition, they still managed to finish with 95 points last season, which was good enough for third in the Atlantic Division.
With that in mind, here are the best Boston Bruins for your fantasy team this season and how their current goaltending situation is entering the new NHL season.
Top Three Players To Own
1. Brad Marchand
After a strong showing at the World Cup of Hockey, Brad Marchand dazzled the National Hockey League and fantasy owners, trying for fifth in points with 85, fourth in goals with 39. Marchand contributes good numbers on special teams, recording 24 points on the power play and netting three shorthanded goals and five total shorthanded points. Overall, Brad Marchand is in the prime of his career and should be a second round pick in the majority of leagues.
2. David Pastrnak
The young right winger made a name for himself last season, scoring 34 goals and totalling 70 points in just 75 games. Pastrnak is not just a point getter, but also an all-around good player in fantasy. Pastnrak averaged just over 1.00 hits per game and had 24 points on the power play. A little extra physicality and some more opportunities on the penalty kill would help make Pastrnak an even better fantasy player. For now, he ranks among the top-20 right wings in fantasy.
3. Patrice Bergeron
As one of the best two-way players in the NHL, Patrice Bergeron is possibly the most valuable player for the Bruins but only their third best player in fantasy. Bergeron can provide a large volume of shots but lacks elite scoring abilities. This is evident from his 302 shoots, last season, which ranked third in the NHL and the fact he only scored 21 goals, tying for 79th in the league. If he records 300 shots, scoring at his career rate of 9.9%, he could score 30 goals in 2017-18 and be a good mid-round pick in fantasy this season.
One Fantasy Bust: Torey Krug
After setting career highs in points, power play points and penalty minutes, Torey Krug is an intriguing defenseman entering the 2017-18. Krug’s play itself is not the reason he may be a bust this season, although his 4.5% shooting percentage and his 0.76 hits per game leave something to desire. It is the risk of injury. Krug suffered a lower body injury at the end of last season, which nagged him into the playoffs. The injury would later be diagnosed to the right MCL, causing him to miss the final game of the Bruins playoffs. The news reports say he should be ready for training camp, but the risk of re-aggravating the knee is high. Be cautious on Krug this season.
Goaltending Situation
Rask is a good fantasy option this season, but he is not as good as he was a few seasons ago. Rask set a career high in wins with 37 and added eight shutouts, the second most in his career, in the process. He has however, declined in terms of save percentage and goals against average. The last two years Rask’s save percentage was just .915, which is down from the previous four years when he averaged over .925. Even if he does not ever win another Vezina trophy, as the undisputed number one goalie on a playoff contender Rask has tremendous value this season and should be the sixth to tenth goalie off the boards. Their backup goalie, Anton Khudobin, is not very good and only should be picked up if your team needs some saves and starts near the end of the week. He had a 2.64 GAA in 14 starts with the Bruins last season.
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