Projecting the Roster: Bruins Defensive Pairings

With Bruins training camp underway, we took a glance last week at what the starting forward lines could look like come the Oct. 8 season opener against the Flyers. Now, we turn our eye to the blue line, where the Bruins defensive corps took a beating last year after major injuries cut the average age of four of six members of the group to just 23 ½.

Assuming all goes well for the Bruins through camp, and no surprise injuries crop up in the next two weeks, here’s how the defensive pairings should look come the start of the NHL season.

First Pairing: Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton

Chara is the anchor that holds the Bruins defense together. He is one of the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL and has been the rock that has helped the B’s become so dominant defensively over the past half decade. Chara had one of his better offensive seasons in several years in 2013-14, scoring 17 goals and adding 23 assists in 77 games with a plus-minus of +25. The playoffs were not as kind to the Bruins captain, however, as the Bruins suffered defensive breakdowns in their seven-game loss to the Canadiens in the second round perhaps due to the revelation that Chara was playing with a broken finger.

Hamilton is one of the Bruins’ brightest young stars, and at 21 years old, he’ll be a key to the team’s success for many seasons to come. Taken with the No. 9 pick in the 2011 NHL draft, Hamilton made his NHL debut in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, scoring five goals and 11 assists in 42 games for the Bruins. He grew as a player last season, scoring 25 points with a plus-minus of +22 in 64 games.

Chara and Hamilton developed good chemistry after they were paired together when Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid went down with injuries. As a young defenseman in the league, Hamilton can learn a lot from Chara, and it would make sense to keep them together so Hamilton can continue his growth into the same kind of strong pro that Chara has become over his 16 year career.

Second Pairing: Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk

Freshly signed to a new four-year extension with the Bruins last October, Seidenberg was enjoying a solid season in 2013-14, having tallied a goal and nine assists in 34 games, when a torn ACL sidelined him for the rest of year. The Bruins defense was a shell of itself without Seidenberg on the ice, and the young unit could not replicate the success it had with its best defenseman outside of Chara on the ice.

Boychuk had a strong 2013-14 campaign, scoring five goals and adding 18 assists while finishing the year with a plus-minus of +31, tying him for the ninth-highest in the league and the second-highest for a defenseman. He took the reins as the leader of the second pairing after injuries to Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid broke up the pairing of Boychuk and Chara. With an expiring contract, a logjam of young defenseman, and a high value, Boychuk has been the subject of trade speculation, meaning his days in Boston could be numbered, and if so, it will be a big loss for a Bruins’ team that prides itself on strong defense.

Third Pairing: Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
Wild Card: Kevan Miller

Krug made a name for himself in the 2013 playoffs, scoring goals in four of the five games in the Bruins’ Eastern Conference Semifinal win against the Rangers, then kept his hot streak going early in 2013-14. Krug was especially strong on the power play, where he manned the back line with David Krejci and tallied six power play goals, while scoring 14 total on the season with 26 assists in 79 games. Krug’s speed and ability to move the puck makes him a rare threat that the Bruins took advantage of this past season.

McQuaid has long been the Bruins rough and tumble third line defenseman, using his strength and size to outmuscle opponents. Paired with a speedster like Krug at the beginning of last season, multiple leg injuries kept McQuaid out for almost a third of the season, as he was never able to recover from an injury he suffered Jan. 19, and missed the rest of the year, totaling six points in the 30 games he played.

After McQuaid went down last year, Miller came in and filled in admirably as a right shot defensive who brings a lot of the same things to the table that McQuaid does. In the case that McQuaid gets hurt or is traded, look for Miller to be slotted in on the right of Krug to serve as McQuaid v. 2.0.