Trade Deadline in the Rear-View, Spooner Seizing His Chance
A month ago, Ryan Spooner was a man without a place in Boston, trapped in limbo between the AHL’s Providence Bruins and the big club up I-95.
Now, with the trade deadline in a rear-view, it appears the 23-year-old Spooner will remain a Bruin for the duration of the season. Whether he’s back next year is up to him.
The third-year center scored his first career goal – an overtime gamewinner at that – on Friday. The gravity wasn’t lost on him.
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Spooner had reason to be relieved, as his career line of 11 assists in 32 NHL games prior to his late February return was none too impressive. He’s been plenty productive since, notching points (two assists, one goal) in three of four games.
Head Coach Claude Julien hasn’t been shy in issuing public criticism of Spooner during his past stints with the Bruins, lending extra weight to his praises after Spooner notched the game-winner in OT.
“He’s really played well in this stint he’s been up with us,’’ Julien said after the game, according to NESN. “He’s skating well, he’s doing a lot of good things. So again, just the experience and the confidence of a guy being up for the (ninth) time, so (he’s) getting better all the time.’’
Contrast that with this harsh Julien quote from September after an uneven preseason by Spooner days before he was sent back to Providence.
“If you watched the game he’s still a liability defensively. The guy gets a quality shot from the slot there [on the game-winner], so he needs to keep working on that part of his game. It’s okay and it’s exciting to see a guy do great offensively, and we love his game offensively,’’ Julien told CSN New England. “But at the same time if you score a goal and you give up two, then you’re not really helping your team. We need commitment from that part of his game to see that he’s going to work hard at it.’’
The shift in tone isn’t surprising, given the frequency with which Spooner has flashed his gifts since returning. He offers tremendous speed, and alongside fellow rookies Daivd Pastrnak and Brian ferlin has offered the team a youthful vigor it’s lacked for much of the season.
Spooner has teamed with Pastrnak and veteran Milan Lucic on the second line since his return, with the latter praising their play.
“The main thing with young guys coming in, is you want to feed off their excitement from coming in and playing in the NHL. It’s good to see them playing with that and gaining more confidence as they play more games,’’ Lucic said, per The Boston Herald.
That’s not to say things have been exclusively positive for Spooner since his return. While he hasn’t been the “liability’’ he was described as months ago, he’s suffered the occasional defensive lapse or coughed up a turnover – but that’s to be expected from a 23-year-old with less than half a season under his belt. For now, he appears to be every bit the offensive playmaker the Bruins hoped he’d be when they recalled him.
This opportunity only opened when top-line center David Krejci suffered a partially torn MCL on Feb. 23, and it could close just as quickly. The team has said Krejci will miss four to six weeks, putting his potential return in late March or early April, provided the Bruins salary structure allows them to reactivate him from long-term injured reserve.
If they do, Spooner – already behind Patrice Bergeron – will drop down the depth chart. Thus, the battle for the bottom two center spots will be between Spooner, Carl Soderbergh, Gregory Campbell and the newly acquired Max Talbot, should they play him there.
Given the Bruins’ dearth of production there this season, Spooner has a shot to seize a job – if he can capitalize on the promise he’s shown the last week.
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