Bruins forwards have scored just 14 goals this season, and seven of them have come from the fourth line. Cole Koepke, who signed with the Bruins in July after tallying three career points over the last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, leads Boston with six points (three goals, three assists). Johnny Beecher and Mark Katelic each have five points (two goals, three assists). Without this production from the fourth line, Boston’s scoring numbers would go from bad to downright awful.
David Pastrnak has put together back-to-back 100-point seasons, and he should get there again this year. He leads the team with four goals, but he has only one point in the last four games. Major offseason addition Elias Lindholm had a great start with five points in his first three games, but the top-six center has been held off the scoresheet in each of the last four matchups.
The rest of the top-nine forwards have played even worse.
Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and Pavel Zacha all have one goal apiece. Frederic and Coyle don’t have a single assist. Zacha has one helper. Bruins captain Brad Marchand has failed to score a goal through seven games. Matthew Poitras and Justin Brazeau haven’t found the back of the net in five games. Morgan Geekie started the season as the second-line right wing but still hasn’t scored in six games.
Riley Tufte and Max Jones have been a negative for the Bruins. Neither of these two bottom-six forwards have tallied a point this season, and both have taken some bad penalties. Tufte took two penalties in last Wednesday’s game and the Colorado Avalanche scored a goal on the ensuing power play each time. Jones took two penalties against the Predators, and Nashville opened the scoring with a power-play tally after the first one in the opening period.
So, what’s the solution for the Bruins? Head coach Jim Montgomery has already shaken up his lines quite a bit over the last five games or so. We’ve seen many different line combinations. Nothing has worked so far, with the exception of the Beecher-Kastelic-Koepke fourth line.
It’s time to call up Fabian Lysell from Providence and/or sign Tyler Johnson to a contract.
Let’s start with Lysell. He should have made the team on Opening Night. He is a dynamic offensive player with a very good shot, impressive playmaking ability and tremendous speed. His offensive instincts are really strong. Sure, he still has a lot to learn defensively, but the Bruins badly need a player with his type of offensive skill set. That was true before the season and remains the case seven games in.
Expectations for Lysell when he makes his NHL debut shouldn’t be crazy. Yes, he’s a former first-round pick with lots of talent, but he’s also 21 years old with zero experience at the top level. But he does have the skill set to generate scoring chances at 5-on-5, help the transition game with his speed, and even boost the power play.
And with three home games coming up against opponents who have plenty of offensive firepower, now would be a good time to see what Lysell can do.
Johnson signed with the Bruins before camp on a professional tryout agreement (PTO) and played really well in the preseason, but he does not have a contract for the regular season right now. He tallied 31 and 32 points in each of the last two seasons, respectively, for the Chicago Blackhawks, and while a good chunk of last year’s production came on the power play, Johnson would still be an upgrade over the likes of Tufte, Jones and Brazeau right now. Johnson can also play center or on the wing, and he can be effective in a top-six role or bottom-six position, which adds some valuable versatility. He’s a savvy veteran who can be trusted.
Unless the Bruins think they can make a trade — and it’s probably too early in the season to go that route, anyway — the improvements to this team’s struggling offense likely will need to come from within the organization.
Putting Lysell (or another prospect such as Georgii Merkulov) and/or Johnson into the lineup makes the most sense from a lineup change perspective. Either one of those two players would be better than sticking with Jones or Tufte.
The Bruins have only played seven games. It’s still super early in the season and there are a lot of new players in the lineup who are trying to see where they fit in and build chemistry with teammates. There’s no need for a full-blown panic.
But the Bruins have to figure this out because unlike previous seasons, they don’t have two elite goaltenders. They will need to score goals more consistently. There isn’t a Vezina-caliber netminder starting every game who’s capable of bailing out the team’s lackluster offensive output.
