How the Bruins’ home-grown players are performing in the playoffs
The Bruins have nine players on the postseason roster who were originally drafted by the team.
It’s hard to win in the NHL without meaningful contributions from talent a team drafts and develops itself.
Fortunately the Bruins have nine players originally drafted by the team who are chipping in through the first three rounds of the 2019 NHL Playoffs.
Here’s what the Bruins are getting from their home-grown talent.
Patrice Bergeron – Round 2, pick 45, 2003
Bergeron has long been one of the Bruins’ top players, and he posted a career-high 79 points in 2018-19. He has eight goals and five assists through 17 playoff games this spring and leads the playoffs in power play goals (6).
The Bruins are winning the special teams battle, as Patrice Bergeron makes it 2-0 pic.twitter.com/pTYMmMGTfO
— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky) May 17, 2019
David Krejci – Round 2, pick 63, 2004
Krejci shook off a few less-than-spectacular seasons in recent years, setting a new career-high in assists (53) and scoring 73 points overall, tying his career-best season a decade ago. The 32-year-old center has kept up his playmaking ways in the playoffs, amassing 10 assists and 14 points total through the first three rounds.
Brad Marchand – Round 3, pick 71, 2006
The Bruins’ top left wing scored 100 points this season, the first Bruin to do it since Joe Thornton in 2002-03. The status quo remains in his postseason play; Marchand (18 points in 17 games) is the only Bruin averaging more than a point per game in the playoffs. He raised some eyebrows around the league when he punched Columbus defenseman Scott Harrington in the head during Game 3 of the Bruins’ second-round series, though the NHL did not punish him.
Brad Marchand with a sneaky punch to the back of the head. So out of character. pic.twitter.com/M8vw9nxzwI
— Paul Campbell (@WayToGoPaul) May 1, 2019
Matt Grzelcyk – Round 3, pick 85, 2012
The 25-year-old Grzelcyk offered growth in all areas of play in 2018-19, scoring 18 total points in 66 games played this season. His average time on ice increased by over two minutes per game to 19:08. Grzelcyk has scored seven points in 17 postseason games.
David Pastrnak – Round 1, pick 25, 2014
Pastrnak scored a career-high 81 points in 66 games this season, and he likely would have pushed 100 had he not missed 16 games due to thumb surgery he underwent in February. No matter; the soon-to-be 23-year-old has eight goals and 15 points in 17 playoff games.
Score Bruins!
David Pastrnak gets the first goal of the game to put Boston up 1-0 in the second period
(via @NHLonNBCSports) pic.twitter.com/udsB9oDf3E
— SI NHL (@SI_NHL) May 17, 2019
Danton Heinen – Fourth round, pick 116, 2014
Heinen faced a slight slump to start his sophomore season but scored 23 points in the latter half of the year to bring his season total to 34. He’s found himself most frequently on a third line with Charlie Coyle in the playoffs, and Heinen has chipped in seven points, including a multi-point night against the Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Jake DeBrusk – First round, pick 14, 2015
Debrusk also made some worry of a slump early in 2018-19, but a strong final 20 games left him with 27 goals on the season, fourth-most among all Bruins. He has scored seven points in the playoffs.
Brandon Carlo – Second round, pick 37, 2015
Carlo missed the postseason each of the last two seasons due to untimely injuries. In 2019, he’s shown what the Bruins were missing with strong and aggressive defensive play. He has two assists, but that’s not a worry for him or the coaching staff. The only Bruins skaters logging more minutes in the playoffs than Carlo are Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy.
Charlie McAvoy – First round, pick 14, 2016
McAvoy is the Bruins’ time-on-ice leader through the first three rounds of the postseason (24:20 per game.) He scored 28 points in the regular season, second-most among Bruins defensemen, and has recorded seven points in the postseason thus far.
McAvoy was suspended for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals after a hit to the head on the Blue Jackets’ Josh Anderson in the last game of the Bruins’ second-round series.
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