BOSTON — When the Bruins steamrolled the Panthers en route to a 6-1 victory in Game 1, it felt like a starting gun. With the Toronto roller coaster behind them, they looked poised and motivated to try to avenge last year’s playoff upset.
Instead, Game 1 turned out to be a wake-up call for Florida. The Panthers blasted the Bruins in Game 2 and 3 and edged them in Game 4. It left Boston stunned and clinging to life.
Fans are understandably mad about some head-scratching officiating. But while the bad calls were the salt, the Bruins created their own wound to rub it in. Florida was better in the series.
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Still, the 2023-24 Bruins have the odd distinction of both exceeding and falling short of expectations.
Coming into the season, after losing so many key pieces of the 2022-23 team, making the postseason would have been a good goal. Winning a playoff round after failing to do so last year rightfully would have felt like solid progress.
But after flirting with the best record in the Eastern Conference and the NHL for much of the season, the Bruins exit in just six games after the 2-1 loss at TD Garden felt both early and pretty decisive.
History will likely remember the 2023-24 as a bridge year, a season to span the gap between last year’s devastating early exit and whatever lies ahead.
Don Sweeney built the Bruins roster knowing they had serious salary cap issues. When Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov departed, Taylor Hall was traded and Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired, expectations were lowered considerably. To that end, the Bruins did very well. They were a win away from capturing the Atlantic Division title.
They signed motivated veterans — James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shattenkirk and Milan Lucic — who they thought would fit the culture.
While Lucic’s much-anticipated return turned out badly, the other two were solid additions, each making important contributions. So were Morgan Geekie and trade deadline addition Andrew Peeke, who both look like steals after being underutilized by their former teams.
Rookies Justin Brazeau and Mason Lohrei both feel like lineup fixtures going forward.
But the Bruins leadership built the 2023-24 team adding minimal future commitment so they could attempt a much larger overhaul this summer when they’ll have much more salary cap space to work with. They’re undoubtedly headed for another offseason of seismic change as they try to pursue stars in their prime.
Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, van Riemsdyk and Shattenkirk have probably all played their last games as Bruins. Free agent Jake DeBrusk could be gone too and the Bruins will almost certainly explore a Linus Ullmark trade. There’s money and roles available.
The Bruins have their franchise pillars in place with David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman. Brad Marchand is still a very good player and a beloved leader. But they need to add front-line pieces. Boston needs more scoring, at least one top six center and perhaps an impact defenseman.
Whether he chooses the right pieces that fit on the ice and in the culture will ultimately define Don Sweeney’s tenure and determine what the next several years of Bruins hockey looks like.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
