The Bruins are going to look a little different when the puck drops on the 2023-24 NHL season, but coach Jim Montgomery is looking forward to what lies ahead.
Boston has two big holes to fill at center after Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired this summer. The Bruins made some additions in free agency and have some players in Providence looking to crack the B’s roster, but the top-six will need some revamping.
And Montgomery pulled back the curtain on what his plans are.
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In an interview with The Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy, Montgomery revealed that he plans to use Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle and the top-two centers. Coyle played on the top line during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs when Bergeron was out, and was successful centering Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk.
Zacha had a career year in 2022-23 and showed great chemistry with David Pastrnak in his first season in Black and Gold. Newcomer James van Riemsdyk, Montgomery told Conroy, will likely play on Zacha’s left with Pastrnak on his right.
“I think (Zacha’s ceiling) is significantly higher,” Montgomery told Conroy. “Not only is he physically prepared, more importantly I believe he’s ready for this mentally for the kind of minutes, the responsibility of having to be played in all situations — which he did really well last year — but they’re going to be more important minutes.
“But I just think he’s mentally ready. He believes that he can do it. That’s the biggest step for a player. I have a lot of confidence that our top two lines will be very good because I believe Charlie Coyle knows he can do the job and will do the job and Pavel Zacha does too.”
The Bruins are coming off a historic regular season in which they set the league record for wins and points. It will be difficult to replicate that given the turnover. But Montgomery is excited for what lies ahead because even though he’s unsure what the ceiling is, the opportunity to be a good team is still there.
“I think it’s very similar to this year, that we’re a bubble team, and that’s what people were saying about us last year,” Montgomery told Conroy. “What I like is we have tremendous opportunity. I know we have great players, I know we have really good leaders. For me, the exciting part of it is ‘how good can we be?’
“I don’t know what our ceiling is yet and that’s what makes this training camp a little more exciting than last year’s, because there’s a lot more moving parts. … Some people look at it as daunting. I don’t,” he added. “I look at it as an opportunity for a lot of players to become real good Bruins for us and for us to find our identity as a team and how we’re going to win games this year.”
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A lot of eyes will be on the Bruins to see how they end up playing without Bergeron and Krejci, how the newcomers fit in, if any AHLers will crack the roster and how veterans respond to added minutes and extra opportunity.
The new season begins Oct. 11 when Boston welcomes the Chicago Blackhawks to TD Garden.
