Boston bruins Exceeding Expectations Trend4u

Boston Bruins: Five Players Exceeding Expectationago

• x
  

The Boston Bruins have gotten off to a historic start just about a quarter through the regular season. It’s no surprise that the core players have been the leaders on and off the ice through the early part of the year. But what about those we didn’t expect much from?

 

Each year, NESN allows fans to choose the player they deem to have “performed beyond expectations” by awarding its Seventh Player Award. Previous award winners have gone on to have stellar careers in the Black and Gold.

 

Randy Burridge, Bill Guerin, Tim Thomas, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak are among the players that have exceeded expectations on multiple occasions. The winner is often a rookie, like Jeremy Swayman last season, but this year’s early-season candidates appear to be more experienced.

 

Before the year began, I wrote a season preview and predicted this year’s Seventh Player to be Fabian Lysell. I figured the Bruins would need some energy in a lineup starved for goals and would look to the rookie for a possible solution. Boston leads the NHL in scoring with 85 goals.

 

Lysell should still get a chance to play at the highest level (he’s third on the Providence Bruins in points), but I doubt he’ll have as much of an impact as the following five players have had this season.

Hampus Lindholm

The “Sweenius” deserves credit for this one. Most people knew he was a good player after being traded from Anaheim, but Hampus Lindholm has been an absolute stud throughout his (regular season) career for the Bruins.

 

Boston has definitely locked down a long-term solution to anchor the left side of its defense. Barring injury, it would be a major disappointment for Lindholm not to finish as a finalist for the Norris Trophy. Erik Karlsson is doing insane things in San Jose and is the clear favorite to win the award.

Pavel Zacha

He’s a third-liner with a top-six upside. If we compare Pavel Zacha to a Bruin of the past, think of Michael Ryder. The former right-winger had 41 points in 79 games during the 2011 Cup run. Through 20 games played, Zacha has recorded 14 points.

 

Zacha has been one of many swiss-army knives that Jim Montgomery has been able to use throughout the forward group. His versatility has helped keep the scoring balanced among the top-nine players. Zacha was acquired in the off-season for Erik Haula, who has seven points in just as many games for the surprising New Jersey Devils.

Nick Foligno

If Gary Bettman hands Patrice Bergeron the Stanley Cup in June, it won’t take long for him to let veteran forward Nick Foligno touch it for the first time. Foligno has been great for the Bruins this season. His grit is being complimented with an impressive amount of skill.

 

After already surpassing his previous season’s goal total, Foligno is just one point shy of tying last year’s total. He’s never been an explosive player, but compared to the previous season, Foligno has been able to keep up with every line he’s been placed on. He has even contributed over a quarter of his points on the power play.

Connor Clifton

He’s already matched his career-high in goals and is averaging more time on the ice than ever before, but Connor Clifton still seems to be flying under the radar as one of the more critical members of the Bruins’ defense.

 

Clifton is in the final year of a three-year deal and is setting himself up nicely for a decent pay raise in the offseason. I suggest checking out what Michael Najarian contributed to Causeway Crowd last week for an even more in-depth breakdown of how his year has gone.

Linus Ullmark

Nobody expected Linus Ullmark to lead the NHL in goals against or save percentage, let alone both of them. Ullmark has been stellar since the drop of the puck, which is somewhat surprising considering he didn’t finish the postseason as Boston’s starting goaltender.

 

The injury to Jeremy Swayman may have forced Ullmark into playing more games than was expected, but he has risen to the occasion and is a huge reason for the Bruins’ excellent start to the season. I hope the team can manage Ullmark down the stretch, but he’s on track to reclaim his position as the postseason netminder.