Alexei Zhamnov is just one of many new faces on the Boston roster this season.

Busy Bruins sport a new look
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Sept. 3, 2005

Take a gander at any number of NHL teams, and the phrase "new look" springs to mind. Given the cataclysmic changes that have occurred on the NHL landscape since the end of the 2003-04 season, most teams will have revamped lineups.

So, it's isn't the least bit surprising to use the term "new look" to describe the fortunes of the Boston Bruins as the NHL re-takes the ice.

When the free-agency signing period began on Aug. 1, Bruins GM Mike O'Connell had a lot of shopping to do to assemble a roster. The Bruins had only a handful of players under contract, so O'Connell's work was cut out for him. But the "dog days" of August saw a steady stream of veteran players signing on the dotted line in Boston, joining a talented core of players that should serve the Bruins in good stead this season.

O'Connell's efforts will ultimately be judged by the team's ability to get deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs. But at first glance, the signings and trades that brought Glen Murray, Brian Leetch, Dave Scatchard, Brad Isbister, Shawn McEachern and Alexei Zhamnov to Boston have helped ice a very strong team.

Forwards

The stars of the show up front for the Bruins remain center Joe Thornton and winger Sergei Samsonov. Thornton is emerging as one of the NHL's elite players, a center with size, skating ability, a scoring touch, and a developing mean streak. That's about as close as you can get to the complete package. As Thornton continues to mature, he has become a more consistent player, one who is able to show off those attributes on a nightly basis.

Samsonov is an electrifying player who has fallen on hard times during the past two seasons due to injuries. He was limited to just eight games in 2002-03 and only 58 in 2003-04. Keeping Samsonov in the lineup is a huge factor for the Bruins, because he's such a skilled offensive player.

Re-signing Murray was important for the Bruins. Murray has three straight 30-goal seasons for Boston and meshes especially well with Thornton.

Another good re-signing was center Travis Green, who plays a gritty game that will fit into the Bruins' schemer nicely.

"Travis was a very reliable player for us in our last season and we're happy to have him back," O'Connell said. "He's a real character player and adds a lot of leadership to our dressing room."

Green had 11 goals and five assists with 67 penalty minutes in 64 Bruins games in 2003-04. Green has scored ten-or-more goals in his last nine straight seasons and has hit the 20-plus goal mark on three occasions, including career-highs of 25 goals in each of the 1995-96 and 1999-2000 seasons. He has career NHL totals of 182 goals and 249 assists in 857 NHL games.

With Mike Knuble, the other member of that line in 2003-04, now in Philadelphia, Isbister, a big wing acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for a draft pick, seems like a logical replacement.

Zhamnov is a solid veteran center with a scoring touch, good speed, faceoff skills, and a defensive conscience. In 38 games with the Flyers in 2003-04, Zhamnov scored nine goals and 23 assists after struggling with injuries at the start of the season in Chicago. Zhamnov seems ideally suited to work with Samsonov and young sensation Patrice Bergeron, who continued to hone his skills during the lockout with the AHL's Providence Bruins.

Scatchard, signed from the New York Islanders, and McEachern, signed from Atlanta, bring the necessary skill and grit to form a dangerous third line with a holdover like P.J. Axelsson. Another longtime NHLer, Tom Fitzgerald would appear destined to be the fourth-line center between a couple of kids, one most likely to be Brad Boyes.

Defense

Coach Mike Sullivan will have quite a grab bag among his defensemen, ranging from a future Hall of Famer (Leetch) to rookies like Mark Stuart.

Leetch, 37, still has a lot left in the tank, and he adds an offensive dimension from the blue line that figures to be an important factor because of the rule changes designed to encourage teams to attack. Leetch excels at the transition game, but he's much better defensively than he's often given credit for. He went from minus-5 with the struggling Rangers in 2003-04 to plus-11 in 15 games after being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Leetch's best days in New York came with the defensive-minded Jeff Beukeboom as his partner. The Bruins have a similar player in veteran Ian Moran, who came over from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline in March 2003.

Nick Boynton, the Bruins' top selection in the 1999 Entry Draft, has shown steady improvement in his three full seasons with the team and figures to be a very important player for the Bruins this season. Ditto Hal Gill, the 6-foot-7, 255-pound Massachusetts native. Like Boynton, Gill has become a durable, double-digit plus player in his three seasons in Boston.

Hal Gill (25) is a huge presence on the Boston blue line.

Leetch, Moran, Boynton, and Gill give the Bruins a solid top four on defense.

Rounding out the back line may require more work from O'Connell, but re-signing veteran Jiri Slegr takes some of the heat off starting the season with inexperienced players.

Slegr, 34, returns to the Boston, where he was acquired from Vancouver for a conditional draft pick on Jan. 17, 2004. He had begun the 2003-04 season with the Canucks with two goals and five assists in 16 games prior to the trade and finished the season with four goals and 15 assists in 36 games with Boston, including five multiple-point efforts.

Slegr played the 2004-05 season with HC Chemopetrol Litvinov in the Czech Republic with six goals and 23 assists and 135 penalty minutes in 46 games. He also represented the Czech Republic in both the 2004 World Cup and on the Gold medal winning 2005 World Championships squad.

Rounding out the back line may require more work from O'Connell; the remaining players -- Jonathon Girard, Milan Jurcina, and Stuart -- are question marks due to injury and inexperience.

Girard, a promising young defenseman, missed the entire 2003-04 season after suffering serious injuries in a pre-season automobile accident. He'll have to show Sullivan that his recovery is complete and that he can return to the promising form he displayed in 2002-03, when he scored six goals and 16 assists and was plus-4 in 73 games.

Rookies Jurcina, with two productive AHL seasons in Providence under his belt, and Stuart, Boston's first-round selection in 2003, also will be in the mix, unless O'Connell decides they need more experience. In that case, he'll probably make another deal or two to bring in some veteran help, which seems likely since the Bruins figure to be using some youngsters in net.

Goaltenders

Andrew Raycroft established himself as the Bruins' starting goaltender in 2003-04. His 29-18-9 record and 2.05 goals-against average in 57 games were enough to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Raycroft, 25, had only 21 NHL games under his belt prior to 2003-04, so he remains a fairly inexperienced No. 1 goalie. The Bruins may look to add a veteran mentor to the mix, but the very impressive play of Finnish goaltender Hannu Toivonen is complicating those plans. Toivonen was 29-18-3 with a 2.05 GAA in 54 games for the Bruins' AHL team in Providence. He had a .932 save percentage and may be ready to take the next step and compete with Raycroft for the top spot with the Bruins.

Outlook

The hockey world is a different place for everyone now, so handicapping a team's prospects is a risky proposition. Virtually every NHL team has undergone significant changes, and how the rule changes affect the game will play a big role.

With that disclaimer, the Bruins have an intriguing blend of players for Sullivan to work with. Boston has a lot of talent, some significant experience, and a nice blend of younger players joining the mix.

The Bruins' primary strength is up front. They have two scoring lines, centered by Thornton and Zhamnov, plus a solid third line that can chip in offensively. A rookie like Boyes may not challenge for the scoring title this season, but has shown a scoring touch at lower levels of hockey, so he should benefit from the experience of playing in the NHL.

Leetch was an excellent addition to the blue line, and Moran, Boynton, Slegr and Gill are solid players.

In goal, there are the usual questions that nip at the heels of young goalies, namely "can he do it again?" Raycroft has one solid season under his belt, but the book on him remains pretty much unwritten. Toivonen has done well in the AHL, but is very much an unknown on the NHL level.

So, where do the Bruins rank in this great unknown of 2005-06? Boston certainly seems to have enjoyed a productive summer, and that should translate to a good season in the Northeast Division and most assuredly a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.