Rookie Reflections

BOSTON - The Bruins entered the 2017-18 season with a lot of questions surrounding their roster. The veteran core of the team remained intact, but general manager Don Sweeney's plan to integrate rookies into the lineup began to take shape. When training camp opened, plenty of spots were up for grabs, creating healthy competition among the bevy of young players who were trying to prove themselves and make the jump into the NHL.

The rookies who made the cut immediately stood out from the puck drop on opening night, and they would become an integral part of the team's success. It can be difficult to project how inexperienced players will turn out, which led to some outside clamor that the team was too young to compete among the league's best, but the youths remained focused and helped lead the Bruins to a 50-win, 112-point season.
During last week's end-of-season media availability, the rookies reflected on their first seasons in the NHL.

Anders Bjork

Forward Anders Bjork began the season playing alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand on the top line, but his season was ended in late January when a shoulder injury required surgery with a six-month recovery time. Bjork produced 12 points on four goals and eight assists in 30 games and said that he was still able to take positives from the season.
"You know, I learned a ton, just tried to soak it all up when I was playing those games, and even just practicing and being around, tried to soak up as much as I could. I think I'm going to use that as an advantage for going into camp next year," said Bjork.

Jake DeBrusk

Left wing Jake DeBrusk is another example of a player who used his time in the AHL to his advantage. DeBrusk spent the 2016-17 season in Providence, as well, and prepared himself for the NHL. The Edmonton, Alberta, native scored his first goal in his first game with Boston and would become a staple on the second line alongside David Krejci, notching 16 goals and 27 assists for 43 points in 70 games.
"I think the biggest difference from jumping levels is just that the NHL is the best league in the world, and you're playing against the best players in the world every single night," said DeBrusk. "So, just taking whatever I can from whatever level I was playing to try and incorporate it. But at the same time, I think the biggest thing is to stay consistent with your game, whether you're getting points or how you're playing. I think that's just kind of one of the things that I'm trying to ingrain in myself early and start to find some results."
The 21-year-old looked like a seasoned veteran during his first encounter with the playoffs, tying David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron for the team lead with six goals. He elevated his game in big moments, such as in Game 7 versus Toronto when he scored two goals, including the game-winning goal on an incredible individual effort. The 6-foot, 188-pound winger displayed impressive offensive abilities and a drive to win puck battles, but he said that he still has more to give.
"I feel like you can always get better in certain areas," DeBrusk said. "I think my focus this year is going to be my speed. I think that I can get faster and stronger. I think just stronger on pucks - I think that, throughout the second half, I was finding that, but at the same time, I know I can work on getting stronger in those areas and just my overall game."

Ryan Donato

Forward Ryan Donato joined the team in March when he left Harvard University after his junior season to sign a two-year entry-level contract. He burst onto the scene with three points in his NHL debut and finished the regular season with nine points in 12 games. However, he was a healthy scratch for nine of the team's 12 playoff games, and he said that he will use that experience to grow and learn from heading into his first full season.
"I mean, it's a different animal, the NHL," said Donato. "I'm going to come back in the best shape of my life, and I'll be ready to go when I get back here. I know what to expect now. I came in at the hardest part of the season. It's not easy to come in right from college right to here, and it's a huge jump. Now, at least I know what to expect at the toughest point of the year, so I'll be ready and hopefully prepare my body to withstand that."

Matt Grzelcyk

Matt Grzelcyk was not originally projected to be a full-time component on the back end in 2017-18, but when injuries resulted in his recall from Providence, the smooth-skating defenseman seized the opportunity. After playing the first 14 games with the P-Bruins, the Charlestown native finished the year by playing 61 games in Boston, recording three goals and 12 assists in the process.
"You never know what to expect coming in each year, how it will play out," said Grzelcyk. "If you told me that I was going to be here, I'd obviously take it, so it was a great experience. And it was tough that it had to end the way it did."
The 24-year-old said that he wants to get back into the weight room this offseason to strengthen and improve his shot.
"It's something that, obviously, I have to work on a ton," Grzelcyk said. "I think it's more about just shooting a certain number of pucks, not changing anything crazy. I worked on it in college and that improved, so hopefully I can do that this offseason, too."

Danton Heinen

Forward Danton Heinen had an eight-game stint in Boston during the 2016-17 season, but was sent down to the Providence Bruins to continue his development and went on to lead the P-Bruins in scoring during the postseason. He began 2017-18 with Providence, but it took him just four games to prove that he was ready for another shot with the varsity club.
Heinen was recalled and never looked back, playing 77 games and finishing fifth on the team with 47 points. The 22-year-old worked on shaping himself into a more complete player, and he said that he wants to continue to improve moving forward.
"I don't know if there's anything specific - just everything," Heinen said. "Just try to take another step and, obviously, try to get stronger, keep working on skating and speed. It's a fast league…the main thing is probably my speed."

Sean Kuraly

Speedy center Sean Kuraly made the team out of camp and developed into a versatile player on the fourth - and occasionally third - line. The Dublin, Ohio, native was a key piece of the Bruins fourth line that caught the eyes of many around the league. He earned the trust of his coaches and was given plenty of responsibility, as he killed penalties, provided a physical presence, and chipped in offensively, tallying six goals and eight assists for 14 points.
"I think, as a player, that's what you want," Kuraly said of his workload. "I think what I was asked to do was always something that I was capable of, and they didn't ask me to do anything that I wasn't ready for or couldn't really handle, which I was thankful for.
"I thought that I was put in positions to succeed for most of the year. They just wanted me to play to my strengths and didn't ask me to do anything outside my ability."

Charlie McAvoy

Defenseman Charlie McAvoy was the team's most highly-touted rookie in 2017-18, and he did not disappoint. The former Boston University standout slotted into the top defense pairing with Zdeno Chara and turned heads with his all-around game. He led all rookies with an average time on ice of 22:09 and tied for third among rookie defensemen with 32 points on seven goals and 25 assists. The Long Beach, New York, native, who made his NHL debut in the 2017 playoffs, got his second taste of postseason action this go around.
"It's a grind, the playoffs," McAvoy said. "But to get that experience of going deeper this year and playing two rounds and feeling that adversity of being down the way we were, and the other form of being up 3-1 and kind of blowing that and having to save ourselves there in Game 7…kind of just being on that roller coaster that the playoffs are.
"It's a lot of good that I can take from it, and experiences are - [I'm] going to be able to pull from those for, hopefully, the coming years."