Zboril Hoping to Build on Solid Weekend Showing

BOSTON- Jakub Zboril was just like any other teenager in the 21st century.
When he was away from the rink, a good chunk of his time was spent scrolling through social media. The blue liner, who was selected by the Bruins with the 13th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, would peruse Twitter and Instagram to interact with friends and teammates and keep up with the news of the day.
But there was also a darker, far less enjoyable part of his social media experiences.

"It was especially hard the year after the draft…I was just getting roasted every single day," Zboril, just 19 at the time, recalled on Tuesday afternoon at Warrior Ice Arena.
The negativity forced Zboril to delete Twitter and Instagram from his phone. The Czech Republic retained his Facebook account as a way to keep in touch with his friends and family back home and maintain his social presence in a more controlled and insulated environment.
Fast forward several years later and the decision to remove himself from the social media sphere has paid dividends both on and off the ice.
"I'm over it now," said Zboril. "I feel like it really cleared out my headspace and I'm more focused on what I should do and not focus on all the Tweets about me."
The 24-year-old, now in his second full season with the big club, is aiming to become a permanent piece of the Bruins' back end after a rocky second half to his rookie campaign, which included two concussions and ended with him as a healthy scratch.
Zboril was left without a spot on Boston's back end - he played just four regular-season games and one postseason contest after the trade deadline - following the acquisition of left-shot defenseman Mike Reilly from Ottawa.
That was until this week.
With Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy unhappy with Reilly's game, he opted to insert Zboril into the lineup and was quite pleased with what he saw during Boston's sweep of a weekend back-to-back against New Jersey and Montreal.
"He's got good vision. He can see the ice, he's got a good shot. I don't think he has the confidence yet," said Cassidy. "The other afternoon in Jersey, he makes a move at the O-zone blue line. He wouldn't have done that last year. He has that in him, some deception, find the ice, and get a shot to the net.
"If he can keep building on a couple of those plays that manufacture some offense, that will help him because he does have some secondary offense he can provide…he's a bigger body so some of the physicality he's trying to show us now is a good thing. We've asked for that. We've lost some players over the years that have brought that, we need to do it by committee. He can certainly do that."

Zboril showed off some of his offensive instincts against Montreal on Sunday night with a nifty rush through the neutral zone that included a slick dish to Taylor Hall, whose long-range wrist shot popped out into the slot where Charlie McAvoy swooped in and whacked it home for his first of two goals.
"Better than before," Zboril, who has played three games for Boston this season, said of his confidence. "Starting off after training camp, not playing games, being out there as the seventh defensemen on the ice, skating and doing extra work on the ice [after practice] doesn't really feel good to anyone. But I think it helped me, made me more hungry for the games, and when the games came, I feel like I was ready to go."
Zboril admitted that after a solid start to his rookie year, he became a bit cautious after suffering two concussions - one of which came on a nasty, open-ice hit from New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba in February at Madison Square Garden - which stunted his growth and led to him altering his game.
"At the end of last year, I had some trouble," said Zboril. "I don't know, when something happens to you as a player, and it happened to me, I had it in my head, I wasn't going into battles the way I should. I was always cautious about my head and if it's going to happen to me again or not. Right now, I'm feeling really good. Just want to go out there and compete for pucks and do what the coaches are telling me to do."
Zboril, who collected nine assists in 42 games last season, felt that he played well upon his return to the lineup, though the coaching staff disagreed, a development that took time for him to understand.
"That was maybe two weeks not playing [after the Trouba hit] and then I came back in the lineup. I felt like I still played pretty good, but coaches disagreed with me on that, they didn't like my game," Zboril said candidly. "Now looking back at it, I feel like I know what the feedback was, what I had to do, so I took it to heart. When I got out there this year, I'm gonna show that I'm not scared battling for pucks, being a physical guy, and at the same time making plays with the puck the way I can."
Cassidy also thinks Zboril had a difficult time adjusting to the loss of defense partner Kevan Miller. The veteran blue liner was a strong mentor during the opening weeks of the season, but his own injury troubles kept him off the ice for nearly two months during the middle of the season.
"Last year was more get [Zboril] into the regular swing of things in the regular season," said Cassidy. "I know losing Kevan Miller as his partner really worked against Jakub because he tutored a number of our guys, including [Matt Grzelcyk].
"But big picture, you have to have some plans in place about where can this player get to, can he help us in crunch time if we give him X amount of games? We're still deciding that with Jakub."
Zboril believes that if he plays the brand of hockey that made him successful this past weekend, the answer to those questions will be yes.
"I would say just do what I did the last couple of games, being that physical guy, getting into battles, win some pucks, being the guy that puts out the fire sometimes, good second effort around the puck," said Zboril. "Just help the team win."

Shifting Defense

Cassidy said that the plan is for Reilly to re-enter the lineup at some point in the near future but he is not quite sure which defenseman will be the odd-man out.
"That was a bit of, 'Hey, this is what we want out of you, go upstairs, watch, we'll get some other guys in there,'" said Cassidy. "But Mike's part of our D corps and we've got to get him back in there playing the way he can. But there's only so much room. He's competing now with [Connor Clifton] and then someone has to move to the right side. Those are things we're considering."
Boston's bench boss added that Clifton will have to limit some of his risk-taking in the offensive zone should he want to remain in the lineup every night.
"He's trying to be physical every night, which we've asked and we give him credit," said Cassidy. "But that's something that we need on the back end as a whole. I think Jakub's trying to do the same thing. On the flip side, [Montreal's first] goal the other night is something that he has to avoid is kind of that reckless play, diving down in the when there's really zero chance.
"When forwards are stuck in the corner, that's a poor decision. Those are the things we're trying to get out of his game, make good decisions, play hard, help us on the PK."

Wait, There's More

• Craig Smith, who sat out the weekend back-to-back due to a lingering injury, skated before practice on Tuesday night but did not join the full group. According to Cassidy, however, the winger could be back in the lineup on Saturday against Philadelphia."I would suspect he'll be ready by the weekend…that's what I was told," said Cassidy. "Let's see, again, he has been on target and then something crept in. As we get close, let's get [him] through a team practice."
• Curtis Lazar did take part in the full session after missing Sunday night's game against the Canadiens. As a result, Oskar Steen, who picked up an assist against the Habs and now has two helpers in two games with the big club this season, was returned to Providence. "[Lazar] needed a couple days, he'll be fine," said Cassidy. "I thought Oskar had a good game for us. Just numbers-wise, we don't play till Saturday."
• Trent Frederic has not resumed skating after suffering an upper-body injury last Tuesday against Ottawa. "Freddy is OK," said Cassidy. "But I wouldn't call him close to going out with us. I think there's a few more things he needs to take care of."