The Boston Bruins are on a roll; they have captured at least one point in each of their last 16 games.
The defense has been stellar, the offense is delivering, and goaltending is magnificent. However, there are some question marks remaining as Boston eyes the postseason.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy seems unsure of what to do with Peter Cehlarik. Cehlarik is a big talent the Bruins have within their system. The B’s have a rich history with young forwards. Ryan Donato, Frank Vatrano, Jimmy Hayes, Brett Connolly, Zach Senyshyn, Ryan Spooner… there are a bunch of them. These are the guys who haven’t been able to consistently produce and found, or at least are in need of finding their place elsewhere.
It was a long time coming for Cehlarik to get his chance on the Bruins roster this season.
“It was very frustrating for me. After getting injured in the training camp I set my goal to be playing in the NHL before Christmas, I wanted to play in the Winter Classic. I had to wait a little bit more,” Cehlarik said in January.
In his first game back, against the Flyers in Philadelphia, the Slovakian winger scored twice.
After his impressive start, he has recorded just two goals and two assists in 14 games. But this case seems different from Vatrano’s or Donato’s. Cassidy, who is used to getting the most out of his youngsters and has never been shy about using them, appears to misuse Peter Cehlarik.
Does Cassidy trust Cehlarik? Last night didn’t seem to provide a vote of confidence. Cehlarik was constantly in between the NHL and AHL but finally slotted back in the lineup versus the Devils. He was supposed to play on the third line with Charlie Coyle and David Backes as Joakim Nordstrom was pushed down to the fourth line duties.
It’s been 14 games now since Nordstrom returned back from his broken fibula suffered in the Winter Classic. His point total since his comeback? Zero points. Cehlarik, believed to play on the third line, was demoted in the game, benched for a while and ended up playing just 8:54. That was his season-low in time on ice. In his last six games, Cehlarik averages just 11 minutes on the ice per game. Nordstrom, on the other hand, had the biggest minute-log since his return with his 15 minutes TOI. The second-worst Bruins player in time on ice was David Backes at 12:38.
“We liked his game,” Cassidy said of Cehlarik before the game. “We’re trying to get Nordy back in the mix, get his game consistent. Obviously, with Johansson here, that bumped Peter as well. But with Kuraly out, Peter’s gonna go in. We told him that we liked the way he was going. There are some things that he needs to improve on like everyone else, but he was doing his job.”
What happened after his first mistake with taking a penalty in the game? A benching and getting season-low time on ice. No one can deny the fact that Cehlarik is just more skilled and offensively dangerous than Nordstrom or Backes. But in fact, Cassidy finds it very tough to trust him over Swedish forward, because he feels Nordstrom is better and more reliable defensively and Backes is too expensive to sit.
The Bruins won the game against the Devils 1-0. The most important thing about that was playing great defense.
“We didn’t give up much and that’s what I liked,” Cassidy said in the post-game interview. “I think at some point the responsibility falls on the player to be ready to play and play the Bruins way. I thought he got away from that a little bit,” commented Cassidy on Cehlarik.
It’s not about Bruce Cassidy being a bad coach; he has done a marvelous job with the Bruins and is the right man for the position. It’s about Cehlarik simply not getting his proper chance with the Bruins. At least that’s how it feels as of now.
