The Boston Bruins were one win away from winning the Stanley Cup this past spring. They'll return much of the same roster that got them there; will the result be different this time around? Here's everything you need to know about the Bruins heading into the 2019-20 NHL season:
The big question: Can the bridesmaid become the bride, or is this "27 Dresses"?
The Bruins lost in the last possible game of the 2018-19 season to the St. Louis Blues. Hey, it happens. The window remains wide open for coach Bruce Cassidy's club to being a title to those poor, championship-starved Boston sports fans -- at least for this season. But with Patrice Bergeron (34) and David Krejci (33) a year older and more fragile, with Tuukka Rask turning 33, with Brad Marchand turning 32 this season and with Zdeno Chara ... OK, he's basically immortal, but you get the point: The Bruins have an elite core that's getting up in years. Luckily, they're still elite, and surrounded by some brilliant young talent in players like David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy.
Offseason comings and goings, cap situation
Outside of adding some depth in forwards Par Lindholm and Brett Ritchie, who essentially replaces the departed Noel Acciari, this was an offseason spent signing their own assets like McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton and Danton Heinen. Both Kevan Miller and John Moore are injured to start the season; otherwise, the Bruins have just under $1.2 million in cap space. The Bruins have six unrestricted free agents next summer at the moment, including center Charlie Coyle, defenseman Torey Krug and Chara.
Bold prediction
Jaroslav Halak ends the season with more wins than Rask.
Breakout candidate: Karson Kuhlman
The right wing followed up his 11 games in the regular season with eight solid ones in the playoffs. Great forechecker, good shot and looking to get a spot playing next to Krejci, who's created his share of offensive breakout players.
Biggest strength
Defense at 5-on-5. The Bruins were second in the NHL last season in goals against (128) and expected goals against (2.04) at full strength. That's thanks to great goaltending, a deep defense and forwards that helped them to sixth in percentage of shot attempts (53.07). Oh, and having Patrice Bergeron doesn't hurt.
Biggest weakness
The penalty kill. For as good as the Bruins are defensively at even strength, they were a middling 16th on the penalty kill during the regular season (79.9%). What makes that frustrating is how good the unit can look for stretches, like when it went 88.4% in their playoff run. Of course, that aforementioned stretch featured more Bergeron and Chara than the regular season. It's almost like there's a correlation there.
Bruins in NHL Rank
15. Brad Marchand, LW
19. David Pastrnak, RW
24. Patrice Bergeron, C
Future Power Ranking: 4
The prospect picture looks pretty bleak (No. 29), but the NHL roster (No. 2), cap/contracts (No. 3) and owner/GM/coach (No. 1) kept the Bruins in the top 5.
Prospect perspective
Pipeline ranking: 29
61. Jack Studnicka, C/W
Fantasy facts to know
The sunset is coming for the Bruins' star center and goaltender, but it's not here yet. It may be tempting to downplay the potential of Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask for forward-thinking dynasty fantasy players, but they should still be considered elite assets for at least this season.
Bergeron makes everyone in his orbit a fantasy star. If anything changes this season with the deployment of his wingers (injury, lineup changes), you want to react aggressively. The same is true for the Bruins' first power-play unit.
Charlie McAvoy is the future, but Torey Krug is hardly over the hill at just 28. As a power-play specialist on the point, Krug has the potential to be among the top-five fantasy defensemen at the end of the season. Even if McAvoy gets more responsibility this season, the offense is Krug's on special teams. -- Sean Allen