The Boston Bruins Season Preview - Andy McDonald

The Bruins breakout star of last season, McDonald saw action in seventy-nine games, notching 29-40-69 and a +23 rating for the fumbling franchise.

He will return to the team looking to improve on those numbers, and will likely center the team's third line, though there has been speculation the team may swap Tim Connolly with McDonald on the second line, in order to let number twenty-nine double shift on the fourth line. Any decision on that, head coach Robbie Ftorek said, will be based on pre-season play.

"We have three extremely talented centers who possess the skills that every team would love to have in their main guys - speed, scoring ability, adept passing, and puck control. The three, quite frankly, are almost interchangable." GM Joshua Anderson said when discussing the team. "That is why we feel extremely confident in our forward lines going forward - these three will elevate the overall play of their linemates and encertain a solid performance from the Boston hockey club!"

Asked how the team would determine the order of action, Anderson paused. "The way we see it, Andy will likely end on the third line as of now. The recently acquired Saku Koivu, as you all can speculate, is probably the best pure scorer on our roster, so will likely run the point. Between Andy and fellow returner Tim Connolly, Connolly is the more prolific passer and keeps a slightly better control of the puck."

He continued, "Mainly, though, Tim is better defensively, though Andy is the more controlled player. If Tim begins to rack up penalty minutes, he may find himself on the third line to better those wingers, but limit the chances to take the whistle, and Andy - and his more controlled discipline - would find himself on the second line."

The team will also explore the ability to move one of the men to another wing position to attempt to balance the attack. Right wing, currently, looks like the shallow part of the front line equation. Whether a series of position changes are in order, or an outright trade, remains to be seen.

Projection - 82 games, 37-37-74