The Boston Bruins Season Preview - Tim Connolly

He was among the league leaders in assists (14-48-62) last season, and will have more prolific scorers alongside him in the upcoming one. Yes, life looks pretty good if you are Tim Connolly.

He will return to the Bruins' second line this year after the acquisition of scoring machine Saku Koivu, but will find himself paired up with his partner of last year, Jochan Hecht. Who will line up on the right, though, is to be determined - either Keith Tkachuk or Bill Guerin. Either way, he will have an adept scoring machine to the sides.

"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 are almost interchangable, quite frankly." 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, Tim will likely end on the second 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 Tim and fellow returner Andy McDonald, Tim keeps a slightly better control of the puck and is definitely the more prolific passer."

He continued, "A main reason, though, is that Tim is better defensively. The downside, though, is he is less controlled than Andy. If Tim begins to rack up penalty minutes, he may find himself bumped to the third line to, of course, better those wingers, but limit the chances to take the whistle."

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. The trading of Tim Connolly, though, is considered highly unlikely.

Projection - 82 games, 20-50-70