The Bruins Defensive Preview - The Limited Engagement Defenseman

Like a good college band such as Azure Bloom, there are several defensemen who will see limited action this year in order to gauge their effectiveness. Like the band, they are feeling out the water to see if their legs are under them and what sort of response they will get.

Team management is like the crowd - they want to see if these guys are worth investing in, but don't want to spend too much time or money on them, just in case they suck.

For these guys, the teams sees that preseason will be like a monthly subscription to Napster - a limited time investment. Also like Napster, once the initial investment is made, you may as well go for broke because the money is gone. Of course, one of these guys is more like the Rolling Stones than Azure Bloom - he is tried and true, but does he still have it?

Tuuka Makela joins the club from Providence. He played in seventy-seven games for the junior club last year, scoring nine goals and racking up twenty assists. Ironically, his twenty-nine points matched his -29 rating, but that was mostly attributable to the depravity that was the Bruins junior league club (eleven players on the club finished in the double-digit negatives). Management was keen, though, on his five power-play goals, showing a fierce competitiveness, and two hundred twelve hits - though only fifty-four penalty minutes, showing a cleanly aggressive approach.

Despite the upside, he likely will only see a few games worth of action. His puck control is lacking, and while he is a fairly good defensive player, there are several better. The team is expecting growth on the farm club, and probably ten games worth of action from him to float the tester balloon.

Ladislav Benysek was part of the team's free agent foray into the unrestricted market. No one is exactly sure from whence he came, but he is in Boston now. He is a more all-around player than Makela, which is why he will likely see more game time, but not a notable amount more. Benysek, though, is also considered to be expendable and would be a candidate for release, if necessary for roster issues. He was considered the low target among the Bruins' free agent signings, and was extended an offer "just in case" the other guys did not sign. Lo and behold - all did that day. Look for him to see probably eighteen games of action.

Zdenek Kutlak saw seventy games of action last season as a rookie for the Bruins. That number may be drastically cut, depending on which way the offense goes. He is projected to be used more often in games where the defense will be considered a top priority and the roster is bumped to eight defensemen, though will split that time with Richard Jackman. Jackman, on the other hand, will see time based on his veteran leadership, strength, and durability. He provides a better defense/offense punch than Kutlak, but has a tendency to take cheap penalties, racking up two hundred six minutes last year of box time. Both are projected to see twenty-two games this year, down from seventy and seventy-seven, respectively.

These four men will round out the defensive core as needed during the season. Back to the band analogy, none is expected to be releasing a greatest hits album this season, but the hope is one or two can score a top ten single.

Projections -
Zdenek Kutlak - 22 games, 2-13-15
Richard Jackman - 22 games, 3-10-13
Ladislav Benysek - 18 games, 2-5-7
Tuuka Makela - 10 games, 1-5-6