Bruins Bargains Step Up in Overtime Loss to Devils

Despite falling 2-1 in overtime to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, the Boston Bruins got strong efforts from a handful of supporting cast members with Pavel Zacha, Charlie McAvoy injured.

The Boston Bruins had to be stingy this offseason. Between David Pastrnak’s new contract with an $11.25 million average annual value, and dead cap penalties due to bonuses earned by Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci last season, Boston had to find cheap reinforcements to remain cap compliant.

Between young players on entry-level contracts and veterans playing at near-minimum pay, the Bruins found the combination that has them at 18-5-4 near the top of the Eastern Conference. The elite goalie tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have much to do with that, but Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils exemplified another reason, despite the end result.

The Bruins’ top six HockeyStatCards game scores, which compiles offensive and defensive impact along with physical production and other miscellaneous aspects to more or less “grade” a player’s performance, belonged to players that have a combined cap hit of $6.62 million. Again, six players making a ‘pittance’ – relative to NHL salaries – making up the Bruins’ best in a competitive matchup with New Jersey.

It was just one game, which wasn’t even a win, but the ability of those supporting cast members to step into a leading role when bigger names like Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy are out of the lineup is not insignificant.

Morgan Geekie was the headliner, scoring Boston’s lone goal and making the most of every shift on a line with Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk, but it was Danton Heinen that posted the best game score of the night (3.05).

Heinen and his league-minimum $775,000 cap hit did not get on the board for Boston, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The 28-year-old forward posted eight individual scoring chances and five high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. His 1.13 individual expected goals (ixG) more than doubled the next-highest on the team (Pastrnak: 0.62). Heinen did tally the secondary assist on Geekie’s goal, which moved him up to 10 points in 19 games.

After going through the entire offseason, and the first part of the regular season, without an NHL contract, Heinen has firmly entrenched himself as a go-to middle six winger, and Wednesday was a clear example why.

James van Riemsdyk, another member of the aforementioned top six game-scorers, earned the primary assist on Geekie’s goal, putting the initial shot on net that Geekie rebounded. Van Riemsdyk was signed on July 1 with the intention of competing for a top six role, and the 34-year-old has delivered on that expectation and then some.

The assist tied van Riemsdyk with McAvoy for fifth on the team in scoring with 17 points. The former second overall pick has moved up and down the lineup, but the production has remained consistent no matter where he’s slotted. For just $1 million against the salary cap, that’s massive.

Veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk ($1.05 million) and rookies Matt Poitras ($870,000) and Mason Lohrei ($925,000) rounded out Wednesday’s ‘best’ six. It’s common for young players on entry-level contracts to outperform their salary, but for a contending Bruins team with a relatively barren prospect pool, both Poitras and Lohrei have been pleasant surprises.

Lohrei especially displayed more of the poise and puck-handling skills on Wednesday that he flashed earlier in the season. The 22-year-old will stay with the big club while Derek Forbort is on long-term injured reserve, but games like Wednesday will make the decision to send him back to AHL Providence much harder when everyone’s healthy.

The Bruins didn’t get the result they wanted against the Devils, and while coach Jim Montgomery credits the Ullmark-Swayman tandem for their winning record, the low-cost additions playing above their pay grade has been a big part of it too.