Boston Bruins forward Justin Brazeau has earned himself solid footing in the nightly lineup, but with reinforcements coming soon, his journey has only begun. Brazeau spoke 1-on-1 with The Hockey News on Wednesday.

BRIGHTON, Mass. – Proven veterans or prospects with promise?

This question has defined the roster-building process for years as general managers fill out their teams. The Boston Bruins were no exception, and they continue to try out different combinations with one month left in the regular season.

It’s not often a player that fits neither category – an ‘older’ player without NHL experience – gets a significant run for a contending team, but that’s exactly what happened with Justin Brazeau. The 26-year-old has 10 games under his belt on the Bruins’ fourth line, and he wasted no time making a first impression, scoring a goal in his NHL debut on Feb. 19 against the Dallas Stars.

Since then, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound forward has locked down a solid role on the team. He’s played 12:35 or more in each of the past three games, and he’s earned time on the second power-play unit. Brazeau even bumped up to the third line during Wednesday’s practice, a sign of trust from the coaching staff even if he winds up back on the fourth line on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens.

“It’s a lot of the same things for me,” Brazeau told The Hockey News on Wednesday. “Every game you play, you get a little more confident, a little bit more poise with the puck, looking to make a little bit more plays because you got a little bit more time than you think in the game before, so I think that’s just the biggest thing for me, is every game is building my confidence in my game.”

But just like any fringe roster player, his job is only safe as long as he keeps playing himself into the lineup. With Johnny Beecher fighting to win back a spot on an emergency recall, and trade deadline acquisition Pat Maroon working back from disc surgery, the work isn’t done for Brazeau.

That will become even more challenging when Maroon fully recovers. The 35-year-old forward has three Stanley Cups to his name, and his playoff experience combined with his physical play around the net is exactly what Bruins coach Jim Montgomery will want in his lineup come the postseason. Although he is also seeing the latter from Brazeau.

“[Maroon] has the uncanny ability of making plays from behind the net and down low,” Montgomery said on Tuesday. “And we were seeing that from ‘Braz.’”

Brazeau told The Hockey News that he was compared to Maroon growing up, and that he’s shared a couple brief conversations with him since he’s joined the team. Maroon told Brazeau he liked his game after watching him in person, which Brazeau called a “big vote of confidence.”

While he may end up competing with Maroon for minutes down the line, Brazeau believes the trust from both Maroon and the Bruins coaching staff have gone a long way, and he’s ready to prove he can stick around by doing exactly what he did to reach this point.

“For a lot of parts of my career, a lot of the stuff I did well was kind of undervalued and my skating was kind of overlooked,” Brazeau told The Hockey News. “So I think it’s obviously a really good feeling when those parts of your game are getting valued, and I’m able to just play my game and be myself.”

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