The 2023-24 regular season has come to an end and the Boston Bruins are once again a playoff team. They will face their longtime rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating them in all four regular season matchups. Game 1 will be Saturday, April 20 at 8 PM EDT.
Back in January, I made several predictions for the second half of the season and with a few days before the playoffs begin, it’s the best time to revisit those predictions. It’s been a bit of an unpredictable season, and similar to my first half of the season predictions, I didn’t quite hit the mark on most of them.
Prediction 1: Trent Frederic Surpasses 20-Goal Mark
This prediction unfortunately did not come true as Trent Frederic finished the 2023-24 season with 18 goals in 82 games. But, it cannot be understated enough how good of a season he had. He has come a long way from the player he was two seasons ago and is becoming a reliable contributor. Additionally, he was recently awarded NESN’s 2024 Seventh Man Award.
He set career highs in both goals and points this and surpassed the 40-point mark for the first time in his career. After finding great chemistry on the third line with Charlie Coyle last season, he has been able to replicate and expand that productivity this season with a new center, Morgan Geekie. He has turned into a very solid, middle-six forward.
So while it would have been exciting to see him surpass 20 goals in a season, there is still a lot to be happy about when looking back. Now, eyes turn to what he’ll be able to do in the postseason.
Frederic had two goals against the Leafs this season, and will be a guy the Bruins are looking to step up in the series. He has zero points in nine-career playoff games.
Prediction 2: David Pastrnak Is a Hart Trophy Finalist (Again)
It will be a few weeks before NHL Awards finalists are released, but it is safe to say David Pastrnak only added to his case to be a finalist in the second half of the 2023-24 season as he finished with 47 goals and 110 points in 82 games. It is the second time in his career that he has surpassed the 100 point mark. The 2023-24 season also saw an almost-20-second-increase to his average time on ice, bringing him up to an average of nearly 20 minutes per night.
He provides immense value to the Bruins, is the heart of the offense, and anyone who tries to downplay how essential he is is crazy. The next closest player to him in points is the captain himself, Brad Marchand, who finished with 67 points in 82 games, a 43-point gap.
The Hart Trophy is typically given to a player on a playoff team who is the most valuable player to his team. The Bruins most likely don’t make the playoffs without Pastrnak. He should be a finalist again, and a legitimate contender for the award after finishing second in voting to Connor McDavid last season.
Prediction 3: Bruins Trade a Current Roster Player at Deadline
While there were rumors of a Jake DeBrusk trade and a supposed deal involving goaltender Linus Ullmark and the Los Angeles Kings, neither of those deals actually came to fruition at the 2024 Trade Deadline. The Bruins shored up depth by adding Pat Maroon and Andrew Peeke, but the players the team parted with were Luke Toporowski, an American Hockey League (AHL) player, and Jakub Zboril, who had some stretches in the NHL but was never a consistent roster player.
The lack of big moves at the deadline means that the Bruins will be relying on the roster they’ve had carrying them throughout the 2023-24. DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk, who were names tossed around at the deadline and in the final years of their contracts, are in a way rental players as there has been little movement on extensions for either player. With no guarantee they’ll be back next season, the 2024 playoffs could be the last time seeing either player in the black and gold.
2024 Playoffs Are Here
The Bruins enter this postseason riding a two-year, first round exit streak. After the disappointment of last season’s exit, the team should come into the playoffs with a chip on the shoulder and something to prove. They are the number-one team in the Atlantic Division again, and set to play a team that on paper, they should beat. The Maple Leafs haven’t beat the Bruins in a playoff series since 1959.
But crazier things have happened in the playoffs. The NHL postseason is always a beast, and this one will be no exception for the Bruins, but if they play like they have all season, there is no reason the team shouldn’t come out of the first round and make a real push for the Stanley Cup over the next two months.
The playoffs begin April 20 in Boston in what will certainly be an intriguing series against the Maple Leafs as the two teams renew the postseason rivalry that’s been one-sided in the Bruins’ favour. The last time they met was in 2019 when the Bruins won in seven games and then went on to appear in the Stanley Cup Final. Stay tuned with The Hockey Writers throughout the postseason.
