2 Upgrades Boston Bruins Need In The New Year

The Boston Bruins are unexpectedly a top team once again, which means that instead of starting to break down their roster, they will be major buyers. After the offseason saw a number of key players depart, lesser talent filled the roster, but the results have been similar, win. The defense and goaltending are places the team continues to be very strong at, but the forwards are another conversation and what may be the downfall of the team this season if it isn't addressed. This is a look at exactly what areas need to be upgraded within the forward group.

Top-6 Center

The Bruins experienced a massive loss when both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired this past offseason. Their best attempt with limited cap space was to move Pavel Zacha over to the wing, hoped Charlie Coyle could play in a larger role, and sign an inexperienced Morgan Geekie. This has worked for the most part, but Zacha is now playing on the wing where he has been better in his career. The team is lucky to have had a season from an unexpected Matthew Poitras, but he's a bottom-six player at best right now. There have been constant reports connecting the Bruins to major and potentially available top-six centers. The Bruins don't know if or when the team could finally struggle to win games in the regular season and make the playoffs. While they're a juggernaut, they have to add what they can to win now.

Experienced 4th Liner

The Bruins have seemingly lost Milan Lucic from their roster this season and don't have very good depth in their system to come in and play a key role on their fourth line. The average age of the bottom-six is 24 at this moment, and if John Beecher returns from injury, will be even younger. While there are a couple of experienced players on the team and in the top-six, there aren't nearly enough that have been in tough playoff battles and know how to win. The Bruins don't have the years to experience more loss and get their young players experience right now while they're trying to win. They need a veteran or two who has already been there and can help in a leadership role for the bottom-six.

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