PouliOUT, Caron In

The time has come for the 20 year old Jordan Caron to prove himself as a depth player for the Boston Bruins.  Despite Benoit Pouliot having a NHL career high season in points last year (16G, 16A, 32P) on the Bruin’s third line with Chris Kelly, he was blocking a starting job from Caron for most of the season.  Chiarelli made the right move in trading him to Tampa Bay for picks.  Last season, despite playing about half of the Bruins regular season games, Caron proved his worth with 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points. These are all career high numbers for the 20-year-old winger, who played consistently well down the final stretch of the season.  Despite Pouliot being a fan-favorite with his flashy goals and dangles, he was oftentimes guilty of costly mistakes including bad penalties and giveaways. Caron could prove to be high scoring power-forward for the B's at a young age.  He is absolutely a key piece of the Bruin's future franchise.  

The potential for Caron to have a breakout season alongside Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley is absolutely there.  Last season Chris Kelly had an outstanding season, with the third best +/- in the league of +33 along with 20G and 19A.  Rich Peverley has also proven that he could play a first or second line winger anywhere else in the NHL.  With the injury to Nathan Horton, he was called upon to play for the Lucic and Krejci line and responded well.  In 57 games (due to a knee injury) Pevs had 11G 31A and 42P.  Both Peverley and Kelly also provide veteran experience and leadership to their game.  A lot of Boston hype focuses on rising superstar, Tyler Seguin, but down the final 20 game stretch of the regular season we all saw how depth scoring solidified the Bruins success. 

Love seeing the puck behind Carey Price

There has been a lot of talk regarding adding a ‘Mark Recchi-esque’ player to the 2012-2013 squad.  I don’t think this will be Brian Rolston.  Although Rolston was nearly a point-per-game player in his tenure with the Bruins last season, he’s not of the same caliber as Recchi.  Rex was a consistent 40-60 point scorer for the last 10 years of his career and a winner of 3 Stanley Cups.  In his Stanley Cup winning season with the Bruins he had 48 points and 35PIM.  He was clearly much more of an impact player than Rolston could be in Boston.  We’ll see what Chiarelli decided to do in this situation, but with a healthy return of Nathan Horton next season there is no doubt in my mind that Pevs, Kells and Caron will be the starting third line for the Boston Bruins.

By the way… Who else can’t wait for hockey season?!