Boston Bruins 2015-16 NHL Preview

Eastern Conference. Boston Bruins. 7. player. 70. <p class=. Atlantic

Team MVP

Tuukka Rask – G

Last year was an off year for the hot goalie from the 2011 Stanley Cup run by the Boston Bruins. Ask was a brick wall that season and he got even better a year later — but things have fallen off a bit since then. They say you’re only as good as your goaltender will allow — or not allow — and Rask needs to once again rise to the top of the NHL as a netminder.

Boston has the pieces to contend, but it all comes down to how well Rask can protect the net while the rest of the team figures things out. Milan Lucic being traded to Los Angeles hurts, but there are still enough powerful pieces in Boston to make the team a contender and if Rask can return to his top notch form, we might see Claude Julien’s team once again dominant the East and take a chunk out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Apr 4, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) makes a save against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /

Best Case Scenario

If Tuukka Rask can return to form, the Bruins might be the surprise team in the Eastern Conference. They have the pieces to be a dangerous threat in the Atlantic and could end up making a run at both New York and Montreal for the top spot in the division, not just the conference. That’s the best case scenario here, as last year was a down year for the Bruins and one that we’re not yet ready to say defines who they are.

Of course, Boston needs to play their best hockey to even start clawing the bottom of the top in the East, but major cogs like Rask, Chara and Bergeron know how to win together and want to get back to the days where it was a matter of when, not if the Bruins would make a run in the playoffs.

Worst Case Scenario

While there’s a lot of room to make up in the Eastern Conference, Boston let the wheels fall off last season and that lets us know that they’re able to be wounded the way there were last year. If Rask struggles and injuries take a toll again, the Bruins might be looking at a second straight season on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

That’s the worst case scenario here, as another season missing the playoffs could bring about serious changes in Boston. It wouldn’t be as bad as the way things have been in Pittsburgh, but the once mighty Bruins are teetering on the brink between returning to playing the way they were before and falling off a cliff and needing to rebuild around pieces that can be used in the future.

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