Bruins’ Christmas wish list: Plenty of gifts to go around

The Bruins are in the midst of their NHL-mandated three-day holiday break. And so, with no games to chronicle, it’s time to give out some Bruin-related gift wishes for the 12 days of Christmas. Any resemblance this list may have to a Festivus Airing of Grievances is purely coincidental:

A hot streak for Jake DeBrusk. The oft-maligned winger’s all-around game has been much improved from the time his trade request became public two years ago. He kills penalties on the top PK unit in the NHL and can be relied upon to play in defensive situations. But he needs to score on a regular basis and he hasn’t. Every time he pops in a goal, you think “here comes that tear.” It just hasn’t happened. The lack of production is coming at a terrible time for him personally as he’s set to enter unrestricted free agency in the summer. It doesn’t help the Bruins in figuring out what to offer him, either.

Some slack for coach Jim Montgomery. He’s been the hardest working man in show business this season, trying to get his team that’s been decimated by departures to attain the defensive structure necessary to succeed. One day he’s getting on his team verbally, the next he’s bag-skating the players. He’s been a mad line-mixer, trying to figure out ways to maximize the talents of rookies while minimizing the effect their inevitable mistakes have on the team. But the B’s just keep winning more often than not. Coaches don’t win the Jack Adams Award in consecutive years and, after last season, he’ll rightly be judged on what happens in the post-season. But Montgomery and his staff have not only kept this team afloat, they have them at or near the top of the Eastern Conference.

A share of the Vezina Trophy for both Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. With the goalies alternating games, it’s quite possible neither of them will have enough starts to come home with the award. Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko is also have a tremendous season. But the tandem is chiefly responsible for the B’s being where they are in the standings. The rush defense is still a work in progress, but either Ullmark or Swayman is usually there to make the stop. The debate on how this rotation will work in the post-season will only intensify as the season progresses and won’t abate unless there’s a long playoff run. But what the pair is doing right now has the B’s in a spot I didn’t think possible at the start of the year.

Some appreciation for Danton Heinen. He came to training camp without a contract. He hung around the team for the first couple weeks of the season without a contract. Finally, Heinen signed a one-year league minimum deal for $775,000. And it’s been the best money Don Sweeney has spent after a very successful summer of dumpster diving. In a perfect world, Heinen would be a third line fixture, but with the B’s roster in transition, he’s bounced all over the lineup. And he’s helped wherever he’s been put. Always a useful player, he’s added a tenacity to his game that hadn’t quite blossomed in his first tour of duty with the B’s, to the point that he’s been used by the coaches as an example for younger players in how they approach puck battles.

Style-icon status for David Pastrnak. It’s not that he has impeccable taste in his sartorial choices. Most of us would look utterly ridiculous in some of his outfits. But he pulls it all off. Floral suits. Pink sneakers. You name it. He even made his puffy parka over his purple suit work. He has what late columnist George Frazier called duende. It’s a term that denotes a magnetic charisma that is undefinable, but you know it when you see it. David Pastrnak has duende.

A 2-3 game look-see for an offensive-minded player in Providence. Whether it’s Georgii Merkulov, Fabian Lysell or John Farinacci, the B’s need to take a look at one of these guys to see if they can jumpstart an offense that has been a little better than an expected but still overly reliant on Pastrnak’s elite talents. Whoever would come up would have to be able to play some semblance of a two-way game, and the call-ups so far tell us that management doesn’t think any of those players are ready for that. But the offense could use an infusion.

Recognition for the Bruins’ music men. From Todd Angilly’s thunderous anthems to organist Ron Poster’s subtle strains of “Hey Nineteen” to deejay TJ Connelly surprising gems, they are all great at their jobs. Connelly’s choice of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” during the delay after Brad Marchand’s hat trick on Dec. 3 was truly inspired. The only quibble is the thump, thump, thump of pre-game warmups. It’s 15 minutes of a must-miss mashup of non-songs. Unless you’re in need of a defibrillator. (OK, I know I’m old and I’m not the target audience. I just had to get that out of my system. We can move on).

More edge for the roster. Trent Frederic is willing to go with just about anyone, Brad Marchand never takes a post-whistle shove lightly and Derek Forbort never met a puck he wouldn’t eat. The B’s are not without toughness. But they could use someone who brings a little more of a fear factor, both on defense and at forward. The trick is finding those guys who are not going to be a liability.

A few Norris Trophy votes for Brandon Carlo. No, he’s not going to win the award. The Norris almost always goes to a defenseman who puts up a lot of points. The fact that Zdeno Chara, the most dominant defender of his generation, only won it once – and he had to score a career-high 19 goals to finally get it – highlights that fact. Carlo will never score 19 goals, but he’s in the midst of the best season of his career when the franchise desperately needed it. We’re not lobbying for any first-place votes, maybe a fifth-place vote here or there.

A defined role for Morgan Geekie. Maybe that’s a little much to ask because of the way the Bruins are constituted right now, and Geekie’s versatility works against him finding a stable spot in the lineup. But after finding his footing in the B’s system and then shaking off an injury that cost him three weeks, Geekie has shown not only the grittiness to be effective in a bottom six role, but he just might be able to bring some value higher in the lineup. More and more, he’s looking like a player who simply helps a team win.

Some goals for Jakub Lauko. The sparkplug wing doesn’t have to score a ton to be proficient in his fourth line role. Throwing hits, beating out icings and being a general pain to play against are what will keep him in the NHL. But when you put in that kind of work, it’s nice to be rewarded with a goal or two.

And, finally, a little playoff success for Bruins fans. The team’s best attribute is often what leads to a letdown in the playoffs. The B’s simply show up almost every night ready to compete. They rarely buy into the notion of a “scheduled loss.” It’s a work ethic that’s admirable and can almost a guarantee a spot in the spring tournament. But they’ve won just one playoff series since their run to the Finals in 2019, which ended excruciatingly. B’s management has tried to pay back the fans loyalties, spending to the cap most years and using future capital to bolster the rosters for the stretch run, only to have the season end far too soon. It would be nice if in a year in which not much was expected of the B’s, it makes a surprise run. It can happen, and it would be a nice switcheroo.

Thanks for reading all year and Merry Christmas to all!