While the Boston Bruins have not had anywhere near a picture-perfect season thus far, they are right in the mix as we head into the back half of January. The Boston faithful may be finding themselves scoreboard-watching earlier than they are accustomed to. As of Tuesday night, there are just three points separating seven teams who are jostling for coveted playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
There is more than one reason for the Bruins’ shortcomings this season, among those are the poor play of Jeremy Swayman, their lack of offensive production, and their lukewarm special teams’ play. That said, there have been several players who have stood out thus far for the black and gold, players who are a large reason they still have a chance of playing hockey into the spring. Among these are Pavel Zacha and Cole Koepke. Let’s take a look at the seasons the two of them have put together so far.
Pavel Zacha
Zacha has been a consistent asset for the Bruins over the past few years ever since he was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Erik Haula, a move that has played out in the Bruins’ favor so far. He has scored 20-plus goals and put up over 50 points in each of the past two seasons, and he is on pace for similar numbers again in 2024-25. In a season when Elias Lindholm has not quite performed as the number one center the team thought they were getting last offseason, Zacha’s consistent presence on the top line alongside David Pastrnak has been key.
It would have been easy to take Zacha’s steady production as a given heading into this season. He has been a mainstay in the top six for the Bruins, a team that has been an offensive powerhouse over the past few years. We have, however, seen noticeable underperformance from more than one of the Bruins’ studs on the offensive side, with Pastrnak and Brad Marchand both coming up short of the offensive production we are used to seeing from them (though Pastrnak has been turning it on as of late). If the season ended today, both Pastrnak and Marchand would end it with a negative plus/minus for the first time in Pastrnak’s career and the first time since Marchand’s rookie campaign. Despite these struggles by his teammates, Zacha has put together another solid season for the black and gold and sits as one of two forwards with a positive rating at the moment.
Cole Koepke
Koepke has quietly been an awesome acquisition for the Bruins. The fourth-liner signed a league-minimum deal with Boston for one year last offseason, and he has been one of the bright spots on the team thus far in the campaign. A sixth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Koepke spent the majority of his first few professional years in the American Hockey League (AHL) playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s organization. He had scored just one goal at the NHL level before the Bruins brought him in. In 44 games wearing the spoked B, Koepke has 12 points, scoring seven goals along the way. His rating of plus-9 is the best out of the team’s forward group, seven better than Zacha who sits in the second spot in that category. The Bruins placed Koepke on injured reserve (IR) with an upper-body injury earlier this week, and his presence in the lineup will certainly be missed for however much time he sits out.
Key Contributors
While the Bruins have struggled on the whole, Zacha and Koepke have quietly been putting together very solid seasons for their team. As we head down the stretch, much of the focus will be on players like Pastrnak and Marchand and their ability to produce when it matters most – and that attention is deserved, however, the Bruins will also need meaningful production from the rest of the roster. Both of these players have quietly shown up on a nightly basis thus far in 2024-25, and the Bruins will need that to continue along with elevated play from the rest of their forward group if they hope to contend come playoff time.
