Bruins’ offseason additions play huge role in first win of season

Bruins’ offseason additions play huge role in first win of season originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was busy on Day 1 of NHL free agency back in July. He signed eight players and spent more than $80 million (in total contract value) to improve his roster for the 2024-25 NHL season. He also acquired two players in the Linus Ullmark trade in June.

Many of those new players played a leading role when the Bruins earned their first two points of the new campaign — a 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night in the home opener at TD Garden. In fact, four of Boston’s six goals came from players acquired in the offseason.

The Bruins’ marquee addition of the summer was top-six center Elias Lindholm, who signed a seven-year, $54.25 million contract. Lindholm is an excellent two-way player who drives offense at 5-on-5 and also contributes to both special teams units.

He has done all of that and more through two games with his new team. After picking up an assist in the season opener against the Panthers on Tuesday, Lindholm tallied three points (one goal, two assists) in the victory over Montreal.

The Bruins got on the board at 11:04 of the first period when Charlie McAvoy scored on the power play. Lindholm earned an assist on the goal. He scored a goal of his own later in the period, thanks to a little help from another newcomer — defenseman Nikita Zadorov.

Zadorov passed to Lindholm, who tipped the puck past Canadiens goalie Caydin Primeau to give Boston a 3-2 lead with 1:37 left in the period.

Lindholm has been very good defensively, too. He has played 7:51 on the penalty kill in two games, and the Bruins haven’t allowed a goal in those minutes.

“I think the underappreciated part of his game is the little things like winning battles, the things he does to give his teammates time and space,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of Lindholm. “In the bumper you can tell he has great poise and spatial awareness on the power play.”

Zadorov had two assists in the first period. The Bruins signed him to a six-year, $30 million contract in free agency. The expectation is that Zadorov will bring a little more toughness and size (he’s 6-foot-6, 240 pounds) to the blue line, as well as some offense. He’s met those expectations so far with two assists and eight hits through two games.

One of the players the Bruins acquired in the Ullmark trade was bottom-six center Mark Kastelic. He scored Boston’s second goal of the first period and the last goal of the game in the third period. His second goal was an important tally because the Canadiens had trimmed the Bruins’ lead to 5-4 just 16 seconds earlier.

Kastelic isn’t likely to light up the stat sheet offensively, but he hits, blocks shots and gets into a lot of scrums. He’s going to be a fan favorite in the near future.

One of the benefits to adding Lindholm and Kastelic at center over the offseason was their faceoff ability. Both of them won over 54 percent of their faceoffs last season. They combined to win 11 of their 19 draws combined against the Canadiens. The Bruins ranked 21st in the league in faceoff win percentage last season. They should rank much higher in 2024-25 with Lindholm and Kastelic taking a lot of draws.

Cole Koepke got in on the scoring Thursday, too. He found the back of the net late in the second period for his first goal since Nov. 13, 2022. Koepke, who signed as a free agent in July after two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, tallied three points (one goal, two assists) on Thursday, matching his scoring total from the last two seasons combined.

Koepke plays with speed and tenacity. He goes hard to the net and fights to win battles in the tough areas of the ice. He was rewarded for that effort on his goal.

Here’s a recap of the Bruins newcomers’ performance against the Canadiens:

• Elias Lindholm: One goal, two assists, one shot, one hit, 6-of-13 on faceoffs

• Mark Kastelic: Two goals, three shots, two hits, 5-of-6 on faceoffs

• Cole Koepke: One goal, two assists, two shots, one hit

• Nikita Zadorov: Two assists, one hit

It’s going to take some time for these newly acquired players to fully learn the Bruins’ system and to establish chemistry with their teammates. The lineup is not set in stone this early.

But the early returns have been pretty good, at least offensively. The Bruins have scored 10 goals in two games, and the power play — which was awful over the final 30 games of last season and in the second round of the playoffs — has scored a goal in each of the first two matchups this year.

This Bruins roster has lots of potential. Now it’s up to Montgomery to analyze what he’s seen so far and make corrections to improve the team’s defense.

“We want to win a lot more battles. I thought we won more battles in all three zones,” Montgomery said of his team’s performance Thursday. “And playing faster, with that heaviness.

“I think we can see the kind of team we can be — we gotta become a better checking team and understand game management a little better. I didn’t think our game management was exemplary in the third period. But it’s hard to win in this league. We got our first win, now we keep building.”