Bruins Opening Night lineup projection 1.0: Blue line in great shape originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins have built a tall, big and strong roster entering the 2024-25 NHL season, and nowhere is that more evident than the blue line.
Here are the listed heights and weights for the seven defensemen projected to be in the mix for an Opening Night roster spot:
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Charlie McAvoy: 6-foot-1, 209 pounds
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Nikita Zadorov: 6-foot-6, 248 pounds
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Brandon Carlo: 6-foot-5, 217 pounds
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Hampus Lindholm: 6-foot-4, 224 pounds
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Mason Lohrei: 6-foot-5, 211 pounds
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Andrew Peeke: 6-foot-3, 214 pounds
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Parker Wotherspoon: 6-foot-1, 195 pounds
“I think any time you can have a defense that’s big but also can skate — I think that’s our biggest strength. We have guys that can really move out there,” Hampus Lindholm told reporters Tuesday.
“I think if you want to be good in this league as a d-man, you have to be mobile and good on your skates. Luckily, we have a lot of strength on our defensive corps right now.”
The Bruins’ impressive combination of size, strength and skating ability on the back end should make them a tougher team to play against, particularly in the playoffs. The addition of Zadorov in free agency added plenty of truculence to the group. He’s not afraid to showcase his toughness, whether it’s dishing out a huge hit, blocking a shot or clearing traffic from the front of the net.
Here’s our first projection for the Bruins’ Opening Night lineup, with the caveat that a lot could change between now and the Oct. 8 opener versus the Florida Panthers.
Forwards
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Also in the mix: Max Jones, Tyler Johnson, Georgii Merkulov, Riley Tufte
The first line of Pavel Zacha, Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak has a lot of potential. Lindholm has been unavailable over the last few days with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters Tuesday that Lindholm is considered “day to day.”
“I don’t think they’ll be any problem finding chemistry with Lindy. He’s very smart. He has a high hockey IQ,” Pastrnak told reporters after practice last Friday.
The rest of the lines could go in a several different directions. We know Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle will be reunited on the second line, but who will play right wing with them? It’s one of the most fascinating roster…