With the holiday break here and only Providence still playing, it’s a good time to review some preseason thoughts and predictions as we reach this unofficial midpoint of the season.
I evaluate where a player might end up as their career progresses. Several factors come into play, including their potential, current development, position on the depth chart, and contract situation. Here’s the overview as the season began:
While half a season is not ideal to make assumptions on, some things are clearer. For example: we can say definitively that last season was an outlier for Ty Gallagher and he was a victim of circumstance at Boston University and the move to Colorado College better reflects his first two NCAA seasons.
Philip Svedeback has rediscovered his game. Unlike the past two seasons when he played almost every game, this season he is starting two out of every three games. While he has proven he can perform well as a goaltender at this level, the workload is clearly having an impact on him. Need to see more hence the little movement for him.
If you regularly read my posts, you know I am a fan of Jonathan Myrenberg. Unfortunately, he hasn’t played this season as he is still recovering from an injury. Linkoping HC currently sits in 12th place in the SHL, just two points above the relegation zone for next season’s Allsvenskan league. It seems unlikely that the Bruins would want him to drop a league in his development, but he remains under contract with Linkoping for one more year. Recently, Linkoping fired head coach Klas Ostman and hired Anders Karlsson as his replacement. It’s difficult to predict what will happen next for Myrenberg.
Here’s where I put things now:
PROVIDENCE BRUINS
Streaks are made to come to an end and the Providence Bruins 6 game win streak ended with a 4-3 overtime loss to Lehigh Valley on Wednesday night. However, some streaks did not end. Matthew Poitras kept two streaks alive: an 8-game point streak and a 7-game goal scoring streak. Georgii Merkulov, playing along side Poitras also kept his 8-game point streak alive. Providence got off to a 2-0 lead with Poitras’ 7th of the season and Riley Tufte who also scored his 7th. But Lehigh would score 3 goals in a span of 6:11 to take the lead. Riley Duran scored his 4th just 18 seconds later to force overtime. It only took Lehigh 14 seconds into the extra session to take the win. Brandon Bussi stopped 31 of 35 shots he faced while Providence managed just 20 shots on goal. Bussi made some key saves, but also allowed a couple of goals he’d probably like back.
Although the win streak ended at 6 games, the Bruins have gone 8 games without a regulation loss following a 1-0 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday. However, it did bring to an end both of Poitras’ streaks and Merkulov’s streak. Tyler Pitlick scored the lone goal as the P-Bruins outshot Hartford 44-21. Billy Sweezey and Jeffrey Viel assisted on Pitlick’s 7th of the season. Michael DiPietro earned his second shutout of the season and improved to 10-4-2 with 2.05 GAA and .923 SV%.
In many ways, things did not go so well on Saturday as the Bruins dropped a 4-2 decision to Hartford. The Wolf Pack got off to a 2-0 lead before Lettieri scored his 11th of the season to close the gap with 16 seconds remaining in the first. Merkulov (19) and Ian Mitchell (15) assisted. Hartford would get that one back less than 2 minutes into the second before Patrick Brown scored his 7th with 14 seconds remaining in the second period. Lettieri (18) and Poitras (9) assisted. Hartford would score an empty net goal to secure the win. Bussi stopped 23 of 26 shots in the loss and at times was shaky.
Providence enters the holiday break with a 15-11-3-0 record and in third place in the Atlantic division with 33 points.
Here’s a look at the Providence Bruins leaders. You will notice a column called “Benchrates” This is provided by our friends at Benchrates. Created by a retired hockey player, Benchrates has created an algorithm that computes values in real time. The value you see is the cap hit value they’ve earned this season to date. Give them a look and check out their site.
Coming up this week:
Chris Nosek and myself will be on the Dom-Hockey Podcast discussing all the Bruins prospects live every Monday night at 6:30 PM ET (6:00 PM this week because of the Bruins game) on X and on YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please give us a like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
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