What Changes Boston Bruins Coach Bruce Cassidy Might Make

Two-time Jack Adams Award finalist Bruce Cassidy didn’t rise to such a lofty perch in his profession by making excuses.

So it wasn’t a surprise that two days after his Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins bowed out of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by losing Game 5 to Tampa Bay, the straightforward Boston coach didn’t blame injuries, bubble life or the unorthodox format of the NHL’s return to play tournament.

Instead Cassidy reflected on the Bruins’ shortcomings and things he’d like to do better behind the bench.

“A lot of decisions a coach has to make. Clearly you know we lost in five so we’re all going to get evaluated in that regard,” Cassidy said during a video conference Wednesday. “So I needed to do better with our lineup, attack a different way against that team. We certainly didn’t want to change our game a lot because we are a good team but we didn’t do enough to win, to finish plays, to score.

“And at the end … the heart and soul of our team is our team defense, net front coverage, they exposed us on that, so not only is it the scoring part, it’s a part of our bread and butter game that broke down as well.”

In terms of the lineup, Cassidy was obviously referring to his decision to lean on the size and bulk of Nick Ritchie over speedier players Anders Bjork and Jack Studnicka. The idea to play Ritchie had its merits because the Lightning had bulked up their lineup at the NHL trade deadline. But Cassidy was one of the last to realize Ritchie wasn’t the answer, and an injury to the left wing made Cassidy’s mind for him before Game 5, when both Bjork and Studnicka played and formed an effective third line centered by Charlie Coyle.

Cassidy also fumbled the ball by dressing seven defensemen for Game 3 of the series, thinning out an already shallow pool of forwards that could contribute to Boston’s attack. There were several reasons the Bruins lost that game, the second half of a back-to-back, 7-1, and the discombobulated lineup was one of them.

Coaching will also affect how the Bruins address other areas of concern the postseason exposed. After tying for 16^th in the regular season in 5-on-5 goals, the Bruins were 10^th in the postseason, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Boston actually scored fewer 5-on-5 goals than Chicago and Columbus, teams that didn’t advance beyond the first round.

Chicago and Calgary had more points from defensemen than Boston, which will need to find a way to get more points from its back end going forward, whether that’s changing personnel or altering philosophies.

Cassidy actually floated the idea of sacrificing some defense for more offense as a possibility, which of course will depend on who’s playing in Boston’s defense corps. Zdeno Chara, 43, is an unrestricted free agent that may not fit that model. Torey Krug, who’s expected to be the No. 2 defenseman on the UFA market behind St. Louis’ Alex Pietrangelo, would obviously fit the offensive mode, but he has his shortcomings in the defending department, where the Bruins were exploited by the Lightning. CapFriendly.com pegs the Bruins at $16 million in available cap space this offseason with restricted free agents Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk also due new deals.

General manager Don Sweeney will be in charge of formulating the Bruins’ roster, and Cassidy will have to put the pieces together best he can, even if he has to change his approach. Cassidy, a former high-scoring defenseman and first-round draft pick, wants his defense to become more involved and get better at finding sticks for tips and redirections around the net. That might mean a more hands-on approach by the coach.

“The discussion on job responsibilities. I think every year you change a little bit of it. I started out coaching the D, so it was a big priority of mine, I made sure that that was part of their game,” said Cassidy, who may have to relinquish some power play responsibilities to shift his attention to the defense. “[Assistant coach] Kevin [Dean] came in, he took a little more of that responsibility. That’s something we have to look at. … It’s on me to make sure I get more involved in that next year. … It cost us I think in this playoffs series. it’s out there. We need to be better at it.”

Despite the agreed-upon restart date of Dec. 1, there’s really no telling how long the Bruins will have to wait to play the 2020-21 season. So Cassidy, his staff and the front office have plenty of issues to attend to during their time off.