Offseason Outlook: Bruins slowly but surely getting back on track

With the offseason underway for most teams, and the rest to join them in a few weeks, we're looking at what's in store for each club in the coming months.

2016-17 grade: C+

For the first time since 2014, the Boston Bruins made it back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but not without a major shakeup along the way.

After guiding the team to a 26-23-6 record through 55 games, longtime and Cup-winning head coach Claude Julien was fired, and assistant Bruce Cassidy was promoted to interim bench boss. From that point on, the Bruins went 18-8-1, good enough to clinch a postseason berth and earn Cassidy the gig moving forward.

Once in the playoffs, Boston fell to Ottawa in the opening round, albeit with a depleted blue line and with four of the six games being decided in overtime.

Despite being a playoff bubble team over the course of the season, Boston finished with a second-ranked five-on-five Corsi rating of 54.68, suggesting solid play throughout the season mixed with a touch of bad luck that kept them down. In fact, Boston's PDO (save percentage + shooting percentage) was a 29th-ranked 98.13 in five-on-five play, with only lowly Colorado faring worse.

The underlying numbers show the team was better than its point total suggested. But the Bruins achieved basically their lowest possible level of tangible success, keeping their overall grade down.

Free agents

The Bruins have a number of players who need contracts come July 1, with David Pastrnak standing out as a major item on Sweeney's to-do list, and Ryan Spooner's tenure with the club seemingly at a crossroads after he was scratched in the playoffs.

2017 draft picks

The Bruins will make six picks in the coming draft, and only four of their own.

Summer priorities

1. Left side, weak side: Team president Cam Neely has already named two clear roster needs: left wing and left-side defense.

When it comes to the former, Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes have disappointed in black and gold, and both were scratched during the playoffs. While Brad Marchand has emerged as one of the league's best left-wingers, there's a steep drop-off in talent under his name on the depth chart.

On the blue line, both John-Michael Liles and Joe Morrow are free agents, leaving only Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug as left-hand-shot defensemen. The Bruins have prospects like Jakub Zboril, Rob O'Gara, and Matt Grzelcyk in the pipeline, but it's possible none of them are ready to play full time in the NHL yet.

Ideally, the left-side defenseman they target will be able to take Charlie McAvoy under his wing like Chara did with Brandon Carlo this past season.

2. Get Pastrnak signed long term: In light of how the Bruins have handled young players in recent years - most notably Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton - the club can ill afford to mess around with another budding star.

David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, David Backes, and Marchand will all make between $6 million and $7.25 million next season. Given that Pastrnak has become just as integral to the forward group, he deserves to be compensated as such.

Only Marchand topped Pastrnak's 70 points (34 goals, 36 assists) in 2016-17, with Krejci ranking third with 54 points.

The Bruins need to lock him up, and for a long time.

3. Find a better backup: The backup goaltender position was perhaps the biggest roster flaw this past season.

Anton Khudobin rejoined Boston last summer, and while he did provide the team with a few wins and some solid play down the stretch, his poor performance near the beginning of the season forced Tuukka Rask to carry a heavier load than necessary.

Khudobin was one of three goalies to spell Rask, with underwhelming results.

He remains under contract for 2017-18, but could easily be sent down to the AHL in favor of Zane McIntyre, who's had a promising season in the minors. He could also be bought out with a view to signing a better, more established backup.

Either way, this situation needs to be fixed.

2017-18 outlook

For next season to be a success, the Bruins will need to shed the label of playoff bubble team and return to contention. A team built around the likes of Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, Krejci, Rask, and even an aging Chara should be in the playoffs and winning rounds year in and year out.

And help is on the way, thanks to general manager Don Sweeney's rebuild on the fly. The young McAvoy appears poised to make his presence felt after a successful playoff debut, and there are several other prospects both on the blue line and up front that could make the team and infuse some pep on the cheap.

Last summer's somewhat ill-advised David Backes signing is a mistake that shouldn't be repeated, but it signals Boston's intent to remain competitive in the present.

The Bruins could have their best team since winning the Presidents' Trophy in 2014, and, quite frankly, it's time to make up for wasted years in between.

Offseason Outlook Series

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DET | DAL | FLA | LAK | CAR
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(Photos courtesy: Action Images)