The new look Bruce Cassidy Bruins snuck up on everyone last season and it was electric. Boston is hockey town no matter how many rings the Patriots, Sox and Celtics rack up. Now, in 2018, everyone is gassed up to have some of these young studs a year older, with some valuable playoff experience under their belt.

On top of that, the veterans that they’ve relied on for years now are still producing at a high level.

As nice as that all sounds, it only works if they stay healthy. And right now, they are not.

Torey Krug sustained left ankle injury. Out three weeks. PTO guys: Winnik and Stempniak both have options outside that they're exploring. Sweeney essentially says Stempniak could be back. — Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) October 1, 2018

Krug is a huge loss for any duration of time, but close to a month is tough. The injury was on the same foot that was injured last year. Luckily all reports are the injury is separate.

All signs point to Bergeron playing Wednesday, but it’s always hard to tell if Bergeron is healthy or playing through something.

🎥 Patrice Bergeron: "Feeling better every day…it was good to get another practice in and a pretty good skate, actually. Still shooting for Wednesday. There’s no changes." pic.twitter.com/i5LN9j2DMY — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 1, 2018

Regardless, these are two guys that you don’t want to see dinged up before the season even starts. The Bruins will need all hands on deck this season. They set the bar higher for themselves more than anyone expected. Now that the bar is set, however, they must reach or exceed those expectations. That’s right folks, the Bruins are back in the hunt for the cup and early injuries are an easy way to take the wind out of your sails early.

Everyone always says hockey is a team sport and the rest of the Bruins roster will have to prove it with two top guys nursing bumps and bruises. Number one, as it is most seasons, is they will need Rask. No team can overcome bad goaltending. These next couple of years for Tuukka are critical as he’s on the wrong side of 30. If he wants a cup, he needs to do it now.

In front of him will be 25-plus minutes of Chara again, somehow. This season could be a breakout one for McAvoy. He’ll be turning 21 this year (lol) and his obvious star power will take over on offense in only a matter of time. Unfortunately, it won’t be very useful if he isn’t satisfactory on D. I picked the word satisfactory on purpose because I expect no better and just hope for no worse than that. McAvoy will never be a lockdown D-man, but the best defense is offense. All we need is good enough in his own end.

Talking Points from the Bruins 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in their preseason finale: Tough nights for Danton Heinen & Charlie McAvoy for their final dress rehearsal before the real thing https://t.co/jMmNSbc8qd — Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 30, 2018

On offense, this will be the year a star is born in David Pastrnak.

David Pastrnak with an incredible move 😱 pic.twitter.com/mNq5xuk84r — Bruins Diehards (@BruinsDiehards) March 29, 2017

Pasta is downright disgusting. Fans in Boston have known this since the day he arrived, but nationally, last season was the first he got any kudos. This year he will be an unstoppable force. Whether it’s as the wing on the top line in hockey with Bergeron and Marchand, or receiving dimes from Krecji, Pastrnak won’t stop producing this year.

Step one is getting healthy this season, step two is staying healthy after that and step three is a deep playoff run. This team can really getting rolling fast this season. Let’s hope they begin that on Wednesday night and spoil the Capitals banner raising.

Follow @BrandedNickDubs on Twitter

Feature Image via Massive.com

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