Reilly Smith #18 of the Boston Bruins carries the puck up the ice against the Florida Panthers in the first period at TD Garden on November 7, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

BOSTON (CBS) – There’s bad news for Reilly Smith. While the Bruins forward sits out training camp because of a contract dispute as a restricted free agent, linemates Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand are playing on without him.

Since the first day of camp the longtime center-left winger combination has been flying. As coach Claude Julien explained after the Bruins beat the Washington Capitals in preseason action on Wednesday, “Bergy is Bergy.” And we all know what the means. The two-time Selke Trophy winner is seemingly always in top shape, always playing his hardest and always doing everything he can to contribute to his team’s success.

But, as Julien rightly pointed out, Marchand is the difference in that duo at this point in the year. Marchand is not only bringing petulance (as youngsters Frank Simonelli and Ben Sexton found out one morning thanks to face washes and cross checks during a battle drill), he’s also flying around the rink showing creativity and aggressiveness with his shot. His practice spunk carried over the preseason game, as he finished with a team-high six shots on net.

“He changed his training and tactics a little bit, and I think he seemed to get tired quickly [last season],” Julien said. “He seems in better shape cardiovascular-wise this year than he did last year, and it makes a big difference.”

Marchand admitted earlier this month that he wasn’t in great shape to start last season and it showed during an early-season goal slump that was making the four-year, $18 million contract the Bruins gave Marchand look like a rip-off. Despite several lengthy goal droughts and a dearth of power-play time, Marchand managed to finish with 25 goals. His goal-less postseason put the exclamation point in his disappointing season.

With Bergeron around, at least an in-shape Marchand doesn’t have to worry about lacking for a player that can get him going in the right direction.

“Especially with a longer summer and we both had a lot of time to train,” Marchand said. “Bergy’s in great shape right now and he’s playing great so I think with how long we have played together for sure we expect to be able to make plays right away and we work together a lot in practice. Anytime you see us in 2-on-1 and stuff like that, we’re working together. So I think that chemistry, we’re just trying to continue to build it and hopefully that carries over into games.”

Of course, every line needs a third wheel. Smith’s missing out on valuable time he could use to gain momentum with Bergeron and Marchand. From the start of camp, prospect Seth Griffith has had the benefit of playing with the two stars. Griffith projects as a guy who needs more seasoning in the American Hockey League and this expanded role in training camp is probably more to accelerate his development than to replace Smith. Most likely the Bruins will settle on a veteran like Loui Eriksson, Simon Gagne or Jordan Caron to play to the right of Bergeron.

If Smith was counting on the Bruins’ negotiating position being weakened by his absence on Bergeron and Marchand’s line, so far the under-contract duo are spoiling his plan.

“That’s out of our control, and we know that and we don’t really want to focus on it. I think we all expect something to get done at some point with Smitty and [unsigned defenseman Torey Krug],” Marchand said. “But it’d be great to have them back, but for the most part we have to continue to do our jobs whether he’s here or not, and try to perform for the team, and do our jobs. As long as we’re on the ice we’re going to continue to work together and continue to build hopefully we can continue to grow.”

Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets.



Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.

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