NHL Scout: ‘Bruins Are In Tough No Matter Who They Play”

A veteran NHL pro scout had this to say to the Boston Bruins fans and some media who continue to claim the Bruins will have no problem beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs:

“Be careful what you wish for,” the scout told Boston Hockey Now while scouting the NCAA Springfield Regionals this past Thursday. “Beating the Bruins is like winning the Stanley Cup for the Leafs and their fans. There really are no easy matchups in the playoffs this year, and the Bruins are in tough no matter who they play.”

If the Stanley Cup Playoffs began on Saturday morning, the Boston Bruins (42-17-15, 99 pts, 1st Atlantic) would play the Tampa Bay Lightning (40-25-7, 87 pts, 1st Wild Card), a team they lost 3-1 to on Wednesday night and finished their season series with 1-1-2. That could all change in a hurry, though, over the course of the next week. The Bruins still have potentially six other opponents they could face in the first round:

Florida Panthers (46-22-5, 97 pts, 2nd Atlantic)

Toronto Maple Leafs (41-22-9, 91 pts, 3rd Atlantic)

Philadelphia Flyers (36-28-10, 82 pts, 3rd Metropolitan)

Washington Capitals (36-27-9, 81 pts, 2nd Wild Card)

Detroit Red Wings (36-30-7, 79 pts, 5th Atlantic)

New York Islanders (31-26-15, 77 pts, 5th Metropolitan)

Here’s what the schedule looked like for the Bruins and those seven potential first round playoff opponents heading into NHL game action on Saturday:

That parity this late in the season should tell you how wide-open the playoff field will be. No teams atop the Eastern Conference – not the Boston Bruins, the Florida Panthers, the New York Rangers – should be thinking any first-round matchup will be easy or a lock. That’s why the Bruins are simply trying to secure home advantage for as long as they can and get into playoff mode.

“For us, it’s more about battling for positioning right now and getting into the playoffs playing the right way,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told the media on Friday.

The Bruins have eight games to make sure they’re ‘playing the right way’ because no matter who they play in the first round if they’re not playing that way, they will be one and out for a third straight spring.

Currently, the NHL betting odds on the Bruins making it out of the Eastern Conference and to the Stanley Cup Final are +450, and the odds of them winning the Stanley Cup are +1000. However, if you’re an NHL betting person, you may want to stay away from any future bets on the Boston Bruins.