The NHL has been suspended for just under a month, and it doesn’t look like the season will be starting up very soon. The NHL has been looking at any and every way they can salvage the season, but none can be executed if everyone is still in isolation. So that brings up the question, what if the season is canceled?
For the Boston Bruins, a season cancellation would be the worst possible scenario. The Bruins have been a team on a mission all year and looked like they were looking to give their veterans one last kick at the can for a Stanley Cup. By keeping basically the same core of players that made it to the Stanley Cup Finals last year and adding a few depth pieces like Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase, it seemed like the Bruins were primed for another cup run.
Unfortunately, that cup run was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. If the season is canceled, the Bruins will have a lot of uncertainty with their veterans. Zdeno Chara is 43 years old in the final year of his contract, so there is always the possibility he retires and the Bruins need to fill the void as a top four defenseman and captain. Then when it comes to players like Patrice Bergeron who will be 36 years old before next season ends, we don’t know how much longer he can keep up his current play.
With the potential decline of certain Bruins players on the minds of the Bruins front office, they also have to remember that there are players who will be entering free agency this offseason. The Bruins will have to deal with one unrestricted free agent in Torey Krug who will likely be the Bruins top priority going into the offseason. Then young restricted free agents, like Jake DeBrusk, Matt Grzelcyk, and Anders Bjork, will all be looking for a little bit of a pay bump. If the season is over, then it would seem that all these players’ contracts would have been wasted on a dead season.
Lastly, it would be a wasted year for the Bruins starting goaltender Tuukka Rask. Rask recently announced that he may consider retirement after next season, so losing this season would be a major loss for Rask. This could be Rask’s last chance at a Stanley Cup as a starter this season, but it would be interesting to find out how a potential season cancellation would affect his decision to retire after next season. Maybe if the Bruins lose their season this year, Rask will choose to play an extra year or two to chase a championship.
Although there is no guarantee that the NHL season is lost quite yet. In fact, the NHL has made it known that they are very willing to go deep into the Summer to finish the season. But the fact that nothing is guaranteed forces us to start thinking about the prospect of a potentially lost season. As much as it would negatively affect every team in the NHL, it would immensely hurt the Bruins if the NHL decides to call off the remainder of the regular season and playoffs for the 2019-2020 season.