Bruins place a premium on multi-dimensional players

Whether via the draft, free agency or trades, the Bruins are always on the lookout for forwards who can play multiple positions or roles

BOSTON -- Pay no attention to the ‘C’ or ‘LW’ or ‘RW’ next to the player’s name.

The Bruins don’t.

There are exceptions to even a rule this general, but when the B’s are in player acquisition mode -- the NHL trade deadline, entry draft and free agent signing period, the latter of which began at noon on Monday -- they’re always on the lookout for forwards who can play at more than one position.

They were at risk of losing a couple on Monday, if unrestricted free agents Marcus Johansson (he plays both wings) or Noel Acciari (right wing/center) accept other teams’ offers. If so, Weymouth native Charlie Coyle, a center/right wing added at this year’s trade deadline (so was Johansson) becomes a potential candidate to play right wing on the Bruins’ second line next season -- a scenario that could see Sean Kuraly (center/wing) move up to center the third line.

Future candidates for playing time include prospects like Jack Studnicka (Round 2 in 2017, No. 53 overall), who was drafted as a center but showed last season that he can play right wing, and Oskar Steen (Round 6, 2016, No. 165), who was drafted as a wing but has recently shown he can play center.

“I’m not going to claim to be a scout, and know everything that goes on with what they’re thinking” when acquisitions are made, said Jamie Langenbrunner, the Bruins’ Player Development Coordinator, at last week’s Development Camp. “But it is something we talk about in our amateur meetings -- if guys are two-position players or not.

“Is it the end-all, be-all? No. The reality is that most players, when they get here, find themselves in a certain position. But I think versatility helps.”

It has become almost inevitable that forwards who arrive in Boston via the usual pathway -- drafted or signed as amateurs, developed at AHL Providence -- will have played somewhere other than their “natural” position before they get into an NHL game with the B’s. If their actual position isn’t changed, their role might: Players drafted as hoped-for future scorers will be dropped into defensive assignments, and vice versa.

“Jake (DeBrusk, the Bruins’ second-line left wing) killed penalties for us in his rookie year -- a lot,” Providence Bruins coach Jay Leach said. “Danton (Heinen, who has played left or right wing on the top three lines in Boston) did, too.”

Whether by necessity or ingenuity, Leach is often the person who discovers how versatile a given forward can be: His roster is constantly raided when the parent club needs players, and the P-Bruins also need to fill holes when their own players get hurt.

Sometimes, it’s more like Leach or someone in the business of developing future Bruins says “Hey, what if … ?”

“We certainly will try -- I don’t want to say everything -- but by no means do we want to put a cap on what (players) can do,” Leach said. “If certain situations arise, we’re going to give that guy the opportunity.”

Don’t be shocked, then, to one day see Karson Kuhlman, the college free agent signed a year ago based largely on his skating ability and relentless forechecking, lining up for one-timers on a power play in Boston. (Leach tried Kuhlmann on the “elbow” last season in Providence.) Anton Blidh, notorious as a Bottom Six pest for the last three seasons as a winger in Providence, may now be a potential answer if a fourth-line center is needed in Boston.

“Anton never took a faceoff in his life, really, until this past year,” Leach said. “But we were at a shortage of guys who could take draws, and so it was ‘You’re our guy, Anton.’ Before you know it, he got to be pretty good at it.”

Another general rule of thumb is that forwards who skate on the top two lines for virtually any NHL team -- the Bruins included -- were basically ready-made to play their current positions. Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and DeBrusk are wingers; Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are centers. Period, end of story.

Those who can’t crack the top two lines, but want to crack the lineup, stand a better chance if they can play effectively in more than one place, no matter what position they played, or how much they scored as high school, college or junior players.

“There’s a limited number of jobs, and usually the Top Six jobs are pretty hard to crack,” Langenbrunner said. “So you’ve got to figure some more pieces into your game to give yourself an opportunity to get in the door a little bit.”