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Michael Memmolo The Hockey Writers

Published on Sunday, April 5, 2015

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Boston Bruins Must Sit Matt Bartkowski

Injuries have forced a lot of changes to the Boston Bruins roster over the course of the season; more importantly it has forced Claude Julien to plug players in spots where given a healthy roster he might have been reluctant to do so. Thursday mornings announcement of David Krejci returning to his natural position at center evoked concern over whether the Lucic & Kids line would be split up. Thanks to how white hot the Lucic line has been; Krejci was placed on the third line.

Matt Needs To Sit

So what is the point I’m making with these observations of Claude Julien? The time has come for another move to occur and that’s Matt Bartkowski being sat and giving another young defenseman an opportunity to make in impact on Boston’s bottom defensive pairing. The much maligned Bartkowski has incurred the wrath of Bruins fans throughout his career, however it may have reached it’s peak after a horrible performance against the Florida Panthers Tuesday night where he was a minus 2 and committed one of the worst turnovers seen all season in the second period while trying to manage the puck and perform a clear out.

Recent Bruins Posts:

The Bruins defensive corps have been battered by injuries all season and are having to endure another loss with the absence of Dougie Hamilton; but there’s no excuse for the recent play we’ve seen from Bartkowski during what is the most important time of the season. Bartkowski has been a mainstay in the Bruins lineup since February 16th and in that time he has amassed zero goals and zero assists to go along with a minus 3 rating. With the march to the playoffs on it’s final leg; the Bruins need to find a way around Bartkowski’s decreasing play.

 

Morrow’s Resiliency Worthy Of Promotion

If the Boston Bruins were to look at making a change in their bottom defensive pairing; they might want to take another look at Joe Morrow after having him up to start the season amidst injuries. Morrow has had to battle injuries throughout the season, but since returning at the end of February he has been able to stabilize himself on the Providence roster and received the call Thursday morning to be on stand by in the event Torey Krug wasn’t able to play due to feeling ill.

Krug ended up playing last night and Friday the Bruins made the announcement of Morrow being sent back down to Providence. In what is another chapter in the up and down season for Morrow; the Bruins really need to consider taking a hard look at utilizing Morrow’s services because in a lot of ways his basic profile is similar to Bartkowski. Both are almost identical in size and possess a left handed shot.

The other thing to consider is while Bartkowski will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season; Morrow is under the Bruins

Matt Bartkowski Bruins

(Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports)

control for another year and at a very cheap amount. The big knock against Morrow is his health and while the fear has definitely proven true this year; Morrow has been healthy for over a month and his upside is much greater than Bartkowski.

Youth Movement Has Been A Success

The Boston Bruins youth movement has occurred quicker than perhaps Claude Julien and General Manager Peter Chiarelli would have liked; but it’s the primary reason for the Bruins staying afloat and potentially making the playoffs. The margin for error for the Bruins has disappeared and although the youth movement has paid dividends on the offensive side of things; it might be time for Julien to roll the dice and give Morrow a chance.

 


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Matt Bartkowski Joe Morrow Boston Bruins National Hockey League
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