It’s hard to ask for more than what Ryan Donato gave the Boston Bruins during his first stint as a National Hockey League player at the end of last season.
The Scituate, Mass., native totaled nine points in 12 games before appearing three times in the playoffs, all just after completing his junior year at Harvard. He is better for the experience and excited for a full-season taste of the sport’s highest level.
“It was a blessing to be able to see the guys and how pro hockey is played at the toughest time of the year. Now, I get to start from scratch where everybody starts from, so I just want to prove that I can play,” said Donato, who became just the second Bruin in history to post three points in his NHL debut last March 19. “It just goes to show how hard I needed to train during the summer, what things I wanted to work on and get stronger.”
Youth has been a major focus following the emergence of forwards Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk, former Boston University defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass.), and others last season. Donato is certainly another member of that group.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy noticed Donato’s offseason work and how much his versatility up front could help to fill the season-opening lineup Oct. 3 in Washington, D.C.
“He’s had a little more experience under his belt,” Cassidy said of Donato following the team’s Sept. 22 practice. “He had a good summer training, looks stronger and faster, so all those things that maybe in tight spaces he’ll be stronger on pucks on the off side” if he’s the chosen winger for DeBrusk and veteran center David Krejci.
“I think one thing about Ryan is he just plays," Cassidy added. "He doesn’t overthink what side of the ice he’s on.”
Also up front, the B’s possibly could have a pair of New Englanders on their fourth line.
Noel Acciari spent the offseason recovering from sports hernia surgery and is ready to contribute again. The Johnston, R.I., native scored a career-high 10 goals and 11 points while dealing with that injury for the better part of last season, which was his first season of full NHL action.
“However the lines end up, I’m going to give what I usually give,” said Acciari, whose combination lost Tim Schaller (Merrimack, N.H.) to Vancouver this summer. “I’m easygoing and my game’s simple — north-south, throw a hit and get pucks in deep. I think it’s easy to feed off that.”
Based on the proceedings after the O.R.G. China Games concluded and half the team returned home, Walpole, Mass., native Chris Wagner could be one of Acciari’s wingers. The Colgate product was signed to a two-year deal out of free agency in July after he played 79 NHL games for the Ducks and Islanders last season.
A Wagner-Acciari pairing would be a reunion of sorts as the former Providence Friar captain said that the two skated on a line with Rangers forward Kevin Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.) during their youth career with the South Shore Kings.
In addition, forwards Lee Stempniak (Dartmouth) and Daniel Winnik (New Hampshire) were signed to professional tryout agreements before the start of training camp. Winnik scored 23 points while playing in all but one game for Minnesota in 2017-18 and looks to turn a PTO into a full-time NHL gig for the second straight year.
On defense, Grzelcyk ranked second among all NHL rookies with a plus-21 rating last year. The former BU captain played one game with Boston and 14 in the AHL before being recalled Nov. 21 and staying put in the NHL for the remainder of the season. He logged 15 points in 61 NHL games after having played in just two prior to the year.
The competition to keep regular playing time on the blue line got a bit stiffer during the offseason as John Moore signed a five-year contract after spending the last three in New Jersey, but Grzelcyk showed he can be a consistent option with his body of work as a rookie.
McAvoy became the ninth player in team history to be thrust into a postseason game before starting his first full professional season. He missed 19 games due to injury last year but was otherwise a regular, totaling seven goals and 32 points in 63 games to rank second to Torey Krug among the team’s defensemen. Kevan Miller, who attended Vermont, had double-digit points for the third straight year (of five with the B’s) as he logged 16 in 68 games.
Donato, Grzelcyk and McAvoy were three of eight Bruins to score their first NHL goals — of the regular-season variety, anyway — last year, helping the rookies total 58 of the team’s 265 goals. With those numbers, the youth movement is expected to continue for Cassidy, general manager Don Sweeney and the B’s as this new season gets under way.
In the system
Boston College product Ryan Fitzgerald led rookies on the AHL’s Providence Bruins with 37 points on 21 goals a year ago. The North Reading, Mass., native skated with Krejci and Heinen during the team’s first U.S. preseason game before missing time due to injury, while former BU forward Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson saw regular time at center in China after posting 15 goals as a first-year P-Bruin. …
Six-foot-6 defenseman Wiley Sherman (Greenwich, Conn.) joined Providence after completing his four-year Harvard career with 33 points, seven of which came last season as he paced the team with 61 blocked shots and ranked second with a plus-15 rating. The Hotchkiss School alum played in 137 career games for the Crimson, the third-most in program history. …
Boston’s training camp roster also included Northeastern alum Tanner Pond, who led the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators’ rookies with 37 points and advanced to Providence for four games at the end of last year.
