The 2014-15 season was a year of hits and misses for the Black and Gold.
In spite of a 97-point season, the Bruins saw their seven-year postseason streak come to an end, realized that their core may be aging faster than they originally anticipated, and ultimately saw their general manager take the fall for the club’s shortcomings. In the month of May, we’ll take a look at the season of every player on the B’s and their future with the club heading on into 2015-16.
The series begins with the club’s fourth line center of five years, Gregory Campbell.
The Basics
Player: Gregory Campbell
Age: 31
2014-15 Stats: Six goals, 12 points, plus-1 rating in 70 games played.
Contract: $1.6 million cap-hit through 2014-15.
How he got here: Acquired by Bruins in trade with Florida Panthers in June 2010.
Overview
Following Boston’s second-round loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens in May 2014, the B’s were quick to put the focus on the B’s rather slow fourth line that frequently found themselves stuck in the mud of a speedier Montreal attack. Campbell, the Merlot Line’s pivot since its inception in 2010, was at the center of that. (See what I did there? I hope you see what I did there and please ignore that I said ‘see what I did there’, which is definitely in my top-10 list of my least favorite internet phrases.)
But when the puck dropped and a healthy Campbell returned to the lineup, Campbell remained a fourth-line fixture for the Black and Gold. Despite his god-awful possession figures, and a two goals in 21 games start to his season, Campbell was still a trusted go-to faceoff option for Claude Julien. That’s because Julien, a sometimes painfully loyal coach, felt that Campbell was one of the club’s better lefty faceoff options, especially late in games and with teams looking for a 6-on-5 goal.
It wasn’t until the B’s season was on the line that Julien finally snapped out of this mindset and made Campbell a healthy scratch for the first time in his Bruins career on Apr. 4.
Campbell’s 12 points in 70 games were the fewest in his five-year tenure with the Bruin, one fewer point than he finished 2013’s lockout-shortened 48-game season with (13).
The Good
In a year of complete negatives for the London, Ont. native, Campbell’s best moments came on a fourth-line showing against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Mar. 14. It was Campbell’s strongest game of the year, as he won 11-of-16 faceoffs and finished the night with a 56% Corsi-For at even-strength. Campbell’s other big night? An Oct. 21 win against the San Jose Sharks in which No. 11 scored the game-winning goal and helped staved off a late game, four-minute San Jose power play.
The Bad
Yikes. Where to begin? Well, the most glaring: Campbell finished this season with a -12 Corsi-Rel%. Among forwards with at least 50 games played, only Paul Gaustad, Drew Miller, and Manny Malhotra were worse. But for everybody, the most frustrating night of the season came back on Apr. 8 in a Wednesday night affair against the Washington Capitals. In a return to the lineup after sitting as a healthy scratch, Campbell logged an absolutely unheard of 15:30 of time on ice (Campbell finished the night without a single play of note). The Bruins lost that game by a 3-0 final.
Now, maybe that’s more of an indictment on the coaching than Campbell the player, but nothing Campbell skated with that night showed you that he was worthy of those minutes over guys like David Pastrnak, David Krejci, and Milan Lucic, especially with the B’s in need of goals and ultimately, a win.
The Future
Campbell is an unrestricted free agent and will not be returning to the Boston Bruins next season.
At least according to now-fired general manager Peter Chiarelli. But even if/when the Black and Gold name a new general manager, I would not expect Campbell to be anywhere close to back with the club for a sixth season with the Bruins, especially with a prospect like Matt Lindblad (or maybe even Seth Griffith) knocking at the door for a bottom-six role with the big club.
But I don’t want to make this a pile-on piece on Campbell.
Of his five years in the Hub, you’d say that you got three pretty solid seasons out of both Campbell and the line he centered. But it was clear, especially after the broken leg suffered on the Evgeni Malkin shot he fearlessly stood in front of in Game 3 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, that the skating game was something Campbell definitely struggled with moving forward. When that went, the possession numbers dipped even further, and ultimately made Campbell more of a liability than an asset.
They’ll be faced with these break-ups a bit more as the league’s landscape changes, but this is a situation where the Black and Gold say ‘thanks for everything in 2011’ and move forward.
With all that in mind, I still think there’s an NHL club that’ll take a flier on the veteran center.
If Pittsburgh Penguins forward Craig Adams retires like some expect, I could see Campbell fitting the Pens’ (maybe) need for an experience fourth-line grit-type. (That’s mere speculation.) The skills are deteriorating, I think, but there’s still a place in the National Hockey League for Campbell based on his qualities and character as a bottom-six roleplayer that NHL general managers still covet.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
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