Patrice Bergeron's shoes aren't easy to fill, but the Bruins need a first-line centre. It appears they may have found him.

Matthew Poitras to Start the Season as Bruins 1C?

If there was one trend during the Bruins' past few years, it was that they seperated their offense through two lines. Despite having all three pieces for a perfection line, with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak, they opted to keep them on different lines.

With both Bergeron and David Krecji retired, the Bruins no longer have either of their C pillars. In the organization, it was assumed that Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle would fill up those spots, but a new name has emerged - 19-year-old Matthew Poitras.

From Likely Cut to Top of the Lineup

Essentially a surefire cut headed into camp, Poitras has now played two straight games on a line with captain Marchand and Jake DeBrusk - and he's looked fantastic doing it.

Marchand compared him to superstar winger Mitch Marner in a new interview:

«He's a smart player. He's had a really good camp so far. He sees the ice very well. Competitor. He's not scared to go in the corners of the tough areas. He's definitely shown a lot of promise,

He's a great little player. He's got a bright future ahead of him. He reminds me a lot of (Mitch) Marner, the way that he plays. He's smart on both sides of the puck.»

Many are now projecting him to start the season on that first line:

Opening night top six should be...

Marchand-Poitras-DeBrusk
JVR-Zacha-Pastrnak

Matt Poitras has been THAT good in camp.

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JVR Zacha Pasta
Marchand Poitras DeBrusk
Freddy Coyle Geekie
Lucic Beecher Lauko

Grzelcyk McAvoy
Lindholm Carlo
Forbort (sadly) Shatty

Ullmark
Swayman

Let's roll for the Bruins 100th!

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Matt Poitras just made the Boston Bruins.

JVR - Zacha - Pastrnak
Marchand - Poitras - DeBrusk
Frederic - Coyle - Geekie
Lucic - Beecher - Lauko

Anyone talking about a 9 game trial, please respectfully shut up. This kid is ready for 82 games.

#NHLBruins

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I really like the idea of

Marchand-Poitras-DeBrusk
JVR-Zacha-Pastrnak

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A 19-year-old second rounder coming up to be the teams' 1C? We've seen this before - back in 2004 - and his name was none other than Patrice Bergeron.

POLL

OCTOBER 4 |37 ANSWERS

19-Year-Old Rookie New Frontrunner to Replace Patrice Bergeron in Boston