Bruins' Center Depth Problem Is Real, and Camp Won't Fix It

Morgan Geekie led Boston's centers in scoring last season with 44 points in 49 games, which sounds fine until you note that Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm each finished at 33 points — and that all three were well short of what a productive NHL center line looks like. Geekie was the second-leading scorer on the entire team, yet the center group as a whole couldn't carry its share of the offensive load. That's the math heading into camp.

Dans Locmelis, who was supposed to give the organization at least a developmental option at the position, remains out. He's been sidelined since early July and there's no timetable. That matters less because of what Locmelis is right now and more because of what his absence represents: the Bruins can't even get a full look at their depth options before camp opens. Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov both logged time at center last season and showed enough to stay on the roster conversation, but neither has established himself as a solution to the top-six problem.

The broader forward group isn't helping. Merkulov is in Colorado. Arvidsson is in Detroit. The left wing situation is its own separate headache, one I've been tracking alongside the goaltending questions. The center issue is quieter but arguably more structural — it's not one missing piece, it's a whole tier of the depth chart that produced below where it needed to be, and the offseason hasn't added anyone to change that calculus.