Matt Irwin

Bruins could set bar too high for new D-man Irwin

Published Aug. 27, 2015 11:40 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Boston Bruins' current options on defense look a bit thin considering many of their blue-liners seem to be third-pairing talent.

But one question mark will be Matt Irwin, the newly acquired 27-year-old defenseman who is about to enter his fourth season in the league. Since Irwin is still relatively inexperienced at the NHL level, there is a chance he could develop into a higher-pairing talent, but Bruins reporter Joe Haggerty said those chances look slim.

"Irwin has proven he’s an adequate bottom pair defenseman with some plus offensive skills in his three years in San Jose, and has posted impressive numbers in the AHL over his career," Haggerty wrote in a recent column. "The one question is if Irwin can still develop further into a top-four D-man for the Bruins, and give them some of the offensive production that walked away with Dougie Hamilton. This is a tall order for anybody and it’s seemingly impossible for a player such as Irwin to be capable of that unless there’s some latent ability that never materialized with the Sharks."

Irwin hit a career-high in goals with the Sharks last season, notching eight tallies with 11 assists for 19 points in 53 games. He averaged 17:01 of ice time, which makes his point totals slightly more impressive, but he never proved himself worth of increased playing time.

He joins a cast of third-pairing defensemen in Boston with Kevan Miller, Colin Miller and Zach Trotman all fighting for just two spots on the bottom pairing. Irwin is on a one-way contract, meaning if he doesn't crack the Top 6 on defense, he'll spend most of the season in the press box instead of finding playing time in Providence.

But if Irwin does crack the lineup, he will have a chance to make a mark with the Bruins, who have yet to find a replacement for Dougie Hamilton on defense. Bruins GM Don Sweeney told reporters the openings on defense make the upcoming season an exciting one.

"We've got some younger players at some point in time have to be given an opportunity if you believe in them," Sweeney told the media. "For me, that's an exciting part of the game. Yes, it is a little bit of the unknown. I'm not going to sit here and blow smoke in any direction, and say that it's not. Would a coach like four guys who were in the All-Star game the year before? Yeah, I'm sure he's going to pencil that in, check that box right off. But sometimes it doesn't happen that way."

(h/t CSN New England)

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