So I was bored last night and decided to look into Connolly a bit. At 6'2" he profiles more as a power forward with speed than a speed player. His size and style of play seem much more conducive to the Bruins style. In 2012-2013 he played in the AHL during the lockout year, averaging close to a point a game and a goal every 0.5 games. He's a goal scorer, but has playmaking ability and solid speed. Coming into 2013-2014, I get the impression he expected to make the team. he scored 4 goals that preseason, but due to the chemistry TB's third line showed (without him), TB felt they would not play him in the top 9 and sent him back to the AHL. From what I can gather, he struggled with this decision and underachieved a bit in the AHL during 2013-2014, which may be where some of the commentary on his commitment came from. Faced with adversity as a 20-21 year old, he seemed to sulk. He played a smattering of games for Tampa, but not anything significant.
This year, he's only been given 11 minutes a game and while he has gotten 12 goals, it seems Tampa determined they would rather focus on the guys Monbo references in his quote. Those guys were faster players, who fit more of Tampa's jitterbug style.
This has some really good potential to work out in the Bruins favor. He seems like a faster more skilled Horton, with a little less of Horton's fighting/physical skills. I think he profiles better on Krejci's line when/if Krejci returns, while Pastrnak is more of a fit for Soderberg and Eriksson, IMO.
I'm cautiously optimistic that Chiarelli picked off Connolly at a good time. With his limited scoring, he will not cost a lot to re-sign next season, so it should be very beneficial for cap purposes as well if Connolly can break out here, which I think he has a good chance to. He should get around 15 minutes a game, so his scoring should go up even in the Bruins system.
