The blue liner who was called up due to injuries quickly found his role on the Bruins.
Parker Wotherspoon’s 2024 Rating: 7.1
Parker Wotherspoon was one of those pleasant surprises for the Boston Bruins on the blue line last season. The 27-year-old had mostly played in the AHL – and only played in 12 NHL games before this season, but had been rewarded for his reliable presence on the back-end.
Wotherspoon, had a quick stint in November with the team as he was called up for three games before his consistent play kept him around for the better half of the second half of the season.
Yes, it helped that the Bruins’ blue line had some injuries during the regular season for Wotherspoon to slide into the lineup. His second callup from Providence came when Charlie McAvoy was injured.
But the defenseman was solid every night and played a physical defensive game, making smart plays along the boards and out front. Wotherspoon also wasn’t afraid to block shots or drop the gloves.
Derek Forbort’s extensive injury and Matt Grzelcyk missing time helped Wotherspoon find his game and comfortability mostly on the third pairing, and also ended up on his offside at different points.
Wotherspoon registered eight assists with a TOI average of 17:43 in 41 games. In, March he agreed to a one-year contract extension worth $800,000 with the B’s.
He became a regular player which opened opportunities for him to earn a spot in the regular season and playoffs, edging out veterans like Kevin Shattenkirk at times, because he played with confidence.
He rounded out the bottom pairing during playoffs as again the B’s faced some injuries like with Andrew Peeke during parts of the Toronto series. Wotherspoon averaged around 17:33 TOI in 10 playoffs game and registered two assists in his first postseason.
He’s an example of a guy who’s put in the time in the minors and shined when he needed to – and it will be fun to see him grow even more into a role this year hopefully from the onset.
Wotherspoon Highlight — assist on Mason Lohrei’s goal in Game 1, Round 2 against the Florida Panthers:
Boston goal!
Scored by Mason Lohrei with 03:43 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Parker Wotherspoon and Pavel Zacha.
Florida: 1
Boston: 2#BOSvsFLA #TimeToHunt #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/GstbkSiEKw— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) May 7, 2024
Fight with Corey Perry: