Complete Preview for the Boston Bruins' 2014-15 Season

The Boston Bruins have been consistently excellent the past four seasons; their point totals over that time (projecting 2013 for 82 games) are 103, 102, 106 and 117 last season.

Only the Pittsburgh Penguins have more points over that time in the East.

The Bruins have 40 postseason wins the past four years; only the Kings (43) have won more.

Despite a crushing seven-game loss in the second round to the Montreal Canadiens and the loss of a 30-goal scorer in free agency, there's no reason to think the Bruins are ready to take a step back in 2014-15.

What We Learned in 2013-14

There really wasn't all that much to learn, as it was the same old dominant Bruins getting by with the same formula of excellent defense, tremendous goaltending and an offense that doesn't get enough credit.

Save for the lockout season, the Bruins have been top five in scoring in three of the past four seasons. The Bruins were third at 3.15 goals per game in 2013-14 in large part due to Jarome Iginla, a free-agent acquisition that potted 30 goals for the Bruins. 

We also learned that general manager Peter Chiarelli built Iginla a contract with easily attainable bonuses, one that put the team in a cap crunch for this season and forced Iginla to sign with the Avalanche.

The one thing that may have been somewhat surprising was how the Bruins survived—heck, thrived—with defenseman Dennis Seidenberg missing half the season with an injury.

The Bruins went 28-9-7 after Seidenberg exited the lineup in late December, leaning on a defense corps that proved to be deeper and better than many imagined. 

As for their playoff loss to the Canadiens, that one is harder to explain.

The Bruins won the possession battle, and it's impossible to say they played poorly, but they dropped the final two games of the series, including Game 7 in Boston. The fact the Bruins hit 11 posts or crossbars in that series is a sign they just ran into some bad luck over a two-week stretch (and not to mention a red-hot Carey Price).

Even with that crushing loss and the departure of Iginla, the Bruins remain a contender, although they may not be as formidable this season.

Elsa/Getty Images

Outlook for 2014-15

After Iginla left, the Bruins were so close to the salary cap that couldn't replace him with a free agent. They were so crunched that a trade of a defenseman seemed inevitable if they wanted to get restricted free agents Reilly Smith and Torey Krug signed, but the pair both accepted one-year deals that kept the Bruins cap compliant.

It's good that Chiarelli got those deals done because Smith will have to step up to the second line and replace Iginla's production this season.

Left wing	Center	Right wing
Brad Marchand	Patrice Bergeron	Loui Eriksson
Milan Lucic	David Krejci	Reilly Smith
Daniel Paille	Carl Soderberg	Matt Fraser
Chris Kelly	Gregory Campbell	Jordan Caron

Even with the loss of Iginla (and Shawn Thornton's ability to punch people in the face on the fourth line), the Bruins still have a great group of forwards.

Left defense	Right defense	Goaltenders
Zdeno Chara	Dougie Hamilton	Tuukka Rask
Dennis Seidenberg	Johnny Boychuk	Niklas Svedberg
Torey Krug	Adam McQuaid
Matt Bartkowski, Kevan Miller

And with Krug and Reilly signed without dealing a defenseman, this group is as deep as ever with Seidenberg back.

By moving up Loui Eriksson and Smith, the third line is a little weaker, but Carl Soderberg might be the best third-line center in the East. But the backbone of this team continues to be its defense and goaltending, which is unrivaled in the conference and maybe the best in the NHL.

One of the big keys for the Bruins will be how 37-year-old Zdeno Chara handles the rigors of another full season. It may be up to coach Claude Julien to manage his minutes a bit with an eye on the playoffs, something he can easily do with Seidenberg healthy. 

The Bruins have taken the slightest of steps back this summer, but that could be enough to give the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens the opening they need to push for an Atlantic Division crown. It's not uncommon for teams to have great summers only to see it fail to translate on the ice.

And besides, even if Montreal and Tampa Bay overtake the Bruins in the division, it doesn't matter; the Bruins are good enough to win the East as the top seed or a wild card.

As long as the Bruins don't run into bad luck, they'll be the same force they've always been.

All statistics via NHL.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.