After a short summer and a training camp that has absolutely flown by, the roster is set and the Bruins are ready to defend their title.

Hopefully, nobody who reads this space regularly has a good memory, as a first-round prediction of the Canadiens in six games last spring should be enough proof that you are not reading the work of Carnac the Magnificent. At any rate, I’ll use what we’ve seen from these players in the preseason and in practices to offer predictions for each Bruin’s player. 

Nobody can predict injuries, so these predictions assume the players can play mostly full seasons. Players marked with an asterisk are projected here to play less than 41 games in the NHL. 

FORWARDS:

MILAN LUCIC   25 goals, 29 assists, 54 points     

The biggest question is how that big toe holds up. He’s been able to move the toe, which Tyler Seguin shattered last year in the playoffs, since the beginning of camp, and he’ll have to hope the pain doesn’t return. 

NATHAN HORTON    33 goals, 22 assists, 55 points

Without last winter’s mega-slump (one goal over 20 games from Dec. 15 to Jan. 26), he’d have easily been a 30-goal-scorer. Horton should reach that mark in his second season in Boston. 

DAVID KREJCI     21 goals, 50 assists, 71 points

Two words: contract year. Krejci will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, and the last time he was playing for his next deal remains his best season: a 73-point 2008-09 campaign. 

BRAD MARCHAND    18 goals, 20 assists, 38 points

We recently took a look at what might be next for Marchand, and he isn’t going to change the way he goes about his business now that he’s a big name (and bigger-money) player. A full season with the second line means more scoring opportunities, but the sophomore slump (or “sophomore slight regression”) has been known to rear its ugly head around these parts. 

PATRICE BERGERON      26 goals, 32 assists, 58 points

Stretches like Bergeron’s January (8 goals, 9 assists in 14 games) remind people that, for as much recognition as he receives for being a reliable two-way player, he’s also a very gifted offensively. 

RICH PEVERLEY         24 goals, 20 assists, 44 points

He’ll put a ton of shots on net, and, playing on a line with Bergeron, a lot of them will go in. He’s in good shape to top his career-high of 22 goals from the 2009-10 season, and what a bargain that would be for $1.325 million. 

TYLER SEGUIN   23 goals, 20 assists, 43 points

He’s going to be a superstar, but will it be this year? The Bruins don’t need him to be a barbarian, but he needs to show he isn’t afraid of contact. Time on the power play should yield more scoring. 

CHRIS KELLY     13 goals, 16 assists, 29 points 

An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, maybe Kelly will bust out the old cage this season to make him a point-a-game player like he was for a six-game stretch in the playoffs. He’s one of the guys Mark Recchi mentioned as deserving of the vacant ‘A.’ 

BENOIT POULIOT    18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points

It’s hard to tell with Pouliot, and here’s where this scribe is glad he isn’t predicting how many games these guys will play. If he can stick in the lineup, something he’s had trouble doing at points in his career, he could surpass his career high of 17 goals.

DANIEL PAILLE    10 goals, 14 assists, 24 points

Remember that time he lost his job on the first game of the season last year? He was so important to the team in the playoffs that not many should. 

GREGORY CAMPBELL      11 goals, 14 assists, 25 points

Nobody can question Julien’s heavy use of Campbell’s line after the first period of Game 7 vs. the Canucks. Campbell had a positive rating last season for the first time in his career.  

SHAWN THORNTON       6 goals, 10 assists, 16 points

The bad news is that he might not reach the career-high 10 goals he scored last season, but the good news is that the Bruins don’t have Thornton around for his scoring. He’ll be unrestricted at the end of the season, but it’s hard to imagine he’d be a flight risk.

JORDAN CARON* 

Same question as we have for Pouliot: how much will he play? A good penalty killer as well, Caron brings a lot of what the Bruins like, but they want it consistently.

DEFENSE:

ZDENO CHARA      16 goals, 30 assists, 46 points

As defensemen go, Chara is the best in the business. This marks the first season of his seven-year, $45.5 million contract extension inked the morning (Prague time) of the season-opener last year. 

DENNIS SEIDENBERG    6 goals, 23 assists, 29 points

Seidenberg and Chara made up that super-pairing beginning in Game 3 of the first round, but don’t expect to see that pairing each night during the regular season. It might make more sense to only load up like that against teams with one dominant line. 

JOE CORVO   10 goals, 14 assists, 24 points

In case you haven’t heard it a million times, the difference between Corvo and Tomas Kaberle is that Corvo believes goals come from opportunities in front, which come from shots. He’ll be an asset on the power play. 

ANDREW FERENCE    2 goals, 13 assists, 15 points

If he doesn’t take the ice on Thursday with an ‘A’ on his chest, the city of Boston should be surprised. Last season was Ference’s first 70-game campaign in three years. 

JOHNNY BOYCHUK   5 goals, 15 assists, 20 points

Boychuk will be unrestricted after the season, and he’ll need a better year than last season’s campaign to cash in. 

ADAM MCQUAID        3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points

He won’t wow you, but he won’t disappoint. Over the summer, TSN put together a list of which fighters were the most productive players, and McQuaid was the highest defenseman on there.  

MATT BARTKOWSKI* 

Bartkowski had a so-so camp, but will start the season with the B’s. He’ll watch from the press box as the seventh defenseman until somebody gets hurt or he gets sent down.

STEVEN KAMPFER*

It sure looked like Kampfer had won the seventh defense spot prior to spraining his MCL, so it will be interesting to see if he is given the job once he’s healthy. It will also be interesting to see how careful they are with bringing him back. 

GOALTENDERS:

Here’s one that needs to have games played included

TIM THOMAS       48 starts      2.19 GAA, .925 save percentage

Not record-breaking, but still elite. Thomas is coming off perhaps the best season in the history of his position, but he’s also 37, and figures to get less starts than he did a season ago. 

TUUKKA RASK      34 starts       2.23 GAA   .929 save percentage

Expect more opportunities and a better showing from Rask. Remember, this is the guy who led the league in both GAA and save percentage two seasons ago. He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.