WILMINGTON — The Bruins are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

They have back-to-back games against the down-and-out Sabres, who are in a dogfight with the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs for the title of worst team in the East. Their next game is on the road, where they are 15-5-3.

Adam McQuaid, KO’d for the last 12 games because of a concussion, has progressed to the stage where he is skating before practice under the watch of strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides. Jonas Gustavsson is well enough to practice with teammates, even though he has yet to be cleared to play after an elevated heart rate forced him out of the crease Jan. 26 against Anaheim.

For all the things they have going in their favor, the Bruins are not satisfied with the state of their team.

Nor should they be.

They coughed up a point in their 4-3 overtime loss to Toronto Tuesday. They needed Tuukka Rask to swipe 2 points against Philadelphia on Jan. 25. They had to rely on the shootout to dispatch Columbus on Jan. 23.

Their push-and-pull play has been so wobbly that they could have easily been left with zero points over their last five games.

“Just working on the things we need to get better at,’’ said coach Claude Julien after Wednesday’s practice at Ristuccia Arena, a session that saw most players linger on the ice far longer than usual. “We’ve got to keep improving. We’re not where we’d like to be right now.’’

The Bruins’ touchy temperament would be better if they could target one area of play to improve in. Coaches like when they can identify trouble and issue specific corrections to address in practice.

The problem with the Bruins is they have multiple hot spots that require monitoring. Once they address one spark, another flickers elsewhere. When the Bruins soak the second flashpoint, a third flares up. They do not have enough hoses to keep all the brush fires under control.

Against Toronto, the Bruins finally said no more to Ryan Spooner as a top-six wing, an experiment they had dragged on for four games. Spooner went back to the middle behind Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes manned the flanks alongside Spooner. Joonas Kemppainen, the fourth-line center doing little as a No. 3 pivot, was directed to his rightful spot in the press box.

Moving Spooner back to center helped to settle down lines that were unstable. Although the Maple Leafs cycled well against the third line for stretches, especially in the first period, the threesome held its ground, then punched back.

Beleskey and Hayes connected in the first on Brad Marchand’s goal. Beleskey backhanded a pass to Hayes. The right wing, recognizing he had reinforcements approaching back-door, shot for goalie James Reimer’s far pad. Marchand scored on the rebound.

But while the lines became more secure, the defense cracked under Toronto’s forecheck. The Leafs regularly trapped the Bruins in their own zone. The Bruins scrambled to cover the men. That’s when the coverage broke down.

The Leafs took advantage of their openings by tipping three pucks past Rask. But Julien didn’t consider the Leafs to have gotten fortunate bounces. They had exploited the Bruins’ missed assignments.

It did not help the Bruins’ defensive game that they did not treat the puck with care up the ice. This left them chasing the puck, even when they were up by two goals in the third period. Puck-chasing has been a regular occurrence.

The Bruins are 6-6-2 since Jan. 1. They generated more five-on-five shot attempts than their opposition in only five of the 14 games. Their undermanned and inexperienced defense is woozy after 50 games of assault.

Zdeno Chara is making Zach Trotman better than he is. Dennis Seidenberg isn’t good enough to carry his rotating crew of partners. Colin Miller and Joe Morrow are in a nightly and close competition for a seat in the press box. Not only do the Bruins miss McQuaid in a big way, they require additional blue line help before the Feb. 29 trade deadline.

Trading Loui Eriksson is unlikely to bring back the young, NHL-ready defenseman the Bruins require. It would require packaging Eriksson with additional pieces, or pulling the trigger on a separate deal to acquire immediate defensive assistance.

Moving Eriksson, however, is certain to disrupt the lines once more. Julien will lose a valuable all-around and versatile wing. As hard as Frank Vatrano, Seth Griffith, and Alexander Khokhlachev are pushing from below, none of the AHLers has Eriksson’s experience, hockey sense, strength, or smart stick.

So far, the Bruins have been able to apply temporary patches to their problems. But the current roster does not appear equipped to sustain repairs that can last long-term.

Good coaching and star players are not enough to paper over their shortcomings. The Bruins need help.