If there is one thing the 2025-26 Boston Bruins will not have to contend with, it is high expectations.
When Bruins GM traded captain Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Trent Frederic at the trade deadline, it represented a major shift in direction for the team. No longer were they clinging to the past. Marchand was the last tie to the 2011 Stanley Cup team while Coyle and Carlo were key players on the ‘19 team that finished one win shy of a Cup.
It had to be done. But how long will it take for the B’s to become contenders again? Has the slide down the backside of the hill even come to a stop yet?
Any rational fan should expect some growing pains. But hockey being hockey, retools are possible without completely bottoming out. And the Bruins are not without some high-end players. If they all perform to their capabilities, the B’s have a superstar scorer (David Pastrnak), a No. 1 defenseman (Charlie McAvoy) and a very good goalie (Jeremy Swayman). That’s a decent foundation on which to build.
To be sure, this is not a Stanley Cup contender. But if everything goes right, they could make a push for the playoffs, though hitting that goal will be difficult to do from within the Atlantic Division.
As training camp officially opens on Wednesday with physicals (on-ice sessions begin Thursday), here are five questions facing this team:
1. Can Marco Sturm get all his players on the same page?
The B’s signed four veteran forwards (Viktor Arvidsson, Tanner Jeannot, Mikey Eyssimont and Sean Kuraly) and a couple of young veteran defenseman (Jordan Harris, Victor Soderstrom). This comes after they signed two big pieces in the summer of 2024 (Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov) whose fits were not always the round-pegs-in-round-holes kind. And there are a number of young players who are attempting to establish themselves as NHLers. For where the Bruins are right now, there may be nothing more important than turning this collection of players into a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. Whether new coach Marco Sturm succeeds in this area could be the difference between the B’s playing meaningful games in March or fans focusing on the exploits of Gavin McKenna and hoping the lottery balls deliver what most observers believe to be the next generational talent. The first season is pivotal for a new coach to put his imprint on a team. Everyone is starting together in the new program and there is a natural – if temporary – buy-in. If the B’s get off to a decent start, that buy-in turns into belief. The rebuild starts with that.
2. Can Jeremy Swayman be the goalie the Bruins require him to be?
Since 2007-08, the Bruins have missed the playoffs three times. Goaltending played a part in all three. The first two occasions, 2015 and ‘16, at least part of the blame went to the fact that Tuukka Rask did not have an adequate back-up, causing the B’s to narrowly miss both times. The third time was last year, of course, and the goaltending failures were not minor. After signing his mammoth eight-year, $66 million deal on the eve of the regular season, Swayman went on to have the worst year of his young career (22-29-7, 3.11 GAA, .892 save percentage). The B’s need him to be much better. With a full training camp and no contract drama, he should be. He took a nice step forward in leading the US to the gold medal in the World Championships in the spring. It also wouldn’t hurt if Joonas Korpisalo took a few more games from Swayman, provided he holds off competition from Michael DiPietro. Korpisalo won some fans with his battle level last season but he still finished with just an 11-10-3 record with an .893 save percentage and 2.90 GAA.
3. How much of an impact will the healthy returns of Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm make?
McAvoy was limited to just 50 games and Lindholm just 17. To be fair to Swayman and Korpisalo, that had to factor into the goaltenders’ subpar numbers. There aren’t many teams who can survive losing their Nos. 1 and 2 defensemen. It will be interesting to see if they’re paired together. Ideally, you would want them to be separated so you would have one of them on the ice for the majority of the game. But Zadorov worked well with deadline acquisition Henri Jokiharju, who re-signed for three seasons, and it stands to reason that they would at least start together on the second pair with Mason Lohrei and Andrew Peeke comprising the third pair. Both McAvoy, who could be the captain-in-waiting, and Lindholm should be highly motivated after their lost seasons. They should also be fresher than they’ve been in years after missing so much time.
4. Can the Bruins survive with their crop of centermen?
For a decade and a half, the center position was a foundational stone with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Management failed to create a succession plan through the draft and now they have to find a way to reconstruct their middle. Expect the B’s to start with Elias Lindholm centering Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie. But after that, it’s anyone’s guess. They have two candidates for the second line spot, Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha. Both can play either the pivot or the wing. Whoever takes the center position will most likely be sussed out in training camp. The third line spot could well be the spot given to a young player, whether it’s Fraser Minten, Matt Poitras or Marat Khusnutdinov. Khusnutdinov was signed to a two-year extension and, unlike Minten and Poitras, requires waivers to be sent down to Providence. Unless he comppletely flames out, Khusnutdinov will be on the team. But of the three, it appears Minten is the most naturally suited to be the 200-foot center any team would covet. There are number of veteran fourth line center candidates, including Kuraly, Mark Kastelic and John Beecher.
5. How far can attitude take this team?
Nothing spoke more to team management’s desire to get back to a hard-to-play-against style than the signing of 6-foot-2, 220-pound physical wing Tanner Jeannot. Some eyebrows were raised when the B’s invested five years at $3.4 million for a player who has hit double-digit goals only once in his career (2021-22 when he had 24 with Nashville). But there was a strong market for Jeannot and the physicality that he brings. He can also take a few matchups off of Zadorov’s fight card and, if he’s on the third line, could provide some space for a couple of young players. Up front, Jeannot needs to be a catalyst in the physical department, but others have to follow. Both Kuraly and Eyssimont should raise the energy level and Kastelic, if he can stay healthy, can be a key player if the B’s are to create new era of truculence. If the B’s can manufacture a fourth line that resembles anything like the Islanders’ Identity Line of earlier this decade, it would go a long way toward helping the B’s compete in the Atlantic.
