Bruins Must Make Tough Calls Before Camp Opens
The Boston Bruins have been busy this offseason, adding pieces like JJ Peterka, Will Borgen, and Connor Clifton while shipping out Viktor Arvidsson, Andrew Peeke, and Joonas Korpisalo. But with training camp less than a month away, this reworked roster still looks like an unfinished product. Several spots on the depth chart are clogged with extra bodies, and tough decisions are coming down the pipe.
Something's Got to Give on Log-Jammed Defense Corps
The Bruins will start the 2026-27 season shorthanded on the blue line. Charlie McAvoy sits out six games after his stick connected with Zach Benson in Boston's season-ending Game 6 loss to Buffalo. That explains why Boston is loading up on defensemen, but right now they're set to open camp with 10 waiver-eligible D-men: McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Will Borgen, Connor Clifton, Mason Lohrei, Jonathan Aspirot, Henri Jokiharju, Jordan Harris, and Frederic Brunet.
Even with McAvoy out for the first few weeks, multiple defensemen will be sitting for extended stretches. Worse, Boston could lose a player like Brunet or Harris for nothing on the waiver wire. Injuries are inevitable in a grueling NHL season, as McAvoy can attest with his numerous trips to the dentist's office over the last year.
But carrying 10 D-men through a full year is untenable. Lohrei and Jokiharju shouldn't be watching games from the ninth floor of TD Garden. Both deserve regular NHL ice time. And Boston shouldn't roadblock younger players like Aspirot or a potential breakout guy like Brunet. A trade or two between now and the regular season feels inevitable.
Getting Clarity on Contracts Looms Large for Bruins
The NHL's fiscal landscape is shifting fast. Macklin Celebrini just signed an extension worth $18.8 million per year. The Penguins handed Ville Koivunen, a guy with seven points in 39 career games, an eight-year, $32 million deal. The salary cap ceiling keeps soaring, and the market resets every few months. That means Boston's long-term deals with David Pastrnak, McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman will age better and better.
But Boston still has work to do on cap and asset management. Near the top of the list: hammering out a long-term extension for Fraser Minten before the 22-year-old center's value keeps climbing. Minten scored 17 goals and 35 points over 82 games last season. Another year stapled next to Pastrnak in a top-six role could see him approach 50-plus points.
If that happens, Boston has a legitimate second-line center. Sign him long-term ASAP, especially before the current CBA expires on Sept. 15. After that, teams can't sign their own players to eight-year deals. There might be sticker shock on a $5.5 to $7 million per year deal this fall. But it's an investment that could quickly turn into a steal. If they wait, Minten, a restricted free agent after this season, could easily command $8 to $10 million per year. And wait until you see what 29-year-old Pavel Zacha might secure next season if he hits the open market, especially after his 30-goal, 65-point campaign.
Boston Should Lean Into Youth Instead of Combing the Bargain Bin
The Bruins still have more than $5.3 million in cap space this summer, according to PuckPedia. Intriguing options remain on the open market: Vladimir Tarasenko, Eeli Tolvanen, Michael Bunting, and Patrik Laine. Waiting out the free-agent frenzy to sign a veteran sniper to a short-term, affordable deal is a smart move. For the Bruins of yesteryear, that is.
If this were the Patrice Bergeron-led roster desperately trying to get over the top, sure, sign a 34-year-old Tarasenko on a one-year deal as a middle-six sparkplug. But this is a retooling team. One of the top priorities for 2026-27 should be giving the burgeoning pipeline of young talent an extended runway to grow, succeed, fail, and hopefully thrive in the NHL.
Instead of short-term investments, give those reps to James Hagens, Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Matt Poitras. Let them find their footing at hockey's highest level. It's a shift in philosophy from the win-now efforts of the previous two decades. But if Boston wants to cash in on the final prime years of the Pastrnak-McAvoy-Swayman core, this wave of young talent needs to pull on the rope and develop into foundational pillars.
Boston Shouldn't Kick the Can Down the Road on Naming a Captain
On Monday, Cam Neely seemed to signal a willingness to go another year without stitching the 'C' on a sweater.
'I don't know if you necessarily need to have a guy unless there is that one guy that really stands out,' Neely said on the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. 'We've been blessed to have great captains here. From [Ray] Bourque, [Zdeno] Chara, [Patrice] Bergeron. We like leaders, not followers. So you can hopefully have 20 leaders. That's the one thing that we look at: who is going to help lead the team? Maybe it's more of a tradition in hockey where you have a letter on your sweater. Don [Sweeney], Marco, and I are going to sit down shortly to talk about that.'
Boston's collective leadership core, led by Pastrnak and McAvoy, did an admirable job navigating a transitional year and welcoming newcomers. Veterans like Zadorov, Lindholm, and Sean Kuraly have stepped up, and Morgan Geekie has become more vocal. But if Boston wants to take another collective step forward, it should put a single player atop the leadership hierarchy. Build a stable chain of command ahead of a continued influx of top young talent.
Both Pastrnak and McAvoy are deserving candidates. If we have a vote, we're going with Pastrnak. His lead-by-example production, durability, and growing voice, especially during Boston's disastrous 2024-25 campaign, must be taken into account.