5 Keys to the Boston Bruins Offseason, Future Heading Into 2026-27 NHL Season
One by one the answers were revealed, displaying just how much of a toll the 2025-26 season, and first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, took on the Boston Bruins
Defenseman Nikita Zadorov and a fully torn MCL "off the bone" from Game 3 against the Sabres. Right wing Viktor Arvidsson had a fractured rib and punctured lung. Center Elias Lindholm had been dealing with back issues. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm had been trying to deal with a "small" foot fracture since December. center Pavel Zacha had a high ankle sprain, the kind that could sideline football players for a long time. Right wing David Pastrnak had a groin issue.
And then there's defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who had a physically brutal season that was just painful to watch. He suffered a broken hand in Game 2 and subsequently wore a cast under this glove (think that might have contributed to his slashing call in the final game?) That's on top of the numerous facial issues that began with a fractured jaw from a deflected puck in November.
“We had a bunch of guys playing hurt this series," head coach Marco Sturm told reporters, but the season had also been a grind. Granted it, was that way for everyone as the league played more games per week to accompany the Olympics. The Bruins had McAvoy and goalie Jeremy Swayman on gold-medal winning Team USA, Joonas Korpisalo and Henri Jokiharju on Finland (bronze), along with Pastrnak (Czechia), Elias Lindholm and Hampus Lindholm (Sweden) — and prospect Dans Locmelis with Latvia.
Nevertheless, it was a good season for the Bruins. Sturm led his team to a 100-point season during his first season behind the bench. Boston went from last in the Atlantic Division at 76 points to returning as a wild-card team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Overall, it went from 28th in team points, to eighth.
“Last year, when we were in this press conference, it was an awfully difficult one," Chief Executive Officer Charlie Jacobs told reporters during Wednesday's season-ending press conference. "And I sit here today feeling like we are on the right track."
The Bruins are built around Pastrnak ($11.25 million a year), McAvoy ($9.5 million), and Swayman ($8.25 million), and all three are signed through at least 2029-30. Several forwards stepped up including Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt. The defense has a core of McAvoy, Lindholm and Zadorov.
Boston has future stars as well including James Hagens, who is set to represent Team USA at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland from May 15-31. Fans are also excited about Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov.
But Pastrnak was the only player to top 70 points this season. The power play plummeted down the stretch. The team started using more medical tape than stick tape, especially in the playoffs.
"We got bounced in the first round, so yeah we need more talent," Bruins president Cam Neely said. "We need more speed."
But he added: "I know that there was nights that some teams didn't want to be on the ice with us, and that's what I was hoping for and that's what they delivered on. Now it's up to us, we have that implemented in our group, now to get better is adding more skill at the top end."
2025-26 Season Month-to-Month Record
October 2025: 6-7-0
November 2025: 9-5-0
December 2025: 6-6-2
January 2026: 11-2-1
February 2026: 1-1-2 (Olympics break)
March 2026: 10-3-3
April 2026: 2-3-2
Overall record: 45-27-10
Consequently, here are five keys to the Bruins' offseason:
Target Areas for Improvement
Boston's two biggest needs are pretty obvious, center and defense.
"We all recognize this room that we don't have a true No. 1 right now," Neely said about the center position. "Whether it's growing one from within our organization or going outside our group to get one, we know that is something that we need to rectify."
The best in-house options at center are a pair of young players who may not be ready for that kind of role. Ideally on defense the Bruins would like to add a quality player to pair with McAvoy and build more depth.
But that's where the decision-making only begins. We'll start with the unrestricted free agents, as there are two.
Right wing Viktor Arvidsson had a bounce-back year, with 25 goals and 29 points, while posting a +/- of +20. Moreover, Sturm likes him, calling the high-energy forward a "weasel" and meaning it as a compliment. He's 33 and made $4 million last season. Should he hit the open market chances are the Bruins will get out-bid.
Defenseman Andrew Peeke can be a bit of a workhorse and is only 28. He made $2.75 million last season. The guess here is that Boston would kind of like to keep him, but isn't going to give up much so Peeke will hit the open market on July 1.
Moreover, it seems pretty obvious that some players are better suited to Sturm's system and approach than others. Center Mikey Eyssimont and Jokiharju weren't much of a factor down the stretch. Eyssimont is 30 and has one year left on his contract for $1.45 million. Jokiharju will be 27 next season and still has two years left at $3 million each.
Meanwhile, defenseman Mason Lohrei went from being a first-line center to seeing his ice time drop from 19:32 minutes per game to 16:54. The former Ohio State player has one season left on his two-year, $6.4 million contract, and he's only 25.
“I don’t think [his development] is stunted at all," Don Sweeney said at the season-wrap press conference. "I think that, Mason being able to play on the right side with Hampus in that situation showed a lot of what he’s capable of doing. There’s still variants. He’s still a young player at that position."
Nevertheless, there's a lot of speculation that Lohrei may be at the top of the list for trade possibilities, along with a goalie.
"We had a productive year. I'm proud of our group. We talked about being a harder out...[I'm] happy but not satisfied. We've got a lot of work to do."
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 6, 2026
B's GM Don Sweeney goes 1-on-1 with @bellefraser1 to wrap up the 2025-26 campaign.#NHLBruins | @WarriorHockey pic.twitter.com/IpPFJYKLbw
Is There a Big Deal to be Made?
This time of year there are always a lot of rumblings around some star players and whether or not they're looking to go elsewhere, or management may feel it's time to go in a different direction. Auston Matthews? Brady Tkachuk (who says he's more frustrated by the rumors than anything else) ? Yes, they would be considered big-time reaches for the Bruins, however there's only going to be more talk surrounding them and other players as we go through the draft, free agency, etc.
If a star player who would be a good fit in Boston becomes available the Bruins need to be at the forefront of the talks. That doesn't mean the next Neely or Ray Bourque is out there, but everyone in the league saw what Minnesota did with the Quinn Hughes trade. What they forget is that it cost the Wild a lot too, five first-round selections (three former and two future).
Matthews is signed to a four-year, $53 million contract with a cap hit of $13.25 million per season, and Tkachuk has a seven-year, $57.6 million deal with a cap hit of $8.2 million each season, and both deals expire after the 2027-28 season. They also have a no-trade clause in their contract so they'd have to sign off on any potential deal.
More realistic is that the Bruins go looking for a quality defenseman, but you never know.
The Draft
Things didn't appear to bounce Boston's way Tuesday night when Toronto won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, although we won't know for a couple of years for sure. As part of the Brandon Carlo trade in 2025, the Bruins would have received the Maple Leaf's 2026 first-round pick as long as it wasn't a top-five selection. With the fifth-worst record this past season Toronto was on the bubble, but then won the lottery to pick first overall.
Instead, Boston will receive Toronto's 2027 or 2028 first-round pick, and it will depend again on where the Maple Leafs finish in the standings. According to Puck Pedia, if the selection is outside the top 10, it goes to the Philadelphia Flyers as part of the March 2025 Scott Laughton trade. If so, the Bruins receive the Leaf's 2028 first-round selection. However a report indicated otherwise, so look for the league to make a clarification in the near future.
Further to this: It sounds like there's a good chance the NHL would rule in Philadelphia's favor if this scenario plays out.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 5, 2026
Meaning, if Toronto retains its 2026 1st after tonight's lottery, expect 2027 1st to go to Flyers and 2028 1st to Bruins ... both unprotected. https://t.co/Iyq5Fq0CM5
If the Leafs' 2027 first-round pick is in the top 10, Toronto will choose whether Boston or Philadelphia gets the 2027 selection, with the other team subsequently getting the 2028 pick to close both deals. Either way, Boston is playing with house money after the lopsided deal due to Minten's development and he's still just 21.
The good news for Boston is that it already has the 2028 first-round pick of the Florida Panthers, giving it five first-rounders over the next three drafts, and at minimum providing some much-needed high-level draft stock. However, there's a very decent chance that none of those picks will be as good as the one the Bruins missed out on due to lady luck (seriously, does anyone really want to speculate on how good the Maple Leafs might be over the next couple of years?)
Got all that? Let's throw another wrench into it. The 2026 draft is being hailed as a strong one for defensemen, which is definitely a Boston need. The Bruins will be selecting somewhere around No. 22. What are the chances they package at least one of those extra future draft picks to move up and grab one of the top defensemen?
Remember, just because the lottery didn't go Boston's way doesn't mean the Bruins won't have options in the 2026-NHL Draft.
Free Agency
This is the part that's almost impossible to speculate on because there are too variables and free agency doesn't begin until July 1. Although Alex Ovechkin at age 40 and Sergei Bobrovsky could both be available, it's not a strong free-agency group. Among the top players who many believe will test the waters include defensemen Darren Raddysh and Jacob Trouba, center Boone Jenner and right wing Patrik Laine.
Should it decide to try and make a splash, Boston will have some cap space to maneuver. With the cap ceiling rising to $104 million, the Bruins are projected to be under it by $16.4 million.
A player to watch may be defenseman Rasmus Andersson. The Bruins tried to trade for him this past season but he instead went to Vegas (fun note: His agent is former player Claude Lemieux). The deal was for defenseman Zach Whitecloud, prospect Abram Wiebe, the Golden Knights' 2027 first-round pick, plus a conditional 2028 second-round pick.
Getting Younger
This happens to some extent every season, older players and bigger contracts give way to younger, developing athletes, that's just the way it is in professional sports. However, the cupboard of prospects isn't exactly overflowing as some key young players were promoted last year, combined with the simple fact that Boston hasn't had many top draft picks of late. This is in part due to making trades to aid playoff runs, but also the Bruins' draft slot is usually a lot closer to the end of each round than the top due to its regular place in the standings.
Since defenseman McAvoy (No. 14) and center Trent Frederic (No. 29) were first-round picks in 2016, the Bruins have only had five first-round selections, and only one in the top 15. That was Hagens last season, who surprisingly fell to Boston at No. 7, and was then famously welcomed to the Bruins by Adam Sandler.
The impact can be seen in things like The Hockey News' recent futures issue that ranked the top 100 prospects and had Hagens at No. 3. The only other Bruins player on the list was at No. 45, center Dean Letourneau, who is at Boston College.
So there's not a lot on the immediate horizon, but the future at center could be Hagens, Minten and the 6-foot-7 Letourneau. The oldest one of the three is 21. Hagens won't turn 20 until November.
"I think they both have that skillset," Neely said about the potential of Hagens and Minten to grow into a first-line center.
Meanwhile, Swedish forward Fabian Lysell, the No. 21-overall selection in 2021, had 17 goal 25 assists at Providence (AHL) this season, and Matthew Poitras has had short stints in Boston for three straight years. Many of the other top players to watch are in the collegiate ranks including forward Will Zellers (North Dakota), Chris Pelosi (Quinnipiac) and Dans Locmelis (Providence). Forward and team captain Ryan Walsh is heading into his final year at Cornell.
On the blue line, Frederic Brunet had a breakout season at AHL Providence last season and figures to at least get a long look at training camp, and 6-4 Elliott Groenewold has stepped up Quinnipiac.
A big decision needs to be made in net, though, as backup Korpisalo has two years left on his contract at $4 million each. The Finnish goaltender just turned 32 and has a 10-team no-trade clause.
Meanwhile, Michael DiPietro was named the 2025-26 AHL Most Valuable Player, winning the Les Cunningham Award. In 45 games with the Providence Bruins he went 34-8-1 with a 1.91 GAA and .930 save percentage and three shutouts. If the organization attempts to send the 26-year-old (his birthday is in June) back to Providence he'll have to clear waivers, which doesn't seem likely.
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Christopher Walsh is the publisher of Boston Bruins On SI. He's also the founder of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and the publisher of Nashville Predators On SI, along with the Boston College Eagles, Miami Hurricanes, and Vanderbilt Commodores sites. The longstanding sports writer is the author of 26 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.