Bruins Streak Reaches Predictable End

The Boston Bruins will officially miss the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Jon Alfano | Apr 8, 2025

Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak looks up against the Carolina Hurricanes. / James Guillory-Imagn Images

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Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins have been one of the NHL's most consistent teams over the past two decades or so, only missing the playoffs twice in the past 17 seasons.

However, this season will mark the end of an era.

The Bruins were officially eliminated from playoff contention following the Montreal Canadiens' 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. This will be Boston's first time missing the playoffs since 2016, ending an eight-year postseason appearance streak that was tied for the longest in the league.

From the very beginning, it was clear that something was off with the Bruins this season.

Jeremy Swayman missed essentially the entire offseason due to a contract dispute, and Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak were limited as well due to injuries. That rust showed on the ice, as Boston started 8-9-3 and fired head coach Jim Montgomery on Nov. 19. Interim coach Joe Sacco gave the Bruins a bit of boost as he won seven of his first nine games, but it was ultimately too deep of a hole to climb out of.

There have been other issues beyond just the slow start, though. Most notably, they rank 29th in both goals for per game (2.63) and power play percentage (15.5 percent). Their top two defensemen in Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm have both missed significant time as well. The former hasn't played since the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, while the latter suffered a season-ending injury in November.

The Bruins eventually saw that they weren't going to make the playoffs this season, and essentially decided to wave the white flag. They were massive sellers at the deadline, sending away Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and more. Shortly after making those trades, they lost 10 games in a row and tumbled to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

On the plus side, though, they received a solid haul from those trades. They acquired highly-touted prospect Fraser Minten from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Carlo, along with young forward Casey Middlestadt and another solid prospect in William Zellers from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Coyle.

They did even better on the draft front, acquiring a 2026 first-round pick from the Maple Leafs, a conditional second-round pick that can become a first-rounder from the Florida Panthers, and 2025 second-round picks from both the Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers.

Plus, they still have some outstanding pieces on their roster. Pastrnak is one of the best players in the world, and even this season, he has 97 points (40 goals, 57 assists) in 78 games. Swayman will also likely bounce back after having a full offseason to prepare.

This era of Bruins hockey has come to an end, and now it's up to them to decide what direction they want to take.

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Published Apr 8, 2025

JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.