Going into last season, not much was expected from the Boston Bruins. Coming off a 2024-25 season that saw them finish tied with the Philadelphia Flyers in the basement of the Eastern Conference, all signs were pointing to a retool for the Black and Gold.
However, along the way to that retool, the Bruins took off in the second half of the season and finished in the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 100 points and a first-round playoff matchup with the Buffalo Sabres. They ended up getting bounced in six games, but it left the players hungry for more.
There were no really big offseason moves made by general manager Don Sweeney, aside from acquiring JJ Peterka from the Utah Mammoth. Now, with training camp beginning in a couple of weeks, there are some players that a lot of people will have eyes on this season. There are some regression candidates on this Black and Gold roster, and here are three of the biggest names likely heading for a down year in 2026-27.
Casey Mittlestadt
Boy, Casey Mittlestadt's name comes up a lot around here, but this isn't for his contract or for being a trade candidate. It's for being a regression candidate. Last year was his first full season in Boston after coming over at the trade deadline in 2025 from the Colorado Avalanche as part of the return for Charlie Coyle.
Mittlestadt was placed in the second line last season by first-year head coach Marco Sturm with Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson. Mittlestadt had 15 goals and 27 assists while averaging 15:10 per night. Zacha is likely heading up to the top line, and Arvidsson left in free agency for the Detroit Red Wings. Mittlestadt is too inconsistent not to be a regression candidate this year.
Mark Kastelic
We are huge fans of Mark Kastelic here at Causeway Crowd, however, what he did last year in having a career season, we don't see happening again. At least this upcoming season, anyway. He had 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points, all career highs, on the fourth line with Tanner Jeannot and Sean Kuraly. He played in all 82 games, but as hard as he plays and as well as he did last season, he is a big regression candidate.
Marat Khusnutdinov
As much as we are fans of Kastelic, we are just as big fans of Marat Khusnutdinov. The speedy forward carved out a really nice role on the third line for the Black and Gold last season. He even got to play with David Pastrnak for some games and benefited from that. Acquired from the Minnesota Wild as part of the return for Justin Brazeau, Khusnutdinov had 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points in 77 regular-season games. He might only be 5-foot-11, but he is a pain to play against. As much as we would like to see him equal or set new career highs, we just don't see it happening. Hope we're wrong.
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