Training camp is here, and the puck drops on the 2026-27 regular season in 11 days for the Boston Bruins. Between now and then, there are going to be some roster decisions for the Black and Gold. Second-year head coach Marco Sturm will have some decisions to make with his roster and most of them will be depth decisions.
Some of those decisions could be made easier by general manager Don Sweeney and the front office with a trade or two if someone doesn't fit into the plans this year and beyond. There are some contracts that Boston would love to move. Here are three trade candidates for the Bruins before the final roster decisions are made.
Casey Mittlestadt
Acquired from the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline in March of 2025, Casey Mittlestadt is entering the final year of his contract that carries an AAV of $5.75 million. Let's be clear: Sweeney and the Bruins did not give that to him; it was inherited in the trade.
Mittlestadt is a solid depth piece, but that's it. He tied his career-high of 15 goals last season, playing on the second line with Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson. If you think he's got more than that in him, I'm not sure what to tell you. There is very little chance he comes back, and an even smaller chance that he scores 15 goals again. It's time to move on and give a younger player an opportunity.
Henri Jokiharju
Now, Sweeney didn't give out Mittlestadt's deal to him, but what he did give out was a deal to defenseman Henri Jokiharju, and what a rough deal that is turning out to be. Last season, in his first full season in Boston, he played in just 41 games after signing a three-year deal with an AAV of $3 million. Things are unlikely to get better, and he could very well end up blocking a young player like Frederic Brunet. If that ends up being the case, shipping out Jokiharju and keeping the cheaper and rising blueliner in Brunet should be a no-brainer.
Mikey Eyssimont
Nobody loves bringing in bottom-six forwards like Sweeney. He loves it. Instead of giving Mikey Eyssimont a one-year deal, he handed him a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.45 million. He played in 56 games last season with eight goals and 18 points, but he found himself a scratch towards the end of the season. Moving him to create a roster spot for a young forward such as Matthew Poitras makes a bunch of sense. Poitras needs to clear waivers to get to the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Providence Bruins and he likely dosn't get through.
Making a trade at this point seems unlikely; however, if there needs to be some decisions to keep some players in Boston, then the trade route is the way Sweeney can go.
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