The Boston Bruins shocked some people last season on their way to 100 points, in large part from some career years by Pavel Zacha (points), Morgan Geekie (goals), and David Pastrnak (assists). It'll take some more of that in 2026-27 to get back to the postseason, and there is no reason why some of the Bruins won't set new marks.
It'd be easy to label players like Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov as potential players to set new career-high marks, but let's look at three more veteran players who can build on their own success.
JJ Peterka - Career High in Goals (28)
Talk about heaping pressure on the new guy before he even gets a chance to wear the black and gold for the first time! JJ Peterka is entering his fifth NHL season, and his career-high in goals came during his sophomore season with the Buffalo Sabres, when he scored 28 a year after scoring only 12. The number has been steadily declining over the past couple of seasons, with 27 the following year in Buffalo and 25 last season in Utah, but he isn't going to decline forever.
Peterka is too offensively skilled for his career-high to be 28. He will also likely play most of the season alongside David Pastrnak, who will be the best linemate he has played with in his career. This is no slight to Morgan Geekie, but if Pastrnak can make him a near-40 goal scorer, then someone like Peterka might have a very high ceiling, and we could see that pay off right away.
Pavel Zacha - Career High in Points (65)
This happening could quite frankly be a disaster for the Bruins, but it's another example of Pastrnak's greatness. The Czech friends haven't played much together in Boston, as their previous coaches have tried to balance the lineup, but all signs point to Zacha centering the first line of Pastrnak and Peterka (if Zacha doesn't get traded this season).
That is where the disaster comes in. The Bruins haven't signed Zacha to an extension after his career-high 65 points last season, and he becomes a UFA at the end of this year. His price rose after last season, and another career year on top of that will make the two-way center a very rich man. If Zacha recorded 65 points with Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt, he could see a great year on his potential new line.
Jeremy Swayman - Career High in Shutouts (4)
This is a bit more of a shot in the dark, as shutouts are a bit of a meaningless stat for me. A goaltender could play the game of his life, and then a squeaker in the dying seconds of a blowout win takes away his shutout and makes the result not look quite as good. Nevertheless, the upper-echelon of goalies in the league all have seasons of 5, 6, 7, or even 8 shutouts, and if Jeremy Swayman wants to truly establish himself, it'd be nice to put one of those seasons on his Elite Prospects page.
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