We are just over a month away from the Boston Bruins beginning training camp for the 2026-27 season. There have been some moves made this offseason, but nothing completely earth-shattering to date.
There is no doubt that there are some do-overs that general manager Don Sweeney might like to have, but there are some contracts that he inherited from other teams that are a rather decent overpay. There's no doubt about it. With that said, here are the three worst contracts on the books for the Black and Gold for the upcoming campaign.
Casey Mittlestadt
First off, Sweeney didn't give this contract out; he rather inherited it from the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Charlie Coyle trade at the deadline in March of 2025. The biggest part of the return is going to end up being prospect Will Zellers, who is on pace for a huge sophomore season at North Dakota.
Mittlestadt is entering the final year of his contract, which carries an AAV of $5.75 million, a deal the Avs couldn't get rid of quickly enough. He played well on the second line last season with Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson, but with the latter gone in free agency to the Detroit Red Wings, this is a contract that might end up quietly blocking some young players from making the roster in Boston this season.
Henri Jokiharju
This was not a bad trade at the deadline in March of 2025, acquiring Henri Jokiharju from the Buffalo Sabres to replace Brandon Carlo's spot on the roster for the rest of the season. However, forking over a three-year extension with an AAV of $3 million was certainly a decision, no?
There is an abundance of blueliners for the upcoming season, and how Sweeney goes about figuring out how to move a player or two remains to be seen. However, Jokiharju should be at the top of the list of players he should try to move. Having $3 million a year sitting in the press box half of the season is not great roster management.
Elias Lindholm
I know, I'm not breaking any news here about Elias Lindholm. At the time, I get what Sweeney was trying to do, but this contract with an AAV of $7.75 million is a deal that will go down as one of Sweeney's bigger busts. Nobody could have predicted the back injuries that Lindholm was going to deal with; however, this isn't going to be a deal that is moved anytime soon, and the Black and Gold have to ride it out and hope things get better.
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