The 2026-27 NHL season is here, and rosters have been set. However, as we learn every single season, what the rosters look like on Opening Night is never what they look like when the season comes to an end, whether that is in the regular season or the playoffs.
As far as the Boston Bruins go this season, if things end up not going the way that general manager Don Sweeney and the front office hope, then there are some players that other teams would be interested in acquiring during the season. Here are five players who the Bruins could trade during this season.
Henri Jokiharju
Let's start with the only player that Elliotte Friedman wrote about this week, Henri Jokiharju. In this 32 Thoughts column, Friedman noted that after Jokiharju cleared waivers, he is a player that Sweeney is trying to move. Boston has a plethora of defensemen, and if Jokiharju couldn't make the Opening Night roster against the Rangers with Charlie McAvoy suspended, he might not see Boston this season. Re-signing him for three years with an AAV of $3 million never made much sense in the summer of 2025.
Pavel Zacha
Yes, I know, Pavel Zacha's name has been surrounded by trade rumors for well over a season now. However, he fills what the Bruins are missing: a top-six center. He began the season centering the second line with Morgan Geekie and Casey Mittlestadt, and he thrived in that role last season on the second line with Mittlestadt and Viktor Arvidsson. Sweeney has said that working out an extension with Zacha is something that he would like to do, but if he can't by the trade deadline in March, then trading rather than losing him for nothing next summer is the move to make by Boston's GM.
Casey Mittlestadt
If there is someone who probably should have been traded already, it's Mittlestadt. He played well last season on the second line, but expecting him to come close to repeating that is a tough ask. There is unlikely to be a big market for him by the trade deadline, but a team looking for depth on teh wing or down the middle as a veteran could take a flier on him. He will not be back in 2027-28 even if he spends the entire season in Boston.
Mikey Eyssimont
Veteran forward Mikey Eyssimont made the roster out of camp, but that might have been because Matthew Poitras begins the season on injured reserve. Anyway, Eyssimont had a good camp and played well in preseason games, but when Poitras comes back, he will likely get a chance to prove what he can do because if the Bruins try to send him to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL), he likely wouldn't clear waivers. Trading Eyssimont clears up a needed roster spot.
Mason Lohrei
Defenseman Mason Lohrei has been the subject of trade rumors since last January, when he was reportedly part of the return going to the Calgary Flames for blueliner Rasmus Andersson. However, that deal never ended up working out, and Lohrei stayed in Boston. If Sweeney buys at the deadline or can upgrade a dire roster need, it wouldn't be surprising to see Lohrei as a part of a deal to get it over the finish line.
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