It's hard to believe, but we have turned the calendar to another year, 2025. The last 12 months have been very eventful for the Boston Bruins for several reasons. It was another fun, but frustrating year to be a fan of the Black and Gold. With that said, let's take a look back at the defining moments of the last 12 months.
May 4: Bruins beat Maple Leafs in Game 7 in OT in playoffs
The Bruins drew the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and what a series it was. Boston jumped out to a 3-1 series lead, but oh how quickly things changed. The Bruins lost Games 5 and 6 forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 at the TD Garden. The Black and Gold were in danger of blowing a 3-1 series lead for the second consecutive season.
Things got more tense after William Nylander gave Toronto a 1-0 lead in the third period, but Hampus Lindholm tied the game, forcing overtime. It didn't take long for things to end as David Pastrnak beat the Maple Leafs to a dump-in and scored the game-winning goal. The win set up a second-round series with the Florida Panthers, who won it in six games.
June 24: Bruins trade Linus Ullmark
After three years of a Jeremy Swayman/Linus Ullmark combination in net, GM Don Sweeney did what had been talked about for some time, he traded Ullmark. He was dealt to an Atlantic Division foe, the Ottawa Senators for center Mark Kastelic, goalie Joonas Korpisalo, and a 2024 first-round draft pick. It was an underwhelming return for the Bruins, but so far through 39 games this season, the returns in Kastelic and Korpisalo have had some succes wearing the Spoked-B.
July 1: Bruins have interesting Day 1 of free agency
July 1 was a day circled on the calendar for Sweeney when free agency began with a lot of cap space. He brought in center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov as the two big additions. There were other minor signings made, but Sweeney had been rumored to have had interest in Lindholm for some time and finally landed him, taking a risk on him hitting free agency, but his patience paid off.
On the flip side, free agency saw Bruins' careers come to an end for some key players. Forward Jake DeBrusk left to join the Vancouver Canucks and he was joined by Danton Heinen and Derek Forbort. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk landed a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pat Maroon, who was a trade deadline addition, went to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Oct. 6: Bruins sign Jeremy Swayman
All summer after the Ullmark trade and throughout training camp, the biggest story was Swayman and his hold-out. It lasted all the way until right before the team boarded a flight for Florida to open the season on Oct. 8 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers. In the end, Sweeney and his goalie agreed to an eight-year contract that carries an $8.25 million AAV.
Nov. 19: Bruins fire Jim Montgomery
After a sluggish first month of the season, a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue jackets was the final straw for the front office who fired head coach Jim Montgomery. He was one of the most successful head coaches in franchise history, but the writing was on the wall that his tenure was coming to an end. It didn't take long for him to land back on his feet with the St. Louis Blues after Joe Sacco was named interim coach for the rest of the season.
Dec. 28: Fabian Lysell makes NHL debut
The long-awaited NHL debut of top prospect Fabian Lysell was finally made last Saturday night. It came 24 hours after the Bruins suffered another embarrassing loss to the Blue Jackets, 6-2, at Nationwide Arena out of the three-day holiday break. It didn't take Lysell long to make an impact as his strong forecheck on his opening shift led to a Justin Brazeau goal just 2:08 into the game. In typical Bruins fashion, they returned him to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) the next day.