The 2026 NHL offseason is quickly coming to a close with the calendar entering the final full week of August. That means we're inching ever so closer to the start of training camp and a new 84-game regular season. For the Boston Bruins, they will kick off their new season on Sept. 29 at TD Garden against the New York Rangers.
With the dog days of August winding down, the NHL Network is releasing its top 20 players at certain positions. David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman landed on the top-20 lists at their positions, but when it comes to the position of concern, at center, well, it shouldn't come as a surprise that there were no members of the Black and Gold listed.
On Sunday night, the NHL Network dropped its top 20 centers, and to nobody's surprise, there were no Bruins players. One position that Sweeney has failed to address or develop since Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci left was center. Currently, they have Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Fraser Minten, and Sean Kuraly down the middle as their top 4 pivots, but none of them is the true No. 1 pivot the Bruins desperately need. Nobody should be surprised that Boston was shutout from the NHL Network's rankings, but it should be a concerning message as well.
Former Bruins forward remains overseas
During the 2018-19 season, forward Gemel Smith played in three games for the Bruins, not registering a point while averaging 10 minutes. However, with the P-Bruins in the AHL, he tore it up in 47 games with 16 goals and 24 assists, registering just under a point a night.
The fourth-round pick of the Dallas Stars in the 2012 Entry Draft would bounce around the NHL and AHL before heading overseas. Last season, he played for Grizzlys Wolfsburg in Germany, where he had 10 points in 19 games. He recently signed with HC Prešov in Slovakia for the upcoming season. In 91 NHL games with the Stars, Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings, Smith had 12 goals and 25 points in 91 regular-season games.
Matthew Poitras remains unsigned
Each passing day without prospect Matthew Poitras signing, it's becoming a question as to whether or not he'll be at Warrior Ice Arena next month when camp begins. You would have to think that if the Bruins really want him, something will get done, and they would have traded him by now. However, with GM Don Sweeney, you never know until the ink is dry on the contract.
It's hard to see the Bruins cutting ties with their second-round pick and moving on from him at this point. They did trade Fabian Lysell to the Colorado Avalanche over the summer, in a not-so-surprising move, so shipping out Poitras seems unlikely, but at this point, anything is possible.
Add us as a preferred source on Google