The 2024-25 season for the Boston Bruins was a disaster from the start. From a season-opening loss to the Florida Panthers, the night they raised their Stanley Cup championship banner in which they allowed four first-period goals, to a 5-4 overtime regular-season loss at home on the final night of the season to the New Jersey Devils. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
If the Bruins are going to turn things around this upcoming season, they have some players who are looking for redemption after last season's performance. The list could be a rather lengthy one, but these players are needed by the Black and Gold to have to redemption this upcoming season.
Jeremy Swayman
This one goes without saying. Jeremy Swayman missed all of training camp with his contract situation, and he ended up signing just hours before the Bruins were to board a plane for South Florida for the season opener against the Panthers. He worked out on his own, but it's not the same as being in camp with your teammates and facing the shots he would be facing.
Swayman never played like the Bruins hoped he would and carried them the year before. He went 22-29-7 with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage. Those were not the numbers that Boston was hoping to get after they gave a new deal with an AAV of $8.25 million. He would top any list of Bruins players seeking redemption this season.
Matthew Poitras
It was another frustrating season for prospect Matthew Poitras with the Bruins. He made the roster out of camp in 2023-24 and played so well that the Bruins kept him instead of sending him back to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). After storming out of the gate, things caught up with him, and his season came to an abrupt end in February of 2024 after requiring shoulder surgery.
Last season, he again made the team out of camp. Still, former coach Jim Montgomery sent him down to Providence in November, before he returned after Montgomery's firing, only to be sent back to the AHL for the rest of the season, where he played in only 33 games in the NHL, scoring a goal and adding 10 assists. He tore it up in the AHL with 17 goals and 24 assists for the P-Bruins in 40 games.
Mason Lohrei
Sometimes it's just best to let a player work through tough times, and that was the case with defenseman Mason Lohrei last season. His first full season in the NHL was not what he was hoping to have, as it seemed every time that the former Ohio State blueliner made a mistake, it was a costly one.
One of the better puck-moving defenseman in college, Lohrei finished with five goals and 28 assists, which were good numbers, but his plus/minus of minus-43 was eye-opening. It seemed like every time he made a mistake, the opponents made him pay. Think about this: he was on the ice for 33 Bruins' goals, but also 43 for the opponents, which is a staggering difference. Aside from Swayman, Lohrei is the second Bruins player who needs a big redemption season in 2025-26.