Just as we all suspected before the season, the Boston Bruins are struggling to find any offense from anyone not on their first line. There were small signs of hope in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche when Mikey Eyssimont and Viktor Arvidsson found the back of the net in the first period.
However, as we know, this is not something that is sustainable going forward. Before the win over the Avs that snapped their six-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon, there were a lot of fans wondering why the Black and Gold had not called anyone up from the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Head coach Marco Sturm basically shot down that idea following a 7-5 loss to the Anaheim Ducks last Thursday night at the TD Garden, but if Boston decides to dip their toes into the AHL to call up a forward, one prospect has been on a heater to begin the season.
Bruins prospect Georgii Merkulov off to a hit start with the Providence Bruins
Through the first three weeks of the AHL season, the P-Bruins are beating everybody in their path. On Friday night, they beat the Springfield Thunderbirds, 5-3, before closing out the weekend with a 4-1 victory over the Bridgeport Islanders.
In the win over the Islanders, prospect Georgii Merkulov continued his hot start to the season with two more goals, giving him a line of four goals and five assists for nine points, which is good for fifth in the AHL in scoring early in the season. According to Mark Divver of Rinkside Rhode Island, he is now second all-time in Providence Bruins history with 188 points.
MERK TIES IT UP! pic.twitter.com/gvUEVtsdEs
— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) October 26, 2025
Would Merkulov come up and solve the Bruins' scoring issues beyond the first line? No, but injecting a prospect or two (Matthew Poitras, Merkulov, or Fabian Lysell) wouldn't hurt, despite Sturm's comments last Thursday. If Merkulov continues to score at this clip, Boston may have no choice but to call him soon or when the next forward injury occurs.