It is way too early to start putting massive expectations on the Boston Bruins' new kid line of James Hagens, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov. The trio impressed fans in the team's win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night, as well as their head coach, Marco Sturm. However, a regression could lead to Sturm splitting the trio, at least for this season.
Here's how the Khusnutdinov-Minten-Hagens line performed at 5v5 tonight:
— Tom Calautti (@TCalauttis) April 13, 2026
Shot Attempts: 10-8
Shots: 4-3
xGoals: .4-.2
Scoring Chances: 5-3
High-Danger Chances: 2-1
Good showing for the new 'Kid Line' in their first game together #NHLBruins
It could be a group of players that will mesh together well for the future, but trusting the three rookies in a playoff run might be a bit premature. The good thing is that we know that this type of line can work, and Bruins fans don't need to look far to understand why.
There was once a time when the Bruins had a "Perfection Line" comprising a skilled star in David Pastrnak, an elite two-way center in Patrice Bergeron, and another elite two-way winger in Brad Marchand. Pastrnak brought the scoring, Bergeron was the leader and reliable center-piece of the two eccentric wingers, and Marchand was a ball of chaos that got under the other team's skin and became an elite scorer in his own right.
The word "elite" is why it's a bit premature to start calling the rookie line the new perfection line. Hagens looks like he's going to be a star, Minten has blown away his third-line center ceiling and looks to be at least a very good center, and Khusnutdinov isn't anywhere near what Marchand became for the Bruins. The construction of the line is the same, but it isn't all the way there just yet.
The intriguing part of it is that we already compared Khusnutdinov to Marchand once this season. It'll take him finding more of a scoring touch and an edge, but the stylistic similarities are there. Of course, no one expects them to reach the heights of the old perfection line, which could feature possibly three Hall of Famers once it is all said and done, but they have the potential to be a very good line for the Bruins.
I would love to see the line stick together for the rest of this season to give them a chance to build the chemistry and get playoff experience. If it's something that Sturm can lean on for years, that's one line he can set and forget, which is a luxury that Bruins coaches of the past had with Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Marchand.
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