The Boston Bruins' youth movement has given fans a great glimpse into the franchise's future. Long after David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman's primes, the organization looks to be in good hands, with talent coming through the pipeline and already playing an important role this season. However, one good thing for the team's veterans is that the youngsters' play is overshadowing the fact that the older forwards haven't really been pulling their weight.
Pastrnak is just outside the top-10 in league scoring, which makes it hard to place too much blame on him, but there have been too many times when his production is non-existent, and he is hurting the team more than helping with turnovers and poor defensive play. A couple of high-scoring games shouldn't let him off the hook for some bad ones.
Pavel Zacha has been battling injuries and narrowly avoided another on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. I'm not interested in hearing that as an excuse, but some say the pressure of a looming trade market could be getting to him; either way, he has to be better. People are piling on him for his flubbed one-timer on Tuesday, but his struggles go far beyond that.
I’m still so confused by this. It’s the pull of the hands together before entirely losing track of the stick that’s baffling me. https://t.co/6oo8BSdrkl
— Justin Bourne (@jtbourne) October 28, 2026
Morgan Geekie's start to the season has also been a disappointment after back-to-back 30-goal seasons. With just one goal in the first 13 games, the Bruins will need a bit more from him. He had a similar cold streak last season that lasted much longer, but chances are dying on his stick too often for fans to feel comfortable.
Are the veterans' struggles actually a good thing for the Bruins?
Hear me out: the Bruins are currently first in the Atlantic Division with a 9-3-1 record, and three of their top veterans haven't fully found their game yet. You have to believe it'll turn around and they'll all get hot; when they do, barring a massive collapse from the rest of the team, the group will only get better.
If Geekie has one of his breakout scoring periods, Pastrnak puts the team on his back for a month, and Zacha gets out of whatever funk he is in, the Bruins suddenly have four solid lines and a defense corps that is keeping them afloat. Combine that with Swayman playing at a Vezina Trophy level, and the Bruins have more to look forward to than not.
The sky isn’t falling because of a bad loss to the Hurricanes; in fact, fans should feel pretty optimistic right now.
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