I think I speak for many Bruins fans when I say, “Wow, good thing that’s over.” What we just saw was nothing short of a debacle of a season. But, it’s going to happen to 16 teams every year, and nobody, not even the ever-consistent Bruins, is immune.
So, here we are, looking back at this long season and left to wonder just what happened that led us here? That said, there’s justifiably plenty of doom and gloom in the air surrounding Boston, Massachusetts, or at least as far as its hockey team’s concerned.
But we can’t let that deviate from at least a few glimmers of hope that made the season worth watching and the Bruins worth following. Below, I’ve found a few that we can look at fondly and even give us reason to believe 2025-26 won’t be so bad.
1 - David Pastrnak
Hey, when you’re playing for a bad hockey team yet you still managed to snag 106 points and 43 goals, you’re doing something right. It won’t happen, but David Pastrnak would’ve earned my vote for the Hart Trophy if I had one. The guy made the absolute best out of a bad situation, and it’s something a minute number of players can do in this league.
If the Bruins plan on getting relevant again, they’ll need to lean on Pastrnak and his stellar play. Fortunately, he’s also one of the few players in hockey who can take his team and elevate their game to the next level. No, it can’t happen in a hopeless situation, but it can occur if the Bruins boast even an above-average lineup.
Considering the kind of season Pastrnak enjoyed, if the Bruins were more efficient when they had the puck, we’re looking at a 120-plus-point season here. If they were a playoff team, I’d be very surprised if he wouldn’t be the favorite to win the Hart.
2 - Goaltending
Yes, goaltending. It might be a shocker, but the Bruins goaltending wasn’t as bad as it looked at times. While I’ll admit Jeremy Swayman took a step back, he still notched four shutouts on the season, despite leading the league with 176 goals allowed.
Throw in Joonas Korpisalo’s numbers, and the Bruins goaltenders combined for seven shutouts, which isn’t half-bad. They also notched a combined 0.500 quality starts percentage, and they played behind some poor lineups when injuries and trades hit the Bruins hard. So, I’m not saying they had a great year, but it was better than many will give them credit for.
Ideally, we’ll see Swayman return to form next season and look like the Vezina contender we saw over the past couple of seasons. If the Bruins do little to improve this group in the offseason, he’ll need to step up more. But both Swayman and Korpisalo made the best, at times, of a bad situation.
3 - An intact core
The Bruins have a lot of work to do, but their situation’s not as bleak as some of those other teams that finished toward the bottom of the barrel. Take the Flyers, whose core is about a year away from contending, and that’s me being generous. Or the Sabres, a team that’s already dismantled some of their core.
That’s good news for the Bruins, who still have David Pastrnak, a breakout player in Morgan Geekie, a reliable player in Pavel Zacha - even if he may fare better in the middle six, Charlie McAvoy, and Mason Lohrei, just to name a few. All of the above players can produce, and while the Bruins are far from a finished product, having a core experienced with playing alongside one another is a bonus here.
It means they have an opportunity to bounce back faster than other teams that collapsed, notably the Nashville Predators and potentially the New York Rangers. If Don Sweeney can add another solid player or two in their twenties to this group, they may enjoy a faster turnaround than you think.