None of the Boston Bruins defensemen, aside from Charlie McAvoy, had a particularly "great" preseason game against the Washington Capitals on Sunday evening. It was a chance for some fringe blueliners to make an impression among the 10 eligible for the opening-night roster. Still, none of them, including McAvoy's partner Frederic Brunet, really stood out, despite the team's youngest defenseman having a better second half of the game.
Brunet is the defenseman fans want to steal a spot on the opening-night roster, because if he doesn't, the Bruins risk losing him on waivers. Losing a defenseman with such a high ceiling for nothing would be a disaster, and that point was even further solidified after what we watched on Sunday evening.
The Bruins have six certainties on their roster, barring any last-minute trades. McAvoy, Nikita Zadorov, Hampus Lindholm, Will Borgen, Mason Lohrei, and Connor Clifton. The remaining contenders for the final spot are Brunet, Jordan Harris, Henri Jokiharju, and Jonathan Aspirot. Two of those four players will make the opening-night lineup because of McAvoy's six-game suspension.
Harris, Jokiharju, and Aspirot all have arguments for the team after giving Boston some good games last season, but Sunday's game proved that, in no way, shape, or form, Brunet should not be left off this roster. If Don Sweeney lets Brunet walk to another team to keep Jokiharju, Harris, or Aspirot, it would be malpractice of the highest degree.
Frederic Brunet has too much upside to let walk away
VORP is a metric that all sports use in some way, but is primarily used in baseball and fantasy sports. It is the "Value Over Replacement Player," which basically means how much better a player is than a depth player/waiver-wire pickup/player easily available through trade.
Brunet may not have much VORP right now, but his ceiling has more value than any of the players the Bruins would have to keep over him. A handful of defensemen will come across the waiver wire this season who can be just as good as, or better than, whatever Harris, Aspirot, or Jokiharju could give Boston.
It was a rough night for all three of those defensemen against the Capitals. Aspirot was still a bit more reliable than he was last season, but some of his slow puck-moving decisions and tendency to get outmuscled brought back sour memories. Jokiharju and Harris surprisingly had some good advanced numbers, but the eye test told us they aren't an NHL defense pair.
Worst of all, Harris and Aspirot failed to kill a penalty on the Capitals' go-ahead goal in the third period. It was the picture of why the Bruins could go fishing on the waiver wire and get a defenseman who might actually clear out the front of the net.
Miro willing this one into the net pic.twitter.com/aihYmRn8Vo
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 20, 2026
The Bruins might be framing this as a competition in camp, and it's clear they are aiming to contend this year. Still, they have to throw Brunet into the fire and send some of these other depth defensemen to Providence if they are serious about being contenders in the long term.
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