Bruins Nation finally got to see the boys back on the ice in their first exhibition game Sunday at TD Garden. The display of competitiveness heated up as several contenders were able to showcase the honed skills they've been improving. Which 3 of our new recruits have something we need to see all season? Let's take a look at some promising prospects we hope to see more of on the ice.
Connor Clifton
This New Jersey native defenseman is a familiar face fans will recognize, last seen during the 2018-2023 Bruins seasons. Returning Bruin Clifton became an unrestricted free agent in July of 2023. He left Boston and joined the Buffalo Sabres for a couple of seasons, then subsequently linked up with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the tenure thereafter. During the 3 seasons away from his favorite city, Clifton racked up an illegal check to the head of New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier, earning himself a 2-game suspension. He also gathered 73 & 79 game points, respectively, with the Sabres, and collected 50 game points with the Penguins, while sustaining an average of 16:00 time on ice throughout each year.
While Clifton is a familiar face to us, the lineup has changed whilst he has been away. Now he returns to play alongside formidable players Nikita Zadorov & Henri Jokiharju for the first time in black-and-gold, as well as rejoining Alternate Captain Charlie McAvoy, who unfortunately had to miss several games last season due to injury and the start of a ridiculous 6-game suspension. What will Clifton bring back to the arena this time? His new 2-year contract is about to let us see.
JJ Peterka
As we previously learned about this new promising right wing, JJ Peterka is also going to be joining his friends in Boston as well, having served a slot on the Buffalo Sabres roster from 2021-2025 until he joined up with the Utah Mammoth last season. Now Peterka comes to us and brings his highly anticipated goal-scoring with him, a trade the boys could really stand to add to their lineup for this season. While focusing on beefing up the defensive line has proven to be a great idea, we know you can't win on defense alone. That's where Peterka will have room to shine.
Peterka scored 65 goals throughout his time in Buffalo, which at an average of about 25 goals per year, is something we can stand to incorporate. Coach Sturm hopes to maximize all opportunities with the best line combinations in order to achieve success at each end of the arena. He reports, “The first choice might not be the right one as a pair, or as a line, so definitely there will be some changes throughout camp, preseason, even the start of the season.” JJ joining forces with the Bruins coaching staff will allow him to show off those goals a little bit more while adding needed value to the team.
Will Borgen
This D-line player comes to the hub of the universe by way of the Sabres, Seattle Kraken, and the New York Rangers. Borgen's on ice talents will be observed in penalty kills. As of training camp, it seems Borgen was lucky enough to temporarily land a spot next to veteran Hampus Lindholm for a trial run. Borgen has been soaking up what his new mentor has been laying out. “He’s helped me out," he says, "Whether it’s systems, what they do here, and yeah, just trying to build a little chemistry with the guys here.”
Lindholm is well known at the top of the leaderboards for his shot-blocking and is the top-contributing defenseman in assists. This is aside from the 2024-25 season when Lindholm was out with a fractured patella, which he sustained while, naturally, blocking a shot. Pair that up with emerging Will Borgen, in whom the Islanders found favor enough to play him 75 games out of their collection last season. Of those games played, Borgen made a career high of 5 goals and served up 17 assists. This is a solid start to this emerging d-line pairing, and with any luck, we'll be able to see what this duo does on Tuesday at the next exhibition game.
In any event, it's clear that Sturm has several decisions to make prior to the puck drop for our regular-season game on October 29th. The boys are off to a solid start following a win in the season exhibition opener on Sunday. When they incorporate these new acquisitions into what already worked for our ever-improving d-line last year, we can expect another stellar season as long as Sturm follows through and finds those game-winning combinations. Who gets to show off on Tuesday? Stay tuned, Spoked-B Nation!
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