In the middle of their current five-game road trip through Western Canada, the Boston Bruins have hit the midway point in the 2025-26 season. With the Olympic Break a month away, teams are playing a much more compact schedule this season.
So far, the Bruins have had multiple momentum swings. They suffered a six-game losing streak early in the season before ripping off a seven-game winning streak. Then another six-game losing streak, where they went 0-4-2, saw them fade from an Eastern Conference playoff spot to the outside looking in.
One rather incredible stat from this season is that their two longest losing streaks were broken against two of the top teams in the Western Conference. They ended their first losing streak against the Colorado Avalanche, of all teams, at home. Then they beat the Edmonton Oilers on New Year's Eve to snap their latest losing streak.
They have one more game remaining on the trip on Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken before returning home for a quick turnaround against the Calgary Flames less than 48 hours later. Such is life in a compacted schedule in 2025-26. Let's do a mid-season Bruins check-in.
Boston Bruins go through multiple swings in first half of 2025-26 season
One thing that is hard to do is to survive multiple losing streaks in a season. Two six-game losing streaks are tough to get through and remain in the postseason hunt. Yes, a seven-game winning streak will help, but those losing streaks can do some serious damage. A team like the Bruins is not built to rebound from those and make up for it with lengthy winning streaks.
Morgan Geekie continues to lead the Bruins in goals with 25, but he has quieted down recently. David Pastrnak leads the Black and Gold in points with 46 on 17 goals and 29 assists. Fraser Minten has been a pleasant surprise in his first full season in Boston, while Jeremy Swayman has been much better this season than he was last season.
As far as the defense goes, they have had to once again deal with injuries, with Hampus Lindholm going down in the second game of the year against the Chicago Blackhawks. Charlie McAvoy took a deflected puck to the face against the Montreal Canadiens in November and missed a month of action. Boston has been recently getting production from the backend, but they will need more of it in the second half.
Are the Boston Bruins a playoff team?
The Bruins are stuck in what is a crazy Eastern Conference race for the postseason. The Bruins are stuck in the middle of it, but do they have the ability to stay in it? Truth be told, they are not built to be a postseason team.
Boston still has a number of needs to address. They still lack a No. 1 center and another goal-scoring wing. They could also use a right-shot defenseman. However, the question for general manager Don Sweeney is whether this team is worth investing or maybe sell or stand pat at the deadline. Right now, trading away a first-round pick for this June's draft when they have two of them seems like it's not the move to make.
The Bruins feel like a team that is destined to be in the NHL Lottery this year again. If that happens, it will be a huge upcoming offseason for Sweeney in terms of building the roster for next season with his best players in their prime. Who knows, maybe Boston turns things around and does end up getting in the playoffs. The next month will be very telling for Marco Sturm's team.