Despite all the positive talk coming out of the Boston Bruins locker room following Saturday afternoon’s 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the season to date has been a disappointment. Sitting one point out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot, the Black and Gold are in danger of missing the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
There is time for them to turn things around beginning on Feb. 22 when they return from the 4 Nations Face-Off against the Anaheim Ducks at the TD Garden, but how realistic is that considering the glaring roster holes and underperforming talent? Given how things have gone to date, not good.
Thirteen days after the resuming of the 2024-25 schedule, the NHL trade deadline will take center stage on March 7. What path the Bruins take remains to be seen. Buys, sellers, or standing pat are the three options. You get the feeling that the middle option is the one that GM Don Sweeney chooses. It would be surprising if it went any other way.
What Boston does will be fascinating. Will they trade captain Brad Marchand? Will they part ways with Trent Frederic or Morgan Geekie? It may not be the return that is in play for the Bruins as much as getting some cap relief for the summer.
However, when all is said and done, if fans are going to have any chance to get the changes they are looking for, then missing the playoffs is what needs to happen to the 2024-25 Boston Bruins.
Boston Bruins missing the playoffs would require some changes
Missing the playoffs is not something that Bruins fans are used to and want to do, but let’s be honest, is this team going to make any noise in the postseason if they get in? Can they win a game or two in a best-of-seven-series against one of the top teams in the East? Unlikely and if they do make the playoffs, it gives Sweeney and Cam Neely more of a break than fans would hope.
Making the playoffs gives the front office a mulligan in terms of the season. This roster has flaws with roster construction and contracts handed out or acquired in trades. There are several contracts that Sweeney would love to get out of, but it’s easier said than done.
So what needs to happen to get some change? More than likely and not to burst any bubbles here, but things have to get bad the rest of the season on the ice for Sweeney or Neely to be in trouble and not return next season. That’s one person’s opinion, but the support they got from Charlie Jacobs last month enforces that.
Blowing things up is not the way to go currently for Boston and they will likely end up selling some pieces in a retool. They will have some money over the summer to spend in free agency, but do you trust Sweeney to spend it the right way or do we have a repeat of last summer’s big additions of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov? Will trades be leading up to the draft and free agency as Sweeney did in 2015? Remember the three first-round draft picks that season in a row at 13, 14, and 15?
If there is going to change of some kind, if any, then missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs must happen for the Boston Bruins this season and honestly, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen for a team that is not a contender this season. It’s just not happening with this roster. I’d love to be wrong, but nothing is saying otherwise.