When the 2025-26 NHL season started, how many people had the Boston Bruins sitting in an Eastern Conference playoff spot at the Olympic break? Not too many, but here we are, they are four points up, holding down the second and final wild-card spot in the East.
Now, whether or not they can remain there and find a way into the playoffs is the question. If they are, they are going to need to be healthy and Jeremy Swayman to play at the level he has at times this season. One NHL analyst, and noted Toronto Maple Leafs supporter, Paul Bissonnette, went on WEEI on Wednesday and believes that the Black and Gold are a playoff team this year.
Paul Bissonnette believes the Bruins are a postseason team in 2025-26
A TNT analyst and known Maple Leafs fan, Bissonnette, joined the Jones and Keefe show on Boston's radio station and said that the Bruins are a team that is a postseason team, and one he wouldn't want to play in the first round.
"They are (a playoff team)," Bissonnette said. "They just have to be a little bit more disciplined. I love how they brought the big, bad Bruins back. And I wouldn't want to meet them first round, either. Because even if the other team ends up winning the series, they're leaving with their pound of flesh, Boston.''
As for general manager Don Sweeney and team president Cam Neely? Well, Bissonnette, he praised the Boston front office duo.
"As much criticism as (Don) Sweeney and Cam Neely took, probably last year, at the beginning of the year, not only with the way the roster was built, but also with the way they handled the Swayman situation and maybe parting with [Linus] Ullmark too quick as a result of that, I think it's all worked out now. They deserve some praise for how they recalibrated this lineup," Bissonnette said.
The Bruins are ahead of schedule compared to where they were at this time last year. Who saw the battling for a playoff berth this quickly under Marco Sturm? The final two months of the season are going to be interesting to see where this team ends up by mid-April.