The Boston Bruins are scheduled to begin the 2024-25 season against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night in Sunrise against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Monday afternoon, the Bruins released their roster and it's time to break it down ahead of the opener.
Breaking down the Bruins Opening Night roster
After practice Monday afternoon in Florida, the Bruins released their roster for the beginning of the season. Some players were missing because of injuries. Here are the forwards the Black and Gold have on their active roster.
Forwards: John Beecher, Justin Brazeau, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie, Max Jones, Mark Kasteltic, Cole Koepke, Elias Lindholm, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Matt Poitras*, Riley Tufte and Pavel Zacha.
Defensemen: Brandon Carlo, Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Ian Mitchell*, Andrew Peeke, Alec Regula*, Parker Wotherspoon and Nikita Zadorov.
Goaltenders: Joonas Korpisalo, Jeremy Swayman.
* Injured Non-Roster
Introducing your 2024-25 Boston Bruins. pic.twitter.com/kgm3ZCJadJ
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 7, 2024
We'll begin with the forwards. The one surprise here is Koepke making it over Tyler Johnson, who was on a PTO and appears not to be getting a contract, at least at the moment. Last season Danton Heinen was in camp on a PTO, did not make the roster at the beginning of the season, but hung around for a couple of weeks before signing a contract. He ended up being a big part of the 2023-24 team in the middle of the lineup for head coach Jim Montgomery.
On defense, there are no surprises and it's likely they'll roll with a lineup of Carlo, McAvoy, Zadarov, Peeke, Lohrei, and Lindholm for the opener. Wortherspoon is a nice option that will see time this season, while Mitchell and Regula, acquired in the Taylor Hall trade with the Chicago Blackhawks back in June of 2023 will begin on the injured non-roster.
In goal there is no surprise that Korpisalo and Swayman are the two goalies, now the only question is who gets the start against Florida? last week it was Korpisalo, but Monday, Montgomery left the door open for a potential Swayman start. Hockey is back!