The Athletic's 2024-25 way-too-early predictions are mixed results for Boston Bruins

We are still two months away from NHL training camps beginning and starting the 2024-25 season. The Boston Bruins, like all teams, will look a lot different when they gather at their practice facility, Warrior Ice Arena, in September for camp.

GM Don Sweeney added center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Vancouver Canucks in free agency to headline his 2024 class. Just how good the Black and Gold will be after some key departures, including forward Jake DeBrusk, remains to be seen, but The Athletic's way-too-early 2024-25 predictions (subscription required) for the upcoming season are a mixed bag of results for Boston.

Breaking down The Athletic's 2024-25 predictions for the Boston Bruins

Following the flurry of free agency, The Athletic polled their NHL writers on a number of topics regarding the 2024-25 season, and the results for the Bruins were somewhat mixed in terms of what they think things could look like for third-year head coach Jim Montgomery and his team.

The Bruins received 3% of the vote to be Stanley Cup runner-up, while on the flip side, they received 6.3% of the vote, tied for fifth with the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils as the league's biggest disappointment. Based on that, they think the Bruins did not do enough in free agency, while they think the Panthers will take a step back, while the Devils, who acquired goalie Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames to headline their off-season moves, will not workout they way they think.

Montgomery and former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy who will be entering his third season with the Vegas Golden Knights, each have a 3.1% to be the first coach fired. It's hard to see Cassidy getting fired, however, Montgomery. It's unlikely he'll be the first fired. Still, Sweeney had a subtle reply to his coach two weeks ago after Montgomery sent a message to the front office following their second-round elimination by Florida in May about needing more scoring. Sweeney didn't sound thrilled in his response.

Unsigned free agent goalie Jeremy Swayman got 6.3% of the vote to win the Vezina Trophy, something that FanDuel Sports thinks could become a possibility, but the biggest takeaway from the way-too-early predictions is that a majority of the writers think the Black and Gold will return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs as they got 93.8% of the vote in the Eastern Conference along with the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning and Devils. Florida and the Toronto Maple Leafs got 100% of the vote to make the postseason, while the New York Rangers got 96.9% of the vote.

The biggest takeaway from the predictions is that most of the writers think the Bruins will make the playoffs again and in this day and age, that's all you want, the opportunity to get into the postseason and a chance to lift the Stanley Cup.