Don't look now, but we're just a month away from training camp beginning for the Boston Bruins at Warrior Ice Arena. Is the 2026-27 roster a finished product? That remains to be seen, but if it is, well, it should be a concern for fans that it might not be good enough to get back to the playoffs.
Why? Well, the rest of the conference has gotten better, while it feels like general manager Don Sweeney is likely going to run it back with a roster that is close to the one that was used in the first round of the playoffs last spring, after being eliminated in six games by the Buffalo Sabres. There have been some minor tweaks, with Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke leaving in free agency, and Boston acquiring JJ Peterka from the Utah Mammoth. With that said, let's predict the Bruins' opening night roster for Sept. 29 against the New York Rangers.
Boston Bruins predicted opening night forward lines
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
JJ Peterka | Pavel Zacha | David Pastrnak |
Casey Mittlestadt | Fraser Minten | Morgan Geekie |
James Hagens | Elias Lindholm | Marat Khusnutdinov |
Tanner Jeannot | Sean Kuraly | Mark Kastelic |
So there are a lot of names that fans will remember from last season, with the addition of Peterka. Some missing names here are Matthew Poitras, Alex Steeves, and Mikey Eyssimont. It remains to be seen what happens with Poitras, but Steeves and Eyssimont are two big question marks going into the season. Could a trade be made? Yes. Could they be the extra forwards? Yes. Will they play more than they did last year? Unless a major injury occurs, unlikely.
Left Defense | Right Defense |
|---|---|
Hampus Lindholm | Will Borgen |
Nikita Zadorov | Connor Clifton |
Jonathan Aspirot | Mason Lohrei |
For those of you who forgot, Charlie McAvoy is suspended for the first six games of the season for his slash on Zach Benson at the end of Game 6 last spring. As for who is available, there are plenty of options for the Bruins, but it is not a promising outlook. Borgen immediately slides into the top 4 and up to a top pairing without McAvoy. Lohrei is facing a big season if he remains. Can Aspirot have the same season he had last season? That might be asking a lot.
Goalies |
|---|
Jeremy Swayman |
Michael DiPietro |
There is no surprise between the pipes. Swayman will again be the main guy, but Sweeney traded Joonas Korpisalo to the Rangers on July 1, which opened the door for prospect Michael DiPietro to slot in as Swayman's backup this season. It was a move that needed to be made so that Boston wouldn't lose DiPietro this fall. If he had been placed on waivers to end up in Providence with the P-Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL), he never would have gotten there. Sweeney didn't want a repeat of the situation as he had last offseason with Brandon Bussi.
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