It's only July 3, and there are still two-plus months until the Boston Bruins gather at Warrior Ice Arena for the start of training camp for the 2025-26 season. After a season that saw general manager Don Sweeney have a fire sale at the trade deadline and saw his team finish tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Flyers, there was only one way to go: up.
After an underwhelming Day 1 of free agency that saw the biggest move happen through a trade rather than a free agency signing, a lot of Bruins fans were left frustrated with what the lineup will potentially look like. Of course, it's still early July, and some trades can still, and hopefully will be made, before camp officially opens. With some changes happening, let's look at the current lineup that the Black and Gold would likely roll out on opening night.
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
Morgan Geekie | Elias Lindholm | David Pastrnak |
Pavel Zacha | Casey Mittlestdat | Viktor Arvidsson |
Tanner Jeannot | Fraser Minten | Matthew Poitras |
Mark Kastelic | Sean Kuraly | Mikey Eyssimont |
Marat Khusnutdinov | John Beecher | |
Left Defense | Right Defense | Goalies |
Hampus Lindholm | Charlie McAvoy | Jermey Swayman |
Nikita Zadorov | Henri Jokiharju | Joonas Korpisalo |
Mason Lohrei | Andrew Peeke | Michael DiPietro |
Jordan Harris |
Boston Bruins depth chart extremely bleak after the opening of free agency
Ok, so again, there is plenty of time for more moves to be made and you have to think that there's going to be some made for training camp opens, but based off of what has happened so far, this is a bleak outlook if you think that this a team that can improve enough to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It feels like Sweeney is trying to run it back with a lot of the same faces, except adding some thump to the lineup.
The lone offensive upgrade is Viktor Arvidsson, and that's not even an eye-opening one, but one that Sweeney does hope adds power-play production and more 5-on-5 production. It's clear that he's hoping Tanner Jeannot can find his 2021-22 24-goal scoring touch with the Nashville Predators, but that's asking for a lot. Maybe he can have a Morgan Geekie-type season, who knows? There's just not a lot of excitement around the forward grouping.
On defense, that should be improved just with Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm coming back from season-ending injuries. Nikita Zadorov returns in what is hopefully a bounce-back season, and he'll likely be paired again with Henri Jokiharju, which wasn't a bad pairing after the trade deadline. Mason Lohrei is back with Andrew Peeke.
Goaltending? Another big bounce-back candidate this season is Jeremy Swayman, and hopefully, with a full offseason and no contract talk, it happens. Joonas Korpisalo looks like he'll battle with Michael DePietro in camp for the backup role, but if Korpisalo wins that, then Sweeney has a tough decision with DiPietro and trying to send him to the minors. They'll likely lose him on waivers.
There have to be more moves coming, right? There just have to be divisional and conference opponents and rivals making moves to get better. The road to the postseason is no longer easy for the Bruins, and right now, they would be a long shot to even get a wild-card spot with the roster currently constructed.