It's hard to blame Boston Bruins fans for getting excited about the prospect of a quick turnaround and making the playoffs a year after going into a rebuild. After the Bruins sold at the trade deadline last season, they built a prospect pool that was no longer among the worst in the league, and then, at the start of the season, the NHL team looked like a playoff contender.
After a fifth-straight loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, there isn't much reason for optimism. The offense has gone stale, the defense is starting to let the team down, and the goaltending hasn't been great over the past month. If the Bruins continue to play like this, the playoffs will be long gone.
Is that really a bad thing? This roster is built for a playoff series, but the talent wasn't enough to win four rounds. It would've given the fans some playoff hockey to enjoy, but the end would've likely been the same as the last few playoff appearances: an early exit.
The great start to the season did something different for this team. Players like Andrew Peeke, Viktor Arvidsson, Pavel Zacha, and Casey Mittelstadt increased their trade value, and if Don Sweeney does the right thing and sells at the trade deadline, he can further improve the prospect pool as he did at last year's deadline.
Where do the Bruins go from here?
The good news for the Bruins is that even though Sweeney isn't great at drafting, he has been a winner in many of his trades during his tenure. If he can pry another prospect like Will Zellers in a trade deadline deal, the fanbase will be okay with one more lottery trip.
Another interesting part of the Bruins heading back to the lottery is former consensus number one pick Gavin McKenna's drop down the rankings this season, which closely resembles the draft year of James Hagens. With plenty of depth in the draft this year, the Bruins should land another top-end player if they end up with another pick in the five to eight range, with the best luck being McKenna.
It's extremely difficult to accept another rebuilding year in the prime of David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman's careers. However, the past month has shown that Boston is still far away from being a legitimate contender.
While the 2026-27 season likely won't even be the time for the team to be legitimate again, another teardown season should have them close enough in a couple of years before the Bruins' core gets too old.