If there's one thing that NESN does correctly every year, it's the station's 7th Player Award. They present the award annually to the Bruin who exceeded the expectations of Bruins fans during the season. In addition to the 7th Player Award trophy, the award winner receives $5,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. It's a special award for fans, sometimes given to an unsung team hero who didn't seem likely to have such a big impact.
The winner of the award normally sets the stage for a nice career. Some notable winners of the past couple of decades include Morgan Geekie, Jeremy Swayman, Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak (2x), Brad Marchand (2x), Tim Thomas (2x), David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Joe Thornton. However, there are also times when a nice surprise receives the award, such as Nick Ritchie, Chris Wagner, Trent Frederic, and Reilly Smith. Bruins executives Cam Neely and Don Sweeney have even won it in their careers.
🥁 🥁 ... and the Nominee's for NESN's 7th Player Award are Jonathan Aspirot, Mark Kastelic, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Fraser Minten 👏
— NESN (@NESN) February 25, 2026
🤝 Presented by @marios_roofing pic.twitter.com/IudNZmUCO8
This year's award will be going the surprising unsung hero route, which makes sense given how this season has gone. The nominees announced by NESN were Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, Mark Kastelic, and Jonathan Aspirot.
Projected NESN 7th Player Award Winner: Fraser Minten
While all the players are worthy, something tells me that this award won't be the last one that Fraser Minten wins in his career. The rookie has burst onto the Bruins' scene and has instilled new hope for the future of the center ice position. He had 29 points in 57 games before the Olympic break, and figures to be a big factor in the Bruins making the postseason with his strong two-way game.
Minten is the kind of player on this list who you could look back on in five years and put him in the same category as players like Pastrnak and Marchand, winning the award. Marchand first won it in 2010-11 when he was merely a fourth-line agitator, and after a stellar Stanley Cup run that spring, the rest was history, eventually culminating in a Bruins captaincy and Hall of Fame career.
It's too early to put those kinds of expectations on Minten, but it wouldn't be too surprising if he develops into a long-time leader of the Bruins. If he follows on the same trajectory as Marchand and wins the award in the season's final home game before winning a Stanley Cup in June, it'd be even better.