We are well over three months into the 2025 offseason for the Boston Bruins since their season ended on April 15 with a 5-4 overtime loss at home to the New Jersey Devils. Since that night, they watched the playoffs from home after finishing tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Since the Black and Gold were on the ice at the TD Garden, they have hired a new head coach, Marco Sturm. They had no NHL Draft Lottery luck, having to settle for the seventh pick, the lowest possible pick, but did get an NHL Draft win with James Hagens falling to them. The rest of the offseason has been far from great. Here are the three worst parts of the offseason to date for Boston.
Brad Marchand wins Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers
At the trade deadline back in March, general manager Don Sweeney had a fire sale where he traded some key players, including captain Brad Marchand, who was shipped off to the Florida Panthers. Injured at the time, Florida was in no rush to slot him into the lineup; instead, they acquired him for the postseason.
In the postseason, Marchand was a vital part of the Panthers' lineup and finished with 10 goals and 10 assists in 23 playoff games with a plus/minus of plus-17. The 10 goals were one short of a career-high in the postseason for Marchand, who had 11 in 2011 when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in seven games over the Vancouver Canucks.
For Bruins fans, it was tough enough seeing him head to South Florida and win the Cup, then it was even more painful watching him celebrate and sign a long-term deal to likely finish his career there. When it rains, it pours.
Bruins underwhelming free agency
Boston's management made it clear following the season, the Black and Gold were not rebuilding, but retooling on the fly with their new core. It sounded great as they are hoping to get back into the playoffs next spring, but as we look at the roster constructed so far, it's not a promising outlook.
Now, there is still plenty of time to add to the roster and subtract as well, but let's be honest, free agency didn't go as expected. Last summer, the two biggest splashes were Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. This year, the biggest contract was issued to Tanner Jeannot, a five-year, $17 million deal. Headscratching, to say the least. Sean Kuraly was brought back on a two-year deal, and Michael Eyssimont also got a two-year contract.
Not many of those names are going to move the needle with a lot of people, but right before free agency began, Sweeney did trade for Edmonton Oilers forward Viktor Arvidsson, who should supply some middle-six scoring. However, the biggest need, a top-six center, is still missing.
NHL insiders take on why Bruins free agency was underwhelming
After the dust settled on free agency earlier this month, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman dropped a rather interesting take on the lack of big moves by Sweeney and the Bruins.
“If some of these guys who are supposed to be free agents next year (reach free agency), whether they get one or not, I think Boston wants to have the opportunity to take a shot at one of those guys,'' said Friedman. “So, if you’ll notice, they didn’t really do much to hamstring themselves in the future. They got Arvidsson on a one-year deal. Traded for him, gave up a late-round pick, one-year deal. Aside from Jeannot, they didn’t take any massive swings.”
Ok, so the 2026 free agency class has the potential to be a big one, but what are the odds that many of them even make it to free agency? Probably slim. That's a very risky plan if that is indeed the plan for Boston's front office.