Season In Review: Boston Bruins

Season In Review: Boston Bruins

Season and review videos continue on today with the Boston Bruins this time around. And I’m a little bit surprised honestly that I’m making this video uh this early in the series. I know it’s the Stanley Cup final right now, but I am surprised that I’m making this video like this early in the series than we usually do because Boston usually they they may not be like a team that goes far in the playoffs all the time, but they usually at the very least make the playoffs and they don’t usually finish fifth worst in the NHL. You don’t typically see that from the Boston Bruins, but they did this year. And the fall from grace has kind of been wild. You look at the last two years before this year, they were pretty decent. In 22 23, they were the best team in the league ever. 6512 and five with 135 points. They were first in the NHL. They broke the wins record. They broke the points record and they lost in round one to the Florida Panthers. That was the best team that this Bruins roster would have. A lot of those guys left. The following year they were better, but they definitely weren’t that good. 4720 and 15 for 109 points. They are seventh in the NHL and they lost in round two to, you guessed it, the Florida Panthers. And again, it was a year, it was a fun year, I will say that. But it was a year where the Bruins definitely took a step backwards. I feel like their depth and their overall offense and defense got a little bit worse on paper. They relied on Jeremy Swayman a lot to kind of carry the workload and as a result um they make a ton of moves in that off season. They trade away Lena. They sign Alias Lindholm and Nikita Zidorov amongst a couple of others and then the whole debacle with Jeremy Swayman goes down where he doesn’t sign until like three or four days before the start of the regular season. It was a whole thing and it all amounted to what was going to be and what did become a dramafilled and just a disastrous season from the Boston Bruins. They went 339 and 10 for 76 points. They were 28th in the NHL. They scored 222 goals, allowed 272 for a minus50 difference. Again, it feels weird because I’ve been making content for five and a half years and watching hockey for almost 10 years at that. And seeing, you know, the Boston Bruins, they’ve made the playoffs basically every single year that I’ve been watching hockey. And seeing them not make it this year was just really weird. It felt really weird to me. And I still really can’t really process it to this day, honestly. Uh they had a 2014 and seven record at home. So they were actually not that bad at home, but they had a 1325 and3 record on the road. They scored an average of 2.71 goals for per game, which was 27th, and they allowed an average of 3.31, which is 26. So both of their numbers there were just not good enough. They weren’t good numbers to boost the Bruins into the into the uh playoffs this year. And obviously things kind of took a turn for the worst. Um, honestly though, I am going to say this. At the trade deadline, they really weren’t that far out. But then Don Sweeney decided they’re going to sell. They’re going to sell the team and um, trade away Marian and Carlo and Coyle and whoever else, they decided to move on from Trent Frederick as well. And then they kind of fell off a cliff, but beforehand they were close. They really weren’t that far away. Uh, they also had a 15.2 2 power play percentage, which was 29th, which is surprising considering the fact of how decent the team on paper was at the time. Uh, and then they had a 76.3 penalty kill percentage, which was ranked 24th. So, overall, the Bruins just had really bad stats all around. All of them were just not good. And you can’t make the playoffs when all your numbers are like bottom five, bottom 10. It’s just not good enough simply being put. And overall, like again, I’m going to say this one more time. They were right there at the trade deadline, but then they decided to sell everybody and now they just have looked like they had a horrible year. But it wasn’t that terrible. It was just a very inconsistent year from this Bruins team. Now, one player who was consistent and deserves a ton of flowers for how this season went past. 82 games played, 43 goals, which is first on the team, 63 assists, which is first on the team, and 106 points, which is first on the team. So, again, Posterno just looked phenomenal this year. And there’s really no doubt about it, he looked incredible this year uh for the Boston Bruins. And I think anybody who says otherwise, I I don’t know what to tell you. Like, he was unreal. He was getting heart consideration at points. Like honestly, if the Bruins made the playoffs, I think Poshog would have gotten heart consideration. Like he had an incredible year on such a inconsistently bad team. It’s like actually insane how good Poshnog was this past year. And there’s a lot of things you can put the fault on. Um Pasta’s not one of them. I think he might be the only person you don’t have to blame. Now, another guy that I thought was good was Morgan Geeky who took a big step this year. 77 games played, 33 goals, 24 assists for 57 points. We were talking about Geeky a lot when he was with Seattle and a couple other teams where he wasn’t really panning out to the level we thought he was going to. And this year, I mean, again, it was a bad Bruins team, but he got a lot more ice time than he would have otherwise. He scored 30 goals essentially, had a 60point year. I think that’s good for somebody like him, and that bodess well for him moving on in the future. Again, there weren’t a lot of bright spots, but Geeki certainly was one of them in my opinion. Elias Lynholm, 82 games played, uh, 17 goals, 30 assists for 47 points there. He was third in scoring. Lynholm had a decent year. Again, I think I would like more out of somebody like him who they paid a ton of money to work with. But again, I think Lindholm just isn’t the same player that he was with Calgary and through that time with Vancouver. He just isn’t the same player. I feel like a lot of it was boosted by or I I should say his point numbers were boosted by Johnny Gadro. Rest in peace. Um and since then he just hasn’t really been able to do a lot a whole lot on him by himself. So that’s kind of how I look at Lynholm, but maybe next year is better. Uh Pavle Zaka 82 games played, 14 goals, 33 assists, 47 points. Not the best year from Zaka, but I still really like Zaka. I think he’s a great player and I’m excited for what the future holds for a guy like him. and he’s probably going to be the uh second or third line center depending on how they want to move things next year. And then Casey Middlestat, a little bit of an asterisk. Uh he did not have all of his points with the Bruins. It was with the Avalanche as well. Um 81 games played, 15 goals, 25 assists for 40 points this past year uh with the Bruins as well. Uh Middlestat I think has the potential to be a good third line center with Boston. It wasn’t a bad move acquiring him. Um, and I think overall it it’s going to be interesting to see what he’s going to be able to do here in a full season with Boston next year. Next up, Mason Laai, who had a rough year. He had the worst plus minus in the entire NHL, which is a bummer because I actually really like Larai, and I think he can still be a good defenseman. Like, I remember two years ago he was pretty damn good, but now he’s kind of had a little bit of a fall from grace, I guess, and this year was not a good year whatsoever. 77 games played, five goals, 28 assists for 33 points this past year. Just a rough year all around. It was not a good season from him. I think next year will be better, but again, I think it’s his full sophomore year, I would say. Not great. It was not great. Uh Nikita Zidorov, uh 81 games played, four goals, 18 assists, 22 points. I remember the beginning of the season, Zadorov was getting like penalties in every single game. like you could almost guarantee that whenever a game was going on, Zidorov was going to was going to take a penalty. Like it was literally like a guarantee. I think the bet the betting odds at the time were just hilarious. But yeah, I I think that experiment didn’t work out as good as we thought it was going to either. Um I think it definitely could have been better. He wasn’t like horrendous, but even still like it needed to be better than what it was this past year. uh Cole Kep and that you can see the team was not that great post deadline. Uh 73 games played, 10 goals, seven assists, 17 points. That’s your fourth line death right there. I thought he was pretty decent at the start of the season, but then things kind of tampered off for him. The offense low-key dried up and, you know, as a result, that fourth line that looked pretty decent and it still is not that bad uh just didn’t work out uh in the second half of the year. And then Andrew Peak was 10th in scoring. I’m pretty sure he was with the team all year. Uh 76 games played, one goal, 16 assists for 17 points as well this past year. Uh again, just overall wrapping it up, it was a rough season in terms of scoring for the Bruins. Outside of like Posternok and Geeky, I would say most of this team was a disappointment to be honest with you. I do want to give a shout out though to Charlie Makavoy who I think I missed out on here. Uh 50 games played, seven goals, 16 assists for 23 points. I believe I just skipped over and by accident. I think I realized that Makavoy missed a ton of time. I think him and Zidorov or Zidorov um Lindholm Hampus Lindholm not being on the team for a lot of the year really hurt things for the Bruins. And I think if you can get those two guys back fully healthy next season, I’m not saying they make the playoffs, but they’re definitely better than they were this past year. Like I think again, like I’m going to be saying that a lot throughout this video, but I think it’s the honest truth. Now you look at the goalenders, Jeremy Swayman, who had a very rough year, and we said it at the beginning of the year, we said it midway through the season. We said it so much on the podcast and things like that. We said that Swayman and with other goalenders especially, you miss training camp, it really affects you. It really affects you and your like long-term uh play in your in the league that season because you you you are essentially a step back from everybody else. You have to practice. You have to learn everything on the go. You know, you don’t get like a week or two to really condition yourself and practice and, you know, you don’t have those pre-season games to get ready for and, you know, kind of get warmed up in. No, you just have to go get jump right into regular season hockey where, again, you can clearly tell it’s not it’s not like intense playoff hockey a lot of the time, but even still, it’s more than preseason. It affects you and it really affected Swayman this year. Um again 29 22 29 and seven a 3.11 and a 0892. I don’t know if I said those already but again it was a rough year from him and I think that next year um will be better with him getting training camp but just overall it did not bode well for him um in his overall play this past year. Unesposal 1110 and three a 2.90 and a 0893. He wasn’t that terrible. I know his numbers don’t look that great, but he was definitely better than Swayman for points, but again, he’s not a starting goalender. I don’t think I’m wrestling any feathers there saying that. But yeah, overall, I mean, again, you can look at Mark, too. Like, you see how Omar is doing in Ottawa, and then you look at how Corposal and Swimman are. It doesn’t look good. It It did not look good at all for Don Sweeney. All right, the trades that they made, and honestly, these trades probably saved their season. I’m not going to lie. and it probably saved uh Don Sweeny’s job more importantly. Uh so the first one they made was trading Trent Frederick, Max Jones, and Peter Hower to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Max Wanner, a 2025 second round pick and a 2026 fourth round pick. Um I love what Edmonton did within this move. Frederick’s been really good on their team. Obviously, they’re in the Stanley Cup finals as you can tell with that jersey in the back. Um they’ve been great. He’s been great as a good third, fourth flying guy. Um, as for Boston, you get a solid okay prospect in Wanner. I don’t know a ton about him. Uh, you got a second round pick, which isn’t bad. I didn’t think it was that terrible. It’s a good win there for like a deaf player, honestly. Um, they also made a trade where they, uh, traded Justin Brazo to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Morat, Kosnodinov, Jacob Lalco. Yes, he’s coming back. And a 2026 sixth round pick. Nothing too big there. Kosnino really struggled in the NHL this past year. He actually had some hope of becoming something. I’m not too sure what exactly boats with that anymore, but Kadino, we’ll see how he is next year, maybe in a more more full-time role. Uh they also traded Charlie Coyle and a 26 fifth round pick to Colorado in exchange for Casey Middlestat, uh William Zeers and a 25 second. Um again, Middlestat is solid. Uh Zeers actually led the United States Hockey League in scoring this past year, so you may have got an exciting prospect there. who might be a couple of years away, but he looks somewhat exciting. And then a second round pick there as well. Never hurts. They also acquired uh Frasier Mitten, a 26 first round pick and a 2025 fourth round pick uh from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Brandon Carlo. Again, they were busy at the trade deadline. They made a ton of moves. And again, I’m going to say it once more, they were pretty much right there at the trade deadline. They were like three or four points back. They make all these moves and the team falls off a cliff. Um, but yeah, overall like I thought that looked like a really good deal. Mitten is not as good as Leaf fans profile him to be, but he’s still going to be pretty decent. And then a first round pick and next year’s stack draft, and who knows where Toronto will be next year. Uh, it’s a good move for sure. But overall, um, I think that they made some pretty damn good moves at this deadline. They also traded Brad Marshian to Florida in exchange for a first round pick in 2027. So again, like you could have gotten more for Marian, but Marian wanted to go to Florida and you respect your longtime players wishes. He’s like the longest tenure Boston Bruin on this team. You have to respect your wishes or his wishes, that being, and you traded him away. I think that is totally fine. At the time, I was a bit harsher on it because I’m like, “All right, you could have gotten way more than a conditional second for Brad Marshian elsewhere.” But he wanted to go to Florida and I understand that. That was totally respectful and I don’t really have any hate for it behind Don Sweeney. Um, and overall I thought they made good moves at the deadline and again as I said it’s it’s saved Don Sweeny’s job. A look into the American Hockey League where the Providence Bruins have been making some moves. They went 4123 5 and three this past year. They had 90 points. They were eighth in the NHL. They defeated Springfield uh in the first round 3-2. Then they actually went right up there with the Charlotte Checkers into game five. Uh they didn’t they didn’t win game five, but they went right into there, forced a game five, and that’s the team that has come closest to beating the Checkers in the playoffs right now. Like they sweeped Hershey, the Defending Cup champions. They are up two nothing on the Valor right now. Like the Bruins came the closest and I think that’s something you can take from uh this overall team with this Providence Bruins roster. And they had a pretty decent team. I’m not going to lie. Uh they had Gorgi Murculof. Uh 59 games played, 15 goals, 39 assists for 54 points. Again, if you guys have been following the prospect pool reviews for the last couple of years, we’ve been talking about Mercul Plenty. Uh Vinnie Latiieri, uh 47 games played, 21 goals, 29 assists, 50 points. Uh Tyler Pitleck, what a name there. Uh 59 games played, 21 goals, 25 assists, 46 points. Patrick Brown. This is like a legendary roster. Uh 56 games played, 17 goals, uh 29 assists, 46 points. And then Riley Tufted. Uh 58 games played, 21 goals, 21 assists for 42 points there as well. So again, a decent roster there in Providence. They had they made some good moves and did pretty damn well this past year. I think there’s some credit to take from that. And I think you can’t really be upset with what you saw. And overall, I’m very happy with how uh the Bruins in the AHL played, not the NHL. Now, you look at the pipeline. The pipeline is not that great. I’m not going to lie to you. However, it is definitely better than it was last year. Uh you have Fabian Lee, who’s been their number one guy for like 10 years. Uh not that long, but 52 games played, 11 goals, 23 assists for 34 points. He played 12 games in the NHL this past year. So, you’re kind of starting to talk about is he really a prospect anymore. I think it’s possible next year, depending on who runs this team um in the coaching role that being because they still haven’t hired a coach. Um they will either they may control um you know like how long Lee sells up. He might not be a prospect anymore. Next year might be like full-time rookie year. Um Dean Lo uh this this is this is not looking good. uh 36 games played, three assists in uh Boston College. Uh not ideal, not ideal whatsoever for a guy like him. Uh he’s going from high school hockey to college hockey. He was drafted in the first round. Um he again, we said it when he was drafted by the Bruins. He’s a project. He’s going to be somebody who’s going to uh take a little bit to pan out, but so far it’s really not looking that great. I’m not going to lie to you. He didn’t even score a goal. That’s like actually kind of wild to think. But again, like maybe next year is better for him. Maybe he can improve from that. But overall, I’m not so sure, honestly. We’ll have to see. Uh Frasier, who spent time in the NHL this past year, also played in the NHL. 37 games played, nine goals, 11 assists for 20 points combined in um uh Toronto Marley’s and uh Providence. Um he played 21 games in the NHL this past year. So, I think that’s a reason why his numbers are a little bit lower than, you know, as projected cuz he actually played with Boston in the NHL and with Toronto. So, honestly, you know, he’s been up in the NHL. He could be a full-time NHLer next year. Who knows? And then Brandon Busussy, uh, one of the goalies here. I think this is the first goalie we’ve ever talked about in the in the pipeline. Um, 33 games played, 15,4 and three, a 2.77, and a 0.907. Good numbers in Providence. I think again he’s somebody who actually has a decent future coming up. We’ll have to see um what he becomes. And then William Zellers uh from the United States Hockey League. 52 games played, 44 goals, 27 assists for 71 points. Again, as I said, he led the led the USHL in scoring this past year. So, give a lot of credit there to Zers for what he did. The draft capital for Boston, uh it’s not as good as it will be in a couple of years, but they still got some assets. They have a first in this year’s draft which is their own. It’s sixth seventh overall. Uh they have two seconds which is St. Louis and Carolas’s. They have a third, a fourth which belongs to Philly, a fifth, a sixth, and a seventh. So they do have I feel like more capital than usual. And I think overall getting that first round pick which is high. They can use that against somebody pretty decent. So it makes me a little bit excited there for what is to come with the Bruins in that overall future. Now, your UFAS and RFAS are very intriguing as well. Start off with the UFAS, you have Cole Co-op, Riley Tuft, um Tyler Pitlick, Henry Yokiharu, and Parker Weatherspoon. So, no really big names there. I would imagine they keep around Pitlick and Tufted just so you can have AHL deaf. I would imagine they keep around Co-op, too. Uh Yokiharo, we’ll have to see. Uh he was a deadline acquisition that I didn’t mention. And then Weather Spoon, I don’t really know. Like again, like these are some guys who are like deaf NHLers, borderline AHLers. Why not? I mean, like it doesn’t really matter. I I would say this year there’s a lot less names of guys who um are like really big RFAS though. You have Morgan Geeky, uh Johnny Beecher, Maracodov, Jacob Laucro, and Mason Lorai. So, some good names there overall. In terms of the um uh RFAS, I think Geeky could get a pretty sizable contract. Nothing too huge, but could still get something. Uh Johnny Beecher is looking pretty damn good. Uh he’s going to need to get something as well. Uh K Nadino, we’ll see what he gets. And then for the rest of the guys, like Lorai, I’m wondering what he’s going to be. He might be a bridge deal, honestly. But yeah, that is your season and review for the Boston Bruins. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below. Thank you all for watching. If you enjoyed, make sure to subscribe down below. And I will see you guys in the next video.

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