The 2024-25 season was a complete disaster for the Boston Bruins. They finished the campaign with a 33-39-10 record and finished with the fifth-worst spot in the NHL standings. With this, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016. 

Injury trouble played a role in the Bruins' poor season, but a series of bad decisions by the club can also be blamed. Due to this, let's look at a few poor decisions that undoubtedly helped sink the Bruins this campaign.

Bruins Trading Linus Ullmark & Breaking Up Elite Tandem

The start of the Bruins' downfall occurred when they traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators last June. With Ullmark entering the final season of his deal, the Bruins opted to deal him to a division rival for an underwhelming return. They chose to break up their elite Ullmark-Jeremy Swayman tandem, and it did not pay off in the slightest.

After earning his big payday at the beginning of the season, Swayman struggled immensely in his first campaign as Boston's true No. 1 goalie. Ullmark had a strong first season in Ottawa and helped them snap their eight-year playoff drought. Thus, the Bruins moving on from the 31-year-old and breaking up the goalie tandem that was once the backbone of their roster played a serious role in their poor season. 

Bruins Letting Jake DeBrusk Walk & Not Replacing Him

Another decision that hurt the Bruins was letting Jake DeBrusk leave through free agency and failing to bring in a legitimate replacement. They had a clear hole in their top six with the loss of DeBrusk, and their offense took a notable hit because of it.

DeBrusk also put together a solid first season with the Vancouver Canucks, as he scored a career-high 28 goals and recorded 48 points in 82 games. The only current Bruins who had more goals and points than DeBrusk this season were David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie. Thus, they would have benefited keeping him around or at least bringing in a new winger to replace him.

Bruins Overpaying Elias Lindholm

There is still time for the Elias Lindholm signing to look better as time passes, but it was undoubtedly a tough first year for the veteran forward.

Lindholm, who signed a seven-year, $54.25 million contract with Boston last summer, was expected to be the Bruins' answer for their first-line center issue. However, for much of this season, he was not. In 82 games, he had just 17 goals and 47 points. He was also dropped to the third line at times, which is certainly not ideal with how high his cap hit is.

However, Lindholm also provided some optimism at the end of the season, finishing the year with nine points in his final seven games. He finally started to form great chemistry with David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie, and it would be significant for the Bruins if this carries over to next season.

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Photo Credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images