BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins' 2025-26 season begins in just two days. As is tradition in Boston, a season-opening press conference was held.

Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs, Bruins President Cam Neely, and Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney all took questions from the media and addressed the state of Boston hockey ahead of the 2025-26 season beginning Wednesday.

The trio all gave opening statements, all individually praising Head Coach Marco Sturm's impressive systems, pointing out how great and competitive training camp was this year.

The highly competitive and taxing training camp has come to an end after weeks of players battling and jockeying for roster spots.

Now, the focus fully turns to the Boston Bruins' roster, one that holds plenty of intrigue. A roster that most expected to feature at a minimum one Alex Steeves, Matej Blümel, or Matthew Poitras instead saw Jeffrey Viel win the final roster spot.

With how training camp went, it's hard to argue. Viel's hard-nosed, hard-to-play against style made him a perfect stylistic for this Bruins team. Beyond that, he's known for working incredibly hard. It's something Sturm noted about Viel quickly.

"These guys work so hard," Sturm told reporters this morning at Warrior Ice Arena. "They all have dreams. It kind of becomes real a little bit. It was him who did it. That’s why for us, it was an easy decision. I really liked what I saw [from him]. Not just on the ice, but also he’s a tremendous guy."

Viel's roster spot win is the biggest telegraph of Boston's desire for their team this year. 

"We really felt the bottom part of our lineup needed a little bit more piss and vinegar, if you will," said Neely on Monday afternoon. "So that was something we attacked first."

Those additions have already shown well for themselves. Mikey Eyssimont, Tanner Jeannot, and Sean Kuraly all had strong training camps. Their performances resulted in one open lineup spot, which Fraser Minten won. 

Minten won it thanks to his already-elite defensive abilities as a center at 21 years old, something most of the younger players struggled with throughout camp. Blümel fits better in the top six, but with Pavel Zacha playing the wing, it removed that job.

Instead of the unknown offensive capabilities of Blümel, Boston went with the known quality defense within their organization.

Boston's path to the playoffs runs right through that

"We're going to have to play tight defense if we want to be one of the eight [playoff] teams," said Neely. "We got guys who are going to be tough to play against, hard to play against.

"I think teams are going to circle playing against the Bruins and go, ‘Oh damn, we have to play them tonight.’ That is the type of lineup we put together."

Looking at Saturday's game, it's a potential blueprint for the season. Yes, the New York Rangers heavily outshot the Bruins.

But, the Bruins were opportunistic. They scored on the power play. The penalty kill looked strong, except for the last-gasp Rangers goal on the man advantage with the game already over.

Jeremy Swayman played a great game. If he plays to his Vezina-level potential, the sky could be the limit in Boston. Add in healthy Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy? It's not hard to see a path where Boston exceeds expectations set nationally.

All three of those players are specific things Neely pointed out that's helping Boston before the puck even drops. General Manager Don Sweeney added that in camp last year, they dealt with multiple injuries, but they've come through clean this time. 

Still, both admitted they wanted to try and add more scoring. But, as Neely also said today, the 2025 free agent class was thin. They didn't have much of a chance, so they added the aforementioned "piss and vinegar."

As for winning this year? Neely and Sweeney both made it clear, they want to do anything it takes. Neely said they'll look at adding scoring during the season if necessary. Sweeney said he likes how spread out the offense can be in the top six.

Overall, they know just how high the expectations are from some fans. 

"We recognize that they have their own expectations of their teams in this city," Neely said. "We have to match that or do better than that. We’re not satisfied at all with last year. We know we need to be better. And that is our mission to be better."

The mission began in March. Sweeney praised his staff for insisting on Boston acquiring Minten in the Brandon Carlo trade. Minten's going to be the team's third-line center, and has more than looked the part throughout camp.

Overall, the message from today is loud and clear. Things are in a very good place if you ask Neely and Sweeney.

"We're going to be a real tough out this year," Neely said more than once. "We're going to play very hard every night."

The full journey begins Wednesday night in Washington, DC.