The Boston Bruins will open training camp in less than a week. After a tumultuous six months beginning at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, the new-look Bruins will finally all hit the ice together.
Only two players, David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, have more than four full seasons with the Bruins since 2020.
On July 1, nine players signed deals with the Boston Bruins, ranging from splashy (Tanner Jeannot) to depth (Jordan Harris).
The roster at forward is filled with loads of options, yet there remain more questions than answers about what Marco Sturm’s lineup card will look like on October 8th.
If you asked Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney, it’s all by design. “That was by design all summer long.” Sweeney said Tuesday at the Boston Bruins Foundation Golf Outing, “We made a massive change in direction last year at the Deadline, and now we need to course correct. We need to take steps forward and get back to the level, as Marco talked about, the level and standard that we all expect here.”
The competition is wide open. Yes, the Bruins signed Michael Eyssimont, Jeannot, and Sean Kuraly to multi-year deals. However, there remain jobs in the lineup for grabs. John Beecher, for example, will be fighting off competition for his place.
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Matthew Poitras, Fraser Minten, and Fabian Lysell all will be pushing very hard to make the opening night lineup. Depth players with NHL experience, such as Alex Steeves and Matej Blumel, figure to be heavy factors throughout training camp.
If Poitras, Minten, or Lysell want an opening-night roster spot, they’re going to have to earn it.
“The younger players, we're going to look for them to surprise us with taking lineup spots,” Sweeney said, “but what we've done is insulate our group of guys with a competitive group from the bottom up and allow some of this younger skill, hopefully from within, now and moving forward, is going to emerge. But we're going to be a much more competitive team and held to the standard that Marco was talking about the other day.”
As for Sweeney’s message to the younger players entering camp?
“Guys can go out and take advantage of opportunities… You've got to take somebody's job in this league.” Sweeney said, “It's just too hard not to think that you're just going to walk in and somebody's just going to give you an open chair. It just doesn't happen. So you've got to go out and earn it and take it and then just keep it and hold on to it for as long as you can and thrive. So they should be very excited about where camp is and the opportunities that sit in front of them.”
All this opportunity, but one thing matters more than anything to Sweeney. A return to being competitive and a return to winning. The questions of how do the Bruins get back to that level remain unanswered. Sweeney believes in the group he’s brought together.
“Well, if we stay healthy, I think we're going to be really competitive.” Sweeney said, “Ultimately, a standard's got to be risen in terms of how competitive we're going to be and the structure that he wants to play with.”
Competitive. Too often, and by Sweeney’s own admissions, the Bruins were not competitive last season, especially after the trade deadline.
“We were flat last year after we made the trades,” Sweeney said, “and rightfully so with some of the players that had departed and what they had meant for the organization.”
All the departures left a big void in Boston. Sweeney attacked a specific area to fill the holes. Feisty, hard-nosed hockey players who can not only provide a stable veteran force, but know what it means to be a Bruin and an NHLer. That’s why Sweeney splurged on July 1.
“Well, again, I pointed to a few players that the energy level they bring each and every day.” Sweeney said, “Mike Eyssimont, really hard player to play against. Tanner Jeannot, really hard player to play against. We also talked about a forward-thinking process of integrating younger players that do need space and time and protection to a degree in this league.”
There’s a ton of opportunity in Boston. Sweeney’s publicly declared it, and he wants to see guys force their way into jobs. That’s only going to make a more competitive camp, and if Sweeney’s plan works as intended, a far more competitive Bruins team.
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