In his third game with the Boston Bruins, Marat Khusnutdinov recorded his first goal. It was assisted by Jakub Lauko, who the Wild also traded to Boston, and Elias Lindholm.
Khusnutdinov, 22, recorded his third goal of the year and first with the Bruins on a nifty breakaway goal. He has one shot in three games with Boston and recorded 17:18 of ice time for the Bruins against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
It was a very pretty goal, to say the least.
Khusnutdinov skated in 17:18 on Thursday, which was the fourth-highest on Boston amongst its forwards. Only Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak were on the ice more.
The young center was traded along with Lauko and a 2026 sixth-round pick for Justin Brazeau. The 6-foot-6 forward has zero points and one shot in four games with the Wild following the trade.
Wild Trade Marat Khusnutdinov, Jakub Lauko To Boston For Justin Brazeau
The Minnesota Wild have <a href="https://x.com/mnwild/status/1897859866762346703">traded forwards Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko to the Boston Bruins</a> for Justin Brazeau.
On the same night Khusnutdinov scored his first goal, Brazeau played his best game in a Wild sweater. He recorded his only shot in four games on eight shifts.
"I think the last two games he's been good. I had just a little chat with him. I think it was difficult circumstances when he first joined our team. I think, with the trade and the travel and how that all set up, it just wasn't great. But I thought that Trenin, Shore and Braz played really well tonight. They won their shifts and they won their matchup. I think the last two games that line has been good, and it's nice to see Braz feeling more comfortable in how we're doing things, finding this niche and finding this game. So I think there's more there too."
Thursday’s 17:18 of ice time was Khusnutdinov’s second highest of his career. He recorded 19:58 on Feb 8, 2025, with the Wild. He had an assist that game.
Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how much ice time Khusnutdinov continues to get and what kind of player he can become in a middle-six role. The Wild’s second-round pick from 2020 was just never really given a strong opportunity in a middle-six role.