Bruins
Behind a stout defense and Jeremy Swayman in net, this Bruins roster has the personnel in place to go on a run.
With the Bruins’ 2024-25 season set to get underway on Tuesday night in Florida, let’s run through some of our bold predictions for a new year on Causeway Street.
1. Elias Lindholm finishes with 71 points in his first season with Boston.
Lindholm’s faceoff talents (career-best 56.4 percent last year) and refined two-way game will shore up Boston’s D-zone coverage and execution in late-game situations.
But the Bruins aren’t paying the 29-year-old pivot $7.75 million per year to just be a defensive-minded center.
It might be asking a lot for the Swede to replicate the 42-goal, 82-point campaign he submitted with Calgary in 2021-22. But Boston needs Lindholm to provide more scoring punch than the 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) he tallied last year with the Flames and Canucks.
After spending most of his time in Vancouver on the wing or in a third-line spot, Lindholm should bounce back as Boston’s featured forward down the middle.
Getting stapled to David Pastrnak’s hip at 5-on-5 play should help Lindholm rekindle his scoring touch, while his presence as a poised and slippery puck distributor at the “bumper” spot on the power play should help him rack up points via second-chance bids and slick feeds through the slot.
As the primary set-up man for Pastrnak’s howitzer, Lindholm closes out his first year in Boston with 21 tallies and 50 assists.
2. Mason Lohrei takes over as Boston’s power-play QB.
Considering the question marks surrounding Boston’s secondary scoring (especially at 5-on-5 play), the Bruins are going to need their power play to operate at a high level.
That wasn’t the case last season. The Bruins were 14th in the league (22.2 percent) on the man advantage in 2023-24 and fizzled out as the year went on. After the All-Star Break, Boston cashed in on just 16.1 percent of their looks on the power play — one of the worst marks in the NHL.
Against Florida in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Boston converted on just one of its 16 opportunities on the man-advantage — landing just 14 shots on goal over 26:19 of power-play reps in that six-game series.
A top power-play unit with Pastrnak at the left circle, Lindholm at the bumper, and Brad Marchand at the half wall is an effective trio. But after some early growing pains, the Bruins switch things up at the blue line — replacing Charlie McAvoy with the left-shot Mason Lohrei.
A creative offensive defenseman capable of both feeding pucks cleanly to Pastrnak and carrying the puck down the wall when needed, Lohrei closes out his first full NHL campaign with 39 points as a power-play ace.
3. A revamped goalie tandem still plays at a high level.
The Bruins may not boast the top goalie duo in the league with Linus Ullmark now in Ottawa.
But this new iteration with Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo between the pipes doesn’t end up being the severe downgrade that most expected. Some of that is a direct result of Swayman’s continued ascension as one of the league’s top young goalies.
Swayman elevated his stock in the 2024 playoffs (.933 save percentage over 12 starts), but he was one of the best netminders all season when it came to turning aside Grade-A looks. His 18.4 goals saved above expected rate last season ranked fourth in the NHL (per MoneyPuck).
After landing his $66 million contract following contentious contract talks, a motivated Swayman continues to build off of last season’s promise by earning a Vezina Trophy finalist nod — ultimately losing out on the hardware to New York’s Igor Shesterkin.
As for Korpisalo, the veteran netminder rights the ship with a steady .913 save percentage over 27 starts. He may not be the revelation that Jaroslav Halak was in his first two years with Boston (.921 save percentage over 71 total games). But given where Korpisalo was last year with Ottawa, the returns this year are more than acceptable.
4. The Bruins lead the league in penalties taken (and penalties drawn).
The Bruins have the personnel in place to make life miserable for opponents in 2024-25.
Headlined by 6-foot-6 defenseman (and human heat-seeking missile) Nikita Zadorov, the Bruins are poised to inflict plenty of pain on the frozen sheet — especially with other bruising skaters like Max Jones, Mark Kastelic, Trent Frederic and others sprinkled across the depth chart.
But that pugnacious approach might put Boston in the sin bin early and often. Zadorov was fourth in the NHL last year with 39 total penalties, while Brad Marchand was ninth with 36.
Even though the Bruins’ willingness to drop the gloves and pummel opponents will see them end up in the sin bin at a steady clip, that knack for conducting chaos will also see them draw plenty of penalties as well.
Two names to keep tabs on in that regard are Jones and Kastelic.
Of the 698 NHLers who logged at least 250 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time last season, Kastelic (2.65) and Jones (2.4) ranked fifth and seventh, respectively, in penalties drawn per 60 minutes. Expect those two to be pests all season alongside Marchand (tied with Jones at 2.4 penalties drawn per 60).
5. A regressed youth movement
The 2023-24 Bruins were bolstered by the arrival of several youngsters such as Lohrei, Matt Poitras, Johnny Beecher, Justin Brazeau, and others. Expect that crop of talent to continue to thrive this winter.
But as for another wave of reinforcements via Providence? It might be wise to temper your expectations.
Despite high expectations placed on unproven forwards like Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov entering camp, both forwards failed to impress over the last few weeks — leading to another assignment down to the AHL ranks.
Both forwards are intriguing talents, but will see limited time in the NHL ranks this season. Most of the prospect-centric focus this winter instead falls on Woburn’s Riley Duran, who earns a few call-ups as a high-motor, bottom-six spark plug when the injury bug inevitably stings.
6. Nikita Zadorov wins 7th Player Award.
Not sure how bold this prediction is. After all, it’s a lock that the bruising Zadorov ingratiates himself to Bruins fans in record time thanks to his propensity to barrel over opponents and drop the gloves.
The 7th Player Award is handed out annually to the Bruins player who exceeds expectations in that given season. A defenseman commanding a $5 million cap hit doesn’t exactly fit the criteria of an underrated, lunch-pail type of player who is usually a deserving winner (Chris Wagner in 2019, for example.)
But it is a fan vote after all. Zadorov takes home the honors, even though Boston’s Swiss Army Knife up front in Morgan Geekie is the most deserving candidate.
7. Jim Montgomery lands a new extension in December.
Boston’s bench boss has largely deflected all questions regarding his contract status, stressing that coaching on the final year of his contract won’t impact his day-to-day approach.
“I don’t think it would affect me, just being honest,” Montgomery said last month. “I love being a Bruin. I think I’m very fortunate to be the head coach of the Boston Bruins. My focus when I am with the Boston Bruins is staying in the present and getting better every day.
“I know it sounds cliché, but I can’t allow myself to think about the future because I’d be a little bit of a hypocrite asking our players to stay in the moment. I have to stay in the moment. That’s the way I look at things. It doesn’t matter if I had an eight-year contract or a one-day contract. That’s the way I proceed. That’s my process.”
Despite that sentiment, it benefits all parties if Montgomery and his staff receive some reassurances and clarity before another playoff push. Boston ultimately hands Montgomery a holiday gift with a new three-year extension just before the start of the new year.
8. Bruins trade for middle-six scoring.
Even though Geekie and several other candidates perform admirably in elevated roles, the Bruins’ offense (especially at 5-on-5 play) suffers from an inconsistent output for most of the year.
Boston still has the means to steadily accumulate points in the standings thanks to stout goaltending, a dynamic defense, and a revitalized power play.
But with the Bruins in need of scoring depth, they once again dip into the rental market. Despite being linked to veteran Claude Giroux — who is being dangled on the market by a rudderless Ottawa team (sorry, Linus) — Boston ultimately deals for Anaheim forward Robby Fabbri.
It’s far from a surprising move, considering Marchand tried to acquire Fabbri mid-game back in 2020.
9. Brad Marchand signs a three-year extension.
Unlike his predecessors in Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara who went year-to-year with their contracts over their final seasons with Boston, Marchand has no intention of hanging up his stakes in the near future.
The 36-year-old winger has taken plenty of punishment over the years, including another trio of offseason procedures in 2024. But Boston’s captain still believes he has plenty of gas left in the tank, and wants to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Marchand eventually puts pen to paper on a three-year extension worth an annual cap hit of $3 million — giving Boston a bit more fiscal wiggle room moving forward.
10. Bruins advance to Eastern Conference Final
The Bruins finish first in the Atlantic Division with a 52-20-10 record — with a stellar season from Swayman and arguably the most talented D corps in the league anchoring Boston all year long.
Those two pillars of Boston’s identity this season — coupled with the added heft added this summer and the expected contributions of stars like Pastrnak and McAvoy — get the Bruins back to the brink of a Stanley Cup Final.
But Boston ultimately falls to the Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final, with the Bruins’ inconsistent scoring output rearing its ugly head against the best goalie in the league in Shesterkin.
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