Another Bruins prospect is on the move, and this one is heading to a Western Conference heavyweight.
Georgii Merkulov, an undrafted free agent who had been in the Boston Bruins organization, signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. It’s the latest bit of turnover for a Bruins pipeline that has already seen some shuffling since the end of the Providence Bruins’ season.
Boston’s AHL club put together a strong regular season, only to get knocked out early in the Calder Cup Playoffs by the Springfield Thunderbirds. Since that exit, the organization has already watched one of its more notable young players move on. Before free agency opened, general manager Don Sweeney traded Fabian Lysell to Colorado for prospect Ivan Ivan, and Lysell later signed with the Avalanche for the upcoming season.
Merkulov was another name with an uncertain future, and now that uncertainty is gone.
He arrived at Boston after the 2021-22 season at Ohio State, where he posted 20 goals and 14 assists. In the NHL, though, the chances never really came.
He appeared in 11 games over three seasons with the Bruins and finished with one assist. His busiest stretch came in 2024-25, when he played six games, and this past season he was used in just one.
The production was there in Providence. Merkulov piled up 93 goals and 142 assists in the AHL, including a standout 2023-24 campaign when he scored 30 goals and finished with 65 points. This past AHL season, he added 24 goals and 37 assists.
Still, like the rest of Boston’s forward prospects, he found himself behind a long line of veteran free-agent additions and never got a clear path to the NHL in Boston. If Merkulov finds a bigger role and real success with Colorado, it will only sharpen the questions around how the Bruins have handled their young forwards and their chances at the top level.
In Other News...
Bruins Still Have One Unsettled Problem Hanging Over This Roster
The NHL offseason has been relatively quiet, but the calendar is about to pick up as arbitration cases begin and more player movement is expected around the league. For the Bruins, the biggest lingering issue is on the back end, where they have more NHL-caliber defensemen than they can realistically dress on a nightly basis, a surplus that has kept the conversation about roster balance from going away.
Boston has time to sort through it, at least for now, because Charlie McAvoys six-game suspension gives the club a little breathing room before any decision becomes urgent. Even so, the logjam on defense still feels like the one unsettled problem hanging over the roster, and with other teams continuing to hunt for additions, the Bruins may eventually have to answer it with a move of their own. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Bring Back Connor Clifton And Fans Will Have Strong Opinions
Connor Clifton is back in Boston on a two-year, $4.5 million deal, giving the Bruins a familiar face for the bottom of the blue line and a player they know well from his first run with the club. The fit is pretty clear on paper: Clifton brings a physical edge, stays reliable in his own end and gives the Bruins another defenseman who can handle the kind of hard minutes that tend to matter once the games get heavier.
Don Sweeney made it clear the organization still values Cliftons competitive streak and the energy he can bring to a room, which helps explain why Boston circled back. There is still plenty of debate to come about what this reunion means for the defense mix and how much runway Clifton will get, especially after a stretch away from Boston that did not go as smoothly as he or his old team would have liked. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins May Finally Have A Veteran Answer To Their Quiet Offseason
Bostons quiet offseason has left plenty of room for speculation about how the club will round out its forward group, and veteran depth remains one of the more obvious needs as training camp approaches. One name making the rounds is James van Riemsdyk, whose recent season with the Detroit Red Wings showed he can still bring usable offense and a steady presence to the bottom six.
For a Bruins team that could use more experience in its middle and lower lines, van Riemsdyk also fits the kind of low-risk addition that can help a second power-play unit and give younger players a seasoned pro to lean on. No move is in place yet, and no offer has been reported, but the possibility alone suggests Boston may not be done searching for a practical answer to an otherwise understated summer. [Read more 🡒]