The Bruins are heading toward the 2026-27 season with a long list of players approaching free agency, and the names at the top of that pile are hard to miss.
Boston’s pending unrestricted free agents include Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, Sean Kuraly, Mikey Eyssimont, Michael DiPietro, Billy Sweezey, Jiri Patera, Maxence Guenette and Navrin Mutter. Guenette and Mutter are listed as pending Group 6 UFAs.
The club’s pending restricted free agents are Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, Mason Lohrei, Jordan Harris, Lukas Reichel, Riley Duran, Ivan Ivan, Kalle Vaisanen, Simon Zajicek, Max Lundgren and Luke Cavallin.
Among that group, Zacha and Minten stand out most clearly. Zacha is the biggest decision on the board for Boston.
The 2015 first-round pick is in line for a substantial raise after the best season of his career in 2025-26, when he finished with 30 goals, 35 assists and 65 points in 78 games. The question is whether the Bruins are the team that ends up paying it.
Minten feels like a much safer bet to stay. The expectation is that Boston will re-sign the center, with the real debate centering on term. A short deal or a longer commitment both make sense after Minten carved out an important role in the Bruins’ forward group last season, and a quick extension before next summer would not be a surprise.
Khusnutdinov, Mittelstadt and Lohrei are the other pending free agents worth watching closely as Boston sorts through what could be a busy stretch of contract decisions.
In Other News...
Bruins Home Schedule Has A Few Nights Fans Wont Want To Miss
The Bruins home season at TD Garden will have plenty of dates circled from the start, with a 42-game slate that brings in a strong mix of marquee opponents. New York, Colorado, Edmonton and Buffalo are among the visiting teams on a schedule that gives Boston fans a steady run of high-end matchups and a few reminders of how much star power still passes through the building.
December looks especially loaded for the Bruins, with one of the most meaningful nights on the calendar arriving before a game against Colorado. The home slate also closes out the month with Edmonton in town, another one of those visits that tends to draw extra attention well beyond the standings and offers the Garden one more shot at a showcase atmosphere. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Young Forwards Just Got A Clear Message From Marco Sturm
Marco Sturm made the Bruins message to their young forwards pretty plain: nothing is being handed out because of a name, a reputation or where someone was drafted. In talking about how he wants to develop Bostons younger talent, Sturm stressed that ice time has to be earned through performance, which puts a spotlight on the way the team will handle its next wave of forwards as it tries to stay competitive while still building for what comes next.
That approach matters even more with the roster crunch the Bruins are managing around veteran depth and cap pressure, because every forward spot has real value right now. For players trying to break through, the path is there, but it is narrow, and the competition for those minutes could shape how quickly Boston can turn promising young pieces into reliable NHL contributors. [Read more 🡒]
James Hagens Enters Bruins Camp With Real Pressure On His Path
James Hagens is coming into Bruins camp with a very different kind of spotlight than most young players. Boston used the seventh overall pick on him in the 2025 NHL Draft, and he already has a taste of the league after making his NHL debut last season and getting into playoff games. The talent is obvious, but so is the challenge: this is a competitive roster, and there is not much room to simply hand a gifted prospect a role.
For Hagens, the opening may come in the places where a young forward can quietly carve out value, especially on special teams. The Bruins top power-play group looks locked in, which means every practice rep and preseason shift matters even more as he tries to show he can force his way into the mix. He has the offensive promise to make this interesting, but the real question in camp is how quickly that promise turns into a lineup spot. [Read more 🡒]