Four games into the 2026-27 season, the Bruins sit at 2-2-0, and even that split has come with a few warning signs baked in. Boston opened with a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers, then managed to split a two-game road trip in 24 hours by rallying past the Winnipeg Jets in overtime Friday night before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. The week ended with another flat effort, a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden on Monday night.
The results are one thing. The play from several forwards has been another.
There are defensemen who have not been good, too, but the forward group has been the bigger early-season letdown for coach Marco Sturm. A few of Boston’s key names have looked out of sync, and the list starts with players the Bruins need much more from right away.
Morgan Geekie has had a rough opening stretch after posting career numbers over the last couple of seasons. It is only four games, but he looks like the clearest regression candidate on the roster.
The puck luck has not helped - he rang a crossbar against the Rangers and hit a post against the Senators - but he also had Boston’s best chance in Ottawa when he jumped on a loose puck, drove down the slot alone, and was stopped by Linus Ullmark. Right now, he does not look confident, and the Bruins need something fluky to finally bounce his way.
Elias Lindholm has also drawn plenty of attention, and not in a good way. Through four games, a lot of Bruins fans have already seen enough to wonder why he is still centering the first line.
Some want the Bruins to move on, though that is easier said than done given his contract. His leash with Sturm at the top of the lineup should be shrinking, and Fraser Minten or someone else deserves a look there soon.
Lindholm cannot hold that spot much longer.
Pavel Zacha is heading into a season where the trade talk is only going to get louder. He is in a contract year, there is no extension close with the Bruins, and by the time the trade deadline arrives, he could be the top center available in what looks like a thin market for pivots.
Last season, he anchored Boston’s best second line with Casey Mittlestadt and Viktor Arvidsson, but Arvidsson is now with the Detroit Red Wings and his speed is clearly missed. Zacha has not done much early on to boost his value.
Mittlestadt has not been much better. Like Zacha, he seems to be feeling the loss of Arvidsson on his line, and his first four games have not been strong.
His contract is another one Boston would love to shed, but that is unlikely to happen until the trade deadline, if it happens at all. The Bruins clearly see him as a player whose time in black and gold is winding down, whether that ends in a trade or in free agency next summer.
David Pastrnak rounds out the list, and his case is a little different. He has not been bad overall, but the mistakes he has made have been costly.
Against Ottawa, those miscues ended up in the net. His comments were not a great look for a first-year captain, blaming three games in four nights.
On top of that, he has not been shooting enough and still has not scored. The passing has been there at times, but Boston needs him firing more often and finding the net soon.
In Other News...
Bruins Already Have A Roster Question Fans Wont Ignore
The Bruins are getting set to host the Utah Mammoth, with Andrew Peeke back in the building to face his former team and Marco Sturm already tinkering with the practice lines ahead of the game. The final lineup still has not been confirmed, which leaves some room for last-minute changes as Boston tries to settle on the right look.
One of the more notable wrinkles is Pavel Zacha, whose status has become harder to ignore as the season goes on. Reports have him at the center of ongoing roster uncertainty, and with Sturm adjusting his forwards in practice, the question around Zacha is not just where he fits on the ice, but how long he figures to be part of Bostons long-term picture. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Finally Gave Fans A Glimpse Of What This Roster Can Be
For one night at TD Garden, the Bruins looked a lot more like the team they have been trying to become. A 6-1 win over the Utah Mammoth offered a clean snapshot of what this roster can do when the finishing is there, with David Pastrnak scoring twice and Casey Mittelstadt, Mason Lohrei, Morgan Geekie and Matt Poitras all adding goals in a balanced attack.
There was also a strong backbone behind the outburst, with Jeremy Swayman turning aside nearly everything he faced as the Bruins kept the game from ever slipping into doubt. Geekies involvement on the power play stood out as part of a night when Boston found offense in different ways, even if the bigger question remains whether this kind of performance can become the norm instead of the exception. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Alarm Bells Are Already Ringing Around One Key Forward
The Bruins early-season power-play malaise has quickly become more than a small sample-size annoyance. Through four games, Boston has struggled to get the man advantage moving, and coach Sturm has already pointed to zone play and intensity as problem areas as the club searches for cleaner execution in the coming stretch.
Pavel Zacha sits right in the middle of the concern because the second line he anchors with Casey Mittlestadt and Morgan Geekie has yet to score. For a team trying to stabilize its offense, the lack of production from that group only adds to the unease around Zachas place in the long-term picture, with trade chatter beginning to follow him as the Bruins try to sort out what comes next. [Read more 🡒]