The Bruins are still trying to sort out a crowded blue line, and Henri Jokiharju is now part of the squeeze.
According to Elliotte Friedman in his written 32 Thoughts before opening night, Boston is shopping the Finnish defenseman in trade. That comes one day after the Bruins placed Jokiharju on waivers with the intent of assigning him to Providence.
The move fits the way Boston’s defense has come together this summer. The Bruins added William Borgen and Connor Clifton on July 1, and those moves only tightened a right-side logjam already sitting under Charlie McAvoy. Jokiharju entered camp on the outside of the lineup picture, and a preseason that did not help his case left him beaten out by a number of newcomers and internal options.
Boston brought Jokiharju in last season at the deadline, sending a fourth-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres after moving Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Carlo’s departure opened nearly 19 minutes of nightly ice time, and the Bruins hoped Jokiharju could help absorb some of that workload.
Instead, the fit never really took hold. The 27-year-old is now entering the second season of the three-year deal he signed in 2025, carrying a $3MM AAV. In Boston, he appeared in only 41 games in 2025-26.
Jokiharju’s track record in Buffalo looked different. He had a career year with 20 points in 2024-25, earned a second-pair role over 74 games, and earlier in his Sabres run even got top-pair usage in 2021-22 and 2022-23, averaging more than 21 minutes per game across 120 contests.
His NHL path has been uneven since he broke in at 19. Chicago drafted him in the first round in 2017, and he posted 12 assists in 38 games as a rookie in 2018-19. The Blackhawks later dealt him to Buffalo for Alexander Nylander, and over six seasons with the Sabres he finished with 81 points in 351 games.
Internationally, though, Jokiharju has kept finding big moments. He made Team Finland’s roster for the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off and scored a goal in three games. He also picked up an assist at the Milan Olympics as Finland won Bronze, then added eight points at the IIHF Worlds that summer on the way to a Gold medal.
Even with that resume, the Bruins have a practical roster and cap decision in front of them. Jokiharju is the highest-paid player currently with the Providence Bruins, and his contract counts $1.8MM against Boston’s NHL cap because it sits above the minimum. That number is not crushing, but with so many defensemen already in the mix, Boston is clearly looking to move on.
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