The Boston Bruins have already gotten meaningful breakout seasons from players like Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Jonathan Aspirot, but the next wave could be even more important as the 2026-27 season draws near.
If Boston is going to stay in the playoff mix this coming year, it will need more players to make that jump. Three names stand out as the best bets to do it: James Hagens, Michael DiPietro, and Frederic Brunet.
James Hagens is the obvious headliner. The 2025 seventh-overall pick has a ton of upside, and he looks like Boston’s top breakout candidate by a wide margin. He has a real chance to become a very important piece of the Bruins’ roster next season.
Michael DiPietro is another player on the cusp of a bigger opportunity. After winning the AHL’s goalie of the year award in back-to-back seasons, he is finally getting his long overdue chance with Boston.
If he can carry even some of that AHL production to the NHL level, he could settle in as a strong backup for the Bruins. Last season in Providence, he went 34-8-1 in 45 games with a .930 save percentage, a 1.91 goals-against average, and three shutouts.
Frederic Brunet is the quieter name of the group, but he’s one Bruins fans should keep an eye on. The left-shot defenseman has shown plenty of promise with Providence and could get his first real shot with Boston next season. The 23-year-old played 65 games for Providence last season and put up 12 goals, 36 points, and a plus-18 rating.
In Other News...
Bruins May Need To Cut Ties With A Familiar Center
The Bruins are again in the kind of roster conversation that tends to follow a team with more interesting young forwards than clean openings. James Hagens and Matthew Poitras are both pushing toward bigger roles, and Bostons current center picture has enough congestion that every available spot seems to come with a catch. The trick, as always, is finding a way to create room without upsetting the balance of the lineup.
One familiar option sits outside the organizations recent spotlight, even if he remains well known to Boston fans. Sean Kuraly has carved out a useful depth role since leaving the Bruins, and a reunion would come with the sort of practical appeal teams like when they are trying to manage a crowded middle six. The question is whether Boston can make the math work while keeping enough flexibility for the prospects it wants to see grow into the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Head Into Camp With One Roster Doubt Still Unsettled
As training camp draws closer, the Bruins still have a familiar-looking question hanging over the middle of their lineup. Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Fraser Minten and Sean Kuraly form the current top four down the middle, but the group still does not give Boston an obvious No. 1 center, and that uncertainty is part of what makes the coming weeks so important for the rosters shape.
The latest reminder came when the NHL Network unveiled its top 20 centers for the upcoming season without a Bruins player on the list, a notable omission for a team trying to reestablish itself among the leagues better clubs. There is also the separate matter of Matthew Poitras, who remains unsigned as camp nears, leaving Boston with one more unresolved piece in a position group that already lacks a clear answer at the top. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Need Lukas Reichel To Become The Answer At Center
Lukas Reichel arrives in Boston with a familiar kind of appeal for a team looking to solve a long-running question down the middle: enough talent to dream on, enough uncertainty to keep the price reasonable. The Bruins brought him in last March and have spent the months since viewing him as a possible middle-six center, the sort of low-cost swing that can pay off if the former first-round pick finally finds steadier production after uneven stretches with Chicago and Vancouver.
Reichels next step matters because the Bruins still need someone to seize that center role and make it look permanent, not temporary. There is at least some organizational comfort in the setup, with head coach Marco Sturm and other German players in the picture, and Boston is clearly hoping that familiarity helps bring out a more complete version of the player they think is still in there. The question now is whether this is the environment that finally turns potential into something the Bruins can actually rely on. [Read more 🡒]