Fraser Minten is already making the Bruins feel better about the seven-year commitment they handed him in September.
Boston locked him up on a seven-year, $50.4 million extension, but the 22-year-old has been clear that a contract doesn’t hand anyone a bigger voice.
“I think you got to earn that through time and you know, you get respect through your actions, not through your contract,” Minten said. “So continue to work hard and be a good teammate and gain the respect of everyone and become a leader that way.”
So far, that approach is playing out exactly the way the Bruins hoped. Minten’s $7.2 million AAV deal won’t begin until the 2027-28 season, yet he’s already looked like a player taking a real step forward.
In seven games, he’s produced at a point-per-game pace and sits second on the team with seven points (4-3-7), trailing only David Pastrnak’s eight (2-6-8). He’s also stacked up three multi-point games, including a two-goal night in San Jose on Tuesday.
The scoring has jumped out, but it’s not the only reason Boston is encouraged. After playing all 82 games for the Bruins last season and finishing with 35 points (17-18-35), Minten looks stronger, more explosive, and more comfortable in his own skin.
“I don’t know where to start,” Marco Sturm said after the game on Saturday. “I feel like he has more power in his legs.
He skates better. And yeah, there’s just a combination, I would say, of everything.
I can’t really pick one thing. It’s just overall, he was almost like a baby last year.
Now he’s growing into a grown man. I think that’s just part of it.”
Minten’s own read is simple: the game feels easier because his game is growing.
“Yeah, probably. It would be hard to say exactly how, but feel good out there.
Feel fast, feel like I can make plays and contribute while still being good and responsible defensively. So I feel like the game’s growing… pic.twitter.com/Mfz7rmj9bl
- Jack Studley (@jackstudley13) October 10, 2026
That progress showed up early in the year on the Bruins’ kid line, where Minten centered Marat Khusnutdinov and James Hagens. After Boston dropped two straight, Sturm shuffled the lines and bumped Minten and Khusnutdinov onto the second line with JJ Peterka. The trio has been productive together, posting a 52.63% share of shots and outscoring opponents 5-1 in 28:30 at 5-on-5.
“Yeah, it’s good,” Minten said about his linemates. “[It’s] only been a few games, but those guys are so fast and smart, so yeah, it’s fun.”
The Bruins have made no secret of how highly they view Minten. That was reinforced in May, when president Cam Neely said the team needed a true No. 1 center but also pointed to Minten as one of the in-house options. Neely even described him as “more like Bergy” because of his 200-foot game.
Boston has also started treating him like a leader. At the season-opening press conference, Neely listed Minten as part of the team’s leadership group alongside Nikita Zadorov, Tanner Jeannot, Hampus Lindholm, Morgan Geekie, and Charlie McAvoy. Minten was only 20 days removed from signing his extension at the time, and he was the youngest player named in that group by six years.
McAvoy, who missed the first six games because of a suspension, said Minten has taken a clear step forward since last season.
“Yeah, night and day,” McAvoy said of Minten. “I mean, honestly, yeah, he was already amazing last year, and we saw glimpses of what he could be in the future.
But I think the biggest thing is him finding his voice, which is amazing. We wanted to bring him into the leadership group and, you know, see him flourish because he has that personality.”
“We’re going to lean on him a lot. He’s a great two-way player, and he’s a big part of what we’re trying to build here.”
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