The Bruins didn’t make much noise when they brought Max Lundgren into the organization, but the move could end up carrying more weight than it first looked like.
Boston signed the big Swedish goalie to a one-year entry-level deal on March 29, adding a player who spent the last two seasons at Merrimack College, just 30 minutes north of Boston. At a glance, it reads like a smart depth addition for Providence.
That may still be the immediate role. But there’s enough here to make you wonder if the Bruins may have landed a future building block in net.
Lundgren’s sophomore season is the first thing that jumps off the page. He started and played in all 39 games, handled every available minute for Merrimack, and finished with a .920 save percentage while helping the program to its first-ever Hockey East Tournament victory.
That kind of workload says plenty on its own. Staying sharp, staying healthy and staying ready for that many games takes real discipline, and that’s part of what makes him so interesting to the Bruins.
There’s also the Hockey East factor. The league has turned out plenty of successful goaltenders, including Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tuukka Rask, Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman and recently retired Jonathan Quick.
Lundgren fits that same general mold: a goalie who carried the load for his team and came out of a high-level conference with real seasoning. If you’re looking for a sign he might be prepared for the next step, that’s a pretty good place to start.
Then there’s the frame. Lundgren is listed at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, and he plays like a workhorse.
Size alone doesn’t tell the whole story, but when that kind of presence comes with the mobility to move quickly and the positioning to match, it stands out. Anyone who watched the UConn-Merrimack Hockey East final could see the poise and confidence on display.
Being in the building, along the glass behind his net for most of that game, only sharpened the impression.
For now, Lundgren may just be a useful addition in Providence. But the Bruins clearly have reason to believe there’s more here than a simple depth move.
In Other News...
Bruins Just Made Fraser Minten Even More Important Before Camp
Fraser Mintens place in Boston is already looking a lot more secure heading into training camp. The Bruins acquired him from Toronto in March 2025, then watched him work through a full 82-game season in 2025-26, a workload that helped turn him from a newcomer into one of the more important pieces in the organizations center group.
The extension gives the Bruins a clear sign of faith in Minten as they shape the middle of the lineup for the long haul, and it also adds another layer to how the depth chart will settle once camp opens. With a top-six center job in play, his new status only sharpens the questions around how Boston handles the rest of its center-ice picture. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins May Unlock More From Charlie McAvoy With One Role Change
The Bruins addition of Will Borgen this summer could open the door to a subtle but important shift in how they use Charlie McAvoy. Boston has long leaned on McAvoy in all situations, but there is a growing case for trimming some of his defensive workload so he can spend more of his energy driving play the other way. For a team that wants more from its top defenseman offensively, even a small adjustment in usage can matter.
Borgen looks like the obvious candidate to take on more of the penalty-kill burden if Boston decides to make that change. The idea is less about reducing McAvoys importance than refining it, letting him stay fresher for five-on-five play and potential rush chances while the new arrival handles more of the grinding minutes. It remains a strategic possibility for now, but it is the kind of roster ripple that could quietly shape how effective the Bruins blue line is over the course of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Just Made Their Belief In Fraser Minten Crystal Clear
Fraser Mintens rise has gone from promising to firmly central in Bostons plans, and the latest move says as much about the Bruins long view as it does about the young forward himself. After arriving from Toronto in 2025, Minten put together a first full NHL season that produced 17 goals and 35 points, enough to make him look less like a future piece and more like someone already carving out a real role.
Don Sweeney has already pointed to Mintens development and his importance to the roster, and the organization has now backed that up in a big way. The timing of the deal gives Boston plenty of runway before it kicks in, but it also raises the obvious question of what Minten can become by then and how quickly he can turn this into one of the Bruins defining core contracts. [Read more 🡒]