Don Sweeney already took one piece of future business off his desk when he signed Fraser Minten to a long-term extension earlier this summer. Marat Khusnutdinov, though, is still sitting there as a possible next move for the Bruins.
That decision makes sense on paper. Minten’s profile is the safer bet, the kind of two-way, big-bodied center who can settle in as a reliable third-liner even if everything doesn’t break perfectly.
His $7.2 million AAV over seven years was a bet Boston could make with confidence. Khusnutdinov, by comparison, carries more volatility.
There’s a better chance he levels off or gets pushed down the depth chart later on.
Still, the Bruins clearly believe there’s something worth developing. Khusnutdinov posted 15 goals and 18 assists last season, and if his game keeps moving forward, he could grow into a middle-six scoring winger who brings energy and penalty-killing value. In the best-case version of that arc, he starts looking like a poor man’s Brad Marchand.
What changes the equation is how camp has played out. Khusnutdinov, Minten, and James Hagens have spent the full preseason together after only brief stints as a unit last year, and they’re projected to open the season as Boston’s third line. That “Kid Line” looked good in limited action before, and now the Bruins have a real chance to see whether the chemistry can stick.
There’s also a financial layer to this that Boston can’t ignore. If Khusnutdinov is attached to two of the team’s brightest young players and the trio starts building real momentum, his value could climb quickly. The Bruins are essentially betting he won’t play himself into Minten territory on his next AAV, and that’s a gamble that could get expensive if he catches fire.
That kind of timing isn’t new for Sweeney. He has done mid-season business before to get ahead of a rising player, including with Mark Kastelic two seasons ago, and it paid off. If the Kid Line gets off to a hot start, talks could move fast enough to get Khusnutdinov locked in before next offseason becomes the problem.
In Other News...
Bruins Have One Urgent Pastrnak Problem To Solve
David Pastrnak has kept the Bruins offense afloat through all the changes around him, even as the forward group has been shuffled and his role has subtly evolved. He is still driving scoring chances at a high level, but the way he is doing it has shifted, with more of the burden falling on his playmaking and his ability to create for teammates off the rush and at even strength.
Marco Sturm has made clear he values the full scope of Pastrnaks impact, not just the finish at the end of a sequence. For Boston, the issue is not whether Pastrnak remains central to the attack, but how the Bruins balance his dual identity as scorer and setup man while trying to squeeze every bit of offense out of a lineup that leans on him so heavily. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Were At The Center Of A Flyers Injury Scare
A preseason game between the Flyers and Bruins turned tense when Philadelphia goaltender Dan Vladar exited with an upper-body injury after a collision with Boston forward Tanner Jeannot. Vladar, who recently signed a five-year contract extension and helped the Flyers reach the playoffs last season, had been trying to settle things down in his own end when the sequence unfolded, turning an otherwise routine early-fall tune-up into a concern for Philadelphia.
The immediate worry for the Flyers is the health of a goalie they intend to lean on, especially with a strong year behind him and a new long-term deal in place. Aleksei Kolosov stepped in after Vladar left, but the larger question now is how serious the injury is and what it could mean for a team that has already invested in Vladar as part of its future. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Roster Battle Already Turning Against A Few Familiar Names
With two preseason games already in the book and two more still to come, the Bruins are getting a better read on who is helping themselves and who is running out of time. The early competition has already given Boston some useful answers, with players such as Matthew Poitras, James Hagens, Michael DiPietro and Frederic Brunet drawing attention for the way they have handled their opportunities.
The other side of that ledger is beginning to take shape, too, and it is where the pressure can really start to build before opening night. For forwards like Alex Steeves and Lukas Reichel, the next couple of exhibition games will matter just as much as the first two, because the Bruins are still sorting out positional battles and roster decisions with the regular season creeping closer. [Read more 🡒]