The Bruins don’t need a full-scale overhaul to get where they want to go in 2026-27. They need more players pushing past the numbers they’ve already posted, the same kind of jump that helped Boston reach 100 points last season.
Pavel Zacha did it in points, Morgan Geekie did it in goals, and David Pastrnak did it in assists. If Boston is going to climb back into the postseason, more of that kind of production has to show up again.
Some of the obvious candidates are the newer faces, with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov easy names to circle. But there are also veteran Bruins who have a real chance to put up the best seasons of their careers.
JJ Peterka is the most obvious place to start, and also the most interesting. He’s heading into his fifth NHL season, and his career best in goals is 28, set in his second year with the Buffalo Sabres after he scored 12 as a rookie.
Since then, the totals have slipped a bit - 27 the next season in Buffalo and 25 last year in Utah - but that kind of downward trend is not likely to last forever. Peterka has too much offensive skill for 28 goals to stand as his peak, and he should spend much of the season on a line with David Pastrnak, the best linemate he has ever played with.
That’s no knock on Morgan Geekie. It’s just that Pastrnak has a way of turning good scorers into something more, and Peterka could be the next one to cash in.
Pavel Zacha is another player who could set a new personal best, though this one comes with a twist that would make Bruins fans uneasy. His career-high is 65 points, which he reached last season, and there’s a strong chance he’ll open the year centering Pastrnak and Peterka on the top line.
That setup has not been used much in Boston, because previous coaches have preferred to spread things out, but the signs point that way now - unless Zacha gets traded during the season. The Bruins also have not signed him to an extension, and he becomes a UFA at the end of the year.
Another career season would only drive his price higher after his breakout year. Still, if he managed 65 points while skating with Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt, there’s reason to think he could do damage in a stronger-looking role.
Then there’s Jeremy Swayman, whose path to a career high looks a little different. His current best in shutouts is four, and that’s the sort of mark that can feel almost random from season to season.
A goalie can be brilliant all night and lose the shutout on a late goal in a lopsided win, which is why the stat never tells the full story. Even so, the league’s elite goalies tend to pile up seasons with five, six, seven, or even eight shutouts, and if Swayman wants to make his case as one of them, it would help to have a year like that on his résumé.
In Other News...
Bruins Roster Crunch Could Force Tough Veteran Decisions Before Camp
The Bruins are heading toward training camp with a familiar kind of problem, the kind that can complicate even a healthy roster: too many bodies in too few spots. The squeeze is showing up on the blue line and in the bottom six, where the competition for jobs already looks tight and the club has to sort out who fits, who can be moved, and how the lineup will be shaped once the games start counting.
A suspension to Charlie McAvoy only adds another wrinkle to the picture, leaving Boston to manage a defense group that is already crowded before camp even opens. With contract situations and team needs in play, there is plenty of speculation about which veterans might end up on the move, but the larger question is less about names than about how the Bruins clear space without weakening the roster they are trying to build. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Have A Growing Center Problem As Camp Decisions Loom
Boston is heading into preseason and training camp off a 100-point regular season, but the center picture is already getting crowded in a way that could shape the opening night roster. Matthew Poitras, a second-round pick who has flashed enough to stay in the conversation, is still without a deal as a restricted free agent, and that leaves one of the Bruins more intriguing young pieces in an uncertain spot just as camp decisions come due.
The squeeze is only getting tighter with Mikey Eyssimont, Alex Steeves and James Hagens all part of the discussion as Boston sorts out its depth down the middle. For a team trying to balance immediate help with long-term planning, the next move on Poitras could ripple beyond just one roster spot and force some uncomfortable choices before the preseason even gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Fraser Minten Could Change How Bruins Fans View That Trade
Fraser Minten quietly gave Bruins fans a reason to look twice at a deal that once felt more about the future than the present. In his first full NHL season in Boston, he played all 82 games and finished with 17 goals and 18 assists, a steady showing that earned him NHL Rookie of the Month honors in January and a 10th-place finish in Calder Trophy voting.
Now the conversation is shifting from what the Bruins got to what Minten might become. Analysts are already pointing to him as a breakout candidate for 2026-27, with the kind of production growth that could push him into a top-six role and put him alongside David Pastrnak, which is exactly the sort of development that can alter how a trade is remembered around here. [Read more 🡒]