The early read on Boston Bruins prospect Kirill Yemelyanov in Russia has been a little jarring.
A preseason stretch that seemed to point toward a spot with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s KHL club has instead turned into a much quieter opening for the 2025 sixth-round pick. Yemelyanov has not stuck on the top roster, and he has appeared in just one game as a call-up. Back in the MHL, his production has also been slow to arrive, with only one assist through four games.
That is not a disaster by any means, but it is a step down from where things appeared to be headed a few weeks ago. The expectation was that if he did not lock down a KHL role, he would at least stay in the junior ranks and line up with Matvei Kotkov, another Bruins draft pick who was taken in 2026. Instead, the setup has changed in a pretty surprising way.
Kotkov is the one who made Lokomotiv’s top team. The 2026 fourth-round pick just turned 18 in August, which means he could spend two full seasons in the KHL before he turns 20. Yemelyanov may still get there eventually, but after the preseason picture, this is not how it looked like things would unfold.
That’s a notable twist considering what Yemelyanov did last season. He put up 57 points in 55 MHL games, helped win the league championship, led the playoffs with 10 goals, and scored the title-clinching goal for his club. For a sixth-round pick, that was a major jump and a big reason he started drawing more attention on Bruins prospect lists.
Four games is a tiny sample, and it would be premature to treat this as anything more than a rough patch. Yemelyanov could catch fire quickly and get back to his point-per-game form. It may simply be the frustration of missing out on the KHL job and having to spend another year in junior.
The Bruins will want to see him respond, not retreat. There is still a lot of season left, and no reason to make a hard judgment yet. For now, though, the name to watch a little more closely may be Kotkov.
In Other News...
Bruins Face Real Pressure With Pavel Zacha's Future Still Unsettled
Pavel Zacha is heading into the season with a lot of attention on his contract status, and the Bruins are in a familiar but uncomfortable spot with one of their more important forwards. Boston would like to keep him around, but reaching an extension has not been simple as contract values around the league keep climbing, leaving the sides without a clear resolution as he enters the final year of his deal.
For now, Zacha is staying focused on hockey rather than the business side, but the longer this stretches on, the more pressure builds around what happens next. The Bruins are also tracking other roster items at the same time, with Matt Poitras back skating with the main group and Billy Sweezey taking on the captaincy in Providence, but Zachas situation is the one that could loom largest if the season moves on without a deal. [Read more 🡒]
Connor Cliftons Bruins Return Just Became A Real Trust Test
Connor Cliftons return to Boston came with immediate responsibility, and the Bruins wasted little time leaning on him. In the season-opening 3-0 win over the Rangers, the veteran defenseman played a team-high 23:23, a notable workload for a player back in familiar colors after signing a two-year contract following his previous 232 games with the club.
With Charlie McAvoy suspended, Clifton and Nikita Zadorov were the pairing Marco Sturm turned to against strong opposition, a sign of how much trust the Bruins are already placing in the old face on the blue line. It was the kind of opening-night assignment that can tell a team a lot about where a player fits now, not just where he once fit before. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Face An Early Road Test With One Big Lineup Decision
The Bruins are heading into their first road trip of the 2026-27 season with a tough opening assignment in Winnipeg, where the Jets are set to roll out a fresh look of their own. Boston arrives off a 3-0 win over the Rangers, a sharp start that offered an early reminder of how sturdy this group can look when it is in sync.
Winnipeg will be working without Connor Hellebuyck, who remains suspended, and the matchup also brings the debut of eighth overall pick Viggo Bjrck for the Jets. The Bruins, meanwhile, still have not said who gets the net, leaving one of the more important decisions of the trip hanging as they prepare for a game that should tell them plenty about where they stand on the road. [Read more 🡒]