The Boston Bruins may be quiet right now, but the rest of the hockey world has no interest in slowing down.
EA Sports dropped its top 300 ratings for NHL 27, and 10 Bruins made the list. The numbers were spread all over the board, with David Pastrnak checking in at No. 7 and Elias Lindholm down at No.
- Jeremy Swayman and Charlie McAvoy both landed in the 50s, with only Adam Fox ranked between them.
Morgan Geekie also got a boost after back-to-back 30-plus-goal seasons, earning an 87 overall alongside Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Dorofeyev.
For Bruins fans tracking the organization beyond Boston, the Providence Bruins added forward Josh Bloom on a one-year AHL contract. The 23-year-old split last season between Abbotsford and Bakersfield, posting three points in 22 AHL games, then put up 37 points in 30 ECHL games with Kalamazoo and Fort Wayne.
There was also unwelcome news on the college hockey front. Northeastern’s new rink has been pushed back nine months after asbestos was discovered, and the arena is now expected to be finished in the spring or summer of 2029. That leaves the men’s and women’s teams without a home rink for a third season.
Around the league, Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas unexpectedly put out a new episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, and Friedman floated the Toronto Maple Leafs as a possible landing spot for Erik Karlsson if things go sideways in Pittsburgh this season. A trade is not close, but the idea is on the table.
Friedman also touched on two major contract situations. In New Jersey, the Devils have had Quinn Hughes on their radar all summer, though Friedman said he was surprised by how long things are taking and doesn’t think there have been many recent talks. In Colorado, he discussed Cale Makar’s looming extension and pointed to Nathan MacKinnon’s deal as a possible template.
Ottawa’s captaincy picture is also starting to come into focus. The Senators have had internal discussions over the past couple of weeks, and Bruce Garrioch wrote that Thomas Chabot has earned the job, adding that “there is no player more committed to [the Senators] than Chabot.” Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle are the other candidates.
In Florida, Aleksander Barkov is back for another season, and he’s clearly pleased about it. The Panthers captain returned to hockey in May and put up 11 points in helping Finland win gold at the IIHF World Championship. He was also ranked No. 5 on the NHL’s top 20 centers right now list.
Philadelphia got a nod from Corey Pronman’s latest prospect rankings, with Porter Martone looking like a strong pick at No. 6 and another Flyers prospect also cracking the top 10 of the 2025 draft class.
There was a quirky wrinkle in Minnesota, where the Wild announced Peter Thome will work as a hockey operations analyst and serve as the team’s emergency backup goalie, with the club saying he’ll wear No. 00.
Chris Johnston later reported that every EBUG will wear No. 00.
Bruins EBUG Kyle Chauvette is set to fill that role next season, according to Bridgette Proulx.
Elsewhere, Matthew Mayich, a Blues prospect at Arizona State, collapsed during an outdoor workout on Thursday morning and remained hospitalized as of Tuesday while the school investigates what happened. And Kevin Hayes is headed to Russia after signing a one-year deal with Ak Bars Kazan following 28 games with the Penguins last season.
In Other News...
Bruins Fans Will Have Plenty To Debate In NHL 27 Ratings
EA Sports latest NHL 27 ratings dump gave Bruins fans plenty to pick over, with 10 Boston players landing among the games top 300. It is the kind of snapshot that always stirs debate in this market, especially when a roster with as much name recognition as Bostons gets measured player by player against the rest of the league.
The Bruins group is headed by David Pastrnak, with Jeremy Swayman and Charlie McAvoy also tucked near the top of the teams list, and several more regulars clustered in the mid-80s. Those ratings will only fuel the usual arguments about who got the benefit of the doubt, who was underranked, and which Bruins player feels like the biggest snub in a game that tends to turn every fan into a scout. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Still Have One Intriguing Veteran Option To Boost Their Offense
Vladimir Tarasenko remains one of the more interesting veteran names still out there for a Bruins club looking to sharpen its attack for the coming season. His rsum has long suggested a player who can help on more than just the scoresheet, and Boston could use exactly that kind of proven finishing touch and experienced presence as it tries to build a lineup with more punch and a better chance to hold up in the playoffs.
For a team that has spent plenty of time weighing how to get more offense without losing structure, Tarasenko makes for a logical what-if. He would bring a scoring pedigree and a track record of dressing in big games, which is why the fit keeps coming up as the market moves along and Boston continues to sort through options that could change the look of its forward group. [Read more 🡒]
James Hagens Just Got Bruins Fans Another Reason To Watch Camp
After Boston kept its 2025 first-round pick and used it on James Hagens at No. 7, the young centers first pro steps came quickly. He followed a strong sophomore season at Boston College by signing his entry-level deal, then got a taste of both Providence and the NHL late in the season, a fast track that already has Bruins fans keeping one eye on his development and the other on training camp.
Hagens is now carrying a little extra public scrutiny into the summer, too. In a recent re-draft of the class, Corey Pronman slid him down from his original slot, a reminder that even a highly regarded prospect can still have something to prove before he settles into the league the way Boston hopes he can. For the Bruins, that only adds another layer of intrigue when camp opens. [Read more 🡒]