Nikita Zadorov gave the Bruins exactly the kind of season they needed from him in 2025-26, and then some.
That wasn’t a given when Boston brought him in three summers ago. Don Sweeney made a pair of notable free-agent additions by signing Elias Lindholm and Zadorov, and neither move paid off the way anyone in the organization expected in year one.
The Bruins stumbled as a team and sank to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, tied with the Philadelphia Flyers. Zadorov had a rough start to his Boston run, but he settled in as the year wore on and even closed strong enough to finish at plus-25.
His best hockey came after the trade deadline sale Sweeney made, when he lined up with Henri Jokiharju, who arrived from the Buffalo Sabres after Sweeney sent Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That late-season version of Zadorov is the one Boston needed to see again, and he delivered. In 81 regular-season games for the second straight year with the Bruins, he scored two goals and set a career high with 20 assists. He also finished with 22 points for the second straight season, matching the production from his first year in Black and Gold, when he had four goals and 18 assists.
Lindholm, meanwhile, has not given Boston the same kind of return in his first two seasons, largely because of the back injury that has bothered him since training camp two years ago. There were also rumors earlier this month that the Bruins might move Zadorov in a potential deal with the Edmonton Oilers that would have brought back Darnell Nurse, but that kind of move seems hard to picture given how important Zadorov is to what Boston needs on the blue line.
His first Bruins playoff run also showed why he matters. Zadorov finished the six-game series with one assist and a minus-1 rating while averaging 19:35 per game.
He also piled up 37 penalty minutes, getting caught up in the Buffalo Sabres shenanigans like several of his teammates. Going forward, he remains a major piece in front of Jeremy Swayman and a key part of the Bruins’ defense.
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What makes that especially notable is how little margin is left if the season veers off course. The Bruins are down to two fourth-round picks, have no fifth-rounder, and are hanging onto only their own sixth- and seventh-round selections, which means general manager Don Sweeney may eventually have to decide whether to keep pressing forward or try to recoup some draft capital before the bill comes due. [Read more 🡒]