The Bruins’ second preseason game comes with a little more substance than the first. After Sunday night’s 3-2 shootout win over the Washington Capitals at TD Garden, Boston is back home Tuesday night to face the Philadelphia Flyers, and this one should offer a better look at some of the players fighting for roles.
The first exhibition game gave a lot of younger Bruins a chance to get on the ice and make an impression. This one figures to tilt more toward the veterans, with a few offseason additions getting their first crack in the Black and Gold. That makes the night especially relevant for a few players who are trying to answer questions early.
Connor Clifton is one of them.
General manager Don Sweeney didn’t make many free-agent splashes this summer, but bringing back Clifton stood out. The defenseman left Boston for the Buffalo Sabres a couple of years ago and also spent time with the Pittsburgh Penguins before returning to the Bruins.
The fit is straightforward enough on paper. Clifton profiles as a bottom-pairing defenseman, but Boston may need more from him with Charlie McAvoy suspended for the first six games of the season after his slash in Game 6 of last spring’s playoff series against Buffalo. Clifton’s steady style should fit cleanly into head coach Marco Sturm’s system, and this preseason stretch is a chance to see how much more he can handle.
Will Borgen is in a similar spot.
Boston reportedly missed out on a Darnell Nurse trade with the Edmonton Oilers before Sweeney shifted his focus to the New York Rangers and landed Borgen. The 29-year-old defenseman has appeared in 373 career NHL games with the Seattle Kraken and Rangers, and last season he averaged just over 18 minutes per night while posting five goals and 15 points for New York.
The Bruins won’t be counting on Borgen to drive offense, though he did put up 39 assists across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons with Seattle. Like Clifton, he may need to step into a larger role up the lineup while McAvoy is out. There’s also a timing wrinkle here: under the new rules, Borgen can only play in two preseason games, so Tuesday’s matchup is part audition, part crash course.
Then there’s Mikey Eyssimont, who sits at the center of one of Boston’s trickier roster decisions.
The Bruins still have to sort through the final forward spots, and Eyssimont is one of the veterans in that mix. He didn’t get as much ice time as he wanted last season, and he’s among the players who could end up blocking a spot that Boston would prefer to open for younger talent.
That group includes Alex Steeves, James Hagens and Matthew Poitras. Steeves didn’t do much to strengthen his case against Washington, while Hagens and Poitras both helped themselves.
For now, Poitras’ path to the roster appears to be tied to Steeves and Eyssimont, and there may not be room for all three. There may not even be room for two.
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Kevin Hayes is stepping away from the game after a long run that took him from Dorchester to Boston College and then across the NHL. The 34-year-old forward announced his retirement from professional hockey after a brief five-game stint with AK Bars Kazan in the KHL, closing a career that included stops with multiple NHL teams and a place on the areas long list of accomplished hockey players.
Across 805 NHL games, Hayes scored 185 goals and finished with 446 points, production that reflected both his skill and his staying power in a demanding league. His retirement statement pointed to physical limitations that made it impossible to keep performing at his best, a difficult but familiar end to a career that had already given him a memorable college chapter and a substantial pro rsum. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Captain Mystery May Have Just Been Spoiled In A Bizarre Way
The Bruins are still playing coy about who will wear the captains letter next season, but the direction has been clear enough to keep the conversation going around camp. General manager Don Sweeney and coach Marco Sturm have both confirmed there will be a captain for 2026-27, even if they have not put a name to the job just yet, leaving the teams leadership picture hanging as preseason approaches.
A strange little detour on social media may have added to the intrigue. Tottenham Hotspur posted a clip showing Xavi Simons exchanging jerseys with David Pastrnak, a moment that naturally set off speculation that Pastrnak is the one set to be handed the role. The Bruins are expected to reveal the captaincy before their preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers, so the wait should not last much longer. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins May Be Near A Tough Call On Matthew Poitras
Matthew Poitras has spent enough time around the Bruins to make his name feel like part of the conversation, but the next stretch of preseason could force a difficult reckoning. Around the league, clubs are already sorting through players who may need to pass through waivers, and Poitras has surfaced in that group as Boston weighs how much room there really is for him after his recent slide between the NHL and AHL.
For the Bruins, the issue is less about talent than fit, and that makes it a tricky call. Poitras still profiles as the kind of young player another team could circle if he becomes available, which is why this situation matters beyond camp inventory. Boston will have to decide whether to keep trying to carve out a place for him or accept that the roster may no longer have a clean path forward. [Read more 🡒]