Bruins Depth Chart: Making Sense of the Mess

The start of NHL free agency is supposed to be when teams find solutions for all the problems that plague their roster. The time when vacancies are filled and questions are answered. The Boston Bruins did not do that this year.

The Bruins were one of the more active teams in free agency, adding seven players to their roster. However, rather than addressing areas of needs, they bought stock in aspects they already had a surplus of.

Instead of prioritizing skill and scoring, the Bruins invested in culture and an internal sense of competition, making for a team that didn’t improve all that much. At least not on paper, that is.

But until training camp begins in September, the paper is all we have, and it does not read well.

Forwards:

First Line:

The Bruins are once again relying heavily on their top line to carry them offensively.

They know David Pastrnak is going to be one of, it not, the top goalscorer on the team. They hope Morgan Geekie will be, too.

Geekie had a breakout performance last year, hitting the 30-goal benchmark for the first time in his career. The Bruins cannot afford it to be the only time, especially after signing Geekie to a six-year, $33 million contract extension.

Elias Lindholm will also have to be a key contributor. He vastly disappointed in his first season in Boston, and the Bruins need him to be the No. 1 center they signed him to be.

The good news is that the Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak trio finished last season on a high, outscoring opponents 15-2 over the team’s final seven games while generating 12.77 GF/60, according to Natural Stat Trick.  The Bruins will have a fighting chance if those three pick up where they left off. If not, they’re down for the count.

Second Line:

Adding a forward to their top-six was the most pressing need the Bruins had this offseason.

But with top-six talent scarcely available on the open market, they had to get creative and acquired Viktor Arvidsson in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers.

Arvidsson is a ready and willing shooter, but his finishing touch isn’t what it once was. The 32-year-0ld has five 20-goal seasons to his credit, but hasn’t posted one in either of the last two years. He’s more so a third line forward at this point in the career. Nevertheless, he’s the best option the Bruins have for the time being and will likely play next to Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt.

Both left much to be desired last season. Zacha was just one of the many Bruins whose production dipped from the previous year. Mittelstadt never really had much of a chance to show what he can do, playing with mostly AHL caliber line mates after coming over at the trade deadline.

Who knows what he, or these three, are truly capable of? It’s a scary question that has to be asked.

Third Line:

Here’s where things get messy.

The Bruins have litany of bottom-six players. Some who belong there and others who should, in theory, move up the lineup at some point. It’s the latter that needs to be prioritized.

Among the young players who will be vying for a roster spot, Fraser Minten and Matthew Poitras are best suited for this role.

The Bruins love Minten’s hockey IQ. They see him as a fixture down the middle for years to come. He’s already strong penalty killer, but has room to grow in the offensive zone, and playing next to Poitras will help with that.

Poitras struggled to score last season in the NHL, but was lethal down in Providence. With a chip on his shoulder and ready to prove he has what it takes to be a contributor at the highest level, the plucky forward should provide the right balance of grace and grit to make him an effective third-line scorer.

Still, those two are bound to make mistakes, and will need a veteran by their side. There are a few options to choose from, but the newly signed Mikey Eyssimont is the best fit.

A pesky wing, Eyssimont is, as Don Sweeney says, ‘a pain in the ass,’ and plays with a tenacity that allows him to be an effective checker, while also having a shoot-first mentality that makes him scoring threat from anywhere on the ice.

Fourth Line:

For some reason, Tanner Jeannot was Boston’s highest-priced free agency acquisition, coming in on a five-year, $17 million contract, so he’s going to be in the lineup more often than not.

If that’s the case, then he may as well play in the spot he can most effective. A heavy-hitter without much to provide at the offensive end of the ice, it only makes sense that Jeannot slots in on the fourth line. There, he, along with Sean Kuraly and Mark Kastelic, can dish out punishment every time an opponent goes back to retrieve the puck.

It’s the style of hockey that’s been a staple of the Bruins since the 70s.

Is it a winning formula in 2025?

No. Not really.

Defense:

First Pair:

I know what you’re thinking.

“Mason Lohrei had the league’s worst plus/minus last season. He’s a defensive liability. Why on earth would he be on the top pair?” 

I’m glad you asked.

Yes, Lohrei was bad in his own end, terrible, actually. But playing him much as possible is the only way he will improve, and, more importantly, the best way to coax as much offense as possible out of this lineup.

Playing beside McAvoy will give Lohrei a strong defense partner who can cover his mistakes. Plus, it should put McAvoy in more situations where he can contribute on offense, because most of their shifts will probably start 200-feet from the Bruins’ net anyway.

Second Pair

Hampus Lindholm will return to the lineup after missing practically all of last season with a broken knee cap, and will have a very different defense partner than his last one.

Henri Jokiharju was solid in his 18 games as a Bruin last season, and is now back on three-year contract.

The two should make for a pairing that’s effective in all three zones.

Third Pair:

With McAvoy and Lindholm hurt, and Brandon Carlo a casualty of the Bruins’ trade deadline sale, Nikita Zadorov and Andrew Peeke became the default top pairing down the stretch of last season. They had some moments, both good and bad, but were at their best locking down the net front as an impenetrable wall that most forwards dared not try to attack.

Goalies:

If the Bruins insist upon winning with limited offense, then their goaltending will have to be among the best in the league.

That wasn’t the case last year. The struggles of both Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo were at the root of the team’s last place finish in the Eastern Conference standings.

Boston believes that both are bound to bounce back. Swayman will have a full training camp to prepare for the season, and Korpisalo will be gunning for as much playing time as possible.

Who knows how far the Bruins will get with those two have a strong year. We already know the answer if they don’t.

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