The 2024-2025 Boston Bruins did not have a good season.  Things did not go well from the start of training camp and ended just as poorly on lottery day.  Let’s take a look at what went wrong and much more importantly, where they should go from here. 

The Bruins season was doomed from the beginning for 3 main reasons.  The first of which was a lame duck coach.  Having a lame duck coach is a death null for any team’s season.  I have pointed this out numerous times in the past.  You just can not have a lame duck coach.  I always use Jim Harbough in San Francisco as the easy example.  It doesn’t work no matter how good the coach is.  As much as I am not a big fan of Aaron Boone, the Yankees knew they had to sign him to an extension before the season began.  Now, he has already cost the Yankees a couple of games with poor in game decisions and who knows how many more batting Judge second.  (Seriously. Just. Bat. Him. 3^RD.)  Sorry, getting off track.  Sweeney should have known this as soon as the previous season ended and tried to extend Montgomery.  He should have had some sort of dead line to either sign him or replace him before training camp started.  Instead, he kept negotiating and when the two sides could not come to an agreement, ended up with a lame duck coach.  Not only did he have a lame duck coach but he had a coach who, very seemingly, had one foot out the door headed for St. Louis.  It’s shocking that the Bruins got off to a terrible start.  Monty coached like a guy who was very OK getting fired.  It polluted the team and set them up for a bad season.  Mind you, I am not saying they should have given Monty a huge contract.  What I am saying is they needed to settle the negotiations well before the start of the season and once it was apparent Monty wasn’t going to take their offer, they needed to move on from him.  They should have had it settled before the draft last year.   

The second issue that tanked the Bruins season before it even began was the negotiations with Jeremy Swayman.  Having Swayman hold out and miss camp was asking for him to fail.  Hold outs never have good seasons.  Missing camp almost always ends with a terrible season or an injury (See Aiyuk, Brandon).  There is a reason sports have training camps.  In Swayman’s case, it resulted in a terrible season.  He was not good this year.  He did not get much, if any, help from the guys in front of him all season, but he still should have been better.  Goalie is as important a position as there is in sports.  When your top guy sucks, you are doomed.  I blame Sweeney and Neely for this as well.  This is stuff your front office needs to know.  If they were going to cave and pay him $8.25 mil, they should have just caved before training camp started.  It would have been one thing if they didn’t cave and say traded him.  But once they decided he was going to be their goaltender of the future, something I agree with by the way, they should have paid him before training camp started.  Instead, they set up their starting goaltender to fail just as they did their head coach. 

Of course, now that all of that is out of the way, I have complete faith in Swayman returning to form next season.  This will all be behind him and the team and he will hopefully have a full training camp to get ready for the season.  And I believed this before he went out and lead Team USA to their first World Championship in 93 years.  Swayman had a shut out in the Gold Medal game and went 7-0 in the tournament with a 1.69 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.  It wasn’t the most talented field ever, but there were a lot of NHL players.  This is just the thing Swayman needed to get his confidence back.     

The third way Sweeney set the team up to fail this season was something I pointed out heading into last off season which they never addressed and is something they really, really need to address this offseason.  They don’t have any goal scorers.  OK, I clearly should not say “any”.  They don’t have any goal scorers who don’t skate with Pastrnak.  Morgan Geekie became a second goal scorer once he started skating on the top line with Pastrnak but aside from the two of them, and that one line, they do not have anyone else who is a consistent goal scorer.  To illustrate that point, Brad Marchand, who was traded at the deadline while he was out with an injury, ended the season as the Bruins third highest goal scorer.  He only played 61 games for the Bs.  No one else on the team broke the 20-goal mark.  147 players in the league scored at least 20 goals.  The Bruins finished the season with only two of them on their roster.   It was obvious that they needed more goal scorers and they failed to get any in the offseason. 

Those are the three main reasons the season went as bad as it did.  Add into that the injuries to McAvoy and Lindholm and the Bruins ended up pretty much where I expected them to.  But all is not lost.  This team can turn things around in a hurry if they make the right moves this offseason.  They have a lot of options so let’s break them down. 

The first thing the Bruins need to do is find a new head coach.  I don’t know enough about coaching in hockey to say who they should go get.  I don’t believe Sacco is either.  Who is?  Hopefully they will figure it out.  If I had to bet on who it will be, I would bet on the coach of Providence, Ryan Mougenel.  I only say this because he will be cheap, they know him and have a relationship with him, he knows all of the young guys in the organization, and he led the P-Bruins to their first play-off series win in almost a decade.  I have no idea if he can coach, but he seems like the easy answer and that is right up the Bruins ally.  Sweeney recently said that some of the candidates they want to interview for the job are still coaching.  Obviously, he is referring to NHL assistant coaches but that would also apply to Mougenel.  Who ever it is, they really need to be an offensive minded coach.  Someone who can boost the players’ output.  Someone who can get their power play going (29^th in the league this year) and make it a weapon.  They need to figure out who the best guy is and then they need to sign him to a multi-year contract.  (obviously any coach will get term on his contract). 

Once they have a new leader (or even before), the Bruins then have to decide which of their pending free agents they want to retain.  This has become harder than you would think with after the trades the team made at the deadline.  They can only have 20 skaters on the roster.  If they are going to bring in a free agent or two to bolster the talent, that means some guys will have to go.  And if they want to play some of the kids (god forbid they actually do that), that means more guys will have to depart.  So who should stay and who should go. 

First up is Morgan Geekie.  I cannot fathom why some people think there is a decision to be made here.  This is an easy no brainer.  They absolutely need to re-sign Geekie.  Good thing is that Sweeney said he would be a Bruin going forward.  Geekie, of course, is a restricted free agent so that’s easy to say.  Why is this a no brainer.  Well, for one, he actually puts the puck in the net.  He’s the first Bruin, not named Pastrnak of course, to score more than 30 goals since Marchand did it in 2022.  He is only 26 years old and just coming into his prime. He has scored more goals in every successive season he has played so it’s a natural progression and not just a fluke season (see Coyle, Charlie).  He has great chemistry with Pastrnak and would have scored more goals if he skated on that line all season.  This is the easiest decision a team can make.  You finally find a good young goal scorer then you sign him long term. 

The second guy I think the Bruins should sign before he hits the market is the defenseman they acquired from Buffalo at the dead line, Henri Jokiharju.  I thought the 25-year-old played some good solid defense for them.  He isn’t much of an offensive player but he seemed to be to be a steady stay at home defenseman.  He seemed like he was really smart with the puck and made good decisions.  He was a plus 7 in the 18 games he played for the Bruins which meant he ended the season second on the team in plus minus.  He’s not cheap but he shouldn’t be too expensive either.  He is definitely someone they want to bring back. 

Mason Lohrei is someone I wouldn’t think I would have to mention.  He is a restricted free agent but clearly the Bruins are going to bring him back.  He had a rough year, especially plus/minus wise (worst in NHL) but he was forced to play as the number one defense man once McAvoy and Lindholm were injured and that was way above where he should have been.  Next season he will be a better player and he will be slotted into a lower pairing.  I expect him to have a much better season.    

My guess is that they will re-sign Wortherspoon as he will be cheap and is an OK 7^th defenseman.  Personally, I would let him walk.  I definitely wouldn’t pay him much more than the $800,000 he made this past season. 

Cole Koepke and Tyler Pitlick are both UFAs.  If they are willing to sign two-way contracts so they can be stashed in Providence, then fine, they should do that.  If not, I would let them both walk.  That would clear up 2 spots either way. 

I would re-sign Jakub Lauko.  He’s a good 4^th liner.  He couldn’t score in a whore house with a fist full of hundreds, but he is fast and draws penalties.  And maybe more importantly, he is supposed to be good friends with Swayman.  Anything that helps the goaltender play better is a good thing. 

I can’t imagine they traded for Marat Khusnutdinov just to let him walk.  He wasn’t productive and is an RFA so I can’t imagine he’d get interest from anyone else.  So figure he will be back.  And he will be cheap. 

And finally, the last RFA is John Beecher.  I assume the 4^th line next season will be Kastalic, Beecher and Lauko.  Thus, they will re-sign Beecher.   Aside from Geekie and Henri, none of these guys make any real money and can easily be healthy scratches, sent to Providence, traded away or even cut if other players step up and take their spots in the lineup.  So re-signing them really doesn’t hurt their ability to improve the team. 

So this gives them a line up so far of…

Geekie—Lindholm—Pastrnak

NA—NA—NA

Mittlestadt—Zacha—Khusnutdinov

Kastelic—Beecher—Lauko

So they have to fill three spots with free agents or young guys (obviously the middle two lines can be shuffled around).  I think the best way to fill those spots would be to go out and sign one big free agent and use young guys to fill in the other two spots.  Or they could trade for a guy if they feel there isn’t a free agent worth signing.  Now, it’s hard to say who they should target in free agency because there is no way of telling which pending free agents will re-sign with their current teams before we get to free agency.  For instance, I would expect Mich Marner to reup with Toronto before hitting the market.  Will he?  Can’t say for sure.  I also wouldn’t want the Bruins to sign him but he’s the top free agent so he’s the easy example. 

It is also hard to tell how much cap space the Bruins will have when free agency opens.  They have $25,452,777 in cap space.  However, as I mentioned above, they have a lot of RFAs and some UFAs to re-sign.  That is going to eat up a lot of their space.  Especially Geekie.  Geekie is going to make a lot of money.  He was tied for 26^th in the league in goals.  He is a RFA and arbitration eligible.  Maybe being an RFA keeps the price down a bit.  But what is he going to make?  $6 mil?  I would say that is the minimum.  I’m guessing $8 mil.  I mean if you look at the Bruins offense, he clearly should be the second highest paid guy and Lindholm makes $7.75 million.  Maybe the Bruins can get him to take a smaller cap hit if they give him 8 years.  Or maybe they can get him to take a small bridge contract.  Sort of a “show me this is really the player you are” 2-year deal and kind of kick the can down the road a bit. 

So even if we split the difference and get it down to $7 mil.  That brings the cap room down to about $18 mil.  Now they have to sign Jokiharju.  He made $3.1 mil this year.  He is a UFA so there is no reason for him to take any less.  Say he gets a small bump and is at $3.7 to $4.0.  Now they are down to about $14 mil.   

If the rest of the RFAs combine to make $5mil, that gets them down to $9mil.  That’s one really good player.  Now, there are some ways they could create some more cap space.  They could trade Korpisalo and have Providence’s Micheal DiPietro be the backup goalie.  DiPietro was the top goalie in the AHL last season (he won their version on the Vezina) and should be a cheap resign (both he and Bussi are free agents to be).  Korpasalo has said he doesn’t like being the back up and not playing a lot of games so it may be better for both sides.  Even if DiPietro, who made $775,000 last season makes a million as a rookie goalie, that would give the Bruins 2 more million in cap space.  To me, this is a no brainer.  Just have to find someone to take Korpisalo. 

The second thing they can do is try to trade Hampus Lindholm.  Hampus has proven that he is a regular season player.  In the three years he made the playoffs with the Bruins he absolutely disappeared.  These are not the type of guys you win play-off series with.  He needs to go.  However, this will be very hard as he has a no movement clause and is coming off an injury.  If they can find a trade to give him a way for nothing (picks and/or prospects), they can save $6.5 mil.  Now, they would have to replace him in the line up but you can do that with a guy that makes like $3.0 mil and save $3.5 mil.  Combining the savings between Lindholm and Korpisalo would give them an extra 5 to 8 mil in cap space.  That would allow then to acquire another very good player. 

Now, what would be the best use of what ever cap space they have?  Well, there is no way for me to know who may be available in the trade market.  I do know the Bruins have a lot of tradeable assets.  They acquired a lot of draft capital at the trade dead line and they have a bunch of young guys in Providence, who are clearly never going to play regularly for the Bruins, and a few guys on the roster that would all be tradable.   They need to use these assets to better the team for this up coming season. 

As far as the free agent market goes, it’s kind of slim pickings, and that before teams start re-signing players.  I would want to avoid older players.  Try to get some guys that will be productive for a while. The two best guys on the market, again, I don’t want Marner, are two guys from Vancouver.   The first one is Brock Boeser.  The 28-year-old right winger scored 25 goals and had 25 assists last season.  He netted 40 goals the season before.  Boeser is one of the few guys under 30 who can put the puck in the net.   The other Canuck is Pius Suter.  He is about to turn 29 and scored 25 goals and had 21 assists last year playing center.   I think either of these guys would be someone to consider.  I don’t know if both will hit the market but you would think at least one of them will.  Another young scorer who could hit the market is Ryan Donato.  He had a break out year last season scoring 31 goals but I do not trust guys who suddenly break out in their contract year.  I would stay away.  That’s pretty much it for guys who will be under 30 next season.  Like I said, slim pickings.  But whether through free agency or trades, the Bruins need to add a 30 plus goal scorer to this team if they want to compete next season.

This brings us to the draft.  There is one guy in this draft class I want the Bruins to draft, Michael Misa.  Misa is going to be a top 2 pick in the draft.  The Bruins needed to win the lottery to get a chance at him.  As everyone expected, the Bruins not only did not win the lottery but they fell back two spots and will now be picking 7^th.   If I were the Bruins, I would try like hell to trade up to the two spot (assuming the Islanders pick the kid everyone expects to go 1) to take Misa.  I can’t imagine why San Jose would trade the second pick, but it’s worth a shot.  Assuming they can’t get the second pick, I would consider using the pick to trade for a good young goal scorer.  Emphasis on the young.  I would not trade the pick for anyone in their 30s.   Whoever they do pick in the two-player draft, will most likely take years before making their way to the NHL.  In other words, even if they find the right player, and let’s face it, there is a very slim chance they pick the right guy, he is not going to help the team this season.  Whoever they do pick better be big.  One of the problems the Bruins have with developing guys is that they want big burly guys who can throw their weight around in front of the net and in the corners.  Yet they draft little finesse guys like Lysell and Poitras.  Guys like this are never going to be able to play like Cam Neely.  If they want everyone on the team to be bashers then they need to draft big guys.  Personally, I think a team should be a mix of big guys and finesse guys but they have made it clear that Pastrnak is to be the only skilled guy on the team. 

The reason I want the Bruins to trade all their draft capitol for a player to help them this season is because they actually have some young guys coming that could help in the future.  The team needs help now.  Use the draft picks to get guys for now rather than guys you hope will help 3 years from now. 

I know everyone says the Bruins have nothing in the minors and no prospects coming up but I disagree.  No one knows if any of these guys will be able to play in the NHL, but they all seem to have some good potential.  I have already mentioned Lysell, Poitras, and DiPietro.  The Bruins also have Fraser Minton, the 21-year-old center they got form Toronto at the deadline.  He played 11 games for the P Bruins and scored 3 goals and had 4 assists.  They also have an intriguing prospect in Dan Locmelis.  They drafted Locmelis in the 4^th round in 2022.  He played at UMass last year and put up 33 points in 40 games.  After his NCAA season ended. Locmelis went to Providence and in just 6 games had 3 goals and 9 assists.  He played for Latvia in the Worlds and had a good tournament.  Even Sidney Crosby had good things to say about him.  In 7 games he had 4 goals and two assists.  In his 13 games since leaving UMass, he scored 7 goals and 11 assists.  Now, it’s a small sample size, tiny really, but it shows promise.  Now, he is not a big guy (6’0, 177) and I don’t know how he does in front of the net but he looks like he might be able to produce goals.  That’s the one trait I am looking for. 

The there is Will Zellers.  They got him at the trade deadline as well.  Last season Zellers, another small player, played in the UHSL.  Not the greatest league in the world.  However, he dominated.  In 52 games Zellers scored 44 goals and had 27 helpers.  They only played two playoff games but he had a goal and 2 assists.  He won the Dave Tyler Junior Player of the Year Award.  The year before last, playing for his prep school, he had 57 goals and 54 assists in 54 games.  He keeps dominating what ever level he is playing at.  Next year he will be going to North Dakota.  If he plays there like he has everywhere else, he won’t be there long.  

After last season it may seem like the Bruins are a long way off from competing for the Cup again but it’s not as bad as it seems.  For one, they have Pastrnak, who, no matter what Mike Felger tries to tell you, is a top 5 player in the league.  They have a good goalie and a solid defense core when it’s healthy.  The Pastrnak, Geekie, Elias Lindholm line should be a top line in the league next season. It’s a good start. They just need to find the right coach, sign and/or trade for another big-time goal scorer, and resign the guys they want to keep.  Now, do I trust Sweeney to make all the right moves?  Not really.  But they are in position this offseason to make a leap back into contention if they get it right.