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Mapping out Bruins’ offseason to-do list: A coaching call, top-five pick, and money to burn
"Obviously, it’s a win or nothing in here.”
Nikita Zadorov is expecting a busy summer for the Bruins.
Beyond the urgency that comes with course-correcting a “win-now” roster that plummeted in the standings, the bruising blueliner harped on the need to retool around a team anchored by several franchise stalwarts — many of whom are in their prime.
“I mean, what — are they going to be wasting Pasta’s years? I mean, I don’t have many years left,” Zadorov said at the team’s break-up day last week. “Both Lindys [Hampus and Elias Lindholm] C-Mac [Charlie McAvoy]. So obviously, it’s a win or nothing in here.”
“Win or nothing” has been the mantra for the Bruins for nearly a decade under the stewardship of Don Sweeney and Cam Neely.
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But Boston’s top brass have a daunting task in front of them when it comes to retrofitting a depth chart that had severe deficiencies in just about every area on the ice in 2024-25.
It remains to be seen if the Bruins have the resources — and outright guile — to construct a contending club in just a year or two.
But a heap of available cap space, a potential top-five pick, and several other assets could help the Bruins at least right the ship and start building up a revamped core in the coming years.
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Here’s a look at some of the most pressing matters that Sweeney must address this summer.
Make a call on a head coach
Speaking last week, Joe Sacco expressed a desire to return next season as Boston’s bench boss.
Boston ultimately posted a 24-30-6 record under Sacco after the longtime assistant coach took over for Jim Montgomery. The Medford native was unable to reverse a flawed team’s misfortunes, although Morgan Geekie acknowledged that his coach had an unenviable task in front of him.
“He was put in a tough situation, for sure — just with where the team was at the time,” Geekie said last week. “And he did a great job of rallying us together. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t compete every night for him.”
Sweeney and the Bruins have yet to make a call on Sacco’s future. But as the Bruins prioritize developing a new wave of young talent and shaking up a system that saw severe regression on both defense and special teams, the case can be made that Boston’s coaching staff is due for an overhaul.
There should be plenty of coaching candidates out on the market, especially when it comes to established, tone-setting bench bosses like Peter Laviolette, Gerard Gallant, or John Tortorella.
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But if the Bruins are really looking to swing big as they pen a new chapter, the team should be looking for the next Spencer Carbery — rather than another retread who would only raise the ceiling so high for a retooling Bruins roster before eventually getting shown the door in another year or two.
University of Denver head coach David Carle is expected to be a hot commodity, but the Bruins could also find promising head-coaching prospects already in the pro ranks with targets like Stars assistant coach Misha Donskov or old friend Marco Sturm (head coach of Kings AHL club Ontario Reign).
Find a potential franchise building block in the 2025 NHL Draft
The Bruins will have to wait a few more weeks to find out when exactly they will be on the clock in the 2025 NHL Draft.
As the holders of the fifth-worst record in the NHL, the Bruins will have a shot at drafting as high as No. 1 overall — or as low as No. 7 — once the NHL Draft lottery is conducted next month.
Moving up into a top spot in the draft order would give Boston the chance to select a potential franchise blueliner in Matthew Schaefer, or a top-line talent in Michael Misa (62 goals, 134 points in 65 games with OHL’s Saginaw).
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But even if Boston slots into a more likely spot between 5-7, the team should be in the range to select an intriguing top-six talent at the center position between James Hagens, Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers, or Jake O’Brien.
The challenge, of course, is finding the right prospect who can eventually step into a featured role sooner rather than later — and supplement a core already operating at a high level between David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and others.
But beyond that prized first-round pick, Boston’s deadline fire-sale saw them add a haul of future selections — including a pair of 2025 second-round picks courtesy of the Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic trades.
As Boston looks to fill out its roster in the coming years with homegrown talent, hitting on a few more picks in a second round rife with steady blueliners (Carter Amico, Charlie Trethewey, Haoxi Wang, Max Psenicka) and middle-six forwards (Will Horcoff, Luca Romano, Ryker Lee) would bolster a barren prospect pipeline.
Dole out a long-term deal for Morgan Geekie
Morgan Geekie signed a two-year, $4 million contract with Boston in July 2023 with the expectation of being a bottom-six winger with more to give after limited reps in Seattle.
Few expected him to develop into a top-line winger next to David Pastrnak.
And while it remains to be seen if the 26-year-old winger can replicate the 33-goal production he submitted this year, the shoot-first forward is due a sizable pay raise after submitting a breakout season just as the NHL salary cap is set to spike.
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Boston does have the right to go to arbitration with a restricted free agent in Geekie, while the task of determining Geekie’s value in this shifting market might require some concessions made by all parties during contract talks.
But given Geekie’s seamless chemistry with Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm down the stretch (outscored opponents, 16-4, in 93:58 of 5-on-5 ice time), the Bruins should make every effort at retaining Geekie on a long-term deal.
A forward trio of Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak may not have the same star power as previous top lines in Boston like Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak.
But Boston is in desperate need of proven production moving forward, and stapling those two next to Pastrnak at least offers hope that the Bruins will have one forward grouping capable of tilting the ice in their favor.
Expect Boston to hand Geekie a long-term deal worth at least $5-6 million per year at some point this summer.
Determine who else stays and goes on Boston’s roster
Geekie is the most important asset that the Bruins must bring back on the roster.
But Sweeney and Co. also have to decide who else is worth retaining on a lackluster 2024-25 squad.
Other RFAs like Mason Lohrei and Marat Khusnutdinov will likely be retained on bridge deals.
But Boston also has to determine which other checking line forwards will return between Cole Koepke (UFA), Jakub Lauko (RFA), and Johnny Beecher (RFA). Additionally, Boston will have to make a call on pending free-agent blueliners like Henri Jokoharju and Parker Wotherspoon.
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Boston’s current logjam of middle-six centers under contract could also prompt the team to entertain trade offers for NHLers like Casey Mittelstadt ($5.75 million AAV through 2027) or a younger talent like Matt Poitras — especially if such a move recoups more draft capital or NHL talent.
One name worth keeping tabs on is backup netminder Joonas Korpisalo, who expressed a desire to play more in 2025-26 after only appearing in 27 games this year.
Given the surging salary cap, Boston might be better served finding a team that would properly utilize a player like Korpisalo — rather than carry a $3 million cap hit for an asset that was rarely used behind Jeremy Swayman.
Add a legitimate offensive threat — and help on the blue line
The Bruins are holding out hope for a return to form from Swayman and a porous defensive structure in 2025-26. But if this team is going to correct some of the flaws that doomed the 2024-25 campaign, it’s going to need to invest in some more scoring punch.
Boston ranked 26th in the NHL in 2024-25 with just 2.71 goals scored per game. Their 29th-ranked power play cashed in on just 15.2 percent of their opportunities, while Pastrnak (106 points) paced Boston’s second-leading scorer in Geekie by 49 points.
The Bruins are going to need some game-breaking talent up front in order to give Swayman and their defense a bit more margin for error.
Boston does have a projected $28.8 million in cap space this summer, but will need to be wise as far as how to allocate that fiscal flexibility.
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The Bruins’ most pressing need is a legitimate top-six center, but the options available in free agency are barren. Old friend Sam Bennett is arguably the best option on the market, but the pugnacious forward is the type of player a contending team signs to put them over the top — rather than a forward viewed as a legitimate play-driver on a retooling roster.
Barring a blockbuster trade manifesting itself (would a Canucks team staring at a crossroads look at moving Elias Pettersson’s hefty contract?) Boston’s best bet this summer is to bolster its roster at wing and let the center position marinate with the development of youngsters in Poitras, Fraser Minten and even Boston’s 2025 first-round pick.
Mitch Marner might command a deal this summer paying him over $12-14 million per year.
But the 28-year-old winger is the type of franchise fixture that — much like Pastrnak — can drive play on his own line for the foreseeable future. Other potential scoring wingers available in free agency include Nikolaj Ehlers and Brock Boeser.
Boston could also take a page out of the Blues’ book and use some of that cap space to entertain offer sheets for younger players like Matthew Knies, Will Cuylle, or even a center like Mason McTavish.
An underrated area of need for the Bruins? A steady right-shot defenseman who can slot into the vacancy created by Brandon Carlo’s exit. Andrew Peeke is a steady option on the right side, but he’s better served as a third-pairing option moving forward.
Get healthy
Plenty of things went wrong for the Bruins in 2024-25, including injuries to several key players.
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Be it Hampus Lindholm’s eventual season-ending knee injury in November, Charlie McAvoy’s shoulder turmoil at the 4 Nations Face-Off, a back injury that had Elias Lindholm playing catch-up in September, or Mark Kastelic’s concussion woes, the Bruins should benefit from a long summer of rest — and the clean slate offered up when camp opens again this fall.
That extended time off should also benefit Swayman, who will be able to enter camp without any distractions after last summer’s roller-coaster contract negotiations.
The Bruins can add scoring punch and augment their coaching staff this summer. But Boston’s hopes of turning a corner and leaving the 2024-25 season in a rearview won’t be tenable if Swayman can’t regain his form as a legitimate No. 1 netminder in 2025-26.
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