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These latest free-agent signings bear the question: Have the Bruins not learned their lesson?
"We were an easy out. And I just, I can't stand for that."
COMMENTARY
The 2025-26 Bruins were not a move or two away from putting out the fires that turned a promising campaign to ash the previous winter.
But as Don Sweeney, Cam Neely, and the rest of Boston’s top brass focused on the task of righting the ship after a season gone awry, one thing became evident.
Be it through free agency, trade, offer sheets, or putting Neely himself back out on the frozen sheet, the Bruins were going to have to add some scoring punch this summer.
Boston is banking on Jeremy Swayman regaining his form in net. A porous defense should regain some rigidity with Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy patrolling the blue line.
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But, an internal fix was never going to be in the cards for a lackluster forward corps that labored in 2024-25 when it came to generating quality chances — let alone actually firing pucks into twine.
After taking haymakers from the Panthers in back-to-back postseasons, the Bruins opted for truculence and snarl last offseason in hopes of landing counter-punches during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Instead, Boston came up woefully short in its pursuit of outright punching its ticket to the postseason — with a roster short on speed and high-end skill often left rudderless, night in and night out.
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Something had to change in Boston’s roster composition — and outright DNA — if a reworked roster was going to hold its own in today’s NHL.
“Obviously, David [Pastrnak] and Morgan [Geekie] had terrific offensive years, and so we need to be able to complement that in a much better fashion,” Sweeney said at Boston’s end-of-season presser in April. “But I think the scoring potential of our group needs to be increased and addressed this summer.
“We need to get back to the competitive level, the speed and defending with the conviction that we have been doing.”
It’s one thing to preach those hard truths confronted after a disastrous season — one that that slammed a contention window shut and ended with your former captain hoisting the Stanley Cup in a Panthers’ sweater.
But, to actually adhere to those other principles is another ask entirely.
At least, that seems to be the feeling among Bruins fans after months of change has now manifested into a roster that feels all too familiar.
With more than $12 million in cap space, the Bruins didn’t have the means in free agency to go big-game hunting for top targets on the open market like Nikolaj Ehlers on Tuesday. Other intriguing options like Brock Boeser took themselves out of the running before the offseason feeding frenzy could fully commence.
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But after bringing aboard a speedy winger with 20-goal capabilities in Viktor Arvidsson via trade with the Oilers, Sweeney and the Bruins allocated a majority of their remaining cap space piling up bottom-six skaters noted for their punishing approach — but lacking when it comes to offensive upside.
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“We have guys that are self-starters,” Sweeney said. “We have guys that are going to show up in practice. We have guys that are going to show up when the whistle blows and drag people in with them. And if they aren’t dragged in, then they won’t play.”
The 2025-26 Bruins might be more willing to be dragged into the flight with this personnel in place. But it remains to be seen if their fortunes will be any different than the 2024-25 squad when it comes to those offensive deficiencies.
Rather than take a flier on potential middle-six wingers who could potentially pop 20 goals like Evgenii Dadonov (one year, $1 million deal with New Jersey), Andrew Mangiapane, or Jack Roslovic, Boston stuffed its depth chart with checking-line regulars.
In a vacuum, there shouldn’t be any qualms about adding a hard-nosed forward like old friend Sean Kuraly or Mikey Eyssimont on a short-term deal for reasonable money.
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The concern is when the Bruins then make that type of skillset the primary focus of their free-agency additions, headlined by the five-year, $17 million contract that the team awarded pugnacious winger Tanner Jeannot.
Jeannot is an on-ice battering ram, landing 1,083 hits over the last five seasons. Only three forwards in the NHL have recorded more hits over that same extended stretch.
But after scoring 24 goals over 81 games during the 2021-22 season, Jeannot has only lit the lamp 20 times over the last three seasons — averaging just 6.7 goals per year.
In some respects, Jeannot stands as the on-ice encapsulation of the 2024-25 Bruins, a group that was third in the NHL in hits … and 28th in goals scored.
Not exactly a winning formula.
But for Sweeney and Boston’s decision-makers, Jeannot was a much-needed deterrent — especially on a Bruins roster set to incorporate younger talent over the next few seasons.
“The younger skilled players we plan to incorporate moving forward are going to need a little breathing room,” Sweeney said of Jeannot’s impact. “I think Tanner’s going to bring a lot of that. The room itself, his leadership skills, how he prepares to play the game, I think that all just boils over into what we need to continue to improve upon.”
The irony, of course, is that it’s uncertain if the Bruins will even be able to carve out steady minutes for a host of youngsters this upcoming season, especially after filling out the rest of the lineup with veteran scrappers.
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If the Bruins are bracing for a lean year as they await the arrival of James Hagens and other younger players, one potential silver lining in 2025-26 could be the continued development of players like Fraser Minten, Matt Poitras, and Fabian Lysell.
But, it’s unclear how much rope those youngsters will be handed this year, especially when tasked with leapfrogging multiple veterans on the roster.
The 2024-25 season saw the Bruins post middling return after middling return as they ran through the carousel of wingers like Max Jones, Riley Tufte, Oliver Wahlstrom, Vinni Lettieri and others — waiting until the doldrums of late March to finally gives players like Minten and Lysell a look.
A similar scenario could easily play out again in 2025-26 if Marco Sturm and his staff opt for stability and security found in established NHL players over the growing pains (put potential rewards) drawn out of unproven commodities in Boston’s prospect pipeline.
The writing is on the wall that the Bruins are focused on long-term contention in lieu of short-term gains. At least one could glean that following Tuesday’s uninspiring string of signings.
But, Sweeney pushed back against that assertion.
In the eyes of Boston’s front office, this pugnacious grouping is better equipped to handle the challenges that await in a division featuring the Panthers, Maple Leafs, Lightning, and several other uber-skilled teams on the upswing like the Habs and Senators.
“We were at times last year — even when we had our group — we were an easy out,” Sweeney said. “And I just, I can’t stand for that. So we are going to reestablish that.”
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The 2025-26 Bruins should be a pain in the rear to battle on the ice. They’ll be willing to stick up for one another in a scrum, and drag their linemates into the fracas when the temperature rises.
The likes of Jeannot and Eysimmont will be ready and willing to drop the gloves and beckon the likes of Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand into a scrap.
The willingness to engage will be there.
But, the talent and skill required to make an opponent pay on the scoreboard, rather than in a round of fisticuffs, is far from a certainty on this current Boston roster.
Sound like a squad you know?
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