3 Positive Takeaways from Bruins’ 2025-26 Season

Morgan Geekie, who signed a six-year contract last summer to become part of the long term plans for this team, led the Bruins in goals with 39. He hit new career highs for both goals and points (68). Elias Lindholm, who also signed a long term deal prior to the 2024-25 season, had 17 goals and 48 points, almost matching his 2024-25 totals despite appearing in less games in 2025-26.

Arguably, most important, Jeremy Swayman bounced back from a disappointing 2024-25. He finished the 2025-26 season with a 31 – 18 – 4 record with a 2.71 goals against average (GAA) and a .908 save percentage. While these are slightly below his career averages, he put up these numbers while playing behind one of the worst defenses he’s had in the NHL, only rivaled by what was in front of him in 2024-25. He faced the fourth-most high-danger shots in total, and fifth-most high-danger shots per 60 (8.38) amongst the 37 goalies who played a minimum of 2,000 minutes. He had a .838 save percentage in high-danger situations, sixth highest amongst goaltenders.

Swayman was arguably the most consistent player for the Bruins in 2025-26, keeping the team involved in games they had no business being in at times. His efforts earned him a finalist slot for the Vezina Trophy.

The Bruins do not lack talent. They have a great core group of players that was on full display in 2025-26, and they won’t start hitting free agency until 2030. Now the question becomes whether or not Sweeney is capable of building around the core he’s put together. But that is a question for another day.

Emergence of the “Kid Line”

After several seasons of struggling to get exciting prospects into the pipeline and onto the Bruins’ roster, there was finally a breakthrough in 2025-26. In the final few games of the regular season and into the postseason, head coach Marco Sturm was running the ‘kid line’ on the third line, composed of their three youngest players: Fraser Minten (21), Marat Khusnutdinov (23), and James Hagens (19). 

For Minten, he is the obvious headliner of this group. Acquired in the Brandon Carlo deal at the 2024-25 trade deadline, he has quickly grown into one of the best additions brought in by Sweeney at the 2025 deadline. The young forward had 17 goals and 35 points in 82 games, his first full NHL season. He was also a plus-21 with a 49.3% faceoff win percentage. He demonstrated growth throughout the season, making improvements from the start to end of the season, and earning himself NESN’s 7th Player Award. There is still room for him to grow, but there is definite excitement around him as the 2025-26 season moves to the rearview mirror.

Khusnutdinov was also a 2025 trade deadline acquisition following his struggles to find his footing with the Minnesota Wild. While he initially was a healthy scratch at several points during the start of the season, like Minten, he grew and improved over the course of 2025-26. He finished the season with 15 goals and 33 points in 77 games. 

The newest to the kid line is Hagens, who signed his entry level contract following the conclusion of his sophomore season at Boston College. The Bruins’ 2025 first-round pick, seventh overall selection, has a lot of expectations surrounding him. In a limited showing, appearing in only two games during the regular season and three games during the postseason, he showed flashes of potential. He was recently named to Team USA for the IIHF World Championships, giving him a chance to gain more comfort and experience playing with and against the top talent in the world.

There is reason to be excited about the Bruins’ youth movement at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season. Hopefully next season will bring more opportunities to see these three guys playing together and continuing to grow in the NHL.

Marco Sturm is the Right Guy

It was far from a perfect season for the Bruins, but in his first year as head coach, Marco Sturm did a solid job. I truly think he got the most out of the roster that he was provided by Sweeney and the front office. This was not a team expected to make the playoffs, but they did, turning it around in only his first season helming the ship.

A number of guys reached new career highs in 2025-26. Geekie and McAvoy have already been mentioned, but Pavel Zacha hit 30 goals for the first time in his career and a new high in points (65). Casey Mittelstadt matched his career high in goals (15) and Mark Kastelic had career highs in both goals (12) and points (22). These successes are obviously not entirely on coaching, but does demonstrate that Sturm made good decisions throughout the season to put guys in positions that gave them opportunities to flourish. 

Sturm won over the locker room, getting the guys to buy in, and believe in him, which is always important for a first year coach. He also clearly has the front office in his corner.

Again, there are things to improve on for next season, the most pressing is figuring out the penalty kill, and stopping the bad turnovers. But for a first year coach, this season was a win and has certainly earned the trust of the front office, team, and fan base to see what he can do moving forward.

Offseason Decisions

The Bruins are a week into the offseason with some big decisions ahead of them that need to be tackled. They have unrestricted free agents in Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke as well as a draft to prepare for at the end of June. The Bruins will have $16.5 million in cap space, and with no pressing, expensive contract extensions that need to be given, they have the wiggle room to go out and sign a good name in free agency. The question becomes, do they go all in on a center or a defenseman? 

It’s a tough question. While the Bruins defensive issues in 2025-26 were not entirely the fault of the blue line, something does need to be done to stop leaving Swayman out to dry on almost a nightly basis. On the other hand, while they have exciting young centers in Minten and Hagens, how much should they be betting on them taking leaps forward next season? Or would it be better to bring in an already established top end center? Though, that also brings up a lot of question marks given Sweeney’s track record and proclivity to prioritize “grit” players in free agency.

All to be said, while the 2025-26 season is officially behind the Bruins, there is a lot to look forward to in 2026-27. If the front office can nail this offseason, combined with if the team is able to build on their successes from this past season, Boston could be a real contender next season.