Bruins’ Farinacci Joins Crowded Group Competing for Bottom-Six Spots

Clearly, the front office still sees something in him as well after extending him a qualifying offer, something they did not do for seven of their RFAs earlier this summer. The question, though, becomes, with such a crowded group fighting for bottom-six spots, will he be able to distinguish himself enough at training camp to earn a spot?

Farinacci’s Professional Career So Far

The 24-year-old was a third-round draft pick by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2019 NHL Draft, but he ultimately decided not to sign with the organization, becoming a free agent out of college. He played three seasons at Harvard University, the same place his cousin and former Bruin, Ryan Donato, spent three seasons.

After signing with the Bruins after college, Farinacci made his professional hockey debut in the 2023-24 season in Providence. He put together a solid rookie season, registering 12 goals and 38 points in 71 games. He garnered a reputation as a solid two-way forward with a strong defensive game. 

In 2024-25, he continued to work hard and make improvements. He hit 38 points again, but did it in only 58 games, and earned himself his first call-up to the NHL.

Bruins’ Crowded Bottom-Six

Before the start of free agency, I think it would have been fair to say that Farinacci had a decent shot at potentially earning a bottom-six spot out of training camp. He’s done well in Providence and would be a cheap option that could fill in holes and potentially be the next Cole Koepke to take people by surprise with a great preseason. 

Now, the bottom-six spots, particularly the fourth line, may be the most hotly contested positions at the Bruins’ 2025 training camp. There are recent signings in Tanner Jeannot, Mikey Eyssimont, Sean Kuraly, and Matej Blumel. There’s also Johnny Beecher and Mark Kastelic returning from last season. Then you have Matthew Poitras and Fraser Minten, who should both get chances at the third line center spot and maybe even the second line if Casey Mittelstadt stumbles at all. Marat Khusnutdinov will also be an interesting guy to watch to see where he ends up in the lineup, whether that is the second or third line. Finally, there are Georgii Merkulov and Fabian Lysell, who should get the preference over Farinacci out of the guys coming up from Providence. 

Really, outside of Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, and David Pastrnak, who will almost a hundred percent be the top line unless Pavel Zacha somehow gets his game to the next level, there are question marks throughout the lineup. In particular, questions revolve around where goals will be coming from as the Bruins finished 2024-25 ranked 31st in shot attempts and 29th in shots on net at even strength. Outside of Viktor Arvidsson, they haven’t brought in any proven goal-scoring help, instead creating an influx of physical, two-way style players, like Farinacci.

Farinacci will still be an interesting guy to watch in training camp to see if he leapfrogs any of the other names above and gets one of those coveted spots. But the odds are certainly stacked higher against him now than they were when the 2024-25 season initially came to a close. Unfortunately, he hasn’t proven to be a possible solution for the Bruins’ goal-scoring issues. He’s put up solid numbers in the AHL, but nothing that indicates yet that he’s ready for anything more than a bottom-six role at the NHL level. But, of course, things can always change. 

The front office must see something in Farinacci to bring him back for another season, especially when that RFA group they didn’t extend qualifying offers to included Jakub Lauko, who spent the 2024-25 season playing at the NHL level, and Oliver Wahlstrom, a 2018 first-round pick who appeared in 43 NHL games last season. But it will not be an easy task for him to make the roster out of training camp.

2025 Offseason Soldiers On

With training camp just under two months away, there is still a lot of time to speculate who will be making the Bruins’ opening night roster. With all the changes that were made to the roster at the 2025 Trade Deadline, Boston has the most question marks they’ve had in years. There will be plenty of opportunities for guys to prove themselves, and hopefully, the front office, led by general manager (GM) Don Sweeney, will finally be willing to give opportunities to young guys. The free agency moves cast some doubt in that direction, but for now, there’s still reason to be optimistic that young guys, particularly Poitras, Minten, Khusnutdinov, Lysell, and Merkulov, may get more playing time and legitimate opportunities in 2025-26. 

But until September, all that can be done is speculate and guess at what may happen. Hopefully, like last season, there will be some pleasant surprises. Farinacci very well could be one. If not, expect him to be a guy who gets a call-up at some point during the 2025-26 season.