Bruins Sign Navrin Mutter To One-Year Extension

The Boston Bruins announced that AHL forward Navrin Mutter has been signed to a one-year, two-way contract extension. Mutter was a pending UFA through Group VI status, so this contract keeps him from hitting the open market.

Boston did not disclose the full financial terms of the contract beyond that it will contain an NHL cap hit of $850K, the new league minimum for 2026-27. According to PuckPedia, the deal carries a $95K AHL salary. That represents a modest pay bump for Mutter, whose previous contract contained a $70K AHL salary. Mutter is repped by Andrew & Dave Maloney of Maloney & Thompson Sports Management.

Mutter, 25, was acquired by the Bruins in a trade on March 12. The Nashville Predators dealt Mutter to the Bruins in exchange for former University of Denver star Massimo Rizzo and low-scoring winger Dalton Bancroft. Mutter ended up playing in 16 total games for Providence, 12 in the regular season and then four in the playoffs. His production in that span of games was just one goal, no assists, but offense has never been his calling card.

A 6’3″, 213-pound undrafted winger, Mutter has been able to carve out a career in professional hockey as a result of his work ethic and relentless physicality. In a four-year OHL career, Mutter only produced 58 points in 217 games. Mutter has not produced much offense regardless of what level he’s played at, as he has 21 points in 161 career AHL games, and had 11 points in a 33-game stint in the ECHL during the 2023-24 campaign.

But, as mentioned, Mutter has been able to hold down a spot in two NHL organizations thanks to his work ethic, character, and physical play. Players who have a similar value proposition at the professional level often try to refine their defensive game in order to be able to contribute to a penalty kill, but thus far Mutter has not been able to do so. That is the case throughout his professional career, including when he was in the ECHL with the Atlanta Gladiators.

While Mutter is of course a long-shot to have an NHL career, from his perspective, that’s still what he’s working towards and pushing for. And with this new extension, the door on getting into NHL games is technically not closed to him. But for Mutter to have any real prospect of not only earning an NHL call-up, but holding down a role on an NHL roster, he’ll likely need to show a greater level of versatility and defensive ability than he has so far – and bring more than just competitiveness and physicality to the table if offense is out of the question.