Bruins’ Top 10 Prospects Entering the 2025-26 Season

In the time Minten was up in the NHL, he had three goals and two assists. While it’s not much to write home about, it’s still impressive considering it was his longest stretch at the NHL level in his career. At the AHL level in the 2024-25 season, he played in 37 regular season games, tallying nine goals and 11 assists.

If you factor in the fact that this was his first full professional season, the door is conceivably open for Minten to make the roster out of camp. He will likely not play every game and will fill in here and there, but it’s likely he will be up with the Bruins for longer in the 2025-26 season than he was before.

8. Jeffrey Viel (Forward)

Jeffrey Viel has been around the block a few times and has played a total of 349 AHL regular season games and 54 NHL games on top of that. He hasn’t quite made his mark on the NHL yet, but after putting up 108 points (45 goals, 63 assists), there is a chance he could this season. Of those 349 AHL games, he set a career-high with 17 goals in the 2023-24 season.

He was up with the Bruins for five games in the 2024-25 season, but didn’t crack the scoreboard at the NHL level. Viel is in the final year of a two-year deal with an average annual value of $775,000. Considering how low his cap hit is, he could potentially make the roster as a depth piece.

Another thing that Viel brings is his lack of fear of being physical on the ice. This was a position that was largely occupied by defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who led the league in penalty minutes last season. Viel could be a secondary physical presence on the ice and give opponents another player to steer clear of while also being a scoring threat.

7. Frederic Brunet (Forward)

Frederic Brunet made his NHL debut in the 2024-25 season, but was not able to record a point in the one game he played. As he has played more at the AHL level, though, he has improved each season. He has gone from playing one game in his first professional season, to 48 regular season games the next, and then last season, he played in 69.

While the number of games he has played has gone up, so have his scoring numbers. In his second season, Brunet had 12 points (two goals, 10 assists), and last season he tallied 25 points (five goals, 20 assists). While his goal-scoring numbers will not jump off the page, his assist numbers are what make him stand out as a prospect, especially at just 21 years old.

Brunet most likely will not join the team from the jump in the 2025-26 season. He does have the upside to the point that he may be called upon if needed or if some of the regulars need to rest throughout the season, and Boston is in a comfortable position to do so.

6. John Farinacci (Forward)

In the 2024-25 season, John Farinacci earned his first NHL opportunity, and he made the most of it, playing in one game and scoring his first NHL goal.

After not being able to agree on an entry-level deal with the Arizona Coyotes after finishing his playing days for Harvard University, Farinacci elected to sign with Boston. In two seasons with Providence, he has played in a combined 129 games. He has scored 22 goals and collected 54 assists as well.

Before the 2024-25 campaign, Farinacci looked like he was not much of a prospect for the Bruins, but with six multi-point games, the now 24-year-old seems primed to either make the team out of camp or at least make a larger impact than he did last season with the team in Boston.

5. Fabian Lysell (Forward)

Fabian Lysell has been on the list for far too long, and should all things go his way in 2025-26, he will be off it by the middle of the season at the latest. He has had lofty expectations put on him since he was drafted. However, since then, he has played in just 12 NHL games.

In those games, he has only contributed three points to his efforts (one goal, two assists). Part of his struggles to get anything going could be due to injury, but with a need at wing to start the season, this season may be when Lysell starts with the Bruins and sticks.

On one side of the spectrum, Lysell may have had career-lows in all categories last season with Providence with 11 goals and 23 assists (34 points) in 52 games, but on the other, he set a career-high with a plus-12 rating. On top of that, he played in 12 NHL games. Had those 12 NHL games been in the AHL with the P-Bruins, he would have finished with 64 regular season games played (the most since being drafted). He could have also finished with a higher goal total and/or assist total.

Lysell is on the bubble of making the roster going into the 2025-26 season; he’ll be one to watch in training camp for sure.

4. Georgii Merkulov (Forward)

Now, why Georgii Merkulov is not sticking in Boston is beyond me. Perhaps his scoring doesn’t translate to the NHL level, or maybe they think he needs more time in Providence, but either way, like the aforementioned Lysell, Merkulov very well could make the opening night roster for the Bruins.

In the four regular seasons that Merkulov has played for Providence, he has put up 179 points in 201 games (70 goals, 109 assists). The numbers are just flat-out ridiculous, and it leads fans (and media members alike) to wonder why he can’t score with that kind of ferocity at the NHL level.

Perhaps the 2025-26 season will be the one where he and/or Lysell stick at the NHL level, or perhaps Boston takes a look at them on a game-by-game basis and decides who to keep and who to dangle as trade bait for a missing piece at or near the trade deadline. Both could be valuable to any franchise. It’s a matter of who sees it first: Boston or someone else.

3. Dans Locmelis (Forward)

Fresh off finishing just his sophomore year at UMass Amherst, Dans Locmelis decided to sign an entry-level deal with the Bruins.

Locmelis took the league by storm as soon as he entered the AHL. In his first six games with the P-Bruins, he had 12 points (three goals, nine assists) and four multi-point games, including one against the Hartford Wolf Pack, where he tallied four points (one goal, three assists).

Locmelis is not expected to start the season in Boston, but it would come as no surprise to anyone if he lights up the AHL in his first full season with the P-Bruins and gets called up halfway through the season. Boston appears to have struck immediate gold with Locmelis as he readies himself for his first full season.

2. Ty Gallagher (Defenseman)

Ty Gallagher was a late addition to the Providence roster last season, but much like Locmelis, he made an immediate impact on his team. In his first professional game, he scored a goal, on the power play, no less. Granted, that was his only goal in 11 regular season contests, but Gallagher did add four assists to his tally before the regular season came to a close.

Gallagher is an excellent two-way defenseman and fills a void as a right-handed defenseman. Given his limited experience, chances are on the lower end of things that he actually makes the roster out of training camp, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he got a look at the NHL level by the end of the season.

In his last year of collegiate hockey, Gallagher blocked 62 shots, good for first on the team, but also racked up 26 points. The latter was good for a second place tie on the Tigers and first among defensemen. Gallagher is a true team player, and if the Bruins have a need for him at some point in the season, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone to see him get called up.

1. Michael DiPietro (Goaltender)

The top prospect in Boston’s system going into this season is goaltender Michael DiPietro. He will most likely serve on the cusp of, or actually be given the role of, backup goaltender to Jeremy Swayman. DiPietro’s numbers are one of the few on this list that truly do jump out at you.

In 40 games in net (39 starts), he collected 26 wins while only losing 13 (eight in regular, five in overtime/shootout). In the offseason, DiPietro signed a two-year NHL contract with the Bruins and is likely going to graduate from the prospect class relatively soon, but he has not played in the NHL since the 2021-22 season. He has yet to record his first NHL win, and this season could be when it finally happens.

In the 2024-25 season, DiPietro also collected a 2.05 goals-against average (GAA) and .927 save percentage (SV%). He also tied his career-high with four shutouts, giving him nine in his young career. While DiPietro has stated that he has enjoyed his time in Boston, it will be important for him to make a strong impression in camp for him to stay with the Bruins and not risk going through waivers.

Who Will Get Called Up First?

It’s difficult to tell who will get called up as Boston’s needs are fluctuating from a top scorer, to a backup goaltender, to a right-handed defenseman. Fans are hoping to see at least one of these 10 more consistently this season, but the ball is in general manager (GM) Don Sweeney and first-year head coach Marco Sturm’s court now.