Projecting the Providence Bruins Opening Night Lineup

The Providence Bruins will open the 2025-26 season on Saturday, October 11th, at the Bridgeport Islanders. They will play their first home game on Sunday, October 12th, against the Charlotte Checkers. Providence will look to make the Calder Cup Playoffs for the 13^th straight season. The last time the Bruins missed the playoffs was in 2012. So, with the 2025-26 season just a little over a month away, what could the starting lineup look like on Opening Night?

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Providence Bruins Forward

Jeffrey Viel – Patrick Brown – Riley Tufte
Alex Steeves – John Farinacci – Fabian Lysell
Joey Abate – Georgii Merkulov – Riley Duran
Ty Cheveldayoff – Dans Ločmelis – Dalton Bancroft
Brett Harrison
Brooklyn Kalmikov
Erik Middendorf
Jake Schmaltz

Fraser Minten and Matěj Blümel are expected to be in Boston when Providence starts the season, so the lineup is without both. A majority of their offense from 2024-25 will return as they bring back their top point scorer, along with their third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth point scorers. They did lose their top goal scorers as Vinni Lettieri signed with Toronto and Tyler Pitlick signed with Minnesota.

Providence Bruins Defense

Frederic Brunet – Colin Felix
Billy Sweezey – Max Wanner
Michael Callahan – Ty Gallagher
Jonathan Aspirot
Jackson Edward
Loke Johansson
Zachary Massicotte

The Bruins lost some of their defense as they signed elsewhere this offseason, but added Colin Felix. Providence has Frederic Brunet back, who had 25 points last season; he was also a +15.

Providence Bruins Goalie

Michael DiPietro
Luke Cavallin
Simon Zajicek

DiPietro is the main guy this season after Brandon Bussi signed with the Florida Panthers, who could likely get the start in Providence’s home opener for the Checkers. The question becomes who DiPietro’s backup will be. DiPietro finished last season going 26-8-5 with a 2.05 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage, and four shutouts. Cavallin comes from the defending Kelly Cup Champions in the Trois-Rivières Lions, and looks poised to be the backup. He went 19-10-2 with a 2.13 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage, and three shutouts. In the playoffs, he went 15-5-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average, a .948 save percentage, and three shutouts.