Schadenfreude and the 2025-26 Boston Bruins

Last season, the Boston Bruins’ run of eight consecutive playoff appearances came to a close. That recent run of playoff appearances included three first round victories over the Toronto Maple Leafs and one appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. They won the Atlantic Division twice and the President’s Trophy over that span of time. They did all of this after missing the playoffs only twice after coming out of their previous competitive window that saw them in the Stanley Cup Finals twice and winning it all in 2010-11.

The Bruins have always been able to avoid the long rebuild process and you’d have to go all the way back to *sigh* 1967 before seeing the Bruins miss the playoffs in more than two consecutive seasons. That’s a nice little legacy. No decade of darkness, no Ballard era, and while they had a 49 year Cup drought, they at least had five Stanley Cup finals appearances over that span to tide them over and bring some hope.

The Bruins missing the playoffs last season was nice to see but given that Boston was able to hang with the Red Wings, Canadiens, and Senators for most of the season and appear as a potential wild card option for the playoffs right up until the trade deadline, taking enjoyment from their demise was limited. This season seems like it will make up for that with a full blown suck fest coming out of Boston and should come with the disclaimer: enjoy it while you can.

While the Bruins aren’t as bad as their bottoming out roster of 1996-97, and there are plenty of teams that would love to have David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, and Charlie McAvoy at the top of their depth charts, and Elias Lindholm, Morgan Geekie, and Jeremy Swayman certainly give something for the Bruins to build around too, the Bruins are simply not a playoff team even with healthier versions of Lindholm and McAvoy likely to show up this fall.

The depth in the Bruins forward ranks erodes after Pavel Zacha’s spot on the depth chart with Casey Mittlestadt, Tanner Jeannot, and Victor Arvidsson all coming off lacklustre seasons, and the rest of the cast looking like capable of fourth liners and prospects trying to establish themselves as permanent bottom six forward fixtures.

The blueline quality understandably drops off significantly after Lindholm and McAvoy and looks like it will struggle to move the puck efficiently, a theme that looks like it will hold true outside of the Bruins top line as well.

Swayman has the potential to be a bright spot in net but was left treading water after his star blueliners were hurt last season. Without the strong supporting cast around him and Ullmark to push him, Swayman looks like he’s just wanting to hold onto the role long enough to survive the Bruins rebuild.

All of this should be enjoyable for a Leafs fan base that has been on the unfortunate side of the Bruins success for a number of years.

What is also encouraging from a schadenfreude perspective is that as things sit today, the Bruins cupboards are bare prospect wise, they are just now beginning to restock, and the Leafs have some control over their ability to do so. A good season (and playoff run) from the Leafs can limit the options of what the Bruins can do with what should already be a late first round pick.

The Bruins are also not bad enough that their likely lottery pick in 2026 will land them one of the potential superstars in the making available in the 2026 draft and no Joe Thornton or Sergei Samsonov will be walking through that door (and thanks to Leafs pick protection, no Tyler Seguin or Dougie Hamilton either.)

The reality of the NHL cap and free agency also will create a bit of an uphill climb for the Bruins to attract free agents. They had to throw an insane five year at $3,400,000 per season deal at Tanner Jeannot to bring him in this summer and it is doubtful that options will improve next season. The two year turnaround rebuild that the Bruins have been accustomed to might no longer be possible and it’s hard to imagine that many fans around the league are heartbroken by that.

Of course, history shows that the Bruins have always been able to find a way to right the ship and because of that it’s worth taking every little bit of joy possible from their 2025-26 season because tough years in Boston don’t come around too often.