The Boston Bruins officially reached the halfway point of the season Wednesday night with their 6-2 win over the Oilers in Edmonton. Not only was it their final game of calendar year 2025, but it was also their 41st game of the 82-game regular season.
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So naturally, it’s a good time to take a look at where this Bruins team is, and where they might be headed in the second half of the season, which we’ll do in the form of 10 thoughts:
Can this win spark another turnaround?
To state the obvious, this was a massive win for the Bruins. They had lost six in a row going in, and they were facing one of the hotter teams in the NHL, an Oilers squad that had a 9-3-1 record since Dec. 4. This looked like the toughest game on this five-game road trip, a trip that started with losses in Buffalo and Calgary.
It felt like things could have really spiraled for the Bruins with another loss or two. And maybe they still will, but beating Edmonton at least allows you to think about a turnaround. The final two legs of this road trip are against the bottom-feeding Vancouver Canucks and middling Seattle Kraken. The Bruins’ schedule when they return back home for five games isn’t the most intimidating either.
Remember, the Bruins have already done this once this season. They lost six in a row back in October, but bounced back by winning eight of their next nine as they started to climb the standings.
They’ll have to climb again if they hope to be a playoff team. Even after Wednesday’s win, they’re 14th in the Eastern Conference on points percentage. They are just two points behind eighth-place Buffalo (yes, Buffalo!), but have played two more games. It remains a very crowded field in the East.
Swayman heating up again?
A lot went right for the Bruins Wednesday night, but the single biggest difference in the game was goaltending. Jeremy Swayman was great for the Bruins. Connor Ingram was bad for the Oilers.
Swayman stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced, including a number of grade-A chances. In the first period alone, he stopped two Connor McDavid breakaways, plus another from Leon Draisaitl. According to MoneyPuck, Swayman denied all 12 high-danger shots he faced and saved a whopping 3.82 goals above expected.
Swayman was also good Monday night in Calgary. The Bruins have to hope this is the start of another Swayman hot streak. After an inconsistent October, Swayman was arguably the best goalie in the NHL in November, going 8-2-0 with a .934 save percentage. But then December was a rough month through Christmas, as Swayman was 3-5-1 with an .868 save percentage.
Fair or not, great goaltending just has to be part of the formula for this Bruins team to win on any kind of consistent basis. If they’re going to hang around until the Olympic break in February, Swayman needs to have a January that’s much closer to his November than his October or December.
The analytics remain concerning
The Bruins scored a season-high five 5-on-5 goals in Wednesday’s win. That was a welcome development, because the Bruins haven’t been good enough at 5-on-5. During their six-game losing streak, the Bruins had scored one or zero 5-on-5 goals five times. They had been outscored 16-6 at 5-on-5 overall.
On the season, the Bruins rank 15th in 5-on-5 scoring and 17th in 5-on-5 goals allowed. That’s right in the middle of the league. But it’s the advanced stats that paint a bleaker picture. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Bruins are 26th in expected goals for and 32nd in expected goals against. They’re 29th in high-danger chances for and 28th in high-danger chances against.
If you believe in analytics, that’s a big red warning sign that the success the Bruins were having wasn’t sustainable, and that this recent skid is closer to what they’ll ultimately be this season.
Power-play improvement has been big
If you’re going to have any shot of overcoming those 5-on-5 numbers, you need two things: Great goaltending, which we already covered, and great special teams.
The turnaround of the Bruins’ power play has been one of the most encouraging developments this season. After ranking 29th last year at a paltry 15.2%, the Bruins enter the new year ranked eighth in the NHL at 24.8%. They went 1-for-3 Wednesday night, with David Pastrnak opening the scoring on the man advantage – his first of three points on the night.
The personnel is largely the same, and it was always talented enough to be much better than it was last year. New assistant coach Steve Spott has been huge when it comes to getting the most out of this group, as he has helped improve their entries and find more go-to plays in-zone.
Among the key changes: Putting Pastrnak on his strong side more and getting him moving downhill towards the net, which makes him dangerous as both a shooter and passer. Utilizing Morgan Geekie more as the one-time option on the left. Using Elias Lindholm in the bumper more. Getting Charlie McAvoy moving and shooting more at the point. And effectively using the drop pass through the neutral zone to set up a double-barreled rush up the middle of the ice with Lindholm and Pavel Zacha.
Penalties, penalties, penalties
The Bruins’ penalty kill was also very good for two months, but it started to crack in December as Boston’s penalty troubles put more and more stress on it.
We covered this more in-depth earlier this week, but it bears repeating: the Bruins just cannot stay out of the penalty box, and it’s been a problem all season.
They pushed their luck again Wednesday night, giving the Oilers’ league-best power play five opportunities. Fortunately, Swayman and the PK were up to the challenge, killing off all five. It’s not a formula you want to keep testing, though. The Bruins desperately need to find a way to cut down on the number of penalties they take.
After Wednesday night, the Bruins’ PK stands at 80.3% on the season, 16th in the NHL. They’d love to have that unit climb back into the top 10, and not having to use it so much would help.
Geekie deal looking like a steal
Signing Morgan Geekie to a two-year, $4 million deal in 2023 was one of general manager Don Sweeney’s best free-agent signings. Signing him to a six-year, $33 million extension in June may go down as one of his best re-signings.
Geekie has already shown that his 33-goal breakout last season was no fluke, amassing 25 more goals in the first 41 games this season. While he has hit a little bit of a drought recently, he is still tied for second in the NHL in goals this season. His 50 goals in calendar year 2025 were second behind only Nathan MacKinnon. He did not make Canada’s Olympic team, announced Wednesday, but that he had even entered that conversation is a testament to what he’s done over the last year.
Simply put, Geekie now legitimately looks like one of the best goal-scorers in the world. And the Bruins have him locked up at $5.5 million per year through his prime seasons, which is tremendous value.
It’s not too early for trade talk
Again, the Bruins will obviously be hoping Wednesday’s win sparks a resurgence. But if it doesn’t, and they can’t make up ground in the playoff race, selling before the March trade deadline again becomes increasingly likely. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be as big of a firesale as last year. For starters, they can’t trade their captain again, because they don’t currently have one.
But you do have to wonder about pending free agents and players who might not be part of the Bruins’ long-term plans. The Bruins have five players on the roster who are set to become unrestricted free agents after the season: forwards Viktor Arvidsson, Alex Steeves and Jeffrey Viel, and defensemen Andrew Peeke and Jonathan Aspirot.
Viel probably has the least amount of value, although you never know if there’s a team looking for a depth forward who’s willing to drop the gloves. There are always teams looking for right-shot depth defensemen, so Peeke should have some value even though he’s been a bit inconsistent this season. Arvidsson has played fairly well when healthy (17 points in 29 games) and bounced back a bit after a tough year in Edmonton, so he could certainly have suitors.
Steeves and Aspirot are interesting. They’re both 26-year-old career AHLers who have capitalized on their opportunities in Boston and begun to establish themselves as NHL regulars. Does Don Sweeney see them as part of Boston’s future? Or does he see them as found money that might suddenly have trade value?
When it comes to players with term on their contracts, the most interesting remains Pavel Zach. He has value as a versatile, responsible middle-six forward, and his name has certainly popped up in plenty of trade rumors before. He’ll be 30 when his contract is up after next season, so at some point the Bruins will need to decide if he’s part of their plans beyond then, or if they want to cash in on him as a trade chip.
The Bruins have also popped up in a couple rumors as buyers, perhaps most notably with Vancouver Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood, a physical third-liner with some offensive pop and good wheels. But he’s 30 years old and a pending UFA. This really isn’t the season for the Bruins to be in the market for rentals, though. Younger players with term would be more attractive.
Going through the paces
Since we are halfway through the season, it’s easy to do some point projections, so here are some notable ones. I’m using these guys’ current point-per-game paces, and assuming health for 41 more games.
David Pastrnak: 36 goals, 58 assists, 94 points in 77 games
Morgan Geekie: 50 goals, 32 assists, 82 points in 82 games
Elias Lindholm: 14 goals, 44 assists, 58 points in 72 games
Pavel Zacha: 20 goals, 33 assists, 53 points in 81 games
Charlie McAvoy: 2 goals, 46 assists, 48 points in 70 games
Viktor Arvidsson: 17 goals, 24 assists, 41 points in 70 games
Casey Mittelstadt: 21 goals, 16 assists, 37 points in 72 games
Mason Lohrei: 4 goals, 28 assists, 32 points in 77 games
Tanner Jeannot: 8 goals, 23 assists, 31 points in 79 games
Fraser Minten: 12 goals, 18 assists, 30 points in 82 games
Alex Steeves: 22 goals, 8 assists, 30 points in 65 games
Hampus Lindholm: 7 goals, 22 assists, 29 points in 74 games
Positive prospect news
The turn of the year also means we’re smack in the middle of the World Junior Championships. And if you’re a Bruins fan, you have to like what you’re seeing there.
With group play now complete, Bruins prospect Will Zellers is tied for the tournament lead with five goals in four games, and leads Team USA with seven points. Fellow Bruins prospect James Hagens isn’t far behind with five points (2 goals, 3 assists). Hagens leads all USA forwards in ice time as the first-line center. Zellers has started every game on the fourth line, but coach Bob Motzko has moved him up to Hagens’ line in the second half of each of the last two games (suggestion: maybe just put them together for good).
Wednesday’s group stage finale wasn’t pretty for the Americans, as they lost 6-3 to Sweden. Zellers and Hagens at least tried to start a comeback, though, combining for a goal late in the second period to make it a 5-2 game. Zellers stole the puck in the defensive zone and sprang Hagens in transition, and then Hagens fired a shot off the rush that produced a rebound for Zellers to poke in. After finishing second in their group, the U.S. will next face Finland in the quarterfinals on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
Bruins fans are obviously well aware of Hagens, the team’s seventh overall pick in 2025 who plays at Boston College. Those who weren’t as aware of Zellers should be now. The Bruins acquired him from Colorado in March as part of the Charlie Coyle trade, and his stock has only risen since then. As a freshman at North Dakota, he is second on the team in goals with 10 in 18 games, and is tied for third in points with 15. He wasn’t even on Team USA’s initial camp roster for World Juniors, but was a late addition and ultimately gave them no choice but to pick him. They’re certainly glad they did right about now.
In other news regarding Boston’s top prospects, 2024 first-round pick Dean Letourneau leads Boston College with 11 goals in 18 games and is tied for the team lead in points with 19. He has scored in five straight games. It’s been a pretty remarkable turnaround after not scoring a goal all of last season as a freshman. Those declaring Letourneau a “bust” may have been just a tad premature.
Draft position update, and one early target
Just like it’s not too early to think about trades, it’s also not too early to think about the 2026 draft, especially with World Juniors going on right now. Remember, the Bruins have both their own pick this year and Toronto’s first-round pick – unless the Maple Leafs end up in the top five after the draft lottery. Then the pick would move to a future draft.
Based just on points percentage right now, the Bruins’ pick would be 11th overall and the Leafs’ would be 12th. With the standings still so tight, obviously one or both of those could move quite a bit in either direction.
At the moment, it looks like there’s a top tier in the 2026 draft of Penn State winger Gavin McKenna, North Dakota defenseman Keaton Verhoeff, Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg, and maybe Muskegon Lumberjacks center Tynan Lawrence, who is heading to Boston University next season. Then things really open up from there in what is considered a pretty deep class.
One player from the next group who would intrigue me as a potential Bruins target if they do end up with a top-10 pick is Chase Reid, a right-shot defenseman currently playing for the U.S. at World Juniors. He was considered a bubble player for that team not too long ago, but is now earning top-four minutes on the blue line as an under-ager, and took over quarterback duties on the Americans’ top power-play unit when Cole Hutson went down with an injury. He’s 6-foot-2, a good skater, and dangerous offensively. His stock has skyrocketed just in the last year, and he still might not be close to his ceiling. The Bruins really have nothing in the pipeline when it comes to right-shot D, so Reid would address an organizational weakness as well.