The Boston Bruins added 13 assets – players, picks or prospects – at the trade deadline two weeks ago. Some understandably garnered more headlines than others.
The four draft picks in the first or second round got attention given just how few picks the Bruins have made in those rounds in recent years. Casey Mittelstadt was the most proven NHLer and had the opportunity to be Boston’s No. 2 center moving forward. Jakub Lauko was a known commodity and a bit of a fan favorite already. Fraser Minten was one of Toronto’s top prospects and is now one of Boston’s best. Maybe you heard about 18-year-old Will Zellers leading the USHL in goals.
Marat Khusnutdinov was something of a mystery box. The Minnesota Wild were playing him on the fourth line, so was he just another fourth-liner acquired alongside Lauko in exchange for Justin Brazeau? But he’s still just 22, so maybe there’s some potential for more? Why did the Bruins want him? And maybe most importantly, how do you even say his name?
The answer to the last question is: ma-RAHT hoos-nuh-DEE-nov. And we’re starting to get some answers to the others, because Khusnutdinov has made a pretty good first impression through his first five games in Boston.
As it turns out, the Bruins do see more than a fourth-liner in Khusnutdinov. In fact, they actually don’t see a fourth-liner at all.
“I do think there's some upside there. I don't see him in that fourth-line role, particularly,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said Tuesday. “I think he's going to be more of a top-nine forward at some point.”
And so, the Bruins are giving Khusnutdinov much more of an opportunity to show that upside than he was getting in Minnesota.
With the Wild, Khusnutdinov was playing a more defensive role as fourth-line center. He had an offensive-zone start percentage of just 34.7%, meaning he was starting shifts in the defensive zone nearly twice as often as the offensive zone. He was playing 11:14 per game, with 1:30 of it coming on the penalty kill. He was not used on the power play.
Everything about his role and usage has flipped in Boston. Khusnutdinov is now playing left wing in a middle-six role, mostly on a line with Lauko and Elias Lindholm. He’s playing nearly four minutes more per game, averaging 14:55 time on ice. He’s no longer killing penalties, but he has been added to the Bruins’ second power-play unit. His offensive-zone start percentage is now 59%.
After scoring two goals in 57 games with the Wild this season, Khusnutdinov matched that total in just four games with the Bruins. The first showcased his speed, as he took a pass from Lindholm and turned on the jets to pull away from the Ottawa defense before snapping a shot past Linus Ullmark.
The second began with his relentlessness hunting pucks, as he knocked down Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser on the forecheck to win the puck before eventually getting it back and beating Andrei Vasilevskiy through traffic.
Khusnutdinov doesn’t have an assist yet, but he would if Ullmark hadn’t made a ridiculous diving save after Khusnutdinov set up Mason Lohrei with a nice feed through the seam.
“He still has to learn how we play away from the puck, but offensively, he's bringing some pop to our game,” Sacco said of Khusnutdinov this week. “He's got speed, he's got quickness, he's got some offensive ability.”
“Because of his skating ability, his quickness on pucks, he's made some plays offensively that have caught our eye,” he added. “I'm sure they've caught everyone's eye.”
They have. Khusnutdinov is fast. He works hard. He’ll take the body. And he has the kind of poise and vision with the puck on his stick that makes you think he really might be part of the solution as the Bruins look to fill in their top nine for next season and beyond.
He also has a track record offensively. In 2022-23, as a 20-year-old playing for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL, he had 41 points in 63 games, which is tied for the seventh-most points ever by an under-21 player in the KHL. That ranked just behind proven NHL scorers like Kirill Kaprizov, Vladimir Tarasenko and Evgeny Kuznetsov, and ahead of names like Artemi Panarin, Pavel Buchnevich and Kirill Marchenko.
Khusnutdinov never complained about how he was used in Minnesota, and wouldn’t agree with the idea that it might not have been the right role when asked about it this week.
“I don't know. I'm just hockey player,” he told WEEI.com this week. “I think it's not my job. All guys have jobs – coaches, GM. I am just player. If you tell me, ‘Play defense,’ I will play defense.”
That said, he doesn’t hide the fact that he likes how the Bruins are using him much more.
“Now I play 14, 15 minutes and second power play. I have more ice time and good moments,” Khusnutdinov said. “I had great chances in the last game. My line, I think it's good. … You play 15 minutes, every shift you stay in game and stay focused.”
Khusnutdinov credited his new teammates with making the transition to the Bruins as easy as possible. He already knew Lauko from their time together in Minnesota. They’re living in the same hotel in Boston now and spend time together away from the rink.
Fellow Russian Nikita Zadorov has also been a big help, both with the little bit of a language barrier that remains (Khusnutdinov moved to the United States from Russia almost exactly one year ago) and with anything else he might need. Pavel Zacha came highly recommended as a resource from mutual friend Nikita Gusev as well.
“It’s perfect. It's good teammates, good team,” Khusnutdinov said. “All the guys talk with me and how we need to play, how are you feeling, how is my hotel. Can we help you? … Just thank the boys and coaches and staff.”
The Bruins have a decision to make on Khusnutdinov during their road trip that begins Thursday night in Las Vegas. If he plays two more NHL games, he would require waivers to be sent to Providence. If management thinks he could benefit from some AHL seasoning and a potential Calder Trophy run, they would need to send him down before then. They may very well just keep him in Boston, though, since he hasn’t looked out of place at all through five games.
Either way, Khusnutdinov is already looking like a steal for the Bruins. (Brazeau, by the way, has zero points in seven games for Minnesota and is playing just 8:35 per game.) He may very well have a role in Boston moving forward, and he might bring enough offense to make it an important one.