The Boston Bruins held their annual breakup day on Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena, with players and interim head coach Joe Sacco meeting with the media one last time before the offseason.
The organization will hold a separate press conference this coming Wednesday at TD Garden with CEO Charlie Jacobs, president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney.
Here are some takeaways from breakup day:
McAvoy, Pastrnak prepare to take charge
Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak both said during the season that there really wasn’t enough time for them to try to think big-picture about how they want to lead moving forward now that this team is clearly theirs. On Thursday, they said that process will now begin almost immediately.
“That starts very quickly after this,” McAvoy said. “Getting together and establishing what we want, what our pillars are going to look like, what we want the culture to get back to, and how we're going to do it. What an opportunity, right? What an exciting challenge that's going to be for us – not just us, but a few other guys. We're going to take it on head-on. We're going to do everything that we can. You can't do it by yourself. We're going to do it together, and we're really excited about the opportunity and the challenge, what it presents, and how we can be a part of the solution.”
Of course, part of setting up this new leadership group will be, at some point, picking a new captain. It will presumably be either McAvoy or Pastrnak, unless the team decides to just go with a group of assistant captains and no ‘C.’ Choosing a new ‘C’ could potentially create some friction if whoever doesn’t get it is unhappy about it, but there was no sign of any looming tension on Thursday.
“The leaders I had around me, it was never about who wears the ‘C’ or who wears the ‘A,’” Pastrnak said. “Everybody in the room is equal here, and we need to make sure that's one of the things that we have to find, a group, a core again that’s willing to put the work in. It's not about one guy, it's going to be multiple of us. We need to be working together. Doesn't matter who’s going to end up wearing any letter, but it starts with the group and everybody's equal here, no matter if you're young, older. That's what it’s always been like, and we have to keep it going.”
McAvoy, meanwhile, was effusive in his praise of Pastrnak for the way the star winger led both on and off the ice after the trade deadline.
“I thought David was the best player in the NHL down the stretch,” McAvoy said. “I don't think I'm stepping out of line saying that. He was incredible. He led by example. He led by being, from what I've gathered, more vocal than he's normally been. He did everything he could have possibly done to help this team, and he did it, and it was a joy to watch every night. Were the results there? No. I mean, you guys are watching the same stuff that I was unfortunately watching as well, but I think he's to be commended for the way that he handled himself post-deadline, at a time when we all were feeling a certain way, like everybody. He had a hockey game the next day, as well as another 15 or 20 after, whatever it was, and he did exceptional in all of them while being asked to do more than he's had to do. So yeah, I can't say enough good things about what Pasta did for this team down the stretch, as far as starting what we're trying to build next year by himself down the way with me and Hampus just having to be there to support him, right?”
As McAvoy alluded to, Hampus Lindholm, who also missed significant time this season, will be another member of the new leadership group, and may very well get the third captain’s letter. Interim head coach Joe Sacco highlighted Nikita Zadorov (vocally) and Elias Lindholm (by example) as other players who stepped up to provide some leadership down the stretch. Morgan Geekie would be another, as he not only broke out on the ice, but seemed to find his voice a bit in the room, too.
McAvoy, by the way, still hasn’t been cleared for a full return to hockey activity after the shoulder injury and staph infection he suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. He said he is close, though, and might have had a chance to return in the playoffs had the Bruins made it.
Hampus Lindholm still not cleared to skate
Speaking of Hampus Lindholm, he had a chance to speak about his injury, recovery and setbacks for the first time since being shut down for the season in late February. He sounded positive about his outlook moving forward.
“I feel pretty good,” Lindholm said. “I’ll be fully back.”
If all goes well this summer, Lindholm should be able to have a normal training camp and preseason and start the regular season fully recovered from this season’s knee fracture.
Lindholm, who missed 65 games after suffering a season-ending knee injury blocking a shot against St. Louis on Nov. 12, described some of the setbacks he faced that kept him from returning during the 2024-25 season.
“I had some luck within the bad luck when I fractured my knee. Everything kind of stayed intact so there’s no long-term worries for my injury, and that led me to coming back a little early, pushing a little too hard on the ice too early, which kind of made me take some steps back,” Lindholm said.
Lindholm’s early return to the ice caused some pain that led him to realize he might need a second surgery. Sweeney also brought up this second surgery back in February, saying Lindholm had a “follow-up … to remove a little bit of hardware” that had “created some irritation as he was going through rehab.”
The setback in Lindholm’s rehab led the organization to officially shut him down for the season on Feb. 23.
“That was what the team decided and the doctors said was what’s best for [me] long-term,” Lindholm said.
As for his progress, Lindholm said he’s back in the gym doing full body workouts and is set to get back to skating in mid-May when he’s at home in Sweden.
Elias Lindholm was ‘chasing it’ after preseason back injury
Elias Lindholm was one of three Bruins (along with Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha) to play all 82 games this season, but he acknowledged on Thursday that a back injury suffered in August contributed to his slow start in his first season in Boston.
“For myself, tough season,” he said. “Just didn't get off to a great start with the injury and stuff, and kind of was chasing it for a long time. And yeah, it was just snowballing from there. It was not great.”
Lindholm missed most of training camp as a result of the injury, didn’t click with Pastrnak out of the gate, and said he felt like he never really caught up – until very late in the season.
“Like I said, I was chasing it for a long time there,” Lindholm said. “Couldn't do too much on the ice or off the ice, and felt like it was behind, and tried to get back in shape to play on a high level, but felt like I was behind for a long time. But yeah, definitely at the end, start feeling better and start playing better.”
After bouncing around the lineup much of the season, Lindholm was moved back up to the top line with Pastrnak and Geekie in the last couple weeks, and finished on a good run with nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) in the last seven games.
“Obviously, for myself, it was something to kind of put in the back pocket and build off and try to improve this summer and come back and hopefully have a better camp, be healthy, and start off kind of where I left,” Lindholm said.
Zacha dealing with minor knee injury
Zacha, who also played all 82 games, disclosed that he was dealing with a nagging lower-body injury that was in need of some offseason treatment.
“I have to stay here for a little bit, do some stuff with my knee and all these lower-body areas that we have to fix a little bit after the season, but it’s nothing major and I should be good to go,” Zacha said.
“It was a little bit throughout the year, but mostly end of the year, last two months,” Zacha said about his injury timeline.
The good news for Zacha is that, according to him, there will be no surgery required.
“I’m happy I can just take some time that’s needed off and be ready for next season,” he said.
Kastelic opens up about lingering concussion
Another banged-up Bruin was Mark Kastelic, whose season ended on March 20. Kastelic revealed on Thursday that he has been dealing with lingering issues related to a concussion he initially suffered back on Jan. 9 in Tampa.
“I've been dealing kind of just with the lingering symptoms of the first concussion I had,” Kastelic said. “It's been a bit of a process to kind of try to get over that hump. I think the last week, I felt like myself again, which is a great sign. Just on a day to day basis, a lot happier, which is how I'm feeling. It has been a process, but I'm really happy. It's unfortunate that there's not more games to play, because I feel like I could be potentially coming back pretty soon here, but I got four months to really just let everything heal and recover, and I think next year it’ll just be forgotten about, and be so far in the past that hopefully I can just move forward from it.”
Kastelic acknowledged that he has had “a few” concussions before, but said he never had any symptoms that lingered beyond a few days. He said he didn’t even take any kind of contact to the head in his final game in Vegas on March 20, but that he just didn’t feel right and knew he needed to be honest about it with himself and team doctors.
“It was more just not feeling like myself and having to kind of be honest with how I was feeling, because it's not something I feel like was worth pushing through when it's a head injury,” Kastelic said. “So, I feel like over the last couple months, I've kind of… it's been really hard on just trying to tell myself I'm okay, but being honest with myself. So, it was kind of just a hard conversation I had to have, just my inner thoughts. I think it was for the best, though, long term, because I want to have a long, healthy career, and I'm confident I'll do that, and I think that was necessary.”
Kastelic, who said he talked to Patrice Bergeron among other resources during his recovery, plays a physical game and has always been willing to drop the gloves. Despite the concussion scare this season, Kastelic said he has no plans to change the way he plays.
“Going forward, I'm not concerned at all,” he said. “Like I said, I think time will be to my advantage coming up here over the summer, and I don't think that's something I'm going to think about ever and it's not going to be in the back of my head, as long as there's no headaches. And I think I'm past that point now. I only know how to play one way, so I don't think there's any way I can change my style of game.”
Swayman says 58-game workload wasn’t an issue
On breakup day, Swayman reflected on a season where he and the team fell short and talked about the added pressures of a larger workload and bigger contract.
“I take accountability,” Swayman said. “I wanted to play better, I know that I can play better, and that’s something that I can't wait to work on. This team is going to be a lot different next year with what we learned from this year, and I think we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”
After signing an 8-year, $66 million contract in the offseason, Swayman became the Bruins’ No. 1 goalie to start the season for the first time in his career. Swayman saw his ice time jump up to a career-high 58 starts, which accounted for about 70% of the share in net.
Despite the increased workload, Swayman said he had no issues handling his new role mentally or physically.
“I’m so happy with the way my body felt and my mind felt,” he said. “Just being hungry every game, expecting to play and getting the nod and wanting to give my team a chance to win every single night. It’s a huge testament to the trainers here and the work that we put in to allow my body to attain that physical load.”
Swayman said he hopes that the amount of playing time and adversity he faced has prepared him for the difficulty of the job in years to come.
Geekie hopes to avoid arbitration
Morgan Geekie was the most pleasant surprise of this Bruins season, exploding for a career-high 33 goals and 57 points while building real chemistry with Pastrnak on the top line. Now, the 26-year-old is due a new contract as a restricted free agent.
Geekie came to Boston on a bit of a prove-it two-year, $2 million AAV deal after he wasn’t even tendered a qualifying offer by the Seattle Kraken after the 2022-23 season. It’s been a home run signing for both sides, but now it will be interesting to see just what kind of contract Geekie has played himself into.
Considering only three players scored more goals than him after Dec. 1 (Leon Draisaitl, Pastrnak and Tage Thompson), Geekie has every right to aim high in both years and money. The Bruins have every right to not quite jump into the deep end given that Geekie obviously benefited from playing with Pastrnak, and that his shooting percentage was nearly double his previous career average.
If there does end up being a stalemate between the two sides, it could potentially be resolved in arbitration in August. Geekie is hoping it won’t come to that, though.
“We hope it doesn't come to that,” Geekie said. “Obviously, nobody wants to go to arbitration. It's not a fun time for anybody. I'm going to prepare like I'm going to be at training camp day one and it's not something I'm going to give too much thought about. I'll leave it up to my agent and Don [Sweeney] and Cam [Neely] and just go about my business, and things will play out the way they're going to play out. I love playing in Boston. My family loves it here. It's one of those things that I really hope works out, and we'll just see where it goes.”
Geekie said he would love to get some long-term security on his next contract after bouncing around from Carolina to Seattle and then to Boston in the last five years.
“I mean, anytime you can stick around, like I said, I love it here, and I'd love to be here as long as I can,” he said. “So, that's definitely a goal. Especially with a family now, being able to be in one spot would be awesome. But like I said, it's a business at the end of the day, and people are going to have their opinions, and they're going to decide what they want to decide. But if it was up to me, I'd love to stay as long as I can, and I can't say enough good things about the organization and the guys and the culture here. So, definitely, I would love to stay for as long as I could.”
Zadorov makes his pitch to free agents
The Bruins may not look like a great destination for free agents this summer given the way this season went, but they do have $27 million in cap space, and defenseman Nikita Zadorov, for one, still sees plenty of reasons players would want to sign with Boston like he did last summer.
“Why would they not want to come here?” he said when asked for his pitch. “I mean, it's an Original Six team. It's a great city to play in. We have one of the best players in the world. We have one of the best goalies in the world. We have two really good defensemen who were out pretty much for a whole year. We have all the pieces for the future. We just need to add it up. We have a breakout player of the year, probably. So, I mean, it's a great organization, great management, great leadership up top. You know, we have a great president, great general manager.”
Speaking of Sweeney, Neely and the front office, Zadorov certainly sounded like someone who expects the Bruins to do everything they can to turn this around quickly and not have one bad season devolved into a longer rebuild.
“They’re willing to do anything to win, and that was a clear message today,” he said. “So, I think it's going to be exciting. It's going to be an exciting summer, and it's going to be exciting for us to see our new teammates, whoever is going to come and join us.”