Boston Bruins 2026 OFFSEASON Roster & Salary Cap V

[RI.B FAN]

Same crap D & bad goaltending they had in 2024-25 season and finished ahead of Boston. That’s my point

Bruins goal should not be to be better than Toronto, that group will implode on their own. Improve the team overall with a short term and long term achievements

 

[UncleRico]

In fairness, those type of free agents are no longer available on July 1st.

Then extend it out to free agency and trades.

We’ve already seen a handful of players request trades this offseason and bruins haven’t been on any of the lists of destinations.

The two biggest names Sweeney has brought in via trade or free agency are Elias Lindholm and Hampus Lindholm.

And we’ve certainly seen plenty of high end player movement the past decade

 

[Fingertools]

Schiefele
Connor
Morrisey
Perfetti
Vilardi

with Helly backstopping it

Sometimes the sum of your 6 best isn't enough when your 6 best are natural born losers...

Also shows how fragile teams are when say 2 of those get hurt. You need 4 lines and 3 pairings AND depth.

Didn't that Jets team win the conference in 2024-5?

 

[Oates2Neely]

 

[MillerTime29Bombs]

Then why don’t big name players want to come here any more?

Among the players who are asking for trades, why are the bruins never showing up on lists players would waive to?


Bruins have an owner who spends to the cap, a great area to live and raise a family, but in 11 years the top free agent signing Sweeney has is Elias Lindholm?

Weird huh because I mean they are “Original Six”.

 

[Hookslide]

Tread carefully? I mean it goes without saying.

Zacha stock will never be higher. If you can get a top 10 pick or deal him in a package for a surperior younger player, you do it.

Your not giving him away and your certainly aren’t going to let him walk!

So you are in the rebuilding mode.

 

[CellyHard]

Charlie Stramel and MIN 27 1st for Zacha

Minnesota needs a center. If they don’t land Larkin, then it’s game on. They can’t waste the Quinn window waiting on the kid.

I think Stramel is a gamer. Minten-like.

 

[GHFC79]

The youngest defensemen right now in the top 6 for Toronto is going to be 30 in November. His name is Brandon Carlo.

By opening of next season for their other 5D it then goes:

30, 32, 33, 35, 36, with two birthdays bumping the "younger ones" up to 31 and 33 in season.

I mean...

I really like where our pick is going to be in 2 years because they opted not to fix this and patch over it.

They're probably moving Rielly and signing Andrae (24). On top of that, they have Danford (20), Villeneuve (24), and a couple of other defense prospects who could be pushing for NHL by the end of the season.

 

[Bruin4]

So you are in the rebuilding mode.

Zacha just isn’t a must sign for me, at least for the money he could get and I’d rather see the Bruins cash in on him now, while his stock is at its highest.

I don’t see him ever reaching the 30 goal plateau and I don’t feel trading him away dictates a rebuild, he’s not close to being in the Pasta, McAvoy company.

 

[8thRoundPick]

Matthews
Nylander
Knies
Tavares/McKenna
Raddysh

This power play pretty much matches Tampa's, Kucherov included. They will score a lot of goals. I'm pretty high on Hildeby as a serviceable goalie and if Stolarz stays healthy the goaltending will be fine.

Say what you will about Brandon Carlo, but one of the reasons the Bruins need help on D is because they never replaced him. With Raddysh and Andrae they have improved a lot on D, if Tanev can come back and if McCabe and Ekman Larsson can duplicate their play from last year they have improved a lot back there.

Add an improving young Cowan, and the possibilities of signing McMann back (rumoured), I see the Leafs having a better year than the Bruins unless Sweeney can pull a rabbit out of his hat.

I could just as easily see the opposite happen;

- Matthews once again falls short of 30 goals
- After a slow start and the team being disjointed, Nylander requests a trade
- Stolarz continues to battle various injuries, and gets shut down half way thru the season
- Raddysh goes back to the median of his production, posting only 6G/15A in a shortened season due to injury
- McKenna gets pushed around and has a weak first year, similar to what Bedard experienced

My personal prediction: Toronto only marginally improves this year to 36-36-12 and fall well short of the playoffs. Montreal tops the Atlantic with Buffalo nipping at their heels, while Boston & Tampa are neck-and-neck throughout the year for that 3rd spot. Florida has a down year, and are much more aggressive to sell off and retool than TOR was this past year. Ottawa has a disasterous year and has no choice but to strip it all down.

 

[marianne99]

They can sign Robertson to an offer sheet and I would. 4 late first roynd picks for a consistent 40 goal scorer is a good deal. Move out some salary on Korpisal, Middlestadt and Lohrei to upgrade 2RW and the D.

...How can they do that when they dont have 4 1st rounders?? I thought you had to had the picks and they had to be yours

 

[lopey]

You're the most interesting man in the world

The Don Godfather. Somethings gonna happen. Book it!!

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Bruins goal should not be to be better than Toronto, that group will implode on their own. Improve the team overall with a short term and long term achievements

Excellent suggestion.

 

[RhodyMike]

Why do you not want to sign him, I am not saying you should or not, but I would thread carefully

As of writing this, he’s the best center you could ice on our roster. Come January, I think there’s a good chance others could perform similarly enough in his role (1c/2c) where we start to see/feel even more redundancy than we do now. He isn’t a top 30C in this league.

I trust some combo of Hagens, Minten, Dean, Poitras, Locmelis, Khusy, and Elias to have our Top 9 center positions covered adequately/equally well whether or Zacha is here starting 2027 season, the first year of Pavels next contract. I don’t think having him the season after next at his natural position will be at an advantage to us over what that list of existing players can do + the return you can get for Zacha. If he stays, I think the majority of the next contract here would be spent at wing, and I think for 8mx6 years starting at 30yo, we can find a better use of cap space and assets from trading him. It’s by no means a diss in the player or age or anything, but I’d trust what we have and trade him for a top line player or get more assets that help you buy/develop one and lengthen your contending window.

 

[Jorah Marshmont]

Sweeney finally getting Tyler “back pocket” Toffoli

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

The youngest defensemen right now in the top 6 for Toronto is going to be 30 in November. His name is Brandon Carlo.

By opening of next season for their other 5D it then goes:

30, 32, 33, 35, 36, with two birthdays bumping the "younger ones" up to 31 and 33 in season.

I mean...

I really like where our pick is going to be in 2 years because they opted not to fix this and patch over it.

So, for next season, the Leafs will have a veteran Dcore.

Maybe not great for the future, but pretty solid for next season.

 

[Fingertools]

The youngest defensemen right now in the top 6 for Toronto is going to be 30 in November. His name is Brandon Carlo.

By opening of next season for their other 5D it then goes:

30, 32, 33, 35, 36, with two birthdays bumping the "younger ones" up to 31 and 33 in season.

I mean...

I really like where our pick is going to be in 2 years because they opted not to fix this and patch over it.

The youngest player in the Leafs' top 6 is 24 year old Emil Andrae. Youngest Bruins' top 6 is everyone's favourite trade fodder Mason Lohrei and Joki, 26 and 27 this year. Bruins top 3 will be 33, 32 and 29 this season, the Leafs' top 3 will be 30, 31 and 33. Not that much different in age for the minute eaters. I'm not saying the Leafs will win the cup, but anyone thinking they are a bottom feeder will be surprised. And they aren't finished.

It's not that I'm bullish on the Leafs or trying to convince everyone they'll be good, but they aren't going to be that bad, and by the time the 2028 first rounder is picked, the Leafs will have had almost 2 more years to fix the defence with free agents and trades.

Let's hope Chayka is as inept as he's been in the past.

 

[UncleRico]

Weird huh because I mean they are “Original Six”.

Well yes it’s been a big free agent destination in the past. It just isn’t now because players don’t consider us a contender when you have a GM who has 7 playoff series wins in 11 seasons

 

[22Brad Park]

Teams might be able to digest it short term ,but its still a bit much for a guy turning 37 in January.He had a decent regular season with the Ducks notching 14 G 60 pts, but those 12 playoff games were a bit hard on him vs the other teams better lines.He finished a -5 with 6 assists in 12 games .I guess it helps over 82 games(u have to make playoffs) but I am on the fence..

 

[Fingertools]

I could just as easily see the opposite happen;

- Matthews once again falls short of 30 goals
- After a slow start and the team being disjointed, Nylander requests a trade
- Stolarz continues to battle various injuries, and gets shut down half way thru the season
- Raddysh goes back to the median of his production, posting only 6G/15A in a shortened season due to injury
- McKenna gets pushed around and has a weak first year, similar to what Bedard experienced

My personal prediction: Toronto only marginally improves this year to 36-36-12 and fall well short of the playoffs. Montreal tops the Atlantic with Buffalo nipping at their heels, while Boston & Tampa are neck-and-neck throughout the year for that 3rd spot. Florida has a down year, and are much more aggressive to sell off and retool than TOR was this past year. Ottawa has a disasterous year and has no choice but to strip it all down.

We can all hope - but if we're going to count on injuries to Stolarz and Raddysh, another down year for Matthews and a pushed around McKenna for them to only "slightly" improve, we'd better hope the Bruins don't have any injuries, Hagens has a surprising 1st year output and Zacha, Swayman and McAvoy have career years again, Arvi (or a replacement) scores 25 and all the young guys improve - and then you STILL have to beat out Florida to make the playoffs.

It's going to be tough unless Sweeney has some surprises for us.

 

[Bruinfanatic]

Teams might be able to digest it short term ,but its still a bit much for a guy turning 37 in January.He had a decent regular season with the Ducks notching 14 G 60 pts, but those 12 playoff games were a bit hard on him vs the other teams better lines.He finished a -5 with 6 assists in 12 games .I guess it helps over 82 games(u have to make playoffs) but I am on the fence..

So Carlson probably going to Tampa now is my guess

 

[Bruin4]

...How can they do that when they dont have 4 1st rounders?? I thought you had to had the picks and they had to be yours

But they do have their next 4 first

 

[gerrycheeversmask]

Wouldn't be surprised if Carlson ends up on a team being coached by a Cuban Pimp in Florida.

 

[Oates2Neely]

Teams might be able to digest it short term ,but its still a bit much for a guy turning 37 in January.He had a decent regular season with the Ducks notching 14 G 60 pts, but those 12 playoff games were a bit hard on him vs the other teams better lines.He finished a -5 with 6 assists in 12 games .I guess it helps over 82 games(u have to make playoffs) but I am on the fence..

Was he on the Ducks 1st pair?

 

[The don godfather]

Can we fit tuch and andersson without trading anyone?