The Boston Bruins begin their 2025-26 season on Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals in Washington. After missing the postseason in 2024-25 for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, Boston starts the year with alot of question marks on a team that finished 33-39-10.
Led by first year head coach Marco Sturm, there is alot of hope for the top line led by David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, and Elias Lindholm. That tandem outscored their opponents 16-2 on 5 on 5 play after the trade deadline that saw one of their leaders Brad Marchand end up in a Florida Panthers jersey. Pastrnak (43 goals, 63 assists) should be able to put up similar numbers, while Geekie (33 goals, 24 assists), and Lindholm (17 goals, 30 assists) hope to continue that trend. Geekie was second in the league with 26 of them goals scored on the 5 on 5, while Lindholm registered 15 points in his last 17 games in 2024-25. The Bruins will need secondary scoring, and entering Wednesday’s season opener Boston will roll out a second line of Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, and Viktor Arvidsson. Zacha, who has averaged 54.3 points per season over his three years in Boston, should be a steady, two-way presence on that line. The B’s must operate better on the powerplay if it has any hope of returning to the playoffs. They ranked 29th in the league last season (15.2%), and the organization brought in assistant coach Steve Spott to overhaul that power-play unit.
The defense corps led by Charlie McAvoy and Lampus Lindholm hope to stay healthy. Both were injured for a long stretch last season, and it showed as Boston was 26th in the NHL in goals allowed (3.30 per game). In net, a tumultuous training camp for Jeremy Swayman (University of Maine) loomed over the team last year. Swayman, 26, went from a .933 save percentage in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs to finishing 2024-25 with a career-worst .892. But, Swayman seems to be in a better place with a clean slate presented by this season, as evidenced by his strong showing during World Championships (7-0, .921 save percentage) and a .942 save percentage across two preseason games.
Sturm hasn’t changed his messaging since the start of the summer when it comes to deficiencies on this team. Beyond David Pastrnak’s offensive output, consistent 5-on-5 scoring will likely be hard to come by this winter. As such, the Bruins will have to augment their approach on the ice, placing a premium on a punishing forecheck and a suffocating defensive structure in order to steadily accrue points. “I want to see growth, right? I want to see us come together,” Sturm said Tuesday of his expectations for this season. “I’m not going to say we’ve got to make the playoffs, or we got to be in a playoff spot in November with this and that. “No. I want to see us grow. I want my players to play the way we all want them to play and get that identity back, not just one day, not just one period. Very, very consistent”.
It remains to be seen if we will see that identity or consistency, but Boston will first have that first opportunity on Wednesday night as the games start for real. Chris Lessner of Eastern Maine Sports will be on hand for the Bruins-Lightning game on Monday, October 13th for a holiday matinee at 1 p.m. at TD Garden
