by We asked Bruins supporters on social media for any questions they might have about the local hockey team during the NHL winter.
Let’s get started with this year’s complete Bruins offseason mailbag:
Which Bruins prospect do you find most fascinating for the next season, aside from James Hagens?@Marcussi_MA
I appreciate you asking! Fraser Minten is one of my top picks for a talent who might have a real impact in the NHL in 2025–2026. No scout or prospect evaluator will not highlight his mature game, coachability, and on- and off-ice style.
At his best, he might score 20 goals and score 50 points annually, but he has all the makings of a future mainstay at 3C. In my opinion, there are many positive aspects of his game and his potential at the NHL level.
In terms of future potential, I’m particularly curious to see how Will Zellers performs as a University of North Dakota freshman. The Bruins may have a reliable scoring winger who can play in the middle of the six in the upcoming years if he can keep landing punches in the offensive zone following a standout season in the USHL (44 goals in 52 games). His performance at Development Camp truly astonished me.
With the possibility of selecting a generational player like McKenna, do they tank once more? Who is dealt at the deadline, if any?@Bostonguy67
I don’t think it helps any franchise to purposefully tank in hopes of landing the No. 1 prospect on the board, even an elite offensive talent like Gavin McKenna, as demonstrated by the 2015 NHL Draft when a blatantly tanking Sabres team lost the Connor McDavid sweepstakes or the 2025 NHL Draft when the Islanders outbid multiple teams to acquire Matthew Schaefer.
You could just as easily project Boston to be in the running for another top-10 pick in 2026 if the team’s obvious shortcomings (particularly 5-on-5 scoring) return. I believe there is a good chance the Bruins can recover and be a fringe Wild-Card team this season if their defense and goaltending improve and at least their power play shows signs of life.
If so, the Bruins ought to be able to select at least one elite player in the 2026 draft, which is significantly deeper than McKenna.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see players like Pavel Zacha, Andrew Peeke, and Viktor Arvidsson dangling out on the market if the Bruins do sell off some assets at the next deadline.
Is this the year that the youth movement finally has a chance to establish their value? @WhitebreadZack
The Bruins’ new head coach appeared to indicate that he wanted to add more young players to the roster when he spoke with Marco Sturm earlier this month.
Of course, with a lineup suddenly full of NHL players in the bottom six, that’s easier said than done.
Finding out which of the prospects vying for NHL reps will truly be a part of this future core should be one of the Bruins’ top priorities in what may be a bridge season.
At least two positions on Boston’s third line should go to a young center (Minten, maybe Poitras) and a winger with offensive potential, like Matej Blumel or Fabian Lysell, in my opinion.
Q: Under Sweeney, is there a contract you could cancel? My suggestion is to sign Ullmark for whatever the clause’s additional value would be in AAV (if Boston was still his top suitor that offseason) in lieu of handing him the NTC [no-trade clause] and to stop him from blocking a move back in 24.
Well asked! Even if Ullmark’s NTC made things more difficult, I still think the deal was fantastic because of his outstanding play in goal for Boston and the easily absorbed $5 million cap cost.
David Backes, who inked a five-year, $30 million contract in July 2016, is my choice. Even though Backes is a wonderful man and a seasoned leader, his production was already dropping, thus he wasn’t worth that amount. In 217 games with Boston, he only managed to score 39 goals and 94 points.
The $6 million cap charge may have been used elsewhere in some of the last years of the Bergeron-Krejci-Chara-Rask contention window, in addition to the fact that Boston effectively had to pay a 2020 first-round pick to get his deal off the books.
The fact that Backes was a healthy scratch for Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against his old team due to his large contract hit was telling.
Q: PJ Axelsson has received a lot of accolades in recent years for his ability to assess European talents. What qualities may make him an excellent scout, and do you have any interaction with him? @KumihoKirA
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Axelsson, who serves as the team’s European Scouting Coordinator and dedicates a significant amount of time during the seasons.
Over the past few years, Axelsson and the rest of Boston’s scouting team have gotten better at seeing some quality and value farther down the draft order, particularly with regard to other Swedish products like Loke Johansson (sixth round, 2024) and Oskar Jellvik (fifth round, 2021).
Q: They have a real top prospect for the first time in a long time. Without squandering Pastrnak’s prime, how can they effectively develop him? Northernwreck
The Bruins must strike a careful balance between reloading their prospect pool and methodically completing this rebuild/retooling without undervaluing the peak years of players like Pastrnak (29), McAvoy (27), and Swayman (26).
In my opinion, Boston would be better off sending James Hagens back to BC for another season in 2025–2026.
I would prefer that Hagens return to Chesnut Hill as the top dog, dominate at the collegiate level without deferring to linemates like Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault, and then make the leap to the NHL ranks in March or April after the Eagles season is over, rather than letting him take his time in what might be a bridge year at the NHL level.
Boston may have yet another traumatic year.
The future of Boston could be bright after two disappointing seasons, though, if the Bruins enter 2026–2027 with Hagens ready for a featured role, another top prospect (or two) added in the 26 drafts, prospects like Zellers, Moore, Locmelis, etc. on the way, and a lot more resources (draft picks, cap space) at their disposal.
Is it likely that the Bruins will make a deal for [Joonas Korpisalo] this year? @anquiro_jm
I appreciate you asking! We got a number of inquiries on Michael DiPietro and Joonas Korpisalo’s future.
Finding a taker for Korpisalo’s contract would appear to be an efficient way for Boston to manage its cap, as I mentioned earlier this summer, especially now that Michael DiPietro is back on a two-year contract.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Bruins pursue a trade as Korpisalo’s salary ($3 million cap hit paid by Boston over the next three years) is somewhat easier for other clubs to swallow given the rising cap ceiling.
at the end, everything may depend on DiPietro’s performance at camp. I have Korpisalo in my expected lineup for Opening Night because I don’t think the Bruins will hesitate to use him again if he struggles.
However, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Bruins go back to the trade market for Korpisalo this autumn if DiPietro keeps looking like the genuine deal. This would allow them to make place for the younger goalkeeper and free up some cap space.
Is the roster we see on opening night the same as it is now? @shawn_rajotte
With the exception of a possible goalie deal involving Korpisalo’s contract, I anticipate Boston sticking with this roster in 2025–2026.
The Bruins may be inclined to move more draft picks or prospects this summer before determining what exactly they have this season in what may already be a bridge year, but there are still some intriguing players that have been mentioned in trade rumors, such as Marco Rossi or a free agent like Evgeny Kuznetsov.
What do you think about the Bruins being linked to a player like Marco Rossi? They don t sound like they are very close in Minnesota to getting a deal done. @Camo0123
Shawn, great minds think alike! I think Rossi is a very intriguing 2C player whose size might concern some,but the production is there for a skilled pivot.
I still think the Bruins ideally want to avoid moving any of their draft picks for the next few years in order to put this current flawed roster in a position to contend in what could be a bridge year.
That may not be what Bruins fans want to hear, but I wouldn t be surprised if the Bruins view this as a year where they *think* they can right the ship by stabilizing their defense and goaltending.
But, if that optimism doesn t lead to actual results, I also think the Bruins are comfortably staying the course, acquiring more picks and using this bridge season to properly assess which NHLers (Mittelstadt, etc.) and prospects (Poitras, Minten, Lysell) can be part of this next contention window before being more aggressive next offseason once guys like Hagens are ready to contribute.
Q: Who will score 20+ goals next year? @sfdwyer
I m going to go with Pastrnak (42 goals), Morgan Geekie (27 goals), and Elias Lindholm (21 goals). That s all well and good, although all three are also on the same line.
The big question is where the scoring is going to come from further down the depth chart, especially in the bottom six.
The Bruins would love for Arvissson to click with a playmaking center like Mittelstadt and someone like Matej Blumel becoming the next Justin Brazeau as a 15-20 goal scorer. However, that all might be wishful thinking.
Q: If the Bruins could have just one player added to their roster right now, which player would that be and why?@Patrice_Carson
Connor McDavid.
Jokes aside (not sure he s leaving Edmonton), I think a player the Bruins desperately need is another legitimate all-situations, top-line center.
If he hits the open market, the Bruins should throw the bag at Jack Eichel next offseason. However, even with his local ties as a North Chelmsford native, I m not sure Eichel wants to leave a comfy spot with a contender in Vegas especially now that he could be skating with Mitch Marner the next eigtht years.
Being a bit more realistic, I wouldn t be surprised to see them keep tabs on Martin Necas going into the final year of his deal with Colorado.
(Have a question you want answered in our next mailbag? Send them along to[email protected], or tweet at me at @ConorRyan_93).
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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