Bruins prioritizing youth one move at a time
(Photo Credit: John Tlumacki - The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Mikey Eyssimont was waived on Sunday.
Sean Kuraly, and Jonathan Aspirot will be healthy scratches on Monday night against the Ottawa Senators.
The latest examples of experienced players being dealt difficult news in an effort to make room for, and or allow playing opportunity for younger players with higher upside.
An organizational philosophy that many Bruins fans have been clamoring for.
Now to be fair to the Bruins, one could argue that their youth movement has been in motion since the 2025 NHL trade deadline - where in particular they acquired Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, and current prospect Will Zellers (University of North Dakota) via separate transactions.
And then as a result of being a "seller", finished with the 5th worst record in the NHL and drafted James Hagens 7th overall after falling in the lottery.
Did the Bruins enter that year planning to be a seller? No.
Was their hand forced when they finally realized they were skating down a dead-end street? Yes.
Nonetheless, they're here now.
Mid re-tool, prospect pipeline is improving, and they are now prioritizing youth at the NHL level.
Monday night against the Senators, the Bruins will be dressing 6 players age-24 or younger in the same lineup.
James Hagens (19), Matt Poitras (22), Fraser Minten (22), Frederic Brunet (23), JJ Peterka (24), and Marat Khusnutdinov (24).
Below are Monday's expected defense pairs, and forward line combinations:
Now as mentioned above, Eyssimont being waived along with healthy scratches to Kuraly, and Aspirot are just the latest developments favoring youth. However, there have already been others over the summer and throughout training camp.
In June, Boston acquired JJ Peterka at the draft - ironically trading away two futures for the skilled, speedy winger. But in later parting ways with UFA Viktor Arvidsson, the Bruins essentially replaced the Sweedish veteran (33), with the German youngster (24) in their top six while getting a decade junior in the process.
Then in July, the black and gold traded away Jonas Korpisalo (32) to the New York Rangers opening the door for Michael DiPietro (27) to become the team's new backup goaltender.
Fast forward to training camp, the Bruins waived players with varying degrees of NHL experience in Henri Jokiharju, Jordan Harris, Alex Steeves, Lukas Reichel.
Eyssimont would have been waived with them had it not been for an injury to Poitras.
On paper, these transactions may seem obvious to most fans and media.
But internally for the Bruins they require difficult, interpersonal conversations - regardless of merit.
Below are players the Bruins have waived so far this season, or are currently listed as healthy scratches - and their career regular season games played in the NHL:
Mikey Eyssimont (waived) - 269 GP
Henri Jokiharju (waived) - 448 GP
Jordan Harris (waived) - 172 GP
Alex Steeves (waived) - 57 GP
Lukas Reichel (waived) - 198 GP
Sean Kuraly (scratched) - 647 GP
Jonathan Aspirot (scratched) 64 GP
It's not easy to look a player in the eye - with significant time in the NHL - and tell them they'll be reporting to Providence or are now going to be the extra forward or defensemen.
But it's a business.
GM Don Sweeney, and Head Coach Marco Sturm deserve a nod of credit here for making tough calls, yet the right personnel decisions when necessary.
Now here are a few of the younger players who will be in the lineup on Monday night, and their career regular season games played in the NHL:
James Hagens - 5GP
Matt Poitras - 69 GP
Frederic Brunet - 1 GP
Now add Hagens, Poitras, and Brunet to Minten, Khusnutdinov, and Peterka.
You see where i'm going with this?
YOUTH, SPEED, SKILL, and UPSIDE.
One step at a time, the Bruins finally appear to be heading in the right direction when it comes to prioritizing these attributes.
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