Mailbag: Are fans being too negative about the Bruins?

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Thanks for the question, Mike.

The Bruins have four 1st round draft picks over the next two drafts.

Their own pick, and Toronto's pick in 2026.

Then their own pick, and Florida's pick in 2027.

If the Bruins are to trade any of these picks with the intention of immediately upgrading their NHL roster, they'd be better off parting with one or both of their pick(s) received from Toronto, and or Florida rather than their own 1st round picks.

There's a few reasons for this.

Boston is in a period of transition.

Florida is coming off of back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, and three straight Finals appearances.

Toronto, despite their notorious postseason struggles, is still among the top regular season teams in the league.

Point is, is that the picks the Bruins own are far more likely to be higher in the draft than the picks they own from Florida, and Toronto - therefore more valuable.

So to answer your question, Mike.

I think the Bruins should lean towards keeping their own 1st round picks so that they can continue to build through the draft with a few picks in the upper half.

But at the same time, if there's an opportunity to make the NHL roster better in the immediate and the cost includes one or both of the picks acquired from Toronto, and Florida - then they should strongly consider because those picks are less valuable.

Now the trick part, is that other teams around the league also know that Boston's own picks are more valuable than the two adopted from Florida and Toronto, and so those picks may not be good enough and teams may demand Boston's own pick(s) in return for a true impact player.

In that case, it would depend on the player being acquired and just how high Boston's own pick may be.

For example, if the player being acquired was Martin Necas, and the pick going the other way was Boston's own 1st round pick in 2027?

Well, that would probably be worth it. The Bruins should be back in the playoff mix by then if all goes well, and therefore the pick would probably be in the late teens or early to mid 20's.

But if the cost for Necas included Boston's own first round pick in 2026?

That's a more difficult decision, because Boston could very well have another top 10 pick in 2026, which is projected to be an extremely deep draft class led by a generational talent in Gavin McKenna.

Best case is that Boston keeps their own picks over the next few years, and is able to move the other teams picks they've gained to supplement the NHL roster.

That would be the best of both worlds.

Great question, Louis.

Yes, and no.

You hit on a key word.

Expectations.

Expectations is what drives fan emotion , certainly during the offseason.

Let's start with the "yes" part of my answer.

For those who were hopeful that the Bruins would make the playoffs next year, it's both fair, and reasonable to feel negative looking at the Bruins roster on paper.

To them, though, I would ask "What did you expect?"

You simply don't trade away Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, and Brandon Carlo in particular, along with Trent Frederic, and Justin Brazeau as support players and then expect to replace * all of them the following summer.

But even beyond the loss of those individual players, the Bruins lost something far greater last season, and even before the trade deadline.

They lost their identity.

They have to hit the reset button and get back to basics.

They need to re-establish their structure in all three zones, and in all elements of the game, both even strength, and special teams.

Acquiring Brock Boeser, or Nikolaj Ehlers (neither of whom wanted to come to Boston) was going to solely fix Boston's issues from the year prior, nor is there absence going to hinder Boston's ability to re-establish themselves as a structured, disciplined, and hard team to play against.

So instead, the Bruins realized that in a down market for high end talent, that they would mainly look to add blue collar, character players for short term and money.

Viktor Arvidsson, Sean Kuraly, Michael Eyssimont, in particular.

Tanner Jeannot does not fall under that category however, and was more of a controversial commitment being signed for five years.

But he nonetheless fits that blue collar mold that the Bruins want right now.

It's clear to me that the Bruins are looking to get their act together in 2025-2026, and that if structure, will, goaltending, and opportunistic goal scoring can propel them to a wild card spot, then great all the better.

But it's not their realistic expectation behind closed doors.

Rather, their aim is to get back on track, and then supplement the roster with better talent as soon as next season upon achieving that goal.

Not to mention the addition of young players on the way like James Hagens.

This is where the "no" part of my answer comes into play.

There are also many Bruins fans who have been showing a willingness to exercise more patience, while trying to understand what the Bruins goals are for next season.

These are the fans aren't necessarily expecting the Bruins to make the playoffs, either, but could see how it's possible.

As long as they see progress made next year, they will be satisfied.

Personally?

I envision the Bruins missing the playoffs, but not by much.

Their structure, competitiveness, and special teams should all improve under Marco Sturm's leadership, and with Steve Spott hired to run the power play.

David Pastrnak is still one of the best scorers in the world.

Jeremy Swayman is *capable of being MUCH better.

Charlie McAvoy, and Hampus Lindholm back healthy is a massive difference.

And going back to their 80s jerseys is good for an additional five wins.

I'M JOKING sheesh relax now will ya?

Anyway, the bar was set so low last year, and everything that could have went wrong went wrong that Boston really shouldn't be any worse than last year. Right?

That said.

I could see a world where they end up with another top ten pick.

I could also see them squeaking into the playoffs as a final wild card team.

But mainly, and as said above, they are most likely to miss the playoffs while hopefully improving and becoming more competitive.

Hey, who knows.

Maybe having low expectations will lead to fans being pleasantly surprised and encouraged for a change at seasons end instead of being let down and discouraged after having high expectations.

Time will tell.

Let's all just enjoy the ride, huh?

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That wraps it up for this week.

Thank you to Mike, and Louis for your questions, and thank all of you for reading.

Until next time!