To say that Jonathan Aspirot has exceeded everyone’s expectations would be an understatement.
The Bruins defenseman looked like a career AHL defenseman when they signed him last summer. The 26-year-old Aspirot played six seasons in the American League with the Belleville Senators and Calgary Wranglers before signing with the B’s. Then, after having a decent training camp, was sent to Providence at the start of the season.
Fast forward seven months and Aspirot is now playing on the B’s top defense pairing with Charlie McAvoy. And while he’s been primarily a defensive defenseman, Aspirot has chipped in offensively at key points. In the B’s Game 2 victory in Buffalo on Tuesday, his lob pass led to Viktor Arvidsson’s first goal and his breakout pass up to Casey Mittelstadt led to Arvidsson’s second goal in the 4-2 victory.
Aspirot’s first game this season was Oct. 28, which was not so coincidentally the game in which the B’s snapped their season-threatening six-game losing streak. The bottom line with Aspirot has been winning. In the regular season, the B’s went 38-13-10 with Aspirot in the lineup and 7-14 without him there. He led the B’s in plus-minus with plus-30 in 61 games. He was a plus-1 in the B’s 3-1 loss in Game 3 on Thursday.
Not much about Aspirot’s game surprises Marco Sturm anymore.
“Coming in here and being that productive and being that consistent, playing with Charlie, being in the first pair, that’s a lot for a guy who never really played in the NHL, especially in the playoffs. So he surprised me on that, for sure,” said Sturm after the B’s morning skate. “But we noticed right away, as soon as he was up with us and played a few games, this guy’s for real and he fits our system perfectly. So after that, it was not a surprise anymore. It was a nice free-agent signing for us early on in the season and I’m glad he made that jump.”
Aspirot has been a perfect fit for Sturm’s hybrid man/zone defensive system with his ability to close fast and the urgency with which he plays. His reliability has also allowed McAvoy to have his best offensive season with 11-51-61 totals in 69 games.
“It’s huge. I do believe Charlie needs a guy like that,” Sturm said. “Throughout his career, he’s had some different players, good or bad, and I think Aspy’s one he doesn’t have to worry about. He knows he has his back and he keeps it very simple. I think that’s something that, for a guy like Charlie, helps tremendously. And you can see it.”
Sturm coached against Aspirot in the AHL and felt that he fell into the same trap that many AHL defensemen fall into. They’re afforded more time and space at the AHL level and, for some players, that extra time induces them to try to do too much and ultimately make mistakes.
The speed of the NHL forces them to think and act more quickly and that’s what’s worked so well for Aspirot.
“The league is faster than the AHL. Everything is quicker and you have to adapt. Everything has worked out and I’m super happy to be here,” said Aspirot, who was awarded for his play with a two-year contract extension worth $887,500 annually in January.
McAvoy has enjoyed the Aspirot success story as much as anyone.
“Obviously, I didn’t know Aspy before this year and it’s just been really fun to play with him and get friendly with him. Really, I think we’ve played great hockey together all year long,” McAvoy said. “There are just so many amazing things for him. I’m just really happy for him. Now he’s getting to experience NHL hockey and he’s playing amazing. All year long, you’ve seen him finally get a chance to play in the NHL and he does great. It’s just a very feel-good story for a guy who continued to believe in himself and finally got an opportunity to prove everyone wrong.”
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon, right, comes in for goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, left, during the third period in Game 2 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Goalie change
Despite Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff dancing around the subject, Alex Lyon was in the starter’s net at the Sabres’ morning skate and the 33-year-old Yale man was replaced Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who had a disastrous Game 2. Lyon was excellent, stopping 24 of 25 shots in the Sabres’ 3-1 on Thursday.
There were other changes for Buffalo. Ruff announced that Josh Norris was out for Game 3 with an undisclosed injury and termed him day-to-day and in his place went with Noah Ostlund (11-16-27 in 60 regular season games) while Tyson Kozak went in for Josh Dunne as the fourth-line center. Ostlund was a difference-maker as well, assisting on Bowen Byram’s game-tying goal in the second period.
Winning the battle
One of the key battle points in this series is the Bruins’ attempt to slow down Buffalo’s talented defensemen. Sometimes they’ve been able to do it, sometimes not. Mattias Samuelsson scored the Game 1 winner and Bowen Byam scored the first goal in Sabres’ comeback attempt that fell short in Game 2. But Norris Trophy candidate Rasmus Dahlin (one assist) had been kept relatively in check through the first two games.
“You can’t allow them to have any time and, for us, that’s the biggest challenge,” Sturm said. “And if they do that better than us, then they probably win the series because they rely on that. They’ve got good forwards, don’t get me wrong. But if you look at their back end, it’s pretty damn good on skill.”
Ruff, meanwhile, believes the Sabres can get more out of the D-men.
“We haven’t execute and been quite as mobile in the offensive zone where it opens up ice. I think we have to make some quicker plays to get them involved more. There’s been a little hesitations, whether it’s been nerves or they want to be safe. We’ve talked about that,” said Ruff after the morning skate.
“There’s going to be nothing easy about it. They’re doing a good job at getting a lot of people back. But once we’re inside the zone, I think we can do a better job with puck placement.”
After the whistle
After all the shenanigans in Game 2 and across the league’s playoffs series in general, NHL officials addressed the post-whistle battles with the players Thursday morning.
“They’re taking (away) a lot of the extracurricular stuff. They’re not messing around. They’ve already come down and told us that this morning that they’re going to be taking guys,” McAvoy said. “So obviously you have to walk that fine line. I don’t think anyone wants to be stupid.”
But the Sabres were again allowed to hack and whack Jeremy Swayman in Game 3. In Game 2, Nikita Zadorov was penalized when he addressed and on Thursday Morgan Geekie got whistled for a cross-check when he hit Mattias Samuelsson after the Sabre defenseman was allowed to jab away after the whistle.
“You’ve got to roll with it,” said Swayman.
He himself has managed to skate away when that stuff is going on.
“A younger Sway would have reacted a little bit different,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m fortunate to have that experience under my belt and understand whatever comes your way, you have to be even-keeled.” … The B’s power play went 0-for-4. Late in the third period on their last opportunity, Sturm switched out Elias Lindholm for Viktor Arvidsson on PP1. It clicked better, but still came up empty.
“They struggled. They just couldn’t get anything going. That’s why we made that change,” said Sturm. … Game 3 was a game that the B’s could have used a high-end play from a high-end player. But David Pastrnak could not bury any of his numerous chances. He had five shots on net and three more were blocked. He wound up taking a minus-3.
“We had big opportunities on the power play,” said Pastrnak. “We got two power plays in the last (eight) minutes, so we have to bury those. And it’s on us guys on the power play to be better. Their goalie played well but I have to make it a little harder on him as well.” … While the Sabres held a 38-35 edge in hits, Mark Kastelic had a game-high eight hits.