The Boston Bruins have taken a big step forward in reordering their future. Fraser Minten and Will Zellers were among the returns in their selloff at the 2025 trade deadline. James Hagens was the prize for finishing with the NHL\u2019s fifth-worst record in 2024-25.<\/p>\n
So what could this look like in three years?<\/p>\n
David Pastrnak will be 32 in 2028-29. Charlie McAvoy will be 31. The two cornerstones should be well within their windows of being franchise chain-pullers.<\/p>\n
But will the quantity and quality of Pastrnak\u2019s and McAvoy\u2019s next-generation reinforcements be robust enough for the Bruins to be Stanley Cup contenders?<\/p>\n
General manager Don Sweeney has made it a habit to spend liberally in free agency. There\u2019s no reason to believe that pattern will break.<\/p>\n
For this exercise, we\u2019ll peek ahead to 2028-29 using only current Bruins and internal prospects. It should provide a sketch to determine how aggressively management will need to supplement their existing veterans and inbound youngsters with trades and signings:<\/p>\n
Forwards
\n Left wingCenterRight wing<\/p>\n
Morgan Geekie<\/p>\n
James Hagens<\/p>\n
David Pastrnak<\/p>\n
Will Zellers<\/p>\n
Will Moore<\/p>\n
Dean Letourneau<\/p>\n
Marat Khusnutdinov<\/p>\n
Elias Lindholm<\/p>\n
Matt Poitras<\/p>\n
Tanner Jeannot<\/p>\n
Fraser Minten<\/p>\n
Chris Pelosi<\/p>\n
Morgan Geekie will be halfway through his six-year, $33 million contract. Geekie, who will be 29 years old, could still be paired with Pastrnak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for their prospective center, Hagens will be 21 at the start of the 2028-29 season. By then, the 2006-born center could have two-plus years of professional experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question is how good Hagens will be.<\/p>\n
Hagens\u2019 upcoming sophomore season at Boston College should give the Bruins better insight into what he will become. He was good enough to produce at a point-per-game basis as a freshman while centering Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard in 2024-25. The Eagles will ask Hagens to assume more offensive responsibility in 2025-26. It won\u2019t be easy without Perreault and Leonard as go-to wings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some ways, it\u2019s going to benefit him,\u201d player development coordinator Adam McQuaid said of Hagens\u2019 expected workload without his flammable linemates. \u201cJust continue to ramp up the compete level and consistent impact he\u2019s capable of having. That\u2019s a big thing for a lot of young players \u2014 just bringing the consistency night in and night out. It\u2019s not always going to be perfect. But just bringing the effort and wanting to be a driver and difference-maker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unless Hagens turns into a top-tier smash, it\u2019s unrealistic to project him as a legitimate No. 1 NHL center at his age. But if Pastrnak and Geekie can carry the day, Hagens can continue his on-site development without the expectations of driving the line.<\/p>\n
The second line is full of wildcards. Will Zellers, the USHL\u2019s leading goal scorer in 2024-25, has yet to play a shift of NCAA hockey. He has work ahead of him to ramp up his pace and build the rest of his game. While he has top-six potential, Zellers will need time to develop. He will be a freshman at North Dakota this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he can get stronger, certainly, in order to play an offensive game at the NHL level,\u201d amateur and college scout Parker MacKay said. \u201cThat\u2019s going to come, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Moore is in the same category. He has second-line skill. But the incoming freshman at BC will need at least two seasons of college hockey to put on the weight required for NHL battle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dean Letourneau has one year of NCAA experience. But it was a trying one. The 2024 first-rounder did not score a single goal. It\u2019s possible he may have to transition to an in-the-corners right wing who uses reach, physicality and puck protection to earn a pro living.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got much better with his stick,\u201d McQuaid said of Letourneau once BC coach Greg Brown used him on the penalty kill. \u201cJust little details. He took all that in stride. But yet was like, \u2018I still want to do more. I believe I can do more.\u2019 Those are all positive things.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s much easier to project the third line\u2019s performance because of their NHL experience. Elias Lindholm will be 33. He should be well into a phase of bottom-six, defense-first, penalty-killing shifts. Marat Khusnutdinov could develop more offensive presence by then. But he\u2019s on pace to be a third-line fixture.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not as easy to determine what Matt Poitras will become. He is a natural center, but whether he has the all-around game to work the middle in the NHL permanently is unknown. Shifting to right wing could ease him of responsibility.<\/p>\n
On the fourth line, Tanner Jeannot will be entering the fourth season of his five-year, $17 million contract. Minten, who will be 24, is trending toward becoming a trustworthy checking center. Chris Pelosi, the team\u2019s third-round pick in 2023, has the speed and puck-hungry approach to make it as a fourth-liner.<\/p>\n
Players not in the 2028-29 lineup (projecting to be traded or not extended) include Viktor Arvidsson, Johnny Beecher, Mikey Eyssimont, Fabian Lysell, Mark Kastelic, Sean Kuraly, Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha.<\/p>\n
Defensemen
\n Left defenseRight defense<\/p>\n
Mason Lohrei<\/p>\n
Charlie McAvoy<\/p>\n
Hampus Lindholm<\/p>\n
Frederic Brunet<\/p>\n
Nikita Zadorov<\/p>\n
Liam Pettersson<\/p>\n
The Bruins know what McAvoy is. It\u2019s not so with Mason Lohrei. The left-shot defenseman has the skill set to be the Bruins\u2019 version of Evan Bouchard: an offensive catalyst in charge of the power play. By 2028-29, Lohrei will be 27, perhaps more polished and more dependable defensively.<\/p>\n
Hampus Lindholm will be 34. He may not have the jump needed to push the offensive pace like he\u2019s currently capable of doing. It\u2019s possible Lindholm will have shifted more toward a matchup defenseman. Frederic Brunet, meanwhile, will be 25 and reinforced with three more years of pro shifts. He is a smooth skater who likes to go up the ice.<\/p>\n
On the No. 3 pair, the Bruins hope that Liam Pettersson, one of their two 2025 second-round picks, will have added the weight required for 200-foot shifts. The 6-foot-2 Pettersson was most recently listed at 170 pounds. Nikita Zadorov will be 33, still aligned with his defense-first window.<\/p>\n
Traded or not extended: Michael Callahan, Jordan Harris, Henri Jokiharju, Andrew Peeke<\/p>\n
Goalies<\/p>\n
Jeremy Swayman<\/p>\n
Philip Svedeback<\/p>\n
Jeremy Swayman will start 2028-29 as a 29-year-old. Assuming 2024-25 was an exception, Swayman could still be peaking as a full-fledged ace. The Bruins do not currently have a high-end goaltending prospect, but they might not need one if Swayman is in elite form.<\/p>\n
Philip Svedeback, the organization\u2019s fourth-round pick in 2021, will be 26.<\/p>\n
Traded or not extended: Michael DiPietro, Joonas Korpisalo, Simon Zajicek<\/p>\n
Takeaways<\/p>\n
A much-needed infusion of youth is helping. More is coming: two first-round picks in 2026 and two more in 2027.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s still not enough to offset the four first-rounders the Bruins traded between 2018 and 2023. Hockey operations will have to be aggressive on the trade market and in free agency to add NHL players, especially up front. The Bruins need game-breakers.<\/p>\n
(Photo: Rich Gagnon \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boston Bruins have taken a big step forward in reordering their future. Fraser Minten and Will Zellers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1785,385,99],"class_list":["post-34057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-boston-bruins","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}