The Boston Bruins enter a new NHL season with high expectations after winning a Stanley Cup playoff series last season for the first time since 2021.
And with goaltender Jeremy Swayman now signed to an eight-year, $66 million contract, this team has all the ingredients needed to be among the top contenders in the Eastern Conference.
"Well, I think if we get everybody in camp and everybody healthy, we're a cup contender. There's no question. I strongly believe that," Bruins president Cam Neely said at a press conference on Sept. 30. "I think our players believe that. I know our coaching staff believes that.
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"... I think we're going to defend extremely well. Are we going to get the offense we'd like? That remains to be seen. We know who can produce. We just will still need some guys to step up offensively. Our power play, we talked about that. It slipped a little bit in the last half of last year. I think that can come back now that maybe we have a little bit more of a bumper position solidified with Elias (Lindholm). I think he likes to play there, so we'll see how that goes.
"But I feel like we're a strong contender if we’ve got our full lineup.”
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Many experts picked the Bruins to be a wild card playoff team in 2022-23, and they ended up setting records for most points and wins in regular season history. Experts again picked the B's to decline going into the 2023-24 campaign after the team lost several key players in free agency, and yet Boston again was in the mix for the Presidents' Trophy.
The Bruins have gone through very few down seasons in the last 15 years. They are one of the most consistent franchises in the sport. The real debate, as is often the case, revolves around whether this group can win multiple playoff rounds -- something the team hasn't achieved since getting to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.
What will give the Bruins a chance to win the Stanley Cup this season? And what could prevent them from reaching that goal? Let's look at the best cases for and against the Original Six club winning the best trophy in sports.
The case for: Elite goaltender
Swayman is one of the five-best goalies in the world. He's coming off a brilliant 2024 playoff run during which he led all netminders with a .933 save percentage and 13.3 goals saved above expected through two rounds. Swayman was No. 4 on NHL Network's offseason ranking of the best goalies.
Swayman is about to face a new kind of pressure. For the first time in his career, he is the undisputed No. 1 goalie in Boston. Linus Ullmark was traded to the Ottawa Senators in June, leaving Swayman with the newly-acquired Joonas Korpisalo on Boston's goaltender depth chart.
Swayman has never started more than 43 games in a regular season. How will he hold up with an increased workload this year? Well, he's only 25 years old and he started 11 consecutive playoff games last season without issue, so he shouldn't have a problem.
The bottom line is that Swayman ranks among the league's best goalies, and that's incredibly valuable for the Bruins. Goaltenders have the ability to steal a playoff series (or two), and Swayman pretty much did that in the first round last year when he allowed two goals or fewer in all six starts versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, including a 30-save Game 7 win in overtime.
A healthy Swayman makes the Bruins a dangerous opponent in the playoffs.
The case against: Lack of scoring depth and power-play issues
The Bruins finished 13th in goals scored last season, which wasn't amazing but still in the top half of the league. The offense dried up in the playoffs, though, especially against the Florida Panthers in the second round. Boston scored two goals or fewer in each of the last five games of that series.
And then in the offseason, the B's lost wingers Danton Heinen, James van Riemsdyk and Jake DeBrusk in free agency. These three players combined to score 47 goals last season, which isn't a small number. The addition of top-six center Elias Lindholm will make the offense better in a variety of ways (more on that below), but there's a noticeable lack of high-end offensive talent on this roster.
Can the Bruins generate more 5-on-5 offense? That's the key question. This team ranked 28th in shot attempts, 23rd in shots on net and 24th in scoring chances during 5-on-5 play last season, per Natural Stat Trick.
The power play is another area that needs to be improved. The B's ranked 29th out of 32 teams with a 16.1 power-play percentage over the last 33 games of the regular season. The Bruins power play was abysmal in Round 2 versus the Panthers with only one goal in 16 opportunities.
The Bruins also need Brad Marchand to keep producing like one of the best left wings in the world, but he had three surgeries in the offseason. He ranked second on the team in goals and assists last season. If he starts slow, who will step up offensively besides David Pastrnak?
Pastrnak led the Bruins in goals by 18, led in assists by 25 and led in points by 43 last season. It's not ideal for a team to be so dependent on one player to drive offense at such a high level.
The case for: Roster is better suited for playoff hockey
The Bruins could be worse in the regular season but better in the playoffs, and that's because this roster -- at least compared to some recent iterations -- is better suited to withstand the physical and mental challenges of playoff hockey.
The Bruins, according to Elite Prospects, have the tallest roster (average height of 189.65 cm, or 6-foot-2) and the heaviest roster (average weight of 209 pounds) in the league.
The blue line, in particular, is loaded with tall, heavy, physical players who can also skate well. The addition of Nikita Zadorov, who plays an intimidating style of hockey, gives the Bruins more physicality on the back end than they had last season.
When Charlie McAvoy is technically your smallest defenseman, you have a big blue line.
- Charlie McAvoy: 6-foot-1, 209 pounds
- Nikita Zadorov: 6-foot-6, 248 pounds
- Brandon Carlo: 6-foot-5, 217 pounds
- Hampus Lindholm: 6-foot-4, 224 pounds
- Mason Lohrei: 6-foot-5, 211 pounds
- Andrew Peeke: 6-foot-3, 214 pounds
- Parker Wotherspoon: 6-foot-1, 195 pounds
"Our back end is big, and they've got some beef to them, which I think bodes well in the playoffs," Bruins president Cam Neely said at a press conference Sept. 30. "I mean, you got to get to the playoffs, but I think we're built a little bit stronger for the playoffs.”
The case against: Road through the East is very difficult
The Atlantic Division is one of the most competitive in the league. There's a good chance the Bruins will need to beat two of the Panthers, Leafs and Lightning just to make it to the Eastern Conference Final, where they would then likely have to play the Rangers, Hurricanes or Devils -- assuming they even make it that far.
Just getting past the Panthers would be hard enough. And the Leafs, despite their long history of playoff failures against the Bruins, are still a very tough opponent. The Leafs easily could have won last year's first-round series after overcoming a 3-1 series deficit despite superstar forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander both missing multiple games.
There's never an easy path to the Stanley Cup Final. The long grind of the postseason is difficult itself, regardless of which opponents you have to face. But the road to the Cup Final from the Atlantic Division is arguably the toughest in the league. So even if the Bruins are one of the sport's top four or five teams, they still might not get past the second round.
The case for: Elias Lindholm impacts so many areas positively
The addition of Lindholm is massive for the Bruins.
For starters, he allows multiple players to slot into roles where they are better suited for success. Charlie Coyle now can play second-line center instead of first-line center, for example. Pavel Zacha can move from center to the wing, where he enjoyed plenty of success in the 2022-23 campaign.
Lindholm also will be a huge help on the power play. He excels in the bumper position, where he can fire off quick shots or make a slick pass to an open teammate.
"(The power play) slowed down in the second half of the year last year," head coach Jim Montgomery said Sept.18 in a press conference. "I think with the additions that we've made, you know, having Elias Lindholm as another trigger man wherever he ends up playing. We think it's the bumper, but it may not be.
"But he just gives you another real smart hockey player that makes a lot of plays. It should lead to more faceoff wins, better in zone play and better entrances. So, all those three facets of your power play should be improved, should lead to more consistency.”
The 28-year-old veteran also ranks among the best faceoff centers in the league. The Bruins ranked 21st in faceoff win percentage last season after ranking No. 2 the year before with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. That's a steep dropoff, and Lindholm will help the Bruins rise back up those rankings.
Lindholm won 56.4 percent of all faceoffs last season, including 59.5 percent of his offensive-zone faceoffs, 57.5 percent of his defensive-zone faceoffs and 61.7 percent of his power-play faceoffs. If there's an important draw late in the game, expect Lindholm to take it.
Lindholm is capable of scoring goals, too. He's not just a playmaker at center. He should be able to score 25-35 goals if he plays a full season with Zacha and Pastrnak on the first line.
Lindholm is also a Selke Trophy-caliber defensive player. He nearly won the award 2021-22 but Patrice Bergeron earned more votes. Lindholm has actually drawn some comparisons to Bergeron with his two-way game. He's a smart, responsible player with an excellent 200-foot skill set.
The case against: Questions remain about Bruins' defense
The Bruins were bailed out too often by their goaltenders last season. That's unlikely to happen as often this year because the Bruins no longer have the luxury of playing a Vezina-caliber netminder every night. Ullmark is gone, and while Swayman should be great, Korpisalo is a true wild card.
Boston ranked 24th in shot attempts allowed, 18th in shots on net allowed, 25th in scoring chances allowed and 27th in high-danger chances allowed at 5-on-5 last season, per Natural Stat Trick. That's below average defending, but it didn't matter much because Ullmark and Swayman let in just 80 goals (eight-fewest at 5-on-5) and posted the fifth-best 5-on-5 save percentage (.927).
The Bruins need to make strides defensively to make a deep playoff run. More specifically, they have to be better at defending the low slot. Boston gave up 19 high-danger goals (all situations) in 13 playoff games last season.