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The Boston Bruins came into the 2024-25 season as one of the contenders in Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. While they were no longer the record-setting team that had soared through the league in the 2022-23 regular season, there was every thought the team would finish in one of the top three spots in the division and make the playoffs for a ninhth consecutive year.
The Bruins started the season in a fitful manner and head coach Jim Montgomery found himself on the wrong end of a conversation with general manager Don Sweeney and he was sent out the door. A brief resurgence followed under interim coach Joe Sacco, but the Bruins could not sustain success. Instead of driving hard into the playoffs, the Bruins fell into a deep hole and missed postseason action for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Bruins make trade deadline changes
The Bruins were sellers at the trade deadline because they had little to no chance of making the playoffs. They traded forward Trent Frederic, defenseman Brandon Carlo, center Charlie Coyle and burly forward Justin Brazeau. They also sent captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers, the team that eliminated the Bruins from the playoffs each of the two previous years.
It was strange to see Marchand donning his familiar No. 63 sweater in Panthers colors. It was even stranger to see him become one of the key leaders on the Panthers. He helped them in every playoff series and Florida won its second consecutive Stanley Cup.
Marchand was traded as he heads into his free agent summer. He certainly helped his status by scoring 10 goals and 10 assists in 23 postseason games.
The Bruins could be in the market for their captain, but it seems like a longshot. However, his performance means they will receive a first-round draft pick from the Panthers in 2027 or 2028.
It will be up to Sweeney to decide which free agents and draft picks the Bruins select to return to contention in the NHL. He also has the ability to upgrade the team through trades, and he may want to pursue Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the New York Islanders
Bruins have multiple needs, including centers and blue liners
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The 5-11, 195-pound Pageau is a smart and aggressive pivot who sees the ice well and knows how to take advantage of offensive opportunities. He played the first eight years of his career with the Ottawa Senators before moving on to the New York Islander in the 2019-20 season.
He scored a career-high 26 goals that season — 24 with the Sens — and he knows how to show off his explosiveness in the offensive zone.
At this point the Bruins have Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm as their top two centers. Pageau could give them a very strong No. 3 pivot.
Pageau has one year left on a five-year, $30 million contract, and his willingness to come to Boston could depend on the two sides willingness to come to an agreement on an extension.
Multiple moves seem likely for Sweeney, Bruins
The Bruins have been one of the NHL's most successful teams over the long haul. Dating back to the 1967-68 season — Bobby Orr's second year with the team — the Bruin have made the playoffs 47 out of 55 seasons, a mark that no team in North American professional sports can match.
They need more scoring from their depth forwards and consistency from their defensemen. The 2024-25 offseason represents a period where Sweeny and team president Cam Neely must be successful in bringing new blood into the organization.
It could start with the creative Pageau and move on to multiple performers from there.
