Going into the 2025-2026 NHL season, people were highly doubtful about the Boston Bruins being a good team this year.
However, Boston is proving people wrong as they are currently above .500 and ranked fourth in their division. After a slow start to the season with a record of 3-6-0, the Bruins have improved their record to 15-12-0 over the past month. During the last 10 games, they have a record of 6-4-0.
Morgan Geekie has some impressive stats and has proven himself to be a top player on the team. Geekie has 26 points, having the most goals in the league with 20 and 6 assists. Last season, Geekie had a career high of 33 goals, which is insane. This year, according to ESPN, he is projected to reach a career high of 61 goals if he continues to score at the pace he has been scoring at.
David Pastrnak has stepped up as a leader, elevating others on the team to the best of their abilities. Pastrnak currently has the most points on the team with 29, having 11 goals and 18 assists. Last year, Pastrnak was able to score over 40 goals when the Bruins had a down year.
This year, Pastrnak has reached 400 goals, which is an incredible milestone to achieve for an NHL player. If Pastrnak continues his elite goal scoring, he will certainly be able to score over 500 goals in his career.
Although Charlie McAvoy is currently injured, he has 14 assists. Last season, he was injured at the end of the year, only having a total of 23 points with seven goals and 16 assists. Once McAvoy returns, there is no doubt he will be able to improve his stats and continue to be the elite defenseman he is.
Jeremy Swayman is having a bounce-back year after a season last year that was not up to his status as an elite goalie. Swayman has a save percentage of .915, has saved 486 of 531 shots, and has a record of 11-6-0. Last year, Swayman had a down year with a save percentage of .892, saved 1,456 of 1,632 shots, and had a record of 22-9-0. Swayman has certainly improved over the course of the offseason and has reestablished himself as a top goaltender in the league.
These core players are not just stepping up alone; the bottom lines have also stepped up. A good word used to describe this bottom-six forward group is grinding. Every night, they grind it out, helping the team stay in the game.
The special teams have been a major factor this year. The penalty kill has a percentage efficiency of 83%, ranked tenth in the league, and a power play success rate of 25.6%, which is fourth in the league.
This is certainly a step up from last year, as the penalty kill had an efficiency of 76.3% being ranked 24th in the league, and a power play success rate of 15.2% being ranked 29th in the league.
The Bruins have certainly proved themselves to be better than what people thought going into the year. The players have connected greatly as a group and could certainly be a playoff team come April if they continue to play like they have been this year.