By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The Boston Bruins entered the 2025-26 NHL season with a roster that was loaded with question marks and lacked many concrete answers. Beyond the most dire questions of consistency in net and on defense, was where they were going to find secondary scoring to support David Pastrnak on the first line. Last season, only he and Morgan Geekie scored over 50 points, and by the end of the year, they were the only two to reach 20 goals.
Given their established roles on the top line and a fair amount of roster turnover in the offseason, new Head Coach Marco Sturm essentially had to construct brand-new lines behind them to figure out how to improve upon an offense that had finished 27th in goalscoring the previous year. The early returns in his debut season behind the bench suggest that Sturm and the Bruins may have found an answer in the second line, and the trio of Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, and Viktor Arvidsson.
As of the Bruins’ 4-3 OT win over Buffalo on Thursday, the Zacha-Mittelstadt-Arvidsson line has combined for 7-15-22 over the first 13 games of the season, and has been the Bruins’ best line and amongst the league’s top-performers. Per MoneyPuck.com, the second line leads the Bruins in Even Strength Goals Scored (6), Expected Goals (xG – 4.3), and Expected Goals Percentage (xG% – 52.4%).
In other words, they possess the puck, drive offense, and create scoring chances better than every other Bruins forward line. For comparison, the top line of Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak sits at 4-3.7-38.1 %, respectively, in the same categories.
With this information in mind, the next question to ask is whether the second line’s production is sustainable, or just a hot start that will level off. The only anomalous scoring pace of the trio is Zacha, who is on track for a career high of 69 points, while Mittelstadt and Arvidsson are just about on track to match their previous season’s outputs. The next best indicator would be shooting percentage, and whether any of them are scoring well above their career averages.
Zacha is shooting 10.5% to start the year, just about even with his 14-goal performance from ‘24-’25 yet still below his career line of 11.8%. Though more of a two-way utility man than a genuine goalscoring threat, he has proven that he can finish his chances, with a pair of 21-goal seasons under his belt in Boston. Zacha’s already creating a lot of good looks, and should be due to finish a few more as well.
Mittelstadt is a prime regression candidate, as he’s riding an early 27.5% shooting percentage as a career 12.4% shooter, and is on pace for a career-high 19 goals. His regression is almost virtually guaranteed, as he’s more of a pass-first playmaking forward than one who looks to put the puck on net. However, he has finished each of the past two seasons shooting above 14% split between Buffalo, Colorado, and Boston, so there’s still scoring potential to be had.
Arvidsson is a curious case in the opposite direction. He’s without a doubt the most prolific trigger man of the trio, logging at least 150 shots on goal in seven different seasons, a mark that neither Zacha nor Mittelstadt has reached even once, and nearly has as many shots this year (29) as the other two combined (30).
He’s gotten off to a slow start with the Bruins, only scoring his first goal just last Saturday and shooting 6.9% so far. However, his career average of 10.8% suggests a positive regression to the mean is likely, and there are more goals to come. With the volume of shots that he takes and the quality of chances that Zacha and Mittelstadt can create, Arvidsson should be heating up soon.
The second line is going to be a key group to watch as the Bruins’ season progresses. If they’re able to maintain their current performance, their layer of secondary scoring behind the Pastrnak line could very well prove to be an x-factor for Boston to stay within an arm’s length of the playoff race or even challenge for a spot. However, if the Bruins fall too far behind the pace, all three forwards could find themselves on the move by the trade deadline.
Zacha and Mittelstadt have been the subject of trade speculation dating back to the summer, with each under contract until 2027 with relatively team-friendly cap hits ($4.75m & $5.75m AAV). Arvidsson has been viewed as a potential trade chip ever since the Bruins acquired him from Edmonton for a 5th round draft pick on July 1st. As an expiring contract at $4m against the cap, a solid season could see Boston flip him for a net-profit asset-wise.
Given the dire demand for center depth across the league, rising cap and generally dim outlook of the 2026 free agent class, if an unlikely playoff berth doesn’t materialize, the Bruins could be in position to capitalize on a sellers market. Moving one or more of the second line forwards could very well yield a return that jumpstarts their rebuild.
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