By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
When free agency first opened on July 1st, the Boston Bruins got to work and quickly made several acquisitions to revitalize a lineup that had just posted the franchise’s worst record in 18 years. Boston finished among the lowest-scoring teams in the 2024-25 season, so adding reinforcements up front to support David Pastrnak was paramount.
While the Bruins did sign several forwards, they didn’t immediately fit the bill of “secondary scoring”. Among the players brought in on July 1st were Viktor Arvidsson via trade, Tanner Jeannot, Mikey Essiymont, and Sean Kuraly as free agents. Their arrivals brought mixed reviews for a fan base that was hoping for a blockbuster move for a top forward.
Immediate reactions considered Arvidsson as the only real candidate to provide scoring depth, while the rest fell more in line with the front office’s desire for the Bruins to be a “difficult team to play against”. The most vocal criticisms were directed at the sticker shock of Jeannot’s contract in particular (5 x $3.4m), as well as the perceived redundancy of the signings given Boston’s existing surplus of bottom-six forwards, which took more opportunities away from younger players in Providence to make the main roster.
Boston’s slow start to the season didn’t make the new acquisitions look much better. The Bruins dropped six of their first nine games, with the group mustering just 4-8-12 combined at a -7 clip, and Jeannot being the only one to score more than one goal. The sluggish play reignited fan ire towards General Manager Don Sweeney, and the term “piss and vinegar” turned from the team’s desired identity to an ironic punchline.
However, once their fortunes began to shift, the entire team moved with them. The inflection point came on October 25th against Colorado, with Boston coming in on a six-game losing streak and at risk of the season already slipping away. Instead, Arvidsson scored a massive momentum-shifting goal with his first in the black and gold, then Jeannot and Essiymont combined on a breakaway moments later, and the Bruins tagged the best team in the NHL 3-2 for their only regulation loss to date.
Since then, all four forwards, as well as the Bruins as a whole, have been off and running. Boston has won eight of nine starting with the Colorado win, and the quartet has scored a combined 9-8-17 at +6 hockey. Arvidsson has five goals in those nine games as part of the best line on the team; Essiymont and Jeannot have contributed five points apiece, and Kuraly has chipped in a pair of his own. Arvidsson and Essiymont have both come in clutch with game-winning goals, overturning a 2-0 deficit against the Islanders and snatching another home upset over Carolina.
Since the turnaround, this group of forwards has been playing some of their best hockey in several years, if not their careers altogether. Arvidsson’s recent goalscoring heater has catapulted his pace up to a 23-goal season, which would be his highest tally since scoring 26 in 22-’23 with Los Angeles. Eyssimont is on track to shatter his career numbers, with his half-a-point-per-game pace set to eclipse his best (11-14-25) with ease.
Jeannot hasn’t scored more than 20 points since his rookie year with Nashville in 21-’22, and he’s currently on pace for 32, more than his last two seasons combined. Even Kuraly is producing at one of his best clips, with his 23-point pace only being topped by the 30-point campaign from his first season in Columbus.
It’s no coincidence that the Bruins’ improved play coincided with these forwards stepping up their game. If they can continue to produce offensively, while providing the “piss and vinegar” they were initially brought in for, then the fan base will undoubtedly change their tune, and the Bruins will be playing meaningful games in March and April once again.
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