By: Ryan Bosworth | @RyanJBosworth
When free agency opened in the summer of 2025, things were rather quiet for the Boston Bruins’ front office. The Bruins didn’t land any ‘big fish,’ rather, they signed players fitting a mold of being tough to play against.
Among those names were Tanner Jeannot, Mikey Eyssimont, and Sean Kuraly. One name that flew under the radar? Defenseman Jonathan Aspirot.
What looked to be just another depth signing proved to be a lot more for the Bruins organization. Aspirot had spent the entirety of his career to this point in the American Hockey League. Having gone undrafted, he signed with Ottawa in 2020, and would go on the play for the Calgary Wranglers before signing with the Bruins this past summer.
After a strong preseason, Aspirot had already begun opening eyes. Despite Jordan Harris earning the role of seventh defenseman in Boston, Aspirot carried his play from preseason into the start of the American Hockey League season, as he’d done his entire career.
With a couple of defensemen sustaining injuries in Boston and being placed on injured-reserve, Jonathan Aspirot was called up. On October 28th, at 26 years old, Aspirot was set for his National Hockey League debut.
Since his NHL debut, he’s played 26 games. Despite going down with a brief injury and missing eight games, his play has been consistent. He’s a strong, simple defenseman capable of playing up-and-down the lineup. He’s spent time on all three pairings, and due to injuries, is currently playing on the first pair with Charlie McAvoy, and he looks far from out of place.
“I’m just so proud for him. It’s a heck of a story, right? I mean talk about paying your dues,” Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy commented. “That’s a guy that just showed up and continued to get better. And I don’t think there’s any doubt in anybody that’s watched him, the appreciation we have for him in here, that he’s an NHL hockey player.”
McAvoy wasn’t the only Bruin to praise the newly-extended rookie, as head coach Marco Sturm commented ahead of Sunday’s game against the Penguins, stating, “Everything without the puck he’s just better than some other guys. And that’s why he took a lot of other guys jobs.”
Sturm didn’t hold back in what he sees in Aspirot’s game during his postgame press conference, either, commenting, “He’s just been playing very simple, very hard, closing on a lot of plays, especially without the puck. Today, in the second period, he had a really good blocked shot. He put is head in there and it hit his chest, but it just shows you that he cares, and the guys love him. I think he opened up a lot of eyes.”
There’s truth to what his coach and defensive partner are saying, because the Bruins really are a better team when he’s in the lineup. In 26 games with Jonathan Aspriot in the lineup, the Bruins have posted a winning record of 19-6-1. In 20 games without Aspirot, they’ve posted a record of 6-13-1.
He’s registered 2-1-3 through those games, but that’s not why he’s in the lineup. As Sturm put it, he does all of the simple things well, with and without the puck. It’s evident in his team leading plus/minus of +15, tied with fellow left-handed defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
Jonathan Aspirot has had quite the journey to finding his place in the NHL. And while it may have taken longer than he anticipated, he’s found a place where he can make a real impact, and that’s evident by the comments of his teammates, coach, and the Bruins’ front office.
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