By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18
It was special to see National Hockey League players compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014. Men’s ice hockey has already seen a good start to the 2026 Winter Olympics with some exciting games and moments. Seven players on the Boston Bruins are competing for their respective countries in this year’s Olympics.
As NHL players are back competing in the Olympics, it’s always good to look back at some of the greatest players from certain countries. Recently, Bleacher Report made an all-time team for Team USA, and there are two former Bruin players who made the impressive cut.
Yesterday, Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon wrote an article titled “BR/’s Updated All-Time USA Roster.” Yerdon named former Bruins Joe Mullen and Brian Leetch to Team USA’s all-time roster. With how their careers went with making the Hall of Fame, both of them deserve to be on the list and were paired with other outstanding American players. Yerdon included four forward lines and three defense pairs in his article.
Yerdon put Mullen on the second forward line along with Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick, and put Leetch on the first defense pair along with Chris Chelios.
Mullen’s Bruins tenure wasn’t that long, which resulted in him recording just 15 points in 37 games in the 1995-96 season, but the rest of his career speaks highly to make Bleacher Report’s all-time Team USA roster. Mullen won three Stanley Cups, two Lady Byngs, and finished his career with 1,063 points. Among American players in NHL history, Mullen’s 1,063 points are eighth all-time and his 502 career goals are fifth-most all-time. Mullen became the first American player to score 500 goals and record 1,000 points. Being next to Tkachuk and Roenick on the same line is an impressive cut for Mullen to make.
Like Mullen, Leetch also played just one season with the Bruins. Leetch recorded 32 points in 61 games for the Bruins in the 2005-06 season and served as an alternate captain. However, Leetch’s NHL career was a special one. Leetch’s 1,028 career points are tenth all-time among American players, and second all-time among American defensemen behind Phil Housley. However, Leetch won a Stanley Cup and Norris Trophy in his career, which Housley never did. Leetch was also the first American to win a Conn Smyth Trophy, which he achieved in 1994. So, being put on the first defense pair with Chelios can make sense, according to Yerdon in his article.
Today, two current Bruins could have a chance to make another Bleacher Report all-time Team USA roster in the future: goaltender Jeremy Swayman and defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Both Swayman and McAvoy are on Team USA’s 2026 Olympic team. Swayman has had some ups and downs in his career, but is a top goaltender when on his game. McAvoy is one of the best two-way defensemen in the NHL and has had a solid career already in Boston.
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