The Atlantic Division dominated offseason headlines with a flurry of blockbuster moves that further accelerated the arms race in the NHL’s toughest division. Florida acquired Brady Tkachuk and Jacob Markstrom. Toronto won Gavin McKenna in the draft lottery, then swung for the fences with big moves for Darren Raddysh and Kirill Marchenko. Tampa replaced the outgoing Raddysh on their blueline with John Carlson. All to say, the path back to the playoffs for the Boston Bruins just got a lot harder.
While the Bruins added JJ Peterka and Will Borgen in trades, they weren’t the needle-movers their division rivals were, and many felt Boston left moves on the table and entered the 2026-27 season outside the playoff bubble. Rather, the Bruins woke up Wednesday morning leading the Atlantic with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, thanks in part to the players many expected them to move over the summer.
Boston’s summer rumor mill swirled around half the roster as the fanbase cried out for another big splash move, but it centered on players with contract or playing time concerns. Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt both entered the season on expiring deals. Elias Lindholm has been a lightning rod for Bruins fans ever since he signed. Mason Lohrei looked like the odd man out in a bloated D corps, and some wondered whether Matthew Poitras would ever get another chance with the big club. Yet, one month into the season, it seems the best splash moves were the ones Don Sweeney didn’t make.
The cases for trading Zacha and Mittelstadt would’ve been the easiest to make. In a barren trade market where Jason Dickinson, Scott Laughton, Nic Roy, and Brayden Schenn all returned premium assets, top-six caliber centers in their prime would have been among the top forwards available. Add their expiring contracts after this season, and it’s understandable to want to sell high on their value. Instead, Boston kept their centers, and so far the gamble is paying off. The two have combined for 15 points in Boston’s first 13 games and remain key pieces of the Bruins’ most productive lines.
The rumors around Lindholm were less about contract term and more about value. He has been a divisive figure among the Boston fanbase since he signed his seven-year, $54.25m contract in the summer of 2024, with the case growing against him as injury issues have plagued him throughout his Bruins tenure. Some have already chalked up the deal as a loss and pushed Boston to offload his $7.75m cap hit at whatever cost.
While he may not be suited to the top-line center role he was brought in for, a move to the third line has paid dividends for both Lindholm and the Bruins. Playing a complementary role to James Hagens, Lindholm sits second on the Bruins in scoring with 11 points and leads the team in faceoff wins (151) at a career-best 59.4% win rate. It’s far too early to start handing out the Elias Lindholm Apology forms, and health is never guaranteed. But if this is what Lindholm looks like in the right role, then the value question will look very different as the salary cap keeps climbing.
As for Lohrei and Poitras, their value question is what they would be worth elsewhere. Lohrei looked to be on the way out after a disastrous playoff showing and Boston carrying 10 defensemen into training camp, while Poitras seemed destined to be the latest Bruins prospect to be hard-capped in Providence. Rather than waving the white flag on their development, Boston has given its young players a chance, and both have made the most of it.
Lohrei beat out the competition to make the opening-night lineup and has played every game since, posting 2-3-5 and a +5 rating. He’s formed a capable partnership with rookie Frederic Brunet on the third pair, Boston’s most heavily deployed duo so far, with a 6-1 goal difference in over 125 minutes played per MoneyPuck.
Poitras didn’t start right away, but quickly took over Sean Kuraly at 4th-line center and hasn’t looked back. He’s racked up 4-3-7 and a +5 rating in 10 games, while skating just 10:15 per night. After the seemingly endless discussion about whether Poitras would ever get another real look in Boston, it’s hard to see him coming out of the lineup.
13 games aren’t a full season, and plenty can still happen before the trade deadline and the playoffs. Zacha and Mittelstadt’s contract statuses still loom, and Lindholm’s health remains in question. But for now, the early returns suggest Don Sweeney made the right decision to keep the odd men in.
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