The 2024-25 season has had a bit of everything for the Boston Bruins, from firing their coach to rumors of infighting amongst superstars (which was then quickly and vehemently denied), and then trading away a major chunk of the roster at the trade deadline, including their captain.
There is a lot to be frustrated about this season. But as always, there are some bright spots to take away from this season.
Morgan Geekie Continues to Soar
Morgan Geekie has been one of the Bruins’ best free-agent signings of the last few seasons and could be one of the best signings of general manager Don Sweeney’s career. Geekie is certainly one of the best-value signings, considering he was brought in on a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2 million. This season, he has 27 goals and 42 points in 69 games – the same number of goals as Zach Hyman and Artturi Lehkonen, who have cap hits of $5.5 million and $4.5 million, respectively. This contract has been an absolute steal.
He’s hit new career highs in his two seasons in Boston. In 2024-25, despite a rough start where he was a healthy scratch for a stretch, he managed to get it together and surpass 40 points for the first time in his career. Last season, he set a new career high in goals (17), far surpassing his previous high of nine and well below this season’s total.
In the final eight games of the regular season, Geekie has a chance to reach the 30-goal mark, which would be a huge confidence boost after spending his first few seasons unsure if he’d ever be a full-time NHLer. It would also be great to see his hard work pay off. Whatever he gets this summer on his new deal will be more than deserved.
Ullmark Return Played Better Than Expected
The return for Linus Ullmark was a bit of a head-scratcher when the trade was announced last June. Ullmark was coming off a 22-10-7 season with a .915 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average (GAA). He was also only one season removed from winning the Vezina Trophy and was arguably a top ten goaltender in the league. The Bruins wanted to clear cap space and decided to move away from a goalie rotation to the more traditional clear starter and backup roles.
But the return from the Ottawa Senators didn’t seem enough. Yes, the Bruins got a first-round pick, but it wasn’t even the higher pick the Senators had in the first round, keeping the seventh overall pick and sending Boston the 25th overall pick. There were also significant question marks about the two players arriving in Boston. Mark Kastelic had struggled to find his footing, while Joonas Korpisalo was coming off a bad season, and probably would have been cut by the team if he had not been included in this deal. I was among those skeptical of the trade and expected the Bruins to struggle without a strong goalie tandem.
Surprisingly, the return hasn’t been awful. Yes, the jury is still out on Dean Letourneau, the Bruins’ first-round draft pick, who has struggled in his first season at Boston College, but Kastelic and Korpisalo have both played much better than expected. While Kastelic has slowed down from his incredible start to the season, he has still matched his career high in goals (five) and set a new high in points (14 in 61 games). This came after questions about whether he would make the roster out of training camp. He’s also dealt with some late injuries that have slowed him down a bit. Still, he’s already been extended, signing a three-year deal with a $1.567 million cap hit that should be great value as the cap goes up over the next few seasons.
Korpisalo has been a solid backup and has looked better than Jeremy Swayman during some stretches. He’s appeared in 22 games with a 10-9-3 record, .893 save percentage, and 2.89 GAA, which is good considering the suspect defense that has played in front of him and Swayman all season long. It still may not be the return anyone would have liked for Ullmark, but these players have performed better this season than I think people expected of them when the trade was announced.
The Kids Are All Right
Mason Lohrei has made some great strides in his first full NHL season. No, he hasn’t been perfect and still needs to improve his play in his own zone. But overall, he’s shaping up into a solid defenseman and should be part of the team’s plans for the future. He has five goals and 30 points in 69 games this season. He’s averaging almost 20 minutes of ice time a night and has arguably been the best defenseman on the power play. There’s room for growth, but coming out of his sophomore season, there should be a lot of excitement around Lohrei.
Matthew Poitras, who surprised many by making the roster last season as a 19-year-old, also continues to make great strides. He split this season between Boston and Providence, appearing in 33 games in the American Hockey League (AHL) and 33 games in the NHL. Last season, he was too young to play in the AHL, so it was good that he got some experience there and a chance to build up some confidence. I would have liked to see him up in the NHL a bit more, but this is Sweeney we’re talking about, so 33 games is still pretty solid.
At the NHL level, Poitras has a goal and 11 points. In the AHL, he has 14 goals and 32 points. Like Lohrei, he has not been perfect, but he continues to demonstrate his ability to grow, improve, and bounce back from rough games or even rough shifts within a game. He has shown that he is ready for more responsibility next season.
Final Stretch of 2024-25
Most Bruins fans are ready to put the 2024-25 season behind them and look towards the future. But there are still some things to watch for in the final games. As mentioned above, Geekie is on the verge of hitting the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career. David Pastrnak is 14 points shy of reaching 100 for the third season in a row. That would be a truly impressive feat, considering the team’s current skill level and the rough start he had. There’s also a chance to see some young players get opportunities at the NHL level.
The Bruins are solidly in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, and while not mathematically eliminated yet, they’re eight points out of a wild-card spot while they struggle through an eight-game losing streak. The chances of them reaching the playoffs are slim, which means they only have eight games left to play. They next face the best team in the NHL, the Washington Capitals, on Tuesday night.
