After one of the more disappointing Boston Bruins seasons in 2024-25, changes are coming for next season for sure, and just what changes happen remains to be seen. Whether it's through trades, free agency, or the NHL Entry Draft, there are going to be some new faces coming in while some old ones are going out.
General manager Don Sweeney is facing yet another rather big free agency with some money to spend, one year after signing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov as his two big additions. Both of those players were a disappointment for most of the season, but Lindholm looked better at the IIHF World Championship, which he can use as a springboard into next season. When free agency opens, here are three dream players that would be big additions to the Black and Gold’s lineup. There will not be room for all three players, but Bruins fans can dream about one of them wearing the Spoked-B in 2025-26.
Brock Boeser
Forward Brock Boeser is someone who the Bruins have been linked to at past trade deadlines, but was never able to get a deal worked out. It seems that the relationship between the player and the team is reaching a breaking point, and he’s leaving Vancouver. If that does end up happening, it would make sense for Sweeney to go after him on July 1.
Boeser would be a big addition to the top-six on the right wing and provide the Bruins with the forward they have been missing. Slotting him in would depend on other moves made by the front office. He had 25 goals and 25 assists in 75 games for the Canucks this season and Boston would certainly welcome those numbers next season. It’ll be a matter of how much Boeser will command on the open market, and would the Bruins would be willing to pay it.
Nikolaj Ehlers
Sometimes, beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to adding a certain right or left wing, but Nikolaj Ehlers is a player who should be at the top of Sweeney’s list this offseason. A top-six left wing is desperatly needed since Jake DeBrusk left in free agency for the Canucks last summer and Ehlers is the player who would be a dream addition for the Bruins.
In eight of his last 10 seasons, Ehlers has scored at least 20 goals, and moving him to the first line with Lindholm and David Pastrnak is a line that could be a difficult top line for teams to defend. Assuming the Bruins re-sign Morgan Geekie and he remains with Lindholm and Pastrnak, then Ehlers could be a nice addition to Boston’s second line, which they will need more from next season. This would be at the top of my free agent list if I’m Sweeney, although there will be several contenders involved for him, too.
Dante Fabbro
If there was one defenseman who raised his free agent stock this past season, it was Dante Fabbro. After signing a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Nashville Predators, he was placed on waivers in early November after just six games with the Preds, he was claimed by the Columbus Blue Jackets. What a pickup that turned out to be.
In 68 games for Columbus, Fabbro was a key part of the Blue Jackets' success and a run that came up just short of an Eastern Conference playoff berth. He had nine goals and 17 assists with an eye-opening plus/minus of plus-23 while averaging a career-high 21:39 a night. A first-round pick by Nashville in 2016, Fabbro would fill a massive hole on the right side of defense after Brandon Carlo was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
