The Boston Bruins got great offensive production from David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie during the 2024-25 NHL season.
Pastrnak scored 40-plus goals for the fourth straight season and tallied 100-plus points for the third consecutive year. Geekie scored a career-high 33 goals — 16 more than last season.
But two good offensive players are not enough to make the playoffs, let alone make a run at the Stanley Cup. While there are plenty of roster weaknesses for Bruins general manager Don Sweeney to address over the offseason, finding another high-end scorer needs to be at the top of the list.
“(We have to find) some extra scoring potential, and we probably have to address the wing positions,” Sweeney said Wednesday at the team’s end-of-season press conference.
“That will deepen the scoring ability that showed up ineffectively this year in the way the roster was built. We didn’t score enough, and our power play was dormant for most of the season.”
The Bruins ranked 27th in goals per game (all situations) and 29th in power-play percentage. They also ranked among the league’s worst teams in scoring at even strength.
So, how do the Bruins find more scoring? Will they focus on the trade market, free agency or internal improvement?
“It’s all the above, whatever is at our disposal to utilize,” Sweeney said Wednesday. “I referenced what we tried to do at the trade deadline to find some younger players, deepen our prospect pool, add a player who would help us in Casey (Mittelstadt) from an offensive standpoint. He’s a different player than Charlie (Coyle). He could grow into some of the things that Charlie Coyle was so very good at.
“We’re going to use every mechanism possible.”
The B’s definitely could get more offense from the players already in the organization.
Pavel Zacha is a 50-point scorer who played below that level this season. The blue line, especially Charlie McAvoy, can provide more offense. Casey Mittelstadt could score 15-20 goals if used correctly.
Elias Lindholm had a strong finish to an otherwise underwhelming season. He could potentially regain his top-six center form from recent seasons. Young players such as Fabian Lysell, Fraser Minten and Matt Poitras could provide valuable scoring depth, too.
But don’t expect prospects to get NHL reps until they’ve fully earned the opportunity.
“We’re not going to just plug a player in because he’s young and exciting,” Sweeney said. “They have to earn those stripes. Fabian’s a good example of building blocks and recognizing one-on-one talent and ability is different than how it’s going to translate to winning hockey in the National Hockey League on a competitive team. Ultimately, they have to earn that. We’re going to hold them to that standard.”
The most impactful way to bolster this team’s offensive potential — at least in the short term — is to swing for the fences in free agency and/or the trade market. The B’s will enter the offseason with about $28 million in salary cap space, per PuckPedia.
Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitch Marner could become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. He is an elite offensive player who tallied a career-high 102 points this season. He’s arguably the best playmaking wing in the sport and has averaged 66 assists over the last four years.
Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers has scored 20-plus goals in eight of the last nine seasons. He can become a UFA this summer, too.
It’s unknown if Marner or Ehlers will even make it to free agency in July, but if they do, it would be smart for the Bruins to try to acquire one of them. Besides Marner and Ehlers, there aren’t any other major difference-makers in the 2025 free agent class.
That leaves the trade market as the other path for Sweeney to make significant scoring additions to his roster. As a result of his trade deadline moves, Sweeney now has a couple more quality prospects and draft picks — including four first-rounders and five second-rounders over the next three years — to dangle on the trade market.
And then, of course, the Bruins will have the opportunity to add a potential top-six forward in the 2025 NHL Draft. Boston has the fifth-best odds to win the lottery and can finish no lower than the No. 7 pick. The center position is the Bruins’ primary roster need entering this draft, and there are several talented prospects at that position in the top 15 picks.
The Bruins need to defend better next season. The goaltending — especially from Jeremy Swayman — needs to be much improved, too. But unless the B’s fix their scoring troubles, this team will be back in the draft lottery in 2026. Only one of the bottom-12 teams (the Minnesota Wild) in goals scored this season made the playoffs.
If Sweeney can acquire at least one high-end forward in the coming months, it could be enough to get the Bruins back into the playoff mix as early as next season.
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