There’s a pretty distinct (and colorful) phrase that comes to mind when trying to describe new Bruins fourth liner Mikey Eyssimont.
“Pain in the ass.”
As in, the 28-year-old forward is a “pain in the ass” to play against and skates with a ceaselessly abrasive style that is perfectly in concert with the fourth line energy role he has signed on for to play with the Bruins over the next two seasons. It feels like that particular quality is something the B’s have really wanted to augment in the last few seasons with Eyssimont and Tanner Jeannot this offseason, and moves for Nikita Zadorov and Mark Kastelic a year ago that have now brought in a number of hard-nosed physical competitors bred to make life difficult for opponents.
“I take it as a compliment. I’ve had an edge, and I have had a chip on my shoulder for a long time, and I think I’ve had it since I was little, a very competitive kid,” said Eyssimont to the Boston Globe. “And now that I’m older, I’ve matured even through the pro ranks to be able to concentrate toward ways to help the team.
“And sometimes that’s just getting under an opposing team’s skin. And I guess I did a good enough job for Don Sweeney to notice and ultimately, I’m here, so I got to keep doing that.”
Boston saw Eyssimont and Jeannot bullying them and said if you can’t beat the pests… sign them pic.twitter.com/vC5AClUqyM https://t.co/twVNZFLuX5
— NICK PAUL’S HYPEMAN (@BLXCKMASS1) July 1, 2025
The sandpaper style of play has taken the Colorado native a long way after being a 2016 fifth-round pick of the LA Kings that never made the NHL with that organization, and instead got his first taste with the Winnipeg Jets before bouncing back and forth prior to really establishing himself in Tampa Bay with the Lightning.
Eyssimont had 11 goals and 25 points along with 104 penalty minutes in 81 games for the Lightning in 2023-24, and put up comparable numbers (nine goals, 16 points and 63 PIMs) with the Lightning and Seattle Kraken last season. But it was four full seasons riding buses in the AHL before getting a sniff of the NHL that really helped develop the work ethic, toughness and tireless attitude that Eyssimont brings to the table, a number of qualities that the Bruins want him to infuse into the Black and Gold on a daily basis.
“A lot of juice there,” said Don Sweeney of signing Eyssimont to a two-year, $2.9 million contract back on July 1. “[He’s got] the forecheck ability to get down ice. He’s also chipped in his fair amount of goals. We’re probably going to have to put a little bit of trust in these guys building in the penalty kill [as a role] on a more consistent level. That is something we’ll be teasing out of [Eyssimont]and probably Tanner [Jeannot], who has done that in the past as well. So we can spread [the workload around] because we have lost some key guys in that regard. You can’t just roll over [Elias Lindholm] and [Pavel Zacha], especially when they are playing elevated roles as well.
“But the juice and the competitiveness? Everybody you’ve talked to talks about how Mikey really shows up to practice every day. He’s a pain in the ass [to play against] and I want him to be a pain in the ass for us.”
Eyssimont also already has some buddies in the Bruins dressing room after he was part of the same gold medal-winning Team USA with Mason Lohrei, Andrew Peeke and Jeremy Swayman at last spring’s world championships. That bodes well for a player in Eyssimont that’s expected to drag the Black and Gold into the fight as he’s done for every NHL team that he’s been on over the last few seasons.
One interesting note off the ice is the Crohn’s Disease diagnosis that Eyssimont has been playing through during his entire pro hockey career after getting diagnosed with the inflammatory bowel condition during his collegiate career at St. Cloud State in Minnesota. It’s something that the B’s forward has had under control over the last seven years, but has also seen him become outspoken about in terms of getting checked out if any of the symptoms (belly pain, severe diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, malnutrition) begin to present as they did with him while trying to play Div. 1 hockey.
“Once I got to the doctor’s office and sat down, I immediately felt better,” said Eyssimont to the Boston Globe. “So, it’s one of the things I always try to express to kids dealing with it and young athletes in general is that doctors are here to help and they have your back and if you think something’s wrong, you need to use them and lean on them and trust them.
“But that’s the main thing that I struggled with and that I try to get across is you can’t just be stubborn, like ‘I’m a hockey player, I can get through it.’ No. You need to reach out and you need to use professionals.”
There were bigger names that the Bruins signed this offseason, and Eyssimont isn’t going to be somebody that you’ll see on the B’s power play ripping one timers or dangling through defenders much this season. But the unflinching approach to his dogged style on the ice and his refusal to back down are exactly the kind of things that the B’s want to see more of out of this season’s team after last season featured way too many nights when the team capitulated to a stronger-willed opponent.
“Maybe it is from the bottom up, but the juice is coming and we expect this to be a very competitive team,” said Sweeney of a Bruins team that’s going to play hard brand of hockey even as it feels like scoring is still going to be a major issue. “We’ve always prided ourselves on being [a hard team to play against] and last season there were times when we were an easy out. We are going to re-establish that…and we’ve infused that with guys that are self-starters, guys that are going to show up to practice and guys that when the whistle blows are going to drag us in [to the fight]. And if they aren’t dragged in, then they aren’t going to play.”
Eyssimont is going to play a major role in the way Boston plays and a return to the traditionally hard-nosed approach by the Black and Gold, and that’s going to make him a key figure amongst the bottom-6 group this coming season.