With a flurry of NHL trades happening this week, with marquee defenseman Quinn Hughes going to the Minnesota Wild, it feels like a good time to revisit Boston’s situation entering the trading season. It feels pretty obvious that the Bruins were not heavily involved in the Hughes talks, given it would have cost them multiple first-round picks and a prospect like James Hagens at the bare minimum, and there are zero guarantees Hughes is going to sign anywhere else but New Jersey with his brothers when he reaches free agency in the summer of 2027.
It also seems pretty apparent that the Bruins weren't involved in the Stuart Skinner/Tristan Jarry swap either, given the very satisfactory goaltending they have received from Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo to this point this season, a set of performances that have them 11th in the NHL with a .901 save percentage this season.
So what will the Black and Gold be in the market for with a hockey club that currently sits in a wild card spot, and is just one point out of first place in a jam-packed Atlantic Division that’s got Tampa Bay, Detroit, Montreal and Boston all slugging it out this season?
It feels pretty clear at this point that 19-year-old Hagens is going to be a candidate to be added to the NHL roster when he finishes up with his sophomore season at Boston College, and that will be the kind of addition that could mitigate what the Bruins are looking for from a forward perspective.
I appreciate this one
— Foley (@NHLFoley) December 10, 2025
Hagens is the #5 in college. He's been the well-rounded, two-way forward and great shooter we all expected
Letourneau is on track. Crushing the offense, getting involved on defense. Seems like he's a few steps back from a real, full-ice impact#NHLBruins https://t.co/ndm0Zl01yU pic.twitter.com/lle4k87bVN
In fact, with Hagens, the Bruins may even look to move a forward from a team that is loaded with viable lineup candidates that saw free agent acquisition Mikey Eyssimont get healthy scratched for the last couple of games.
But the back end is a place where the Bruins could and should continue to add depth, particularly on the right-hand side where Charlie McAvoy and Henri Jokiharju have already missed good chunks of time this season. Marco Sturm believes that the Bruins can withstand injuries because of the offensive and defensive systems that they play, but that solidity can be tested when left shot D-men have to play on their weak side such as the B’s were doing with left-shot injury replacement D-man Jonathan Aspirot prior to his most recent injury on the road trip.
“For is it’s all about structure. I have experienced it personally with the Kings and in the minors, and the structure we play and the system we play when everybody buys in, a lot of times it doesn’t matter who is in or out,” said Sturm. “Of course, you still need good players. Don’t get me wrong. But I have seen that movie before. There’s nothing we can do with the injuries. I think the guys know too now that they can rely on the system and it works, especially when guys are out [of the lineup].
“People who know me know that is not who I am. I am very proud of my team. I think it’s always a group effort to do that. I can have the greatest plan or system but if [the players] don’t buy into it then it’s almost useless. Those are the guys. I am directing them, guiding them and teaching them, but those are the guys that are getting it done. So it’s a group effort, and not just players the whole coaching staff, management…there is a lot to it. That’s what I am proud of…we have come a long way in a very short amount of time and having come together like a family is what I am proud of.”
The good news for Boston is that there are expected to be some strong names available at the trade deadline with Calgary bruiser Rasmus Andersson at the top of The Athletic’s Trade Bait list, and Justin Faulk and Connor Murphy are also among the right-handed D-man trade options along with old friend Brandon Carlo.
Check out this pass by Rasmus Andersson. He has been playing some of the best hockey of his career recently.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
🎥: Sportsnet | #Flames pic.twitter.com/iKGE29aoHU
Much could change if there are significant injuries, as we saw last season, and Bruins management should be very, very wary of using first-round picks to add at the NHL trade deadline this season for a team that still feels like they are at least a year away from being a legit Stanley Cup contender.
The encouraging news in all of this is that the Bruins can even entertain adding to this group at the trade deadline based on the way they have exceeded expectations and played at a playoff level for the first three months of the regular season.
ONE TIMERS
• Nice response by Mikey Eyssimont in Sunday’s loss to the Wild after being a healthy scratch in the previous two games, as the forward situation with the Black and Gold is going to continue to be very competitive as long as everybody is healthy.
An opening in the lineup was created by the Victor Arvidsson injury and Eyssimont finished with an assist and a plus-1 rating while also getting some power play time in his 12:21 of ice time for the Black and Gold. One thing that’s been a little surprising with Eyssimont is that he hasn’t been as consistently abrasive and hard-to-play-against as he seemed to be during his stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and a return to that level of intensity and energy would go a long way toward keeping him in the lineup when the forward group regains full health.
“Nobody likes when you get scratched. It sounds like scratch is a bad thing, but for me, sometimes it’s a good thing. You can see it on the guys I had scratched this season – sometimes it’s good to watch and get motivated again. He was not bad, we just needed a little bit more out of him,” said Sturm said of Eyssimont. “Hopefully, he is going to come back the right way because he is a good hockey player.”
• What a great ceremony last weekend to close out Matthews Arena as they brought together a Who’s Who of hockey greats that skated in the old Boston Arena, played at Northeastern or were woven into the fabric of the history of the old barn.
At the time of its closure, it was the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey with construction having finished way, way back in April 1910. It was the Bruins’ home rink from 1924-28 and was actually the home to the Boston Celtics as well from 1946-55 while at some point serving as the home ice for Harvard, Boston College, Boston University and, of course, Northeastern during its 115 years of service to the community.
It was fitting then that Hall of Fame Bruins legend Johnny Bucyk represented the Black and Gold at the closing events after Boston University beat Northeastern by a score of 4-3 in the thrilling final game to take place at Matthews Arena.
Johnny Bucyk represtenting the Boston Bruins at the closing ceremony at Matthews Arena pic.twitter.com/5fIlK7Pavl
— Bridgette Proulx (@bridgetteproulx) December 14, 2025
It’s going to be an interesting time coming up for the Huskies program with them expected to travel around to several different city rinks for their home games, and to practice mostly at Boch Arena in Dedham, pretty far away from the NU campus in downtown Boston. Let’s hope the new arena, once built, carries some of the same character and quirks that were a favorite part of Matthews Arena, and that Northeastern can find a way to continually honor the history of the site even if the dilapidated building structure needed to be razed.
• Good stuff for Boston Bruins prospects as Boston College forward James Hagens (10 goals and 18 points in 16 games) and 19-year-old UND forward Will Zellers (10 goals in 18 games) will be invited to the Team USA camp for the World Juniors after setting college hockey on fire offensively during the first few months of the season. Zellers was the big chip acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the Charlie Coyle trade that shipped the veteran center out to the Rockies before he was flipped to the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer.
Congrats also to Sudbury native Teddy Stiga and Newburyport native Cole Eiserman for also being among the select group named to the preliminary roster. As always it will be a fun tournament to watch during Christmas vacation week, but it’s a little more enjoyable when there’s a Bruins flavor to the rosters.