The Bruins are still a good five weeks away from training camp and roughly two months away from the start of the NHL regular season, so there is still ample time for a lot of different things to happen. But it feels like there are most definitely some forgotten players mixed between the returning incumbents, the young players expected to make a move to the NHL this season, and a Bruins team that clearly needs to upgrade in a number of areas coming off a playoff season.
One of those forgotten players is absolutely 29-year-old Mikey Eyssimont, who finished with eight goals and 18 points in 56 games for the Bruins last season in his first year in Boston. It was actually the second-most points that Eyssimont has posted at the NHL level, but it was well short of the 11 goals and 25 points, and 104 penalty minutes, that the hard-playing forward posted during the 2023-24 season with Tampa Bay.
Eyssimont was signed by the Bruins to be a hard-to-play-against bottom-6 forward that would be effective on the forecheck, but it felt like at times the player was more intent on trying to show he could be a top 6 forward rather than playing the in-your-face two-way game that Boston brought him in for during free agency.
Eyssimont finished 13th on the Bruins with 54 hits in 56 games, which is pretty far down the line for a guy that was brought in to be a bottom-6 staple.
Consequently, Eyssimont went through long stretches where he was a healthy scratch and only got into two games during the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Sabres. It was something he himself referenced back in May when the Bruins cleaned out their lockers and Eyssimont was taking stock of a first season in Boston that didn’t always go the way he expected.
“I was chomping at the bit to get in,” said Eyssimont, of watching the first four playoff games before getting a chance to crack the B’s lineup. “And once I did, I was just very grateful, first of all. Then I just tried to help the team win and bring energy. Playoffs isn't easy. It's also not easy coming in and, and just, you know, late in the series and coming in…I just wanted to go out and do my best.
“I'm proud of myself. The people I have around me in my life have been instrumental in helping me handle these things and, learned a lot about myself and relationships in my life. Yeah, it was a tough year for me, but I'm going to be better for it. I'm proud of myself and all the people in my life.”
It will be interesting to see what kind of role awaits Eyssimont entering the last season of a deal paying him $1.45 million with at least 15 forwards that legitimately have a claim on an NHL roster spot. There have been murmurs about guys like Eyssimont and Sean Kuraly (one year at $1.85 million on his contract) potentially being moved to clear runway space for young players like Matt Poitras to move into NHL position, and there are others like Alex Steeves and Lukas Reichel vying for more playing time as well.
But if Eyssimont does remain in Boston, it’s uncertain how much of an opportunity he’s going to get to rebound from an underwhelming first season in Boston where he didn’t always play like the B’s expected him to.
ONE TIMERS
*While it has not been made official by the Bruins, it looks like all signs are pointing toward Trent Whitfield being named to the head job with the P-Bruins after spending the last
Whitfield was drafted by the Bruins, played in four different NHL organizations and served as the captain of the Providence Bruins while playing 16 games – and four in the playoffs – for the Black and Gold during the 2009-10 NHL season.
The 49-year-old Whitfield also served as interim head coach with the Providence Bruins over the last couple of seasons during a short stint of games when Ryan Mougenel had to be away from the team, so it’s clear that the longtime AHL center and assistant AHL coach was on the track for the gig in Boston when it opened up.
While Whitfield’s name isn’t on the Cup because he didn’t log an NHL game during the 2010-11 NHL season when Boston last lifted the trophy, the heady, hard-working center was awarded a Stanley Cup ring and is in the team photo on the ice when the Bruins posed with the Cup.
It may have been a little more exciting for the fans if the Bruins had chased after the hottest CHL coaching property for the gig in Providence, but Whitfield is a part of that nucleus of players that last lifted the trophy in Boston. And, in this humble hockey writer’s opinion, you can never have enough of those players like Whitfield, Marco Sturm, Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid etc. from the 2011 era of the B’s involved in the organization now as they were a special group that understand what it takes to win the league.
*I did a projected lines and Bruins defense pairs in a BSJ article a couple of weeks ago, and that exercise was this humble hockey writer’s thought as to what the Bruins might do with their players to start the season. I was asked in the weekly BSJ Q&A with subscribers what I personally would do, and I thought that was an excellent question.
So here’s my forward line combos along with a little explanation as to what my methodology was behind it: