It is zero exaggeration to state that this upcoming training camp for the Bruins is going to be the most challenging one in recent memory for both the players, and the coaches making the decisions about those players.
Bruins rookie training camp opens up at Warrior Ice Arena on Friday, Sept. 11, with two games set for the Prospect Showcase in Buffalo, and then NHL training camp gets going on Wednesday, Sept 16, with less than two weeks until the regular season starts in earnest at the end of the month.
The Bruins will have just four preseason games to evaluate players competing for NHL roster spots, and the players will have far, far less than the customary 6-8 preseason games to establish themselves as they did in past preseasons.
The new CBA between the players and owners has cut way down on training camp time and added two games to a now-84-game regular season schedule, and that means some serious adjustments for NHL coaching staffs around the league.
It also becomes a fiercely competitive camp for the Bruins where there are 10 NHL-caliber defensemen {Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Will Borgen, Connor Clifton, Mason Lohrei, Henri Jokharju, Jonathan Aspirot, Jordan Harris and Frederic Brunet) vying for six lineup spots, and for what amounts to eight D-man spots on the NHL roster. An allowance could be made for one extra blueliner in the early going while Charlie McAvoy serves out his six-game suspension for his slash on Zach Benson at the end of the playoffs, but there are undoubtedly going to be some unhappy campers when the NHL roster is set.
The same can be said up front where rookie James Hagens is expected to enter the lineup, and there is going to be battles for bottom-6 forward spots where guys like Alex Steeves, Mikey Eyssimont, Lukas Reichel, Ivan Ivan and the currently unsigned Matt Poitras are going to be battling for the last couple of forward spots.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a good, healthy competition to have. Somebody will be pissed…somebody will be mad, whoever is not going to make it on the roster for Game 1 against New York,” said Marco Sturm on the Bruins Beat podcast referencing opening night for the Black and Gold. “It would be a lot harder if I was the new coach right now and didn’t know anybody. It would be really hard, so I have a little bit of a better idea [what I am looking at].
“And the other thing is the players wanted less [preseason] games and a shorter training camp, that means they also have to know it’s less opportunity for guys to shine in training camp. So it’s going to be hard for players that need a game or two to get going and you don’t have that anymore. So right from the start they have to be ready to go and show me [what they can do] right away so I can make decisions right away. It’s going to be hard. Throughout the season there will be changes…it’s not going to be perfect. But the good news is that the league is going to be in the same boat. It’s not going to be easy, but I am anxious [to see] how it’s going to turn out.”
“Somebody will be pissed. Somebody will be mad.”
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) August 31, 2026
Marco Sturm on the Bruins entering camp with 10 NHL-ready defenseman: pic.twitter.com/s8vBG6oeVO
The good news for the Bruins is that unhappy campers at the end of training camp mean