The new wrinkle in this season’s NHL training camp is that aspirational players have barely any time to make an impression before the regular season starts. The preseason has essentially been cut to two weeks and four games, with an 84-game regular season on tap under the new collective bargaining agreement between the NHLPA and the league’s owners.
It’s been an adjustment for everybody across the NHL this month, and that goes doubly so for a team like the Boston Bruins where serious roster battles are going on at both the defensemen and forward positions. A smile crept across Marco Sturm’s face when he was asked about the brevity of training camp following Tuesday night’s 5-1 preseason win over the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden and facing the prospect of playing real NHL regular season games in less than a week.
“The first three or four days felt normal, but I even reminded my guys after the second period that ‘[you guys] have one more period and then one more game and that’s it!’ So they needed to just get going and play the right way because of that short camp,” said Sturm. “Yeah, it’s interesting. It’s a challenge for sure, not just for the coaches but for the players too. The players like it, but deep down they don’t mind practicing and playing a few more games before the season starts because they need it too.
“I don’t know. I can’t change anything, but it’s definitely challenging for all of us.”
This season's truncated training camp has made it even more important for young players to make a good impression in a short time, and 23-year-old Frederic Brunet is making the most of his chances. The young D-man has played in both preseason games thus far and has played exceedingly well in both contests, including a pair of assists in Tuesday night’s win over Philly with two point shots that created scoring chances at the front of the net.
Brunet looks a lot better to start this game and love already seeing the D attitude change of just firing everything on net#NHLBruins | @OnlyBruinsPod pic.twitter.com/iMug49R0pq
— Brett 'Don't Call Him' Howie (@bretthoward_) September 22, 2026
Perhaps most impressive was that Brunet did it on Tuesday night while playing in a defensive pairing with young blueliner Max Guenette after skating with Charlie McAvoy in Sunday’s preseason opener. There was no veteran D partner to fall back on, and instead Brunet was the guy who had to lead the way against the Flyers, as he absolutely went out and did.
Brunet also finished a plus-2 in Tuesday’s win and showed defensive grit in Sunday’s preseason opener with a diving play to clear a puck away from the front of the net in the closing seconds of a tied hockey game before blocking a shot to help push things to overtime. The youngster has shown his range both on and off the puck and is putting his best foot forward in an intense camp battle, with 10 D-men on NHL contracts and only eight spots on the roster.
It remains to be seen how the Bruins are going to manage that situation, and the six-game suspension for McAvoy to start the season also plays into the calculations, but it’s going to be awfully difficult to keep Brunet off the final roster. The simple truth is that Brunet is also at a point in his career where he would need to clear through waivers in order to be sent down to Providence, and that’s not going to happen given his age, contract, talent and the ability he’s clearly shown to be an effective young defensemen at the NHL level.
Brunet would be snatched up right away by another NHL team hungry for blueliners if his name crosses the waiver wire in the next week.
The coach has certainly taken notice of how Brunet has looked and has come away impressed.
“He had another good night. He’s been rock solid,” said Sturm. “There are some details in his game to work on and a few things to clean up, but overall playing in his first few games here under his belt, he looks very comfortable. That’s a good thing. So we’ll keep working with him, but he’s a good kid, he wants to learn and for sure he wants to get better and better…so we’re going to keep working with him.”
The young defender has shown the right attitude for the most important training camp of his pro hockey career, after proving everything he needed to at the American League level. Now it’s about winning the NHL spot after getting his feet wet a couple of years ago.
“I really want to make a push for a roster spot,” said Brunet. “I know there’s going to be a lot [to prove]. I need to prove a lot of stuff, and I think I’m ready for it.
"It felt good. I really wasn't involved in the offense in the last [preseason] game, and I think it felt good to play a part of it tonight."
The Bruins veterans also see a guy in Brunet who’s “ready for it,” as McAvoy drew a favorable comparison between the 6-foot-2 Brunet and the smaller, sleeker Matt Grzelcyk, with whom McAvoy formed a very productive partnership during the middle portion of his Bruins career.
A Brunet-McAvoy pairing may be in the offing and could be the type of partnership to unlock McAvoy’s highest level of play.
“He’s a great kid. He’s got a really good skill set and he can skate,” said McAvoy of Brunet, who posted 12 goals and 36 points in 65 games for the P-Bruins last season. “He can make a lot of plays, so I think he’s a really exciting prospect, and I’m just trying my best to help him out.
“[He’s] a lefty with some skill…maybe he’s a little like [Grzelcyk]. He’s taller than him, but he can move really well. From what I’ve seen he is good with the puck, can make plays and find the middle, and I think he thinks the game at a really high level. I had a lot of good chemistry and good years with [Grzelcyk], so if he could be someone like that, I think we could play really well together.”
All of that sounds good in terms of projection for a kid in Brunet who’s proved everything he needs to at the AHL level and will now get some NHL shots based on the impressive way things are shaking out for him during this key, truncated preseason in Boston.