The Boston Bruins were expected to be a middle-of-the-pack team as the 2026-27 NHL season got underway. They were coming off a 100-point season that saw them make the Stanley Cup playoffs as a Wild Card team. They had played fairly competitively in the first round of the playoffs against a hungry Buffalo Sabres team that was competing in the postseason for the first time in 14 years. The Bruins would lose the series in six games.
The offseason was rather ordinary for the Bruins. While they did acquire speedy forward J.J. Peterka from the Utah Mammoth, they did little else in the offseason. They were expected to be a Wild Card contender again this season.
A first-place team? Hardly.
Sturm has led team to first place
They did not appear to be a team that has a legitimate chance to dominate the Eastern Conference and rise to the top of the Atlantic Division. Head coach Marco Sturm has ignored those preseason expectations. The second-year coach has a team that has offensive depth and some degree of explosiveness, superb goaltending with Jeremy Swayman and an improving defense led by Charlie McAvoy that is capable of sustaining a fantastic 9-3-1 start.
Two of the Bruins three losses have come with explanations. They dropped a road game to the Minnesota Wild that came 24 hours after an overtime triumph at Winnipeg. The Bruins played a strong first period against the Wild but ran out of gas in a 4-1 defeat.
They got off to a decent start against the Hurricanes earlier this week as Pavel Zacha pumped home an early power play goal, but relentless Carolina choked off the Boston attack after that and rallied for a 2-1 victory. The other loss was a poor effort in a 4-1 home defeat to the Ottawa Senators. The Senators appear to be a poor matchup for the Bruins.
Bruins getting depth scoring
The Bruins are getting fantastic leadership from captain David Pastrnak. He leads the Bruins in scoring with 7 goals and 18 points. He has become an outstanding playmaker in addition to being a dominant goal scorer, and he plays on the first line with Peterka and Pavel Zacha.
Fraser Minten is proving to be a steal after acquiring him from the Toronto Maple Leafs two years ago. Young players including Marat Khusnutdinov, James Hagens and Matthew Poitras are all making key contributions as they grow in importance.
The biggest surprise may be Elias Lindholm, who was relatively disappointing in his first two season with the Bruins, but he is showing signs of becoming the player the Bruins hoped he would be when they signed him in 2024. He is second on the team in scoring to Pastrnak with 11 points.
Larkin looks like outstanding trade target for Bruins
While Lindholm has been productive, the Bruins may need more from the center position. Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings wants to be traded and he stated that at the start of the offseason. He remains with the Red Wings.
The Bruins are not on the list of 10 teams he wants to be traded to, but if that list expands, the Bruins seem like a potential landing spot for him
Larkin is a big-time offensive force who has scored 30 goals or more in each of the last four seasons. If he was on the Bruins top line in place of Pavel Zacha, it would be a winning move for the Bruins. However, if the Bruins could move Elias Lindholm in a deal for Larkin, then they would have Zacha and Larkin as their top two centers.
It could be reminiscent of the team's memorable years when they had Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci as their Nos. 1 and 2 centers. That would give them a championship identity.
One more defensive stud is needed
McAvoy is the Bruins' best defenseman and he plays a tough, physical style along with notable skating skills. He has never been considered with the top offensive defensemen in the NHL because he has been somewhat hesitant when it comes to shooting from the blue line.
After missing the first six games of the season, McAvoy has 6 points in 7 games for the Bruins. His defensive play along with the goaltending of Swayman will likely keep the Bruins in contention throughout the season.
However, if they are going to make a run at the Stanley Cup, they need one more big-time player on the blue line. The Bruins need to go after Brandon Montour of the Seattle Kraken.
Montour has a vicious shot from the blue line and he scored the game-winner for the Kraken Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs with a slap shot in the final minute that beat goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Bruins fans will remember Montour's goal in the seventh game of the brutal seven-game series to the Panthers in 2023. The Bruins had a one goal lead in the final game until Montour tied the score with one minute to go. They would go on to lose that game in overtime.
It is time to trade for Montour and have him do his damage for the Bruins and not to them.