Boston Bruins
The Bruins’ captaincy, youth movement, and a logjam at defense all loom large over Boston’s camp.
David Pastrnak could be primed to be Boston’s next captain. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
September 16, 2026
7 minutes to read
Hockey is finally back in Boston.
The Bruins officially opened training camp on Wednesday, with Marco Sturm and a reworked Boston roster looking to show that last year’s unexpected playoff run wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
Boston conducted off-ice testing on Wednesday before it holds the team’s first on-ice practices on Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena.
It will be a sprint to the starting line for the Bruins — who will have just four preseason games and less than two full weeks of camp to cut a 49-player camp roster down to the 23-man grouping that will open the regular season on Sept. 29 against the New York Rangers.
Be it an influx of promising young talent, intriguing offseason additions, or several lineup logjams, there are several things worth keeping an eye on over the next few weeks at Warrior.
Here’s what I’m keeping tabs on during Bruins training camp:
Can James Hagens and other younger players carve out roles?
The Bruins have a solid core of proven talent with franchise fixtures like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, Morgan Geekie, and others in place.
But if this retooling roster actually wants to emerge from this state of limbo, it’s going to need younger players to supplement that core and emerge as key cogs in their own right.
Leading the charge is James Hagens, who is coming off a dominant showing at the Prospects Showcase in Buffalo — tallying six goals in just two games.
Hagens has the potential to be a potent power-play weapon and top-six stalwart.
But will the 19-year-old forward have enough of a runway this fall to make a case for a featured spot in Boston’s lineup, or will Marco Sturm and his staff opt for a more cautious approach and either start Hagens further down the lineup — or even send him to Providence to open the new season?
Even with some expected growing pains for Hagens in his first NHL campaign, the Bruins might be best served letting their top prospect grow, stumble, and hopefully succeed in 2026-27 as they look to identify other potential stalwarts to pair alongside the proven stars on this club.
Hagens is not the only youngster looking to leapfrog other players on the roster bubble and earn regular reps at hockey’s highest level.
Defenseman Frederic Brunet could help remedy some of Boston’s woes on the back end by injecting offense from the blue line and aiding the Bruins’ breakout and transition game. Matt Poitras could add more skill and scoring punch to the bottom-six if he earns a regular role, while Michael DiPietro now has a prime chance to shore up Boston’s backup goalie spot after winning AHL MVP honors this past season.
One of the top developments for the 2025-26 Bruins was the emergence of Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov as viable building blocks — validated by Boston inking the 22-year-old Minten to a seven-year, $50.4 million contract extension last week.
That duo still has room to grow, with Sturm and his staff having plenty of incentive for carving out consistent roles for those two youngsters — with Minten holding plenty of appeal as a potential top-six candidate to slot next to David Pastrnak.
Sweeney was candid on Wednesday when talking about Boston’s goals for this upcoming season.
“We’re looking to test the growth of our hockey club,” he noted.
The best way to validate last year’s unexpected results and spur continued growth for this franchise is rooted in giving more of these younger players a shot to earn their keep in the NHL ranks — raising the collective ceiling of this roster in the coming years.
How will Bruins solve logjam on defense?
Something has to give with the Bruins and their cluttered blue line over the next two weeks.
Even though Boston has prioritized depth on defense with Charlie McAvoy set to miss the first six games of the season due to suspension, the Bruins are staring at some hard decisions when it comes to parting with proven NHL talent — or unproven youngsters who could get plucked off waivers if they don’t break camp with Boston.
Currently, the Bruins have 10 waiver-eligible defensemen in camp: McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Will Borgen, Connor Clifton, Mason Lohrei, Jonathan Aspirot, Henri Jokiharju, Jordan Harris, and Frederic Brunet.
Even when factoring in McAvoy’s early absence and the potential for injury, the Bruins are facing a tangible scenario where they’re going to have to deal a player or two off the roster — or try to sneak a player like Jokiharju, Brunet, or Harris through waivers.
It’d be poor asset management for Boston to lose a player they’ve developed for years in Brunet for nothing due to an over-encumbered D corps.
It also doesn’t serve a player like Lohrei if he’s in and out of the lineup for extended stretches.
A deal or two still feels inevitable to get this crowded personnel grouping down to a more reasonable number.
What tweaks will Sturm and his staff make?
The Bruins responded well during Sturm’s first year at the helm, with Boston embracing the identity of a tough, pugnacious team that punched its ticket back to the postseason after a one-year exit.
Still, this is a Bruins roster at risk of some severe regression — especially if Boston once again has to rely on Jeremy Swayman (28.8 goals saved above expected) bailing out a D corps that was tied for 30th in the NHL in expected goals against per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play (2.93) and 28th in high-danger scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play (12.5) last season.
As Boston banks on younger players earning spots in the lineup, the next step for Sturm’s system is shoring up the Bruins’ D-zone — with the task falling on new assistant coach Matt McIlvane to both revitalize Boston’s defense and bolster the club’s penalty-kill unit, which ranked 24th in the league last year (75.7 percent)
Similar to how assistant coach Steve Spott helped turn Boston’s 29th-ranked power play (15.2 percent in 2024-25) into a top-10 unit the following year (23.4 percent, ninth overall), the Bruins are hoping for similar gains down the other end of the ice under McIlvane’s watch.
Boston isn’t looking to overhaul its hybrid zone/man defensive system that Sturm first implemented last year. But tweaks to Boston’s breakouts and transition game might be warranted to limit how much time the Bruins’ defense is treading water around Swayman.
Will the Bruins sign Pavel Zacha?
The Bruins took care of an important bit of business last week by signing Minten to a long-term deal amid a rapidly shifting NHL fiscal landscape.
Will they follow a similar script with Pavel Zacha, who is staring at a massive payday next summer as an unrestricted free agent?
Ideally, the Bruins want to sign Zacha to a long-term deal — given his versatility, two-way game, and his emergence as a legitimate top-six center last season (30 goals, 65 points in 2025-26).
But with the going rate for just about every NHLer exploding over the summer, are the Bruins comfortable with handing the 29-year-old forward an extension that could see his cap hit jump from $4.75 million this year to between $ 8.5 and $ 10.5 million per year moving forward?
If not, do the Bruins opt to deal away Zacha for a more controllable asset or coveted draft pick — even if it might hurt this current Boston roster?
Both the Bruins and Zacha might also be willing to play the waiting game and let part of this season play out — giving Boston time to assess its deadline plans and Zacha an additional window to boost his value.
The one thing the Bruins can’t do is let such a valuable asset like Zacha walk for nothing this offseason if they balk at his contract demands.
It’s a fascinating tightrope for the Bruins to try and navigate when it comes to keeping or retaining Zacha — and what the best move is for Boston in both the short and long term.
“Ongoing communication with Pav’s representative. Good dialogue, have not found a landing spot,” Sweeney said Wednesday. “But we know the importance of Pav to our hockey club.
“We would like to have him be able to come back, so we’ll continue to talk between now and if we do find a deal. But Pav’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish as an organization.”
Who will be named captain?
Don Sweeney eliminated one storyline worth following during camp when he announced Wednesday that the Bruins will name a captain before the regular season starts.
But who will get the “C” stitched on their sweater? David Pastrnak? Charlie McAvoy? A dark-horse candidate?
Pastrnak seems to have the slight edge in that seemingly two-horse race.
Beyond his seniority and standing as one of the elite forwards in the league, Pastrnak has made significant strides over the last few years when it comes to establishing himself as a vocal leader — one who could bring a different element to a Bruins dressing room set to add plenty of younger players over the next few years.
“If you look at our guys now, I think David, he’s a totally different leader as a Bergeron or Chara. Totally different. Which is absolutely fine,” Sturm said of Pastrnak on the “Bruins Beat” podcast with Evan Marinofsky last month. “I played with a guy like [Alex] Ovechkin. He’s like that. He’s totally different. [That] doesn’t mean he’s a bad leader; he just does things differently. So we always got to remember that, it’s a different time right now.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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