Boston Bruins
“To get to play in the NHL? You’d give everything you have to stay here.”
Marat Khusnutdinov has been a key cog on this Bruins’ roster. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
April 16, 2026 | 8:07 AM
7 minutes to read
The horn signaling the end of warmups on the TD Garden ice has long since blared throughout the barn — beckoning the Bruins back to their dressing room.
Marat Khusnutdinov, however, remains on the prowl.
The 23-year-old forward makes his usual rounds across the frozen sheet, scanning through the sea of black and gold sandwiched up against the glass.
In roughly 20 minutes, the Moscow native’s slick hands and shifty puck skills will put opponents under duress as he dangles through Grade-A ice and snatches biscuits off the forecheck.
But for now, those mitts are more concerned with lofting pucks over the glass.
Throughout his first full season in Boston, Khusnutdinov is often one of the last players out on the ice during warmups — spending a few minutes slipping gifts of vulcanized rubber through camera holes and catapulting offerings into the hands of fans.
For Khusnutdinov, it’s a routine that comes as second nature — especially for a young player ingratiating himself with a fanbase that places a premium on tenacity and heart.
“We have great fans in Boston,” Khusnutdinov told Boston.com. “After warmup, they want the pucks. It just takes a few more seconds for me to give a little present to these fans. They’re there 40 minutes before a game for warmups.
“All these kids and fans who put on our jerseys and ask for pucks. For me, it’s just 5-10 seconds, and it makes them all feel better.”
Khusnutdinov has often let his play do the talking in 2025-26, becoming a key cog on Marco Sturn’s forward corps as a heat-seeking missile against puck carriers.
But as steady as the pesky Bruins skater might be on the ice, he’s still trying to find his footing away from the rink — some 4,500 miles from home, and further isolated at times by a daunting language barrier.
But for the soft-spoken Khusnutdinov, actions speak louder than words when it comes to finding a home with the Bruins.
“Everybody who plays hockey as kids, this is your dream,” Khusnutdinov said of playing in the NHL.
Bridging the gap
As seemingly reserved as Khusnutdinov might be with a camera in his face, that doesn’t exactly tell the story of how the young forward has meshed with his Bruins teammates.
“He’s probably the opposite of what you guys see, which is great,” Morgan Geekie said of Khusnutdinov. “He’s super outgoing and has a lot of fun.”
Still, there are plenty of growing pains that players coming from overseas must endure — with awkward miscommunication, culture shock, and a small initial circle standing as additional hurdles beyond the endeavor of adjusting to hockey at its highest level.
“It’s definitely challenging,” said Nikita Zadorov, who left Russia as a teenager to pursue a career in the OHL before turning pro. “Obviously, you’re coming into a different culture. You’re far away from your parents and friends and your normal life, right? So you’re pretty much changing your whole lifestyle.”
Unlike Zadorov, Khusnutdinov didn’t make the jump from Russia to North America until after he was already drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2020 (No. 37 overall) — spending parts of four seasons in the KHL playing for both SKA Saint Petersburg and HC Sochi.
By the time Khusnutdinov signed his entry-level deal with Minnesota and hooped on a flight west in February 2024, the Wild were already entering the home stretch of another NHL campaign.
A little over a year later, Khusnutdinov had to pack up his things once again after getting dealt to Boston.
Already still trying to get his bearings in the NHL, Khusnutdinov had to adjust to another new team on the fly — a squad mired in their worst season in nearly two decades.
The game of hockey might be universal to players, whether they hail from Chelyabinsk or Chelmsford.
Still, Khusnutdinov found a reliable resource in Boston’s locker room in Zadorov.
“He’s been a big friend to me and my family,” Khusnutdinov said of Boston’s imposing defenseman. “ After the trade, Zadorov texts me, ‘Hey, come over.’ He told me anytime that if I need or want something, he told me to come over to his house.
“He’s a good chef,” he added with a smile.
For Zadorov — who had Khusnutdinov and his wife, Sofia, over the house this season to celebrate both Halloween and Thanksgiving — lending a helping hand can go a long way toward making a young player settle into a new team.
Khusnutdinov, who has continued to make strides in honing his English while working on his craft on the ice, has seen his burgeoning confidence reflected on the ice.
“He’s a good person — and everybody sees that right away when they talk to him,” Zadorov said of Khusnutdinov. “Obviously, the language barrier makes it harder. Like, I understand him more than all the guys because we speak our native language, and I get to know him closer that way. But the guys in this room absolutely love him.”
Earning his keep
Despite the headaches and anxiety that come with a midseason trade, Khusnutdinov welcomed a change of scenery last March.
Across parts of two seasons with Minnesota, Khusnutdinov logged 73 games with the Wild. His wheels and flashy puck skills didn’t translate to tangible production, or a featured spot in the lineup.
In total, he lit the lamp just three times over those 73 games — all while averaging just 11:39 of ice time per contest.
In his first full season donning the spoked-B, Khusnutdinov scored 15 goals and 18 assists, averaging 14:30 of ice time. He eclipsed those three tallies in Minnesota in just one game with Boston — scoring four goals in a 10-2 beatdown against the Rangers in January.
“I think Boston gave me a chance to show how I can play on offense,” Khusnutdinov said. “I know I can play defensively. The Boston Bruins gave me a chance to earn more ice time. Thank you to the organization. Boston has been good to me.”
It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Khusnutdinov to open the season. He was a healthy scratch in several of Boston’s games in October — initially standing as a square peg in a round hole on Sturm’s depth chart.
First assigned a familiar checking-line role this fall, Khusnutdinov’s motor and tenacity soon caught his coach’s attention.
“I think now the players realize, too, how much he actually does for his linemates,” Sturm said earlier this season. “Now everyone wants to play with him.”
Khusnutdinov may not wield Geekie’s blistering one-timer, nor does the 5-foot-11 forward strike fear into opposing skaters like Zadorov or Tanner Jeannot.
That is, until the hard-nosed skater smothers a puck carrier behind the net.
Despite his smaller frame, Khusnutdinov has earned Sturm’s trust as a relentless puck hound and waterbug in the offensive zone — routinely emerging from board battles with the puck on his stick and doing the dirty work to generate Grade-A looks for his club.
Once relegated to the ninth floor of TD Garden, Khusnutdinov has logged a whopping 530 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time with David Pastrnak this season — with Boston outscoring clubs, 34-18, over that stretch.
As he braces for his taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Khusnutdinov has been the “elder statesman” on a line alongside 21-year-old Fraser Minten and 19-year-old James Hagens — tasked with conducting chaos in high-danger ice for the next wave of Boston’s top talent.
“Just kudos to him,” Mark Kastelic said of Khusnutdinov’s growth. “From day one, he hasn’t been given anything, and he worked hard for everything.”
Finding a home
Khusnutdinov has plenty to smile about these days.
Granted, it’s a sentiment seemingly fixed on the forward’s face — regardless of all of the initial struggles, second-guesses, and long phone calls home that weighed on him when he first left Russia a little over two years ago.
“He’s just happy with his life, with where he is,” Zadorov said.
It’s a feeling echoed by the crowds on Causeway Street — fans who have resonated more with Khusnutdinov’s competitive drive and generous nature than what could ever be gleaned from a few hushed platitudes in English.
It’s to be expected for No. 88, No. 1, and No. 73 sweaters to fill the lower bowl at TD Garden during games.
But as Khusnutdinov continued his pregame routine of doling out pucks prior to Tuesday’s regular-season finale, he spotted his No. 92 sweater in the crowd.
A simple orange sign — crafted by Maeve McGlone of Stratford, New Hampshire — read, “Khusy’s No. 1 fan.”
Not only did Khusnutdinov hand McGlone a puck, but it also had a message taped to the back — announcing that she was getting his jersey after the game as part of the team’s annual “Shirts Off Our Backs” event.
“He’s my favorite player,” McGlone, a third-grader, said of Khusnutdinov. “I like the really fast players.”
It’s not the first time that Khusnutdinov has seen his No. 92 sweater around the rink.
“I feel like they’re my fans,” Khusnutdinov said. “My first year? Not a lot of jerseys. Right now in Boston? Every game, I look up and can see my jersey.
“I see that? Okay, no problem — I’ll get you a puck. That’s an easy decision for me. I want to help them. I thank them all so much for this support.”
As he made his way back down the tunnel after Tuesday’s game — sans stick and several other pieces of gear that were heaved into the crowd — Khusnutdinov took a moment to soak in the cheers raining down from a still raucous building.
For the first time in a long time, he feels right at home.
“To get to play in the NHL? You’d give everything you have to stay here,” Khusnutdinov said.
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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