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Boston Bruins Notes: Geekie, Sweeney, Zacha, Beecher

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Despite finishing toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings for the first time since the 2006-07 season, the Boston Bruins had a few bright spots on the year. One of them, Morgan Geekie, is entering the 2025-26 season on a $2MM salary and had been an oft-mentioned trade candidate for the Bruins throughout the year.

That’s unlikely to happen. Earlier today, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub passed along a blunt statement from General Manager Don Sweeney indicating Geekie would be on the roster next year.

To be fair, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Boston recoup a haul for Geekie should they trade him. 30-goal scorers don’t grow on trees in the NHL, and certainly not on $2MM salaries. However, as a counterpoint, the Bruins did finish as one of the worst offensive teams in the 2024-25 campaign, and trading Geekie away does nothing to improve that. He’ll look to equal, if not improve upon, this year’s results as a pending restricted free agent, and the Bruins can decide then if they’d like to re-sign Geekie to a longer-term deal.

Other notes from the Bruins organization:

  • Much like Geekie, don’t expect Sweeney to depart the organization anytime soon, either. Speaking with reporters today, team President Cam Neely gave a glowing endorsement of Sweeney, saying, “Don has been a great GM in this league. Has everything gone right? No, it hasn’t. That’s just sports, but there’s been more good than bad. Don and his group, in my opinion, have earned the right to get us back to where we all want to be.” Sweeney has been at the helm of the Bruins’ front office for the last decade.
  • Fortunately, Boston will enter the summer months with a clean bill of health. Sweeney shared that forward Pavel Zacha had a minor, unspecified surgery, and John Beecher may also need one (Tweet Link). Other than that, the Bruins don’t expect any major surgeries throughout the offseason.

Bruins Will Consider Removing Interim Tag From Joe Sacco

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Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco will be given the opportunity to interview for the full-time position as the organization casts a wider net over the offseason, general manager Don Sweeney said Wednesday during his end-of-season media availability (via Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe).

Boston has already begun the interview process, Sweeney said, although it is not clear who else they have considered or spoken to. One thing is clear: the Bruins’ top offseason priority is bolstering their offense (via Ryan), and they will name a head coach who they believe can lead a system capable of generating more scoring from their group. Boston’s abysmally poor overall offense (2.71 goals per game, 28th in the league) and power play (15.2%, 29th) were the primary reasons they missed the postseason for the first time since 2016. Those results weren’t due to poor finishing luck; Boston still finished 29th in the league in shots per game with 26.5.

Sacco, 56, had been with the team since the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach before being elevated to interim head coach in the wake of Jim Montgomery’s firing in November. Boston finished the season with a worse points percentage (.460) under Sacco than they did in their first few weeks under Montgomery (.475) and even fell behind the Sabres for last place in the Atlantic Division. Their overall points percentage of .463 was their worst season since the 2006-07 campaign, also the last time they finished last in their division. The flip side – Boston’s lottery odds give them a 41.9% chance at a top-five pick in this year’s draft, something they haven’t held since selecting Tyler Seguin No. 2 overall in 2010.

Previous NHL head coaching experience won’t be a prerequisite, but they will limit their search to names who have served on an NHL bench before, Sweeney said (via Greg Wyshynski of ESPN). They have a quartet of recently-fired names to consider in John Tortorella, Peter Laviolette, Greg Cronin, and Dan Bylsma. However, only the last name on that list jumps out as a team looking to jumpstart their scoring. While the Kraken were not close to the postseason picture, Bylsma managed to take their offense from 29th in the 2023-24 season under Dave Hakstol to 16th in the league this past year.

Ian Mitchell Clears Waivers, Bruins Reassign Six To AHL

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Thursday: Mitchell has cleared waivers, relays Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal.  He has been returned to Providence as well.

Wednesday: The Boston Bruins have made a wave of roster moves after playing their final game of the season on Tuesday. Most notably, defenseman Ian Mitchell has been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the minor leagues. If he clears, he’ll join five other Bruins headed to Providence: forwards Fabian Lysell, Fraser Minten, John Farinacci, and Vinni Lettieri; and defenseman Frederic Brunet. All six players have spent time in the minor leagues this season.

Mitchell will be available to all teams in the league, though post-Trade Deadline roster rules would require a claiming team to assign him to their own AHL squad. In returning to the minors, Mitchell will return to the productive 27 points he scored in 46 games with Providence earlier this season. That mark led all Providence defensemen in scoring this season, even despite the rest of the blue-line playing upwards of 20 more games. Mitchell’s two-way impact and stout scoring earned him the role of extra defenseman after Boston traded top-four defender Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the deadline.

Mitchell stepped into 15 games with the Bruins this season but only managed one point, two penalty minutes, and a minus-two. His appearances were quiet once again, lining up with the two points and 10 PIMs he recorded in 13 games with Boston last season – though he did manage a stronger plus-six that year. Mitchell has rotated between major and minor rosters for the last five NHL seasons. He has six points in nine career Calder Cup Playoff games, and would be an impactful addition to either Providence’s – or another squad’s – postseason run.

This wave of roster moves also features Boston’s top two prospects in Minten and Lysell. Both forwards rotated into the NHL lineup through the latter half of this season, but struggled to find much scoring. Minten scored just one goal in six appearances with the Bruins. Lysell recorded three points in 12 games, though they were all scored within his last four appearances. Both rookies seemed to become more-and-more comfortable in the NHL lineup as the season went on. Lysell ended the season on an impressive hot-streak that saw him actively seeking out the puck and making long-stretches of plays. Minten seemed to adjust well to a move to Boston, after being acquired in the aforementioned Carlo trade.

Both prospects have been productive in the minors. Lysell has 34 points in 51 AHL games this season – a mark he outscored with 50 points in 56 games last season. Minten has scored 30 points in 36 combined AHL games this season, including seven points in 10 games with Providence. The duo will look to carve out top roles and meaningful impacts as Providence enters the postseason.

They’ll be backed by a wave of veteran depth in Farinacci, Lettieri, and Brunet. All three have found top-end roles in Providence, led by Lettieri, whose 48 points in 46 games this season leads the AHL Bruins in point-per-game scoring. Farinacci is scoring at a career-high pace from behind Lettieri in the lineup, netting 37 points in 57 AHL games – just shy of his 38 points in 71 games last season. Even Brunet has found production from the blue-line, with 24 points in 68 games the second-best on the Providence defense behind Mitchell. All three players carved out their roles in Providence early in the season and will reassume them with this move – Lettieri and Farinacci headed back to the top-six on offense, and Brunet headed for a clear top-four role on the defense.

Elias Lindholm Played Through Back Injury In 2024-25

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Bruins center Elias Lindholm dealt with a back injury throughout his first season in Boston, he revealed to reporters at today’s exit meetings (via Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub). He sustained it in August, and it’s what caused him to miss most of training camp before playing all 82 games for the Bruins. It should offer some explanation for his continued offensive struggles, posting 17-30–47 for a 0.57 points per game rate after signing a massive seven-year, $54.25MM deal with Boston in free agency. This year marked Lindholm’s second straight campaign with less than 20 goals after he potted 42 for the Flames in 2021-22. He remains one of the league’s better faceoff-takers with a 55.2% win rate on nearly 1,400 draws, but that alone doesn’t justify his $7.75MM cap hit without increased offensive production. Boston will hope for a rebound next year to aid in their retooling.

Boston Bruins Expected To Retain Current Front Office

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To the surprise of many, don’t expect any changes to the Boston Bruins’ front office this summer. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Bruins will retain President Cam Neely and General Manager Don Sweeney to invent the next iteration of Boston’s roster.

It’ll be the first time Sweeney has had to engage in a retool during his tenure as General Manager. Sweeney took over as the team’s top decision-maker in 2015-16. He manufactured the roster that took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019 and the team that set the single-season win record in 2022-23.

Unfortunately, aside from their loss to the St. Louis Blues in 2019, Boston hasn’t appeared in the Eastern Conference Final in any other year under Sweeney’s regime. The Bruins have fallen to last place in the Eastern Conference since selling off at the trade deadline in March, while being projected to have a top-five pick since selecting Tyler Seguin second-overall in the 2010 NHL Draft.

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Bruins Recall John Farinacci, Frederic Brunet

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The Bruins announced they’ve recalled forward John Farinacci and defenseman Frederic Brunet from AHL Providence on an emergency basis. Both players could make their NHL debuts tomorrow against the Devils. The team returned fellow emergency call-ups Michael Callahan and Riley Duran to the P-Bruins in corresponding moves.

Farinacci arrives in Boston amid his second professional season. Initially a third-round pick of the Coyotes in 2019, he opted not to sign with Arizona upon finishing his collegiate career at Harvard in 2023. He signed an entry-level contract with the Bruins as an Aug. 15 free agent following an injury-shortened 2022-23 campaign with Harvard, still serving as team captain and notching 5-15–20 in 19 games.

The cousin of Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato hasn’t quite provided that level of offense in the AHL for Providence, but the 24-year-old is still making strides. After posting 12-26–38 in 71 games last season, he’s nearly matched that point total in 57 appearances this year (9-28–37). That puts him in a tie for seventh on the team in scoring, and the 5’11” center/right-winger also has a plus-nine rating.

He could directly replace Duran, who made his NHL debut in Boston’s last two games, as the Bruins’ fourth-line right wing in their final game of the season. Duran, 23, averaged 12:44 per game across the pair of contests and managed five shots on goal, although that effort didn’t result in his first NHL point. He recorded six hits and a minus-one rating, and Boston dominated play at even strength with a 78.1 CF% in his limited minutes. Few expected better from Duran, who has 12-4–16 in 58 games in his first full AHL season.

Brunet is the far younger of the two call-ups. The 21-year-old rearguard was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 draft by the Bruins and, so far, looks to be overperforming his draft slot. The 6’3″, 196-lb lefty has been a solid two-way presence with a physical edge over his first two professional seasons. He’s been one of Providence’s best defensemen in 2024-25, placing second on the team in scoring among blue-liners with 5-19–24 in 68 games. He also ranks third on the team with a +14 rating.

That’s good enough to make him the top U-23 defense prospect in Boston’s underwhelming pool, opines Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. While the No. 7 prospect overall, there’s legitimate third-pairing upside in his game in a few years, Wheeler writes. He could get that first chance to flash it as the Bruins conclude a disappointing season, potentially even making himself a dark horse for an opening-night job in 2025-26.

As for Callahan, he ends his first NHL season with one goal and a minus-five rating in 17 games. Boston first recalled the stay-at-home defender in January and has periodically given him time on the active roster since. The 25-year-old lefty averaged 14:09 per game and was a relative nonfactor, posting a 43.8 CF% and 43.3 xGF% at even strength in heavy defensive deployment. Despite checking in at 6’2″ and 200 lbs, he wasn’t an imposing factor physically, logging only 12 blocks and eight hits. The pending restricted free agent has 1-7–8 and a plus-four rating in 43 games with the P-Bruins this year.

Bruins Inviting Bret Link To Development Camp

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  • The Bruins have invited Colorado College winger Bret Link to this summer’s development camp, per Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal. Development camp invites are routinely an indication a team is considering signing an undrafted free agent to an entry-level contract but isn’t ready to do so yet. In NCAA players’ case, they can’t sign before ending their collegiate career. Link, 23, has 11-25–36 in 72 games with Colorado College over the last two seasons. The Alaska native stands at 6’3″ and 196 lbs and could opt to turn pro if his offense continues progressing upward in his junior season.

McAvoy And Kastelic Won't Return This Season

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The Bruins are shutting down defenseman Charlie McAvoy and center Mark Kastelic for the final week of the season, relays Boston.com’s Conor Ryan (Twitter link).  Interim head coach Joe Sacco indicated that both players are making progress from their respective injuries but will run out of time before the year comes to an end.  McAvoy has missed the last two months with a shoulder injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off; his year comes to an end with just 23 points in 50 games, the lowest point total of his eight-year NHL career.  As for Kastelic, he has missed the last three weeks with an upper-body issue.  He finishes with a career-best 14 points in 61 games while chipping in with 128 hits, earning him a three-year, $4.7MM extension in early January.

Bruins Recall Riley Duran

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The Bruins announced they’ve recalled forward Riley Duran from AHL Providence while sending depth veteran Patrick Brown down in a corresponding transaction. Duran will make his NHL debut if he enters the lineup tonight against the Blackhawks.

Boston selected Duran, now 23, in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. The Boston-area native is in his first full season of professional hockey after signing out of Providence College last year. The 6’1″, 174-lb forward can play both center and wing and revolves his game around physicality, although he does have an intriguing release. He’s scored 12 goals in 58 games with the P-Bruins but has managed only four assists for 16 total points.

Given what Duran managed in college, it’s a slightly underwhelming offensive performance on the whole. He scored 27-28–55 in 102 games for the Friars over four seasons, including a career-high 20 points in 29 games in his junior season. He still has more room to grow in the minors, but he’ll need to carve out a niche as a bottom-six role player if he wants a long-term NHL role with Boston. He’s the No. 9 prospect in a weak Boston pool, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic opines, writing he has “the tools to become a call-up option/bottom-line forward” but that his game “lacks dimension.”

Nonetheless, Duran could get a chance here to taste NHL action with one season still to go on his entry-level contract. While a long shot at best for next fall’s opening night roster, there’s an opening for him to prove initial value in a fourth-line role and vault him up the list of potential call-ups next year.

The 32-year-old Brown heads back to Providence after spending the last month on the NHL roster. Boston passed him through waivers in late March but declined to reassign him immediately. Since that was less than 10 games and 30 days ago, they can still send him down without having to waive him again. He’s been scratched for the Bruins’ last three outings and has one assist and a minus-two rating in 15 NHL games this year as he hurtles toward unrestricted free agency.

Boston Bruins Recall Fraser Minten, Reassign Jeffrey Viel

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The Boston Bruins will likely see the organizational debut of one of the prospects they acquired from their trade deadline firesale. Boston announced they’ve recalled forward Fraser Minten from their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, and have reassigned forward Jeffrey Viel in a corresponding roster move.

Minten, drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs with the 38th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, was the principal player acquired by the Bruins in the Brandon Carlo trade. He’s suited up for the AHL Bruins since, scoring three goals and seven points in 10 games.

There’s been a slight uptick in scoring for Minten, who had only recorded six goals and 13 points in 26 games earlier this season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Still, that may partly be based on his stay with the Maple Leafs earlier in the 2024-25 calendar, when he scored two goals and four points in 15 games, averaging 12:14 of ice time per game.

Given their plummet in the standings since the trade deadline, the Bruins are positioned to give nearly every prospect a look on the NHL roster for their remaining games. Minten had shown the ability to play up and down the forward core during his stay with Toronto, and Boston will look to see if he’ll offer them the same.

Meanwhile, Viel suited up in his fifth game of the year a few days ago. The seven-year veteran is primarily known for fisticuffs rather than his talent with the puck, but he has registered 12 goals and 34 points in 62 games for the AHL Bruins this season.

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