I Analyzed Every Bruins Game in 2025… Here’s What I Found

I Analyzed Every Bruins Game in 2025… Here’s What I Found

The Boston Bruins will have a great chance at coming out of the Olympic break with a strong record, but is there reason for concern? The Athletic seems to think so. You’re Locked On Bruins, your daily podcast on the Boston Bruins, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What is up Bruins fans and welcome back to the Locked On Boston Bruins podcast. I’m your host Ian McLaren and this is a daily show where we discuss all things spoke to be. Today is Wednesday, July 23rd. Thank you so much for making Lockdown Bruins your first listen of the day. Free and available on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube, part of the Locked Podcast Network your team every day. And today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Everydayers will know we have been going through the 202526 schedule and assessing how the Bruins could fare each and every month. We’ve reached the end of February and right now I have them penciled in for a record of 28, 26, and one. Obviously, it’s hard to gauge the extra point which will come into play at some point, but just going by vibes, win or loss. Today, we’re going to look at uh the schedule for March and April, how the Bruins could fare to end the season with the trade deadline scheduled to be in there at some point. We’ll also take a look at the athletics concern ometer and the Bruins being right at the top of that list. Quick reminder, if you did not catch yesterday’s interview with Casey Hudson of Nessen, I highly recommend checking that out. It was a great conversation. Before we get started today, a quick reminder, you can find the podcast on social media, locked NHL Bruins, and you can find me, my hockey thoughts, dad jokes, Ian C McLaren. I am a lifelong Boston Bruins fan and I’ve been covering this team for various outlets for 20 years now. The Boston Bruins will come out of February’s 3-w weekek Olympic break with a great chance of success right out of the gate. They will have several games against nonplayoff teams from this past season. I’ve already factored in the games against Columbus and Philadelphia to end February in the current record, putting them a couple games over 500. And then they get to start March with games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators. So, those are two wins they should get right there based on last season’s uh performance. It will get a bit tough moving forward as they will play the Washington Capitals on the 7th, the first of a back-to- back that weekend as they’ll go uh actually they’ll host Washington and then go to Pittsburgh. So, let’s say they split those two games. So, so far we have a record of 3-1 to begin March. that week, the second week of March, they will host two California teams, one LA, one San Jose. Probably a win over San Jose, maybe a loss to LA. So, we’re talking four and two through those first six games of the month. Another matinea game coming up against the Washington Capitals on the 14th of March. So, that could be a tough one, putting them at around four and three over the first two weeks of the month. That would be six and three coming out of the Olympic break. Not bad. Third week of March, there’s a back-to back on the road against New Jersey and Montreal. If we’re putting them so far at 4 and three, let’s say they split those. So, they’re five and four through the first nine games. Probably going down to five and five after a game against the Jets on the 19th. They’ll host or sorry they’ll go to Detroit on the 21st. Let’s pencil that in as a win. So six and five. Probably a loss to Toronto on the 24th to put them back to six and six. But a win over Buffalo the next night. That could be a tough one since it’s a backtoback, but it is the Sabres. Uh so we’ll put them uh back even there. or actually that would put them up 76. Three games remaining. The Wild Stars at home and then Columbus on the road. So if you look at the month of March, that would be seven 11 uh 16 games. We’re probably looking at about an 8 and8 record if we’re being honest here. And that would put them at 36 uh 34 and one, which would give them 72 points through um 71 games. So, a bit over 500, which isn’t bad, but it would need to have a huge push in April in order to make the postseason. If you look at last season’s standings, I believe the Montreal Canadiens had the uh second wild card spot with around 92 points or 91 points, I should say. So that would mean the Bruins would have to pick up 18 points in April in order to uh make the playoffs with only uh seven games. So it’s looking as though the Bruins will be a bubble team at best. Again, this is being kind of just looking at the schedule, looking at the opposition, and assessing whether or not on paper, it looks as though they could win any respective game. Now, in today’s NHL, we know that there are often games that teams aren’t supposed to win that they come out with the two points. There’s also games where they should win, but they kind of play down to the competition. There’s injuries that happen on both sides. Uh, a team could lose its star player. Therefore, they’re easier to beat or you lose Charlie Makavoy, Hamas Lindholm for a large part of the season. As Casey Hudson yet said yesterday, the Bruins were without their top two defenseman together for the final stretch of the season and they didn’t play uh both guys weren’t in the lineup for like 80% of the season if you look at Hampus Lindome’s injury. So that alone should be a benefit to the Boston Bruins and that could create some variance. But if you’re looking at the bottom team in the Eastern Conference having to climb out of that hole by passing uh actually they were tied for bottom with the Philadelphia Flyers. So you have to look at them passing. Can they pass Buffalo? Probably. Although at some point Buffalo has to be more competitive. Do we see them passing the Pittsburgh Penguins? Maybe. Yeah. They’re in the same kind of position as the Bruins. Do we see them passing the Islanders? Possible. The Rangers, Red Wings, Blue Jackets. Those are all teams that you can see them being better than next season. But once you get into the playoff teams from last year, who is going to fall out in order to give the Bruins a chance to jump up? Will it beat the Ottawa Senators? The New Jersey Devils. Look at them. They were playing largely down the stretch without Jack Hughes. If he can stay healthy, they’re one of the top teams in the metro. Uh did the Montreal Canadians fall back down to earth? Right now, I have the Bruins pencled in at around 500 through March. And that would put them in around 11th in the East, 12th probably, just above the New York Islanders uh from last season with one, two, three, four teams to jump in order to make the playoffs. Who knows? Maybe I’m being too tough on this team, but this seems to be the consensus looking around. How will April look for this team? Can they make a late push? We’ll discuss that here as the podcast continues. Have you ever decided last minute to head down to a ball game with friends or family? Maybe it’s game day and suddenly you realize you want to be in the stands up here where I am in Ontario tonight. Blue Jays hosting the Yankees in a huge game and you know people are checking game time because it’s the easiest way to grab lastminute tickets without stress with money you save on tickets. You can splurge on food, drinks, merch, even invite a bigger group to come with you. Game time makes it all possible. Prices on the app actually drop the closer you get to first pitch. And they’ve got incredible lastminute deals, clear seat views, and a lowest price guarantee that takes the worrying out of buying. I love the view from your seat on the app. You know exactly what to expect when you arrive at the ballpark. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply, but again, create an account. Redeem code locked on NHL for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets at the lowest price guaranteed. Thanks again for making Lockdown Bruins part of your daily routine. Available on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube. Part of the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day. And today we’re looking at the Bruins March and April schedules to assess whether or not this team could be challenging for a playoff spot. The Bruins will play uh seven games in April and unfortunately five of them will be on the road. two of them, three of them actually, the first three games of three of the forced games in April will be pretty tough. Three of the forc three of the first four. You have Florida Panthers on April 2nd in Florida. Then they go to Tampa to take on the Lightning on Saturday, April 4th. For some reason, they traveled north to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on the 5th. So, that’s a back-toback. And then they traveled back down south to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes on the 7th. Florida, Tampa, Carolina mixed with Philadelphia in there. Uh, that is a pretty rough way to end the season. Florida, Tampa, Carolina, all will be very good again this season. Carolina, Florida were your Eastern Conference finalists last season. Tampa, of course, was right up there a few years ago and are looking to get back to the status of Florida’s top team at least. Philly, we can pencil that in as a win, but you’re looking at a one and three start to April. Not only that, after three days off, they will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 11th. So that’s probably a one and4 start to begin April. Then they will play the Columbus Blue Jackets on the 12th, second of a back-to back on the road. Let’s say that’s a win. Then they come home to end the regular season against the New Jersey Devils on the 14th. Who knows what the lineup will look like at that point, but let’s say they win that game to end um April. That would put them at uh three wins, four losses. So a record of 39 uh 38 and one. So just above 500, but not with enough points to make the playoffs. That would give them about 79 points, which is three points better than this past season level with the Buffalo Sabres. So really, you know, I try to be um pretty optimistic on the locked Boston Bruins podcast. Try to be glass half full, but looking at the Bruins schedule ahead, um and the fact that they did not really add a ton of scoring, uh it’s going to be a real challenge for this team to get back to playoff contention. Yes. Yesterday, Casey Hudson and I discussed some of the things that could go right for this team. Jeremy Swayman could get back to his elite level status and be a top 10 at least goalie in the NHL. really helping Marco Sturm out by providing that highlevel goalending which just helps everybody gives more breathing room to everybody with the return of Charlie Makavoy Hamas Lindholm on the blue line that could be mutually beneficial for Swayman as well. They did add Victor Arvitz in to add some scoring. The line of Morgan Geeki, Elias Lindholm, and David Poshnock was clicking to end the season. The Bruins hope for a return to form from Casey Middlestat, who could be a real X factor for this team. Did have 57 59 point seasons with the Colorado Avalanche in a supporting role. If he can replicate that as a second line center, then the Bruins could have improvements this coming season. He needs to find some chemistry with Arvdson, needs to find some chemistry with Zaka. The real question will be in the bottom six. Who emerges? Will it be uh Morat Hudinov? Will it be Fraser Minton? Will some of these other signings take those spots? Michael Essimont, Sean Carali, Tanner Jano. Uh will the Bruins allow Fabian Lysel, Georgie Murculov, Matt Potra to make the jump to the NHL and add some of that scoring perhaps at the expense of that defensive responsibility. There are a lot of question marks about this team at the moment. And based on these very uh casual projections, it really could go either way. And as I mentioned yesterday, you can’t really necessarily lose either way. If the Bruins tank once again and fall down to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, then you put yourself in a position to draft Gavin McKenna. he along with James Haggins. I mean, that is the kind of coup that you’ve seen other rebuilding teams be able to grab in recent years. You look at the San Jose Sharks with Mlin Cabbrini, Will Smith, now Michael Misa. Uh you look at the Blackhawks with Connor Baddard and the talent there surrounding him with young talent that hasn’t quite emerged yet. Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, uh some defenseman. Yeah, these teams haven’t uh been able to move back up, but with the Bruins having a pretty solid core already in place, those young guys are just setting you up for future success. Now, on the flip side, if the Bruins overperform and exceed expectations, I don’t think any preseason prognosticators are going to pick them for a playoff spot. But if they’re able to overachieve, then that’s a win-win. They’re back in the playoffs. They’re a competitive team and perhaps you’re able to uh use some of your cap space next summer to attract a big-time free agent of which right now there are scheduled to be many including Conor McDavid, Jack Eel, Kyle Connor, a bunch of these guys from the 2015 draft that the Bruins missed out on andor passed on. So really, it’s up in the air for the Boston Bruins this upcoming season. To be honest, it could really go either way. I’m excited to see how it shakes out. I was discouraged by the July 1st signings, but I’m also excited about some of the young guys that are going to be pushed to grab spots. You’re going to see hopefully Patra, Lysel, Merculov really perform in training camp in order to push out some of these guys who could be buried in the AHL. Same with Michael DPro if Unis Corpal is still around. So there’s reason for some optimism if Middlestat pops, if Arvdson scores 30, uh if Morgan Geeki and David Aoshock continue their chemistry experiment, if Lindholm Makavoy come back peak players, Swayman finds his game. But there’s also reason for concern as pointed out by Shaina Goldman of The Athletic and that’s an article that we will take a look at here as the podcast continues. All right, this morning at the Athletic, Shaina Goldman posted an article called NHL offseason concern omter Eric Carlson trademark it Conor McDavid contract and more. And the first item was the Bruins direction and she put the concern meter at five out of 10. Let me just read what Shaina wrote. It’s never easy to take a step back and start looking toward the future. So the Bruins deserve credit for making that decision at the trade deadline. Could not agree more. Trading for draft picks and prospects such as Fraser Minton will help this team replenish its pipeline. Not to mention Will Zeers. couple first round picks that they added as well. Bets on reclamation projects such as Casey Middlestat at the deadline along with Victor Arvitzen this summer could pay off too. Totally agree. As promising as that all is, the real question is whether Don Sweeney has the vision to retool the Bruins into a contender around David Posterno and Charlie Makavoy. I would add Jeremy Swayman to that list. His track record of drafting and developing players is suspect at best and this summer’s direction emphasizing hardnosed players and size only adds to that concern. The Tener Jano contract may not be that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things since it only carries a $3.4 million cap hit. However, it represents Sweeny’s willingness to commit to a five-year deal with the player who brings size, but not me nearly enough skill. Too early to sound the alarms in Boston, but there are some concerning trends worth keeping an eye on. Now, prior to the off season, I talked a lot about the areas in which the Bruins needed to hit on this summer. one was the coach. I think we could all agree that Sturm is a good hire and there’s a lot of promise there. The draft, the Bruins could not have lucked out any better by having James Hagens dropped to seventh. And I mean, they could have gotten cute and tried to draft a guy with more physical upside. like Porter or no, he was already gone. the the Bruins kind of were saved by the fact that uh some of the guys that were projected to be in their wheelhouse like a Jacob Bryan, like Brady Martin, like uh even Porter Martone, these guys, two of them at least had been taken before the Bruins were on the board. They could have gone with O’Brien because of his more physical profile, but luckily, thankfully, they went with the guy with the most upside, and that was uh James Hagens. So, thank goodness for that. They did reach a bit last year going with um Dean Ltoro in the first round, but there was a lot to like this year in terms of Hagens, Will Moore, Cooper Simpson, Vasa Blar. Uh these are all guys that bring some hope and some offensive possibilities. Now, when it comes to free agency, this is where Don Sweeney did not really get uh maybe passing grade, but not really. You add a bunch of bottom sixers when you already have some guys who are looking to make the leap. Perhaps not in bottom six roles, but you could have a nice line of Husnav, Minton, and somebody on the right side. Those are young guys that should have full-time spots on this team. So, yes, the commitment to Jano was unfortunate, but perhaps and as Casey Hudson said yesterday, there’s that familiarity there, right? He was in the Kings organization. He was part of the Predators organization when Arvdson was there. So maybe the idea is to bring in some guys with pre-existing chemistry and you take out the kind of uncertainty of new guys in the locker room and just hit the ground running because there is that familiarity there. Do I love the Jano signing? Not at all. Do I think it sinks the work that Sweeney was able to do elsewhere? Not necessarily. Uh the Arvitzson edition is a pretty nice one either for that scoring pop that he could bring or flippability at the trade deadline similar to what they were able to do with Coyle Carlo Marshon this year. If they’re out of the playoff picture, he’s a guy that you can and should flip. And there will be a few other guys that they could possibly um do that with as well. I think people are sleeping on the signings of Mate Blum and uh Alex Steves as guys who could bring some of that scoring to the to the table. Um, maybe they’re able to flip Andrew Peak and keep Jordan Harris, who’s a bit younger, at the trade deadline. There are going to be options for this team. Was it a perfect off seasonason for Don Sweeney? No. Is there a reason for concern? Well, as Shaya wrote, it’s about a five on a 10. Not super concerning, but not something that you necessarily wanted to see. If you scroll down further in the article, you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs and you see an eight out of 10 on the Concern meter and they lost once again in the playoffs to the Florida Panthers, blowing a series lead there. And they also lost Mitch Mner, a huge hole in the top six. And a guy capable of putting up 100 points. Glimpses of that in the playoffs, although he didn’t perform to that level. Um, a team facing pressure to finally go on a deep run. Glaring hole in the top six. Another concern on this article is McDavid’s next contract. No contract extension yet. And while they have Leon Dryidle extended for another eight years, Evan Buchard resigned. Um goalending situation is a mess. And if that’s a huge if McDavid does become available, then that could be a potential gift for the Boston Bruins. And when we talk about Tanner Jano, you look at Edmonton and the commitment that they made to Trent Frederick, which was eight years, 3.85 85 million AAV, similar profile. Uh, that might be a worse looking contract than what the Bruins did for Jano. You could also argue that the Bruins traded Frederick, so why reup on a guy like Jano, who has a similar profile, why not just keep Frederick? But they were able to flip him for second round pick, which wasn’t bad. Anyways, all that to say, we don’t really know what 2526 is going to hold for the Bruins. A lot of question marks, the Olympic break, uh potential selloff once again. We’ll have to see how things shake out. So, you’re going to want to keep it locked to locked on Boston Bruins for all the latest on the black and gold. Do check out the locked on NHL podcast next. Leaguewide stories that matter most with local coverage you love from Lockdown available on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hope you have a happy Wednesday. Hope you’re having a good week. Please do take care of yourselves. Take care of each other and we’ll talk to you again here on the next episode of Locked on Boston Bruins.

In this episode of Locked On Bruins, host Ian McLaren analyzes the Boston Bruins’ potential performance for the upcoming 2025-26 season. He examines the team’s schedule, projecting their record through March and April. McLaren discusses the challenges the Bruins face in making the playoffs, considering their current roster and recent acquisitions. He highlights key players like Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and Jeremy Swayman, whose performances could significantly impact the team’s success. The episode also touches on the Athletic’s “concern-o-meter” for the Bruins, addressing Don Sweeney’s offseason moves and the team’s overall direction. McLaren balances optimism with realism, acknowledging both potential improvements and areas of concern for the Bruins’ future.

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