What Will The Bruins 2025-26 Roster Be Opening Night?

What Will The Bruins 2025-26 Roster Be Opening Night?

Welcome to another episode of the Hockey Hub. Sophia and Casey here with you guys on this Monday. It’s Monday, right? Yes, it’s Monday. I was going to say Wednesday. I had a long weekend. On this Monday, guys, we have, as usual, a guest, Ty Anderson, is going to join us from 98.5 The Hub. We’re going to bring him in uh in just a sec, but just to go over the lineup. We’re talking all things Bruins. As usual, we’re going to get Tai’s take and he’s got some hot takes on what the Bruins have done in the offseason. We’re going to look ahead to the new CBA as well in the NHL. It’s not taking place this season, but as of 2026 27, we going to we we have some rule changes. So, we’re going to discuss that. And Casey, we are stretching out as much as we can from development camp to fill time over here. Okay, we are stretching development camp. We’re going to be talking about that even though it’s just a week long, probably for two months. Uh but no, but jokes aside, we have a great interview from a guest coach at development camp who was uh is has taken a job to be the coach at Princeton or assistant coach, excuse me, at Princeton. And she talks about kind of her journey uh in and around hockey and has had a lot of success coming from the Pride, etc., etc. So, we go one-on-one with her. And Casey, for the first time, we’re doing some I don’t know if it’s fan mail, but fan comments. The mailbag. Yeah. We’re going to be addressing a little bit of that. Uh, but without further ado, cuz he’s waiting in the shadows and I don’t want to keep him waiting, let’s bring in Ty Anderson, first time guest on the Hockey Hockey Hub. Ty, thanks for being here. Oh, no worries. Thank you for having me. Yeah, we’re excited to get your hot takes even though fans who know and love you, Bruins fans know you very well about uh your opinions and that you write and also appear on 98.5 The Hub. So, let’s kind of begin right there. We have some clips. We’re not going to throw to them yet, but we’re going to begin with your maybe overall grade. I don’t know if it’s changed since uh free agency opened up, but your overall grade of the Boston Bruins so far this off season. Yeah, I mean, beginning factoring in the draft and free agency and the trade and the trade they made, I I got to go a C minus right now. Um, I I wish I could go a little bit higher, but you know, watching this Bruins team for 82 games last year, the biggest takeaway I had was they need scoring help. And I think they got some help, but for the future, you know, you get James Hagens, you get Will Moore, you get Cooper Simpson in the draft. These are guys that you look at and see like high offensive ceilings, but that doesn’t help a guy like David Post right now or a guy like Charlie Mackoy right now. And I feel like they needed so much help. not even so much help, but just another guy who can score consistently. And it feels like they came up a little bit short there. So, I have to go C minus. Um, but I have to also understand that this is clearly a multi-year process based on what Marco Sturm has said and what the Bruins management has said uh since all of this kind of started. But I’m a I’m a win now person. I’m a I want to be entertained now person. So, for that reason, I have to go C minus. I Okay, I have a two-part question for you because I’m new to the Boston area, but I feel like a lot of the Boston sports are kind of going through a lot of this wait and see vibes and feelings and emotion. So, for one, in a word or a phrase, how would you describe or try to temper Bruins fans for the upcoming season? And for two, um, how do you kind of go against this instant gratification for all of the fan bases? Yeah, I I say like the one word I would use is is unfortunately patience. And Bruins fans are not patient. I I and and listen, I respect that the Boston Bruins fan is the last, you know, sort of representation of that old Boston misery. Everyone else has had multiple titles. The Bruins have had one, you know, 2011. It’s one of the best moments ever. We still talk about it in my family, my friend groups. We love that summer. Best summer of our lives. But that Bruins fan being told, “Hey, be patient.” It’s going to be a hard sell for them. But that is the cell right now. You have to be patient. Um and and this is where you can get in some trouble here. I think is that you know you want to you don’t want to have your fans waiting for too long right and I think especially the fans can look at this team right now and say well you have David Posternok in the prime of his career you have Charlie Makavoy in the prime Heisllin home nikita Zidorov Elias Lindholm like it’s going to be a hard sell for a lot of fans because they look at their roster and they go no we have a bunch of guys in their prime right now we should be trying to go for it but you know being last year what it was and getting James Hagens there isn’t element there of having to be a little bit more patient than maybe you thought you’d be this time last year. On that note, okay, so to your first point, you’re like, let’s give them a C minus. They needed more scoring and more help. And in one of your clips, you talked about not punching the puck into the net again. We’ll we’ll throw to those in a second, but can that help come from the roster, the guys who maybe underperformed just performing to where their expectations are and where their contract is? and obviously the health of a couple of guys. Like yes, I agree they needed more scoring help and they didn’t get it, but they’re supposed to have it with the guys that they have and they didn’t last year. So, can that happen? Can that be the factor that obviously Sweens and and management were are counting on? Yeah, I I I think it’s a great point, Sophia, because you sort you look at last year and the way things ended, you know, not a lot to celebrate, but the way that Morgan Geeky, Elias Lynholm, and David Posnock played, especially together uh towards the final few weeks of the season, like that’s really encouraging, right? It’s just can you get scoring below that? Can Pavle Zaka, who it felt like hit 50 posts, you know, in the first three months of the season, can he can the pucks go in the net this time, you know, versus versus hitting iron or a goalie making a great glove save. Um, so if that happens, they’re in good shape. But for me, it’s like that multi-year process of you lose Jake De Brusk and you don’t really replace him with anybody and now you lose Brad Marshian, you don’t replace him with anybody, and it’s like, all right, those are two key parts of your offense for years and years. And so you want to try to make sure that you have enough, you know, bullets in your chamber, so to speak, so that there’s not incredible pressure on guys like Geeky and Postnock every night. And so I don’t know if they have that. But what I will say is that I think this roster with a h with a healthy Hisome with a healthy Charlie Makavoy, with a Jeremy Swayman who can bounce back, like that’s probably more what they need now versus what they got a year ago. Like if those things show up, maybe you don’t need the scoring as much and guys like me are going to have to, you know, get in front of a microphone in December and go, “Hey, hand up. I was wrong. They have enough scoring because the defense and the goalending has been so great.” Well, I think a lot of people are on the same page as you just trying to figure out if the Bruins really did get adequate support for that top line or projected top line. But, uh, let’s throw to your reaction when you found out about Arvinson and Tanner Jano before we get your full take on it right here. Victor Arvidson, who waved his no trade, going to Boston for a future midround draft pick. Look at the disappointment on Tai’s face. Why? Just why? Why? Why? Why? That’s stupid. Boston has reached agreement with Tanner Jano on a 5-year deal worth 3.4 million per. Ty Anderson just collapsing. Why trade Trent Frederick? It’s the same player. It’s the same player. You know nothing about this guy though. God, this is so annoying. Just when you think they’re they’re turning the page away from big and tough and all that and getting more skilled, which what they need. What’s Tanner Janelle going to do? Is he going to punch the puck in the net? That’s what you need. You don’t need this player anymore. It’s so annoying. It’s fine money. Whatever. It’s not that. It’s 5 years for a guy that you don’t really need. That’s it. I hate this off seasonason. I hate it. It’s the why why why. Um I felt that in my bones for you. But unfortunately, I’m a little bit of a Tanner Den girl. Covered him in Tampa Bay when I was with the Lightning. But I’ll tell you this. I first want to get your opinion on Arvidson because that was one of the first moves that made the most sense. Uh fans weren’t really feeling like the Bruins bled to make this acquisition happen. But then the the skill set around him is he could potentially help on the power play, something that suffered last season and then hopefully uh contribute 20 plus goals. But why was that so painful for you, Ty? I I just think that again, this is me being a victim of expecting a little bit more, right? And perhaps that’s, you know, it was Arctic Monkeys who said anticipation has a habit to set up for disappointment. So maybe that’s what happened to me. Uh and I I do think that I was thinking a little bit higher, right? And if you’re going to acquire a guy like Victor Arbertson from a team like Edmonton that gave 10 and a half million to Evan Buchard, you’re kind of hoping that there’s going to be a sweetener involved there, right? Just beyond just the player, maybe a pick swap. You know, you’re sending out a fifth, but you’re also getting a third. Something like that. Like that’s kind of, in my opinion, how you maximize an on the-fly retool, which is what the Bruins have kind of, you know, not outright said, but that’s kind of been the the, you know, what they’ve implied is that this is going to be a quicker kind of turnaround. And so that’s my only complaint there. It’s a fine player and yeah, they clearly think they can get him back to what he was in LA. You know, I think it was 22 23. I think he had 25 power play points. So if he can get back to that level, that’s going to help both himself and the Bruins power play, which was bottom five in the league last year for for a good while there. So you believe in the player. It’s just marketwise. Are you extracting enough from the team you’re trading with? Right? And that’s kind of what I come back to for maximizing a retool is that I feel like I feel like with Arvidson, you didn’t get enough even again just a just a mid- round pick swap where you’re jumping up two rounds. I feel good about that. I feel better about that than I do right now hoping that he returns to form for just a fifth round pick. I’d like a little bit more certainty there in terms of what I’m getting back to help out a team like the Oilers uh get out of uh their cap jail situation. You know, I want to go back to a point uh just because I don’t want to get too far away from it, but you obviously talked about losing Brad Marshian and and hoping Pavalzaka, you know, and we talked about Morgan Geeki keeping up the pace, but I was just thinking about the guys that, you know, know how to drag the Bruins back into the fight and and Marian was one of them. Patrice Bjon, you know, retired for a couple seasons now, was one of them. But, you know, Marsh leaves such a big gap on so many levels, even if it’s not scoring. Who do you anticipate stepping up? And maybe it’s some of the maybe it’s Carali like we talked about that you’re not going to get uh on this show you’re you’re not going to get this like prolific scorer with Shan Carali but a fan favorite and and a guy that was part of the locker room in the the era where the culture was at its best and you know I can name a couple of others and the existing guys already but who do you see if anyone or do they still need that being able to fill the gap of of someone who can just drag the Bruins back into the fight not just with his on ice performance but just character-wise. and and effort-wise. Yeah, it’s a great question and obviously, you know, Casey, you mentioned Tanner Jano, like he’s going to be part of that group, right? Like Don Sweeney outright said that he’s going to be a guy that drags the team into the fight. Carali is another great pick, Sophia. I would honestly throw Nikita Zadorov in that mix, too. I I know he plays on the back end. He’s not going to be a scorer, but I felt that he really kind of found his voice as a leader post deadline. um which is not an easy task when you’re on a team that’s not winning. When you’re on a team that is struggling but trying their best, it’s hard for the morale not to dip. And it felt like Nikita was a guy who really kind of tried to set the tone as best he could every single night. And I really think that year two of Nikita Zidorov is going to be a really good get and a good ad for the Boston Bruins just given how he found his game, his voice, whatever you want to call it late in the regular season. It really did feel like you got the you got the version of Miku Zidorov that you paid for down the stretch and and that’s a huge development for the Boston Bruins in my opinion. Oh my gosh, I love that you mentioned him cuz a big fan of Zidorov and funny enough towards the end of the season he was one of the guys who was actually leading in rush chances of all things with his big old frame and Mason Lori kind of talked about the leader that he is and the advice that he gives and it is hard especially when English is your second language, when to find your voice and that leadership uh positioning on a roster such as this. So, I love that take, which kind of brings us to the fact that a number of these guys, Artson being one of them, Tanner Jeno, um, being accommodated already with the LA Kings system. Now, this all fits under the scope of Marco Sturm and what he’s potentially going to be injecting here. Do you feel like this team’s getting closer to finding an identity with those new acquisitions? I think so. And and I say that really because when you watch the LA Kings and I and I know Marco was coaching with the Ontario rain, but like you want to have the same kind of structure and system and all that. LA was a very strong team when protecting a lead last year. Uh they also have been a really great team when it comes to limiting the high danger looks and and things of that nature over the last couple of years. And so when the Bruins were the Boston Bruins that we all know and love and and they were competing for championships, they were really good with a lead. They were really good on home ice and they made life easier for their goalenders. Yes, their goalenders made big saves when they needed it, but but that’s kind of been the hallmark of the Boston Bruins as we know them. And so if they can get back to that, it feels like that’s what they want, right? The league is scoring more. We’ll all acknowledge that the Bruins need to score more. But, you know, the foundation of their success for a long time has been being good at home, protecting a lead, getting good goalending. The LA Kings got all three of those things a year ago and have for quite a while now. And so if they can continue to do that, like that’s not a horrible model to to have in your back pocket for 82 games. It’s just does it translate in the in the playoffs, but for a team that finished with the fifth worst record in hockey, you got to get back there first. So I don’t hate that foundation idea if I’m the Boston Bruins. Yeah. And adding to that, which is like cliche, but it is so true, you need to be hard to play against. And the Bruins weren’t last season. And we heard Don Sweeney say it 100 times. So I’m not trying to, you know, just regurgitate what he was saying, but we the Bruins weren’t uh last year. And and every every team in the league is, but the Bruins have lost a little bit of that. You bring up uh Casey and and you guys bring up, you know, the LA Kings and what Marco Sturm could bring. Can we just get your thoughts, even though it’s old news, yes, we know he’s the the head coach. What is your take on Marco Sturm being at the helm of this team and what uh his identity or his thoughts might might give the Boston Bruins? I love it. I I I like this so much better than bringing in a guy like Peter Lavlet. No disrespect to Peter Lavlet, but this is a chance to kind of, you know, the Bersron, the Marian Cree window, it’s closed. It’s time for a new era. And when you have a new era, you should take a chance on a new kind of voice. And I think a guy like Marco Sturm, who has helped bring some players along in the LA system, helped bring players along with the German national team. Um, a still a younger coach. I think he can relate to some of the younger players a little bit better. Um he was also you know he was a guy who was part of some trades and and he was you know he he’s been on good teams been on bad teams and and I think given the uncertainty of the Boston Bruins right now I think you want a younger coach who can identify and relate with the players but also be a shoulder for them to lean on during bad times because the Bruins had some bad times this past season and they hope they don’t have more of them but in the event they do you need to have a coach who’s not going to be overwhelmed by the situation and he’s going to realize, hey, this is a hard market, but if you can do this, this, and that, the fans here are going to love and respect you. And I think having that kind of presence is what this team really needs right now because you know what you’re getting from the guys at the top, like we’ve talked about. But below that, it’s a lot of wild cards right now. And and I think to have some stability and a a youth friendly voice, I think, can go a long way. I think the stability point out is tremendous. Go ahead, Casey. Oh, no. I was just saying the stability point. L was big. Oh, now now we’re on V-Mix, so our delayed response. Yeah, this is this is tough. Sorry, Ty. We’re gonna be talking over each other, but Casey, go ahead. Take it away. Okay. I was just going to say you pointed out the fact that like him being young, the way that he can work with young players and Nate Thompson talked to him being able to spot potential, which I think is huge. But we’re seeing the scope changing a lot. Young players are being a lot more vocal, requesting trades, a lot of these things. Do you think a coach like Marco Sturm can help the development timeline stop being so antiquated? Because you throw kids in the system, you wait for them to develop for 5 years, but now players want to come out of their first or second year of college and play. Oh yeah, 100%. And you know, you talk to players on and off the record. And I think the young athlete, like they’re okay being told difficult news, but they want to know the why, right? Like you can’t just say, “No, this is how it is. You’re a player. We’re management or we’re coaches. This is why.” Like they want to know, “Okay, why am I not making the team? Why am I not playing?” Like I think that’s the biggest, you know, I would say separating factor between the the athlete of old and the athlete of new is that the new athlete wants to know the how, the why, and and you know, where they factor into things. You can sell them on a on a difficult message if they get it. If they don’t get it, they’re not going to like it. Then they’re going to want to trade or they’re they’re going to, you know, basically say like throw their hands up and say, “What do you want me to do?” Um, so I I think that being an effective communicator and a direct communicator, but also not being, you know, completely disciplinarian, I think that is something that, you know, is good. And I think you saw Joe Sacko kind of doing that late in the season. I know he’s not here anymore, but, you know, guys would make a mistake and and he put them right back out there. You know, I think that’s a better message now than than stapling someone to the bench or banishing banishing them to the press box for 10 games in a row. like it’s on the job learning now for a lot of young players and I think that’s what you have to do as a team. The Bruins have to embrace, you know, hey, young players are going to make mistakes. They’re not going to be finished products, but the best way to get them to be is to play in the NHL and play through it versus sentencing them to three years in Providence of of weekend backto back to backs. Like, you got to get used to the pro game, pro recovery. And I think a guy like Sturm is going to be helpful uh for players uh in that fashion. Ty, I totally agree. I uh always warn my guests and I forgot to warn you. I’m someone who loves to play devil’s advocate just just cuz. But I’ll just start by saying I agree with that statement, but to play devil’s advocate, what’s the thought on being in the NHL making a couple mistakes depending on I guess it depends on the player, but then if if you’re in the spotlight and you make those big mistakes early on in your career that crushing your confidence, like maybe your weight isn’t where it needs to be uh yet. uh maybe the speed factor isn’t where it needs to be yet and then you’re playing against these men and then you lose some confidence and that kind of like ruins a kid forever. Is that just like ridiculous or is there any truth to that? Well, I I think it it can be true, but then you find out a lot about that player. You find out that player is probably not part of your your long-term, you know, plans. I I I do believe in, you know, iron sharpens the iron, right? And and I want I want my players to sort of develop through that and and understand like that it’s not going to be easy, but you need to rise to the challenge. And I feel like it’s harder to find that out if you’re giving guys cups of coffee, playing eight minutes in a fourth line role, and then they go back down to Providence. It’s like you kind of like and and it was harder to bring those kind of players in because A didn’t have a lot of them. uh because you were always trading draft picks and and trying to just kind of find fourth liners when you had that core that we’ve talked about that Berseron Marian Creeche like you didn’t have a lot of open roster spots with this team it’s kind of hard to find guys that are locked in up front you know besides David Posternok at at at right-wing one you you have a lot of flexibility here with your lineup and so I feel like you can use that now right and and if you don’t that’s a damn shame right and if you’re losing games two to one and you got a guy down and Providence who’s put up, you know, 15 points in 20 games and we’re going, “Why can’t we say why can’t we see him? What’s going on?” And they’re telling you about the details and everything like at that. It’s going to be a harder sell for both your fan base and I think the player because the player knows how you’re losing games. The player knows that you’re not scoring enough goals and he goes, “I’m a goal scorer. Why am I not up there helping?” And so you want to avoid that happening, I would say. And so if a guy comes up and he looks out of place for an extended period of time, you kind of know, right? you kind of know what you have there and you you adjust properly. But I feel like Sophia, you never learn if you’re only playing guys for 10 minutes, sheltered role, fourthline roll, and that’s kind of it. And so I hope that there are some younger players that can come in and grab a hold of an expanded role and that the Bruins give them the rope to do that. That like those are two things you want them to to rise to the challenge, but the opportunity has to also be there in a legitimate way in my opinion. 100%. And this is the time like with this ritual with whatever they’re going through with this turnover of um the old and the new and we you know we traded so many guys away at the deadline that like this is the time to do that. Let the young kids play, see what you got and then uh let them make the mistakes and like you said uh if you’re losing games 2-1, why aren’t we seeing these why aren’t we seeing these guys? Um so great points all around and we’re going to give you a chance to make more. Thank you for staying with us. But we got to pay some bills. We’re going to send it to break. We’ll probably talk to CBA. We’re going to talk uh more about what the Bruins did in the off seasonason and the draft. We haven’t really even touched that, so we’ll have Ty back on after this quick break. We’ll be right back. Welcome back into the hockey hub. Casey and Sophia joined by Ty Anderson from 985 talking Bruins off season. And you know what? We’re going to have a little bit more fun with this because I think we’ve all said what can be said. We don’t know what’s going to go down until the season gets going and these guys get through training camp. But I warned you at least. We’re going to let you put the GM hat on for a minute and uh talk about these lines a little bit. A couple different projections out there and the main one that a lot of us go off of being Daily Face Off. We know what the first line’s going to look like. Geeky, Lynholm, Pasta. Second line is projected at Zaka, Middlestat, Arvinson. Third, Jano, Mitten, Patra, and then you got Beecher, Carali, and Acim. There’s a couple names I was shocked that weren’t even in the mix of this. Husadino being one of them who they just added money to and value to. Um, I know Katsy is another guy that had an end of the season injury, upper body that being, but like what would you change with this projected lineup? I I don’t want Matt Potra playing wing. I I I think he needs to be a center in this league. Um, I I I think that wing he just never looks comfortable. This is a guy that I want touching the puck through the middle of the ice. I I I think that he’s got the vision. He’s got the craftiness. Uh, so I would want him at center. And then at right wing there, I’d probably put Fabian Lysel. Uh, this is a player who was a first round pick. I thought he looked good to end the year. He got better with more minutes, better opportunity. And kind of playing off what we talked about last segment. It It’s It’s time to find out, right? Like I don’t need him playing in Providence anymore doing the weekend the weekend trifecta. I need him up here and seeing what kind of player he is. Is he a middle six scorer? Is he a fourthline energy guy? or is he a bust? You know, we got to find that out at some point. And you drafted him over four years ago now. Now’s the time to find it out because, you know, we talked about players wanting trades. I I I don’t want to report that because that that’s again, I don’t know anything about that, but like if you’re a first round pick and there you’re still in the minors four years in, don’t you kind of want a fresh start, right? And so I think you should find out what you have here with this player. Um so I would like him to make the roster. I have a hard time envisioning all three of Potra, Minton, and Middlestad making the roster. I don’t think they’re going to trade Middlestad now. It’s it’s nearly, you know, it’s it’s mid it’s mid July. That move probably would have happened at the draft. But I have a hard time seeing all three of those players making this roster. And so if I’m gonna if I’m going to go with any of the the you know two out of three there, I’m probably putting Pra in the middle and I’m letting Minton begin his year in Providence, playing all situations and reassessing where we are in say mid November with him. Wait a second. I love this uh take. Obviously Don Sweeney, something he repeated a lot was that guys are going to be fighting for positions, internal competition, blah blah blah. We’ve heard it all before. But you’re saying out of training camp, we might not see Middle on the roster. No, no, no. I think I think he’s I think he’s here now. It’s just I entered this whole off season going I don’t see how you have a lineup that has Middlestad, Potra, and Minton on it on the lineup on opening night. I just I had a hard time seeing that. And so I think the window to trade him is probably expired now. I thought he would probably be a guy that like if you if you didn’t love his game and let’s say a contender did or a team that has a lot of second round picks did and you wanted to move up to get a guy that that might be a way you clear money and move up the board. Didn’t transpire that way. So I feel like he’s here but where does he play Sophia? You know Marco Stern was on 985 of Sportsub uh after he was hired and he was talking about all the centers they had and he said Milstead we’ll see. So where does he play? Is he a center? Is he a wing? like how do they view him? That’s what I want to know because it was kind of hard to get a read on him, right? Like he ends the year playing on a line with Vinnie Lati and Cole Keepy, neither of whom are are here anymore. And so what what do they envision for a player like Casey Middlestad, who when they acquired him, Don Sweeney outright said, “Not our prototypical Bruin, but a guy that we think we can use in this fashion.” So he’s a kind of an interesting player, I think, in that regard, even, you know, without potentially being traded. Yeah. No, I agree. It’s there’s a big question mark around where he plays uh how often he plays and I do think that it there’s there’s going to be some internal competition for uh for that spot, but I get what you’re saying like not all of them at that at the same time. I’m so on board with the young guys though with Lysel. Like can we please just see what we got in Lysel and I know that he had that stretch. I meant to look it up but I think it’s 10 games at the end of the season but he finally had a stretch of backtoback games. Want to see what he’s got. Fraser Mitt and Matt Potra agree as a center. And you never know. I mean, like we’re we’re hoping that these guys uh where they were drafted and what they were projected to be, we’re hoping that they pick up, you know, some of that secondary scoring. But all things like here’s my here’s my take. If the healthy guys are healthy, stay healthy, and they produce where they’re supposed to produce. If Lynholm has a better year, if Zaka has a better year, if Geeki keeps where he picks up where he left off, and then you have Minton and Patra and maybe Lysel with some consistent secondary scoring, this is not a bad team. Like, this is and and Sway, let’s throw Sway in there, performing how he needs to. I don’t think this is as bad as as people are are worried it they could be. Am I off my rocker, Ty? No. I I I think so. So, like I looked at this off season and I said they have to find a way to add 40 to 50 goals. If you can if you can score 40 to 50 more goals than you than you did a year ago, you’re going to be around the top half of the league in scoring. And if you’re able to do that and you get the good goalending, you’re basically going to be in the playoffs. You look at the the the way that the leagues the league has gone uh last year, the teams that were in the top half league in scoring basically all made the playoffs. I think the only two that didn’t were Columbus who they were in it until I think game 81 and Buffalo, you know, Buffalo is Buffalo, right? And so if if you can get more goals and you can squeeze more juice, you know, out of this out of this orange that is this roster as you mentioned those guys that those guys you named, like it should be easier, right? It’s just does it happen consistently? That’s my big thing. Like there was a lot there’s a lot of pressure on Morgan Geeki to now just be a 30 goal scorer. you know, he was 30 goal scorer for the first time in his life this past season, but now he’s got to be that guy. That’s why he got paid. So, you respect that part of the equation for him, but like they don’t have a lot of pressure and they don’t have a lot of fallback, you know, in the event that some of these guys that you’re mentioning don’t return to form or don’t succeed like they did a year ago. And that’s like the dangerous game. That’s why I gave them a C minus because, you know, I you’re never going to win a championship on July 1. It’s just it’s just not going to happen. As we all know, you’re not going to win a championship on April one for that matter, but you want to have enough weaponry, right, in your arsenal where you feel comfortable that you can win games in a variety of ways with a variety of scorers. And so that part has to emerge. What you’re talking about, like we got to see that, right? And if we don’t, it might be another long season. But I’m open to giving all these players that we’re talking about some actual rope because we know they have talent. We know Mattypra has talent. We know that Fabian Lifestyle has talent. We just got to cultivate it. We got to see it. We got to see it at this level and see how it makes a difference for this Boston Bruins team. You talk about weaponry and the huge thing that’s kind of discussed under that category at the moment are third and fourth lines. We’ve seen them help push the Florida Panthers to a championship back-to-back time. So, kind of locking in on the third line projection for a second. Tanner Jano, Frasier, Mitten, Matthew Potra. I like your take on Patra coming in center. I’ve heard fans mention it before. His first two NHL goals versus the Ducks. He was playing along or central to Geeky as well as De Brusk. But do you think that with this third line being Jano and Mitten, two guys that are known to create space? Tanner Jano talked about it is in his induction to Boston, he can create a lot of space which can create opportunity for Potra. Potra really good with his release and creating passes and kind of getting to the middle of the ice. As you mentioned, nobody has to stay static as you’re trying to penetrate the net. Then you got Frasier Mitten. He’s a pest. He’s always around the net. Do you think that he can still be productive on the wing if he’s playing with two guys that can create space and kind of polish off opportunities he creates? He could. He could for sure. I I think for me wanting him at center has everything to do with his vision, his poise, his ability to kind of suck guys in, you know, and create create an opening for his linemates when his game is on. Um, and that’s kind of I really want that in the middle because I I don’t know if you have a ton of that naturally right now in in your on your pro roster, right? Like I think James Hagens will do a lot to address that, but I think as your current pro roster is set up, you don’t have a lot of guys that can do that. And so that’s kind of why I want him in the middle. And I like the idea of Jano being his bodyguard, so to speak, because, you know, the biggest thing that’s kind of hurt Matthew Potra through through two seasons now of pro hockey has been just getting absolutely lit up, getting getting hit with heavy force, you know, again and again, it feels like. And so, I feel like having Jano there would would help him. But also, it’s just for me, it’s it’s the vision. I want that down the middle of the ice because I think that can can create some, you know, can create some mismatches on the wings for his linemates when his game is going. All right. I like that. I know. Didn’t he get knocked into New York’s bench towards the end of the season or was it versus the Rangers here at the end of the season? It sounds and he’s, you know, the other thing about Potra is that he’s a good skater, but he’s not like a burner, right? And and that might lead well to a guy like Tanner Jano where you know he’s got good skating wheels but like it’s not going to be too fast for a guy like Jano, right? Like that and that might be a kind of a weird thing to say like for the player who’s 20 21 years old but like that might like I I felt personally that the best version that we saw of Trent Frederick was actually when he was playing with Matty Potra and you know if Tener Juno was a bit like Trent Frederick maybe a bit more tenacity I kind of like that one too and what it could be you know if the players can find their games. Yeah, he had that one sixstretch pass to Frederick right before Frederick got uh traded. So, I’ll ask you this. Kind of switching over to the draft conversation, can you tell me what you would like for these lines to look like? Say that we finally get to insert a James Haggins into the mix and potentially even like a William Moore down the stretch. We got a lot of centers, a lot of left-handed defenseman. That’s driving me nuts. But, um, who would you like to see get that first opportunity coming up here from the draft class? Well, it definitely feels like James Hagens is that guy, right? I mean, he’s got electric skill set. The the puck senses, the speed, the vision. Um, one thing I love about James Hagens is that he and the Bruins love us as well is that, you know, he has been electric against his peer group, right? And so, I think I’m really excited to see what he does at Boston College this year. I I mean, because I think last year, like there was a lot of people that knocked, you know, kind of the season he had, but he was basically a high school senior. you know, he was 17 when the year started and he’s up there as a point per game and we’re saying that’s a bad thing. It’s like, well, no, he look, the context matters, right? And so, I want to see what he looks like at BC. I want to see if he can be a takeover kind of guy and really dominate games. Uh, doesn’t have Gabe Perau and Ryan Leonard, so he’s going to have more opportunity to drive the bus, so to speak, for the for the Eagles there. And so, I want to see more of that. And if and when he comes up this season, I want him in a top six role. I just do. I I I feel like that’s like the Bruins haven’t had a player like this probably since Tyler Sean, you know, but Tyler Sean came into a loaded Bruins team. Not really the case this time around. And so this is a player that I want to see playing with other skill guys right away. You know, like that that’s almost like a non-negotiable for me because otherwise I don’t know if you’re going to get the full James Hagens experience if he at 19 years old is being asked to drag line mates around the ice. Like no, I want I buy the Ferrari. I want to go fast. That’s kind of how I feel. And I feel like James Hagens is a player of that nature. That’s just how I feel though. I know you guys might feel a little bit different about that just based on how important a draft picky is in the development process of a player that you project to be a future franchise center. No, I agree with you. I I want to see him 100% and I really like the Tyler Sean comparison. I don’t you know in terms of like hype and everything and again back to the point before the break, this is the time to do it. Like I asked Fraser Mitten this when he came up and you know guys don’t like to give answers that makes them, you know, sound like they’re admitting that the season’s over. I kind of asked him a little too soon when they were still technically not out of a playoff position. Um but we all knew that it wasn’t going there. But I basically asked him and I talked I had a really long talk to Morgan Geeky about this and he he said it was a really good point that when you’re young and there’s pressure on you to like you’re coming up you may be called up for one game maybe five and the team is like two points out of a playoff position it’s really scary cuz if you make a mistake and you cost them those two points you’re like great my se the season’s over. But if you’re you know 10 points out of a playoff position you can play a little bit more free and a little bit more loose. I know that we don’t want these guys to be playing as though they’re not going to be making the postseason, but again, this is the year. This is not the year that the Bruins got knocked out of the Stanley Cup final in 2019. 2020 is going to be their year and they got to like, you know, make it and get back there. Uh, this is a year where we’re like, maybe we’ll make the playoffs, maybe not. I want to see James Higgins. I want to see, like you said, Fabin Lysel. Uh Connor Ryan said a good trajectory for him would be to do his year at BC and then kind of come up in March. Do you want to see him sooner than that? Uh well I I got to note that Connor Ryan is biased right there because he’s a Boston University fan. So he’s thinking that the Eagles are going to be done in March. Yeah. So he’s just rooting for the Eagles to go like 0 and30 and then he comes up in March. No. Um I I want him to do a full season in college. I I I do I I think that, you know, he’s still so young, right? And and the Bruins don’t have to rush him for these reasons you’re talking about, right? Like what do we think this team is going to be? You know, if everything works out, they’re contending probably for second or third in their division, more likely a wildcard team. Like, and so it’s not as if James Hagen’s going to come in and put them over the top and be a Stanley Cup contender, you know, and and it’s going to make them that much better. in spring 2026. If we’re wrong, Bruins clip this, put it all over social media. I would Tai was wrong once again. But like because of that, you know, this isn’t Charlie Macko in 2017 where the Bruins just simply ran out of bodies and had to bring him up despite not really wanting to play him in the playoffs. Like like you can be a little bit more patient here. And so I would like to see him get a cup of coffee with the Bruins by the end of the season. Uh, but I do want that full season, the NCAA tournament, the Frozen Four perhaps for for given how good BC is projected to be. Um, I I I do think there’s value in that, right? And so I don’t want to rush that. And I know a lot of Bruins fans are are are, you know, he’s he’s the shiniest new toy out of all the new toys that we’ve had in 15 years. But patience, going back to what we said off the jump here, patience is a must with a player this important. when he gets here, I want him playing big minutes, but I’m not rushing the getting here. I think he’s still got a lot to prove in BC and not in a bad way, but more of a you’re the best prospect in college hockey. Go be that guy. I want to see more of that in his 25 26 season uh at the Heights. I’m here for it cuz college hockey is just about to get that much more competitive with CHL players now joining as of August 1st. You’ve got all the hype around Penn State now. I mean, immediately their odds are saying that they’re going to win everything this upcoming season. So, granted, the size, the competitiveness that he’s going to be going against in this upcoming season, I think it’s only going to make him that much better when he finally does put on a Bruins sweater. I wouldn’t rush it at all. Yeah. And I think we’re so used to like Matty Potra came up here because the Bruins lost Berson and Crerachche. Charlie Mackoy, who I mentioned, came up here because the Bruins had like seven injuries on the back end during their series against Ottawa in 2017. Like, like you’re not that team anymore. You don’t have to rush that. Like you can take your time here a little bit. And it’s a player whose development you can’t mess up, right? And I kind of go back to I I don’t know if it was breakup day or this past availability, but you know, Sweeney kind of acknowledged like, hey, if we could do a re redo, we probably don’t have Potra make the team in 23 24. We probably send him back to the OHL, but you know, he looked good in camp, so he made that call. It’s like don’t do that with a higher ceiling player like James Hagens. Like be patient. Understand development is not linear and that he still got some more levels to clear down in the NCAA before coming up here to the NHL. Ty, I loved all your takes. We didn’t get to the CBA. We didn’t get really to Gavin McKenna. We didn’t get to a lot of things. So that means you have to come back on our show another time. Is that cool? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean I mean you guys know this better than you you know this better than anybody. The summer you didn’t even know what day it was because I didn’t either. I only know game day, practice day, travel day. That’s what we know in this industry. So I got to tell you, I got none of those days between now and training camp. So I’ll be around all summer anytime you need me. Please feel free to call me and I’ll and I’ll come on absolutely anytime. Thank you. We loved having you on and we’ll Yeah, we’ll we’ll bring you back another time. But once again, we’re sending it to break, guys. Case and I will be back after uh these two minutes. And Ty, have a great summer. We’ll talk to you soon. Welcome back to the Hockey Hub. Every season or every development camp, the Bruins have a guest coach, someone they bring in uh to help the guys and give this guest coach an opportunity to to coach in the NHL system. This season, Casey, it was Taylor Wowski. She recently just took an assistant coaching job with Princeton and I got to c catch up with her one-on-one just about the whole journey, her hockey journey and this big coaching decision and her experience at development camp. So, let’s listen to that and we’ll be back to talk about it after the interview. Taylor Winskowski here, the guest coach for this development camp for the Boston Bruins. We were just chatting off camera. One of your goals, you’ve reached many throughout your career, but this was one of them. What was this whole experience like for you? It was amazing. um you know from the staff to you know all the guys young prospects here they were super respectful and and really nice and uh you know everyone was treated like a pro including myself and I think it just speaks volumes of you know the organization. What did you know about the the Bruins organization? You grew up in New Hampshire so you’re a hockey fan. Uh played for the Fleet and the Pride but what did you know about them? Not from a fan perspective of like how many you know tickets they sell or whatever but about the culture. What did you know about them before you got here? Yeah, I mean it’s a great hockey city and uh I was able to work upstairs two years ago and kind of get to know some of the scouts and uh the ECL AHL coaches. So, I kind of just knew that it was a good group here. They, you know, they draft and recruit in a way. Um just good men. Honestly, I think they take a lot of pride and bring good people into the organization. I think that goes hand in hand. just shows, you know, what I experienced this week. They’re all awesome. So, you are now an assistant coach for Princeton. What was that whole career trajectory like? Was that always a goal of yours as well to coach? Yeah. Yeah. The endgame’s always been to coach um in the last couple years of my career. I was kind of ready to move on and look into coaching, but um very grateful for my year in the PWL and um yeah, it’s been awesome to help the next generation and um I’m super passionate about the player development side. So just working on little details with our players and you know some of the guys here just making little adjustments goes a long way and just to see them um execute it you know in games and practices was just awesome. It’s rewarding as a coach too to just to know that you’re helping these kids get better for sure. So what was your job in terms of specifics for this week? Um you know is it going over video? Obviously you’re on the ice with the guys but how did you prepare? How long did you have to prepare to get these guys ready for development camp? Yeah, I mean I kind of knew since probably March I was coming. Um I think I more so kind of sat in on the practice plannings and you know maybe gave a few tips here and there. Um but really just you know being personable with the guys and just you know helping them make little adjustments in their games. And then I had a big presentation on uh goal setting and within player development too. So, um, I got to do that yesterday and, uh, Quater said that they’re going to try to steal one of the graphs I had and, uh, yeah, just a little bit about the goal setting and it’s more of, okay, I want to I want to achieve this, but it’s more of how you’re going to do it and, um, just putting pen to paper and, um, just kind of making a game plan because obviously all the guys here, they they want to play for the Bruins and play in the NHL, but um, you know, there’s a lot of steps to getting there. So, just trying to help them u map out what the next couple years could be. Yeah. Now, when you were younger, and I try to ask this question in a different way because it’s been asked to women so many times about, you know, the the development of the women’s game and the attention and and the answers are all great, but it’s something that we talk about a lot. And so, I try to ask it in a bit of a creative way, but when you were younger, you had goals for yourself. I don’t know if playing professional women’s hockey was one of them, but probably didn’t imagine yourself in a Bruins sweater, right? And so, now the fact that you got to wear one, what does that mean to you? Oh, it’s awesome. Um, I got to play seven years for Boston. I played three in high school, four professionally. So, um, it’s an honor to wear Boston across your chest. And, you know, to wear the bee in the Boston this week is, uh, it’s awesome. I think it means so much to represent this awesome city and, you know, the state of Mass is uh, the hockey is just phenomenal and, uh, dream come true. Now, I know you’re still going to dip your toe into coaching and understanding what that world is about. Marco Sturm, the newest coach of the Boston Bruins, said that he loved playing, but in many of his interviews, he said when he started head coaching for Germany, his assistant for other teams, he was like, “Oh, man. This is me. Like, this is who I am.” Do you feel like the transition from player to coach, do you feel like this is where that’s where you belong? Oh, absolutely. Um, yeah, right away. Like I I even um we played Harvard this year and a bunch of my friends came and uh they like sent me videos of me just smiling on the bench and just you know talking to the girls and getting them hyped up a little bit and I just like I knew I’ve this is where I’m supposed to be you know coaching and obviously I loved playing and um I miss you know the locker room side of everything and the girls. Um, but yeah, no, I’m definitely think I’m meant to to coach and just help the next generation and, you know, help them achieve their goals. Now that the uh door has been open for women to coach in the NHL and maybe management and we’ll see we’ll see more roles. Is that a goal of yours or are you just kind of looking maybe five years ahead instead of big picture? Yeah, I’m kind of just, you know, going day by day, honestly, maybe year by year right now. Um, yeah, I haven’t really thought, you know, long term, um, how that would look, but I’m definitely open to that and I think it’s awesome, you know, uh, Cam, Jess Campbell at, uh, the the Kraken, um, is amazing and I think that’s just going to keep opening the door to, you know, for the women to come in and be on the benches or maybe player development, scouting, whatever it may be. I know there’s a handful, uh, in the NHL already. So, um, yeah, I mean, if that opportunity comes, that’s something I will definitely consider. and um probably strive for, but um yeah, love where I am right now and just we’ll see how it keeps going. Now, development camp’s pretty short, just four days. Is it possible to actually even see improvements in those four days from some of the the tips and skills and um advice you’re giving the guys? Oh, absolutely. Even if it’s like a little um way how they shoot, maybe it’s their top hand, just like a little adjustment, it’s it goes a really long way. And some guys can see, you know, improvement right away. That’s awesome. Yeah. you know, I I don’t know how, you know, what you guys what they get out of this camp. Obviously, I it’s important for them, but I don’t know if the changes are seen right away or, you know, Yeah. especially in the skating like we had Kathy and uh Fordo this this week. They um you know, some of the guys from day one to day four is it’s it’s awesome to see the difference and um it’s not my specialty. So, it’s cool to learn from them and just you know, the little the little uh details when the skating couple more for you. Uh, summer is, I mean, officially begun, but now that camp’s over, summer’s kind of kicking off. It’s the 4th tomorrow. What are your summer plans? How early do you have to be back in the offices at Princeton? Yeah, so the girls will come back right after Labor Day. Um, so I’ll spend the summer I have a couple vacations coming up. Actually, Friday, I’m going to the Dominican um or sorry, Saturday. The fifth the fifth I’m going. Um, and then I’ll go to Hawaii, actually. So, I’m really excited for that. And then I’ll get right back to work. uh just a lot of recruiting and some camps and then yeah, just prepping for our season and uh I feel like I I learned quite a bit this week and I’m excited to bring that back to Princeton. If there’s somebody watching who’s like, “Damn, I want to do what you know the what she’s doing and be a guest coach for Bruins Development Camp, whether they’re a man or a woman, a young boy, young girl, what advice do you have for them?” Honestly, I think just follow your dreams and if you want to do something like don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, get uncomfortable, right? It’s It’s not easy trying to jump into different roles or maybe it’s all guys here. I think they there’s one girl fully on staff all the time, Andrea the massage therapist, but then there’s, you know, the social media and obviously like um people like yourself. Um but I think it’s a very maledominated sport. Um especially in the the men’s side of the game. So, I think it’s an awesome opportunity and, you know, just speaks volumes of the the Bruins organization to bring myself and Kathy in this week and just, you know, have a female around and just the guys are super respectful and uh yeah, I think it was great. You prompted one more question in my head. How did this happen? Did you get a phone call? Like, was it an interview process? Like, how did you get invited? Yeah, it was an interview process um with Parker. Um so, my former pride coach coached uh the main Mariners in the ECHL. So, when I retired hockey, um my my goal, my biggest goal was to get to a development camp. And um you know, playing in Boston and what playing for Boston meant to me, I couldn’t think of a better idea than to try to get to Boston camp. Um so, I got Evan Gold’s contact from him, reached out, had a call, and he’s like, “All right, I’ll connect you with Parker and went through that uh you know, interview process with him.” and then um touch base with Adam Mcuade and super grateful for them and uh it all worked out and yeah, it was awesome. I love it. I love the grind. I love that you went out of your way to call too and make the connection happen, you know? Yeah. I mean, so you got to do that, right? You need to, you know, put yourself out in uncomfortable situations sometimes and just try to put yourself out there and I think it pays off and um yeah, it’s like a lesson learned, too. Such a really cool interview. So, I love that and I love that she mentioned that she learned just as much um as she was kind of bringing to the table as well. All the little intricate details uh that just remind you why dev camp is so important. And we’ll see what these guys bring to their teams and organizations after this. And she’ll be joining um former fleet coach Courtney Kessle for the Princeton women’s hockey team. So, that’ll be pretty sick, too. We’ll miss them here in Boston, but uh it’s going to always be nice to have some ties and start that new journey. Savannah and I have one more break here on the Hockey Hub. So, don’t go anywhere. join us on the other side of this quick break. Welcome back. We’re getting ready to wrap the show. Uh we’ve got a minute left, Casey. So, we’re just going to talk about something we just saw on Twitter. The opening games announced for October 7th for the league, the Bruins, not in them. But we’ve got the Blackhawks versus the Panthers, Penguins and Rangers, Avalanche versus the Kings. Wait a second. Am I seeing something at 5:00 p.m. over here? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Here we go. I did not look at the times. Wow. Okay. F 5 pm Eastern. Um well, there you go. That’s your the full schedule, guys, is going to be released on Wednesday, July 16th. So, we have another show on Wednesday and we will not have that because we go up a little earlier, but it doesn’t matter. We can look ahead and we’ll find out who the Bruins will be playing. I was hoping we’d be playing the Panthers, but we don’t we don’t get Marshy. So, we’ll have to wait to see. Yeah, maybe we’ll get it at a different time where it can all be focused on so much more and uh the attention won’t be taken away from the intensity of Bruins versus Panthers at that point. But Penguins, Rangers, that should be interesting. Sully kind of reuniting with the old guys. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, we’ll be back on Wednesday, guys. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you at 10 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday. Peace.

After the 2025 NHL draft & NHL free agency, the Boston Bruins have some difficult roster decisions to make in order to have a successful 2025-26 season. 98.5 The Sports Hub writer Ty Anderson, joins Sophia Jurksztowicz & Kasey Hudson to discuss the Bruins newest additions & what the roster could look like come opening night. Later, Sophia goes 1-on-1 with Princeton women’s hockey assistant coach Taylor Wenczkowski, who was a guest coach at Boston Bruins Development Camp.

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00:00 Intro
01:28 Ty Anderson on Bruins free agency
21:58 Ty Anderson’s Bruins forward line projections
40:15 Taylor Wenczkowski interview
50:07 2025-26 NHL opening night
51:13 Goodbye