The time for asking questions is almost over.

The Boston Bruins will open training camp this week, and we’ll finally get some answers to the questions we’ve been asking all summer long. But before that happens, I gave BHN readers and subscribers one last chance to voice their concerns before the season officially begins in the latest of edition of the Bruins mailbag.

Some questions have been edited for clarity

The Bruins are hopeless. Why should we even bother watching this season at all? — A lot of people.

The Bruins probably won’t win the Stanley Cup this season. Hell, there’s a decent chance they won’t make the playoffs, but there are still plenty of reasons to follow them throughout the 2025-26 campaign.

First and foremost, this is a whole new era of Bruins hockey. The torch has officially been passed to David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, and it will be interesting to see how those two carry themselves in their first season as the unequivocal leaders of the team.

For fans who’ve been dying to see the Bruins infuse their lineup with youth, this is the year they’re finally doing it. Matthew Poitras, Fraser Minten, Fabian Lysell all have the chance to not only make them team out of training camp, but to be impact players.

It’s Marco Sturm’s first year as head coach, Jeremy Swayman is looking to rebound from his horrid season last year and try to prove once again that he is a true No. 1 goalie in the NHL, and you never know what is going to come out of Nikita Zadorov’s mouth.

I can go on, but I have a lot more questions to answer.

Which Bruins long shot will win a roster spot out of training camp? – @MrEd315

With so many players in the mix for position battles, I’m not entirely sure that you can say anyone is a true long shot to make this team.

That said, Dans Locmelis seems to be the x-factor coming into camp, and could very well earn a bottom-six role if he impresses the coaching staff enough. He’s already begun to.

He played with a ton of courage, and that’s something that he can’t teach,” Providence Bruins head coach Ryan Mougenel said of Locmelis last week during the team’s Rookie camp. “It’s a foundation of being a Bruin. We want guys with courage, and sometimes that courage comes in different ways. I was really impressed with Dans. I’m excited about his camp. He seems like he’s super excited, and I think he’s going to be a real good pro.”

Locmelis only just made his professional debut at the end of last season down in AHL Providence, but made a major impact by logging 12 points in only six games for the Baby B’s.

The 21-year-old is still raw physically and has some growing to do, but makes up for it with his senses on the ice and hockey IQ, which could give him the edge over some other players vying to make the team.

I feel like Matěj Blümel could be a steal if given an ample opportunity. What are your thoughts? – Pauly B. 

The Bruins are certainly hoping that will be the case.

It’s similar to the theory they head when they brought in Morgan Geekie a couple of years ago, and look at how that turned out.

Blümel has been among the top goal scores in the AHL over the last few years, and led the league with 33 this past season. However, he’s yet to produce those type of numbers at the highest level.

Perhaps that’s simply due to the fact there wasn’t a role for him with the Dallas Stars, who have no shortage of talent in their top-six. As we know, that’s not the case in Boston.

If Blümel does make the team, he’ll slot in as the right wing either on the second or third line, and likely get reps on the second power play unit.

That should be plenty of opportunity.

Why didn’t Bruins management make a better pitch to Brad Marchand? Why did they simply let him go, knowing scoring is an issue and considering the great history and background knowledge they had on him? – David Palmer

Brad Marchand wanted to stay with the Boston Bruins and the Boston Bruins wanted to keep Brad Marchand. But as the trade deadline neared last season, the two sides could not agree on a Marchand’s next contract, ultimately leading to them parting ways.

It was frustrating for many Bruins fans. But–and I may be in the minority by saying this–that was probably what was best.

Marchand was looking for a long-term deal at the time. The Bruins were clearly in need of a reset and couldn’t justify signing a player who was about to turn 37 to that kind of contract.

Should they have gotten more back in exchange for Marchand than a conditional second-round draft pick? Probably, but he had just suffered an upper-body injury, and there was no guarantee at the time that he’d be able to play again before the end of the regular season. And even still, the deal worked out for the Bruins because that second-round pick became a first in 2027 after the Panthers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, with Marchand playing in half of their playoff games along the way.

And I know, seeing Marchand win the Stanley Cup with another team, let alone with the Panthers, was hard to swallow. But remember, he had a modified no-movement clause in his contract and asked to be traded to Florida.

No one wanted Marchand to leave, and it will be very strange day on Oct. 21 when he makes his return to TD Garden. However, I’d bet even fewer people would’ve wanted the Bruins to sign him to the six-year contract the Panthers gave him this summer.

Can you name one surprise move that you expect to happen this season? – Mike M.

Is a move really a surprise if you expect it to happen?

There are so many players in camp and only so many roster spots available, that it almost makes too much sense for the Bruins to move at least one of them at some point, instead of simply sending everyone who doesn’t make the roster down to Providence.

The most obvious candidates are either Joonas Korpisalo or Michael DiPietro. Fabian Lysell has been at the center of trade rumors lately. Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt have been as well, but those are moves that are probably made closer to the trade deadline rather than coming out of training camp.

But Mike here wants a surprise, so I’ll do my best to give him one.

Both Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke are on expiring contracts and will be unrestricted free agency after this season. If the Bruins are selling at the deadline, those are two players I could see other teams being interested in.

Those aren’t exactly blockbuster deals, but it’s the best I can reasonably do.

How long before Marco Sturm is made the scapegoat? Will he make it the whole year? – Gringo Scotty

There’s no way to say with any certainty how long Marco Sturm will be the head coach of the Boston Bruins. But I will guarantee right here, right now, that he will make it through this season.

That’s shouldn’t be a bold prediction, but it is considering that Sturm is now the team’s third head coach in the last five years.

But that is a factor Don Sweeney and Cam Neely took into account throughout their coaching search this summer. More than anything, the Bruins needed stability, and I think hiring Sturm will lead to that.

Now, winning a Stanley Cup is a whole other story. But we’re far from that possibility being part of the conversation. Right now, the sole focus for Sturm this year is to restore the Bruins’ identity and culture, and bring the team back to respectability.

If he does that, it will be a successful first season in my book.

If Mason Lohrei is brutal defensively again this year, will the Bruins finally try putting him at a forward spot where he grew up playing? At 6’5 with good offensive skills, he would possibly thrive. – @CivilServantRet

I understand the logic of moving Lohrei back to forward, but I don’t think it’s something the Bruins would ever do. All the reasons he’d thrive at up front are why he has so much potential on the blue line, where he could develop into one of the league’s best offensive defensemen.

Last year was brutal for Lohrei, no doubt about it, but he was left over exposed once Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy were ruled out for the season, and even more so when the Bruins traded away Brandon Carlo.

Barring another catastrophic set of circumstances like that, the Bruins will not ask that much of Lohrei this season.

The Bruins have the worst forwards in the Conference. I have never seen this team with so few top 6 forwards. Could you list the top 4 lines by position? – SR

My projected forward lines to start the season are as follows:

Morgan Geekie – Elias Lindholm – David Pastrnak

Pavel Zacha – Casey Mittelstadt – Viktor Arvidsson

Mikey Eyssimont – Fraser Minten – Matthew Poitras

Tanner Jeannot – Sean Kuraly – Mark Kastelic

I went into more detail on the messy situation in a story early on in the offseason.

Am I crazy to think this offseason could work? Love or hate Sweeney, where he is strongest is with short term small money signings (which were the majority of offseason acquisitions). There is a chance that mixing the volume of vets with youngsters pushing for spots could create a high level of competitiveness for roster spots. – Mike M.

No, Mike, you’re not crazy.

There is a chance this Bruins team is greater than of its parts and could make the postseason. A lot of things have to go right in order for that to happen, but it’s still a chance nonetheless.

But in order for that to happen, the internal competition the Bruins have talked about ad nauseam all offseason actually has to be present in training camp.

Simply put, this team has to put their money where their mouth is. The Bruins can talk about having a heightened sense of competition all they want, those words will be stale they don’t show it on the ice.

If they do, then great. The Bruins will be headed in the right direction, back towards making the playoffs.

If not, then we’ll have a lot bigger questions that need answering.

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