BOSTON – With Christmas Day here, it’s only fitting to take a look at some of the presents that the Bruins hoped for, and received, this season.

Several preseason questions have been answered as the Bruins continue their fight for the postseason. The Boston Bruins are 20-17-1, and entered the holiday break on a four-game skid – but, it’s the holidays, so we’ll focus on what’s gone right. The Bruins are still very much in the race in a tight Atlantic Division, where only a few points separate the teams in playoff spots.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Morgan Geekie

This one was obvious. The Bruins saw a career-high year of Morgan Geekie last season (33-24–57). They then signed him to a six-year deal with an AAV of $5.5 million. The question surrounding Geekie was whether or not he would be able to sustain his career-high numbers.

He has. As the Bruins wrap up game #38 of the season, Geekie (25-14–39) sits only eight goals and ten assists away from matching his 2024-25 season totals. Geekie has scored 50 goals in the year 2025. He can add to that number in the three remaining games before the calendar flips to 2026. Geekie scored on 22.0% of his shots last season, and questions followed about whether or not that was sustainable. His current 26.3% shooting percentage has provided a clear answer to that question.

Jeremy Swayman

The Boston Bruins signed Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year deal on October 6, 2024. He did not have his best season after signing that contract. However, the Bruins knew what he was capable of doing and knew that a bounce-back season was in store. To compete this season, having Jeremy Swayman back in form was critical for the black and gold.

And he has done that. Jeremy Swayman posted an 8-2-0 record in November. He is currently 14-9-1 on the season with a 2.91 GAA and a .901 SV%. His 14 wins have Swayman tied for the second-most out of all goalies this season. His 676 saves are the fourth most in the league. And, per MoneyPuck, Swayman has 14.4 goals saved above expected, which is an emphatic turnaround from the -9.1 mark he finished with last season.

Marco Sturm

On June 4, the Boston Bruins announced the hiring of head coach Marco Sturm. Sturm was brought in as an outside voice, spending his coaching career with the Kings organization. His playing days with the Bruins give him first-hand knowledge of the expectations in the room.

Sturm has commanded the Boston Bruins right into 20 wins through their first 38 games. He has allowed younger players like Marat Khusnutdinov and Fraser Minten to flourish by giving them bigger roles. Sturm is not afraid to scratch a player to send a message; he’s done it with Casey Mittelstadt, Mason Lohrei, and Mikey Eyssimont this season. He has taken ownership of AHL call-ups, citing that he has been on both sides of that transaction; he has given those players a runway to success.

Things have not been all perfect, but that cannot be the expectation with a first-time NHL head coach. The learning curve has been something that Sturm has tackled head-on.

Steve Spott

After hiring Marco Sturm, he and Don Sweeney said that they would look for an assistant coach who specializes in the power play. Two weeks after hiring Marco Sturm, Steve Spott was announced as the assistant coach to round out the bench. Spott came to Boston with an extensive resume. He worked alongside Pete DeBoer and ran his power play for the previous ten seasons.

At the end of last season, the Bruins’ power play finished 29th in the league, converting on 15.2% of chances. Enter Steve Spott. At the break, the Bruins’ power play has converted 25.4% of their man-advantages and ranks seventh in the league. The Bruins’ power play has done a complete turnaround from where it finished last year, thanks in large part to the Spott hire.

Secondary Scoring

The last gift is one of the keys that has allowed the Bruins to win 20 games: the presence of secondary scoring. Those who were brought in to play bigger roles have fully seized their opportunity to make a name for themselves.

The Bruins have eight goals from Alex Steeves and Casey Mittelstadt, seven from Viktor Arvidsson, and six from Mikey Eyssimont, Mark Kastelic, and Fraser Minten. Out of those players, only one of them was a Boston Bruins player exactly one year ago. That was Mark Kastelic. The Bruins acquired Mittelstadt and Minten at the trade deadline, and brought in Arvidsson (via trade), Steeves, and Eyssimont on July 1.

There are still 44 games and an Olympic break to get through. If the Bruins can continue to benefit from these gifts, they will continue to fight for a spot in the playoffs. The Atlantic Division is tight; ten points separate the division-leading Detroit from Toronto, which sits in the basement. All 16 teams in the Eastern Conference are .500 or better; nobody is out of this race just yet.

And, one last gift: the World Juniors start tomorrow!