If the Bruins are buying at the trade deadline, reports suggest that adding a right-handed defenseman is one of their top priorities.
They have already been trying to make moves this season.
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However, from top to bottom, the Bruins have seven right-handed defensemen on their roster.
There are three in the NHL (two playing in Milan), three in the AHL, and one at Harvard. On the other hand, the Bruins have 13 left-shot defensemen in the organization.
There are only two right-handed defensemen under contract for the 2026-27 season.
Regardless of what they do in March, drafting and developing a right-shot defenseman should become a priority at the end of June.
Age: 28; Height: 6’1”
McAvoy is a pillar of the Bruins organization. Drafted in 2016, he made his debut in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs and has remained in Boston ever since.
He has played in 549 NHL games, all with the Bruins, and he has 91 playoff games under his belt. He currently wears the ‘A’ and has since the 2023-24 season.
This year, McAvoy has 39 points (4-35–39) with the Bruins; he is third on the team in points. He is with Team USA in Milan, where he also wears the alternate captain’s ‘A.’
Also, he carried a six-game point streak into the Olympic break. He has a goal and nine assists over that span.
The Bruins signed McAvoy to an eight-year deal in October 2021. He is in the fourth year of that contract, and it expires in the summer of 2030. He has a no-movement clause until the 2028-29 season. The clause turns into a 10-team trade list for the 2028-29 season, then a 10-team no-trade list in the final year of his contract.
He will be 32 at the end of his contract.
Age: 28; Height: 6’3”
Andrew Peeke is on an expiring contract, and because of that, he is on the trade block.
The Bruins acquired Peeke at the 2024 trade deadline and paid a third-round pick and Jakub Zboril to land him. He has played in 147 games with the Bruins and six more playoff games.
Peeke is averaging 19:37 of ice time per night this season, which is the most he has averaged since joining the Bruins. He also leads the team in blocked shots (101) and is second among defensemen for hits (67).
Although he is not known for his offense, Peeke has scored four goals this season. His career high is six, which he hit with the Blue Jackets in 2022-23.
Peeke also played top-pair minutes with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the years before he was traded. He averaged 21:29 of ice time in 2021-22 and 21:15 in 2022-23.
Age: 26; Height: 6’0”
In the five-minute span that the Bruins traded away Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo at last year’s deadline, they acquired Henri Jokiharju.
It only cost the Bruins a fourth-round pick, one that they received a few days earlier in the Trent Frederic deal.
Jokiharju immediately slotted into a pair with Nikita Zadorov last season. Due to injuries, they were the Bruins’ top pair on defense, and they performed, even if the team struggled overall. As a pair last season, they had a positive Corsi (50.77%) and a 12-5 scoring differential when they were on the ice.
The Bruins signed Jokiharju to a three-year deal worth $9 million ($3 million cap hit) over the summer.
He suffered an injury at the end of November that kept him out of the lineup until January 6. Since returning, he has played in only eight of the Bruins’ last 15 games. He also left the Bruins’ trip to Dallas to be with his wife as they welcomed a child.
In the 33 games he has played in this season, he has nine assists. He has not scored a goal since joining the Bruins, but he has taken 30 shots this year; he also has a plus-three rating.
He will be 29 when his contract expires in the summer of 2028.
Age: 24; Height: 6’0”
Over the past summer, the Bruins made a small trade with the Blackhawks. Don Sweeney acquired Victor Soderstrom for Ryan Mast and a seventh-round pick. The next day, he signed a one-year deal worth $775,000.
Soderstrom was billed as a two-way defenseman with high offensive upside. He was drafted in the first round (No. 11) by the Arizona Coyotes, but never found a role on their roster.
He returned to Sweden last season and won the Borje Salming Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.
A new opportunity with the Bruins brought him back to North America.
After training camp, he started the season with the Providence Bruins. He was called up and played in eight games for the Bruins, then they assigned him to Providence as the holiday break approached. Soderstrom had an assist and was a plus-three in eight games.
He has four goals and 17 points in 35 games with the Providence Bruins this season.
His contract expires at the end of this season; he will be a Group 6 UFA.
Age: 30; Height: 6’1”
The Hanson, MA, native joined the Bruins in the summer of 2024. He signed a two-year contract worth $775,000.
Sweezey is an alternate captain for the Providence Bruins. He has worn the ‘A’ in both seasons with the organization.
He played in nine NHL games with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2022-23 season. One of those games was in Boston, where he got into a fight with former Bruin Trent Frederic.
He has spent the bulk of his career in the AHL. He has played 314 career games with 52 points. This season with Providence, he has a goal and 11 assists. He is second in the AHL with a plus-29 (only behind Patrick Brown, plus-30).
The Bruins called him up twice in January, but he did not see game action and was sent down on January 21.
Sweezey’s contract expires at the end of the season, and he will be an unrestricted free agent.
Age: 22; Height: 6’3”
The Bruins acquired Max Wanner in the trade that sent Trent Frederic to Edmonton at the last deadline.
Wanner is the youngest right-handed defenseman that the Bruins have in their organization.
He has spent the last three seasons in the AHL, and he has been in and out of the lineup this season. Wanner suffered a lacerated kidney in November and missed a large portion of the season. He returned to the lineup in mid-January.
He has played in 120 AHL games. Over those games, he has 22 points (8-14–22) and 79 penalty minutes. He scored 17 of those 22 points in his first year with the Bakersfield Condors.
Since joining the Providence Bruins, Wanner has three assists in 30 games.
Wanner’s entry-level deal expires this summer; he will be a restricted free agent.
Age: 23; Height: 6’3”
Langenbrunner is the only Bruins’ right-handed defenseman who has not turned pro. He is in his senior year at Harvard.
He is one of two captains of the Crimson. Additionally, he has nine points (1-8–9) this season, and is one away from tying a career high. He has 25 points (8-17–25) over the 124 games of his four-year college career.
Langenbrunner averages 19:43 of ice time, which is the second-most on Harvard. He has spent this season playing top-four minutes, with the majority of the season on the second pair. Recently, he has been playing on the top pair.
He was not at the Bruins Development Camp last summer.
The Bruins’ rights to Langenbrunner expire on August 15, 2026. They have less than six months to make a decision on the Texas-born defenseman. He will become a free agent if the Bruins do not sign him.
WHAT’S NEXT
After Langenbrunner, the pool of right-shot defensemen ends for the Bruins.
The Bruins are reportedly looking to buy at the trade deadline, while keeping Andrew Peeke available as an option to acquire a return.
Looking ahead, the Bruins, for now at least, have two first-round picks at the 2026 draft. At the Olympic break, those picks stand at Nos. 14 and 22.
In Sportsnet’s most recent Draft Rankings, there are seven right-handed defensemen ranked in the Top 32. Four of them are ranked within the top 12.
If the Bruins are in a position to draft one, it is in their best interest, as the prospect pool will be thin on the right side next season.
Per PuckPedia, there are 275 left-handed defensemen within the 32 NHL organizations. There are 206 righties. They are not as available as their counterparts, explaining the imbalance within the Bruins organization.
Thirty of the 32 NHL teams have at least 10 left-handed defensemen on their team or in the system. Only eight of the 32 teams have more than 10 right-handed defensemen.
For an organization that prides itself on defensive structure, addressing the need for right-shot depth should be a priority, whether it comes at the trade deadline, the draft, or both.