The Bruins didn’t upgrade their defense at the 2026 trade deadline.

But the defense as a whole clearly remained a focus for Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, as Monday saw the club finalize a two-year extension with defenseman Frederic Brunet through the 2027-28 season.

The 22-year-old’s new deal, which kicks in next season, will come with an $875,000 cap hit and will become a one-way contract in the second season. 

Brunet has spent the entire 2025-26 season to this point in Providence, where he’s posted a defense-leading 11 goals and 28 points in 55 games played. Beyond Providence, Brunet’s 28 points are the 17th-most among all AHL defenders, while only two D-men have scored more goals than Brunet this year.

The Quebec-born defenseman was also an AHL All Star earlier this year.

A year ago, Brunet made his NHL debut in the Black and Gold’s regular season finale, and had five blocks and a hit in 14:23 of time on ice.

It’s been tough for the Bruins to get another NHL look at Brunet this season — Bruins head coach Marco Sturm repeatedly mentioned Boston’s roster limits and cap space issues prior to the trade deadline — but the Bruins are clearly still high on him. Sweeney even mentioned Brunet by name when discussing his organization’s strong depth on defense ahead of the trade deadline.

Of course, it’ll still be hard to get Brunet some NHL minutes between now and next season, and even next season for that matter. The club still has left-shot defensemen like Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, and Nikita Zadorov under contract, and the club also extended Jonathan Aspirot two months ago. (It’s worth noting that the Bruins have played both Aspirot and Lohrei on the right side at various points this season, which could be an option for the club if they are hellbent on getting Brunet some NHL minutes between now and next year.)

A fifth-round pick of the Bruins back in 2022, the 6-foot-2 Brunet has posted 18 goals and 67 points, along with a plus-38 rating, in 173 games with the P-Bruins over the last four seasons.Â