The Bruins opened training camp on Wednesday without the drama the Jeremy Swayman contract dispute brought a year ago, but day one didn’t come without a blip.
General manager Don Sweeney told reporters that their best player, David Pastrnak, will miss the first few days of camp with tendinitis. He didn’t specify where the tendinitis is, but Pastrnak is still skating so upper body is a good guess.
B’s players went through physical testing on Wednesday morning and will hit the ice for the first time on Thursday.
“His last training block he got a little tendinitis and we as a group just said, ‘Hey, load management is the best course of action at this point in time.’ He’s on the ice still but but he’ll be at full practice early next week, so that’s the only surprise we have,” said Sweeney.
“It’s an opportunity for Marco (Sturm) to put a coupe of guys in a catbird seat that they would be excited to have.”
That may sound like a little bit of positive spin from Sweeney on a less than ideal situation, but there can be some good in opening the window of opportunity for some players – provided, of course, is is just a couple of days for Pastrnak and the injury does not linger.
While there are holes to fill, especially on the third line, there are still far more bodies than holes. Going with the working assumption – and, yes, it is dangerous to assume anything with this team – that the top six will consist of Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt, and that newly acquired Tanner Jeannot will take a spot on the third line, that leaves two spots for a couple of kids.
Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm speaks during a press conference Wednesday at the Warrior Ice Arena. (Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)
Meanwhile, Fraser Minten, Matt Poitras, Fabian Lysell and Marat Khusnutdinov (the only one of these four who require waivers to be sent to Providence) are vying for roster spots. The B’s also brought in high-scoring AHL veterans in Matej Blumel and Alex Steeves, who were squeezed out of deeper rosters in Dallas and Toronto, respectively. The first preseason game is on Sunday against Washington.
Competition should be fierce, which is a good thing. But Sturm has a lot of sussing out to do in a relatively short time, and one fewer preseason game than last year.
“The good thing is we still have six games, so everyone will get the opportunity,” said Sturm. “We decided today with Pasta that he’s going to miss a few days so that’s another opportunity for someone. We didn’t sign a PTO because of that reason. There will be opportunities, and that’s what I’m excited about. I worked with all young kids the last three years (as head coach of the Ontario Reign in the AHL) so I want them to have success. I want to do everything I can to put them in a good spot and I want them to push some other guys and maybe some older veterans, too. That’s the process and hopefully, usually, there’s always one surprise in training camp … and hopefully we’ll have one or two coming up in the next couple of weeks.”
Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney remains confident in his team. He met the media Wednesday. (Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)
In the post-mortems of last year’s end-of-an-era season, much was made of what management viewed as a disjointed training camp. There was the protracted Swayman negotiation which hung in the air like a low-tide stench throughout the camp. There was also the fact that their then-captain, Brad Marchand, was heading into the season without a contract. The room did not come together like it had in past years.
One of the chief aims of this camp is not to have a repeat of last year’s camp. A big difference with this camp is that there is no one player wearing the ‘C’. A captain may emerge at some point, but right now the plan is to go into the season with Charlie McAvoy and Pastrnak wearing As with a third revolving ‘A’ to grow the group.
Considering where they are as an organization, team unity is key if they want to have any kind of success.
“We’ve spoken quite a bit internally about how we’re going to do that, build camaraderie amid changing faces and changing leadership group and incorporating new guys,” said Sweeney. “They’re doing a good job of that on their own. Marco set a tone today that every day is about building that. Turning to your left and your right and getting to know people is really important as we go through camp. It’s a competitive environment. We know that and we want it to be that way. But we also have to make sure that collectively we have to operate as a team from day one.”
Sweeney has said he believes his team can make the playoffs. It won’t be easy, especially when you consider how strong the Atlantic Division has become, from the Stanley Cup champion Panthers to the Canadiens and Senators, who turned corners last season. While acknowledging where his team is lacking, Sweeney didn’t back off the belief in his team.
“We’re going to have to go out earn that. I believe in our players because I think we’re going to be a very competitive team,” said Sweeney. “Now, like I’ve said before, we’re not hiding from the fact that we’re going to have produce by committee and our power play has to come back on line and give our players that are on it some confidence. But we have to go out and execute that. We’re going to have to defend at a better level, which we have done organizationally (in the past). Our goaltending needs to be in a better place. So we have to go out and earn that. But we’re not going to lose the belief in what we think we’re capable of accomplishing.”
Sturm begins his debut season with a blank slate and, at this point, he wanted it that way. Lineup-specific questions for him were met with a smile and a “we’ll see.” But on Thursday morning when the players hit the ice, the real work toward determining who the 2025-26 Bruins really are finally begins.
Chara role?
Sweeney said the club will have an announcement on a role that soon-to-be minted Hockey Hall of Famer Zdeno Chara will have with the club.
“In the last few weeks he got back from Europe and he and Marco spent some time together to sort of streamline and identify and put some guard rails up in terms of where he’s going to make his impact. We’ll be announcing that in the near future in what is defined role is but we’ve got it pretty much (figured) out at this point,” said Sweeney.
Chara joined the team last season in a kind of advisory role, working off the ice with players and coaches.
Originally Published: September 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM EDT