It’s officially 7th Player Award season for the Bruins and NESN.

And with the (unofficial) second half mad dash set to begin Thursday night at TD Garden, NESN has named the four finalists for this year’s honor. Up front, Mark Kastelic, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Fraser Minten have all earned deserving nods for the award, which has been given out since 1969, while defenseman Jonathan Aspirot rounds out the list as the fourth option.

Truth be told, there’s not a wrong pick from the four finalists. Hell, you can argue that this year’s team should have closer to eight finalists. It’s been that kind of year for the Bruins and first-year head coach Marco Sturm.

But who, if anyone, has the inside edge?

Jan 3, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Fraser Minten (93) skates against the Vancouver Canucks in the third period at Rogers Arena. (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)

This is not to say that the voters get it wrong when they vote this way, but this award has become something of a ‘shiny new toy’ award in recent years. More often than not, it’s gone to a rookie no matter how highly-touted that rookie was. For every Brad Marchand that’s won the award, there’s also a Dougie Hamilton, Tyler Seguin, David Pastrnak, and Charlie McAvoy who’s captured it.

Minten, acquired from Toronto in last year’s deadline deal that sent Brandon Carlo to the Maple Leafs, is certainly a shiny new toy.

A fixture in the Boston lineup, Minten returns from the Olympic break with the fourth-most goals (14) and sixth-most points (29) among all Bruins. He’s also posted a plus-18 rating, which ranks third on the team. League-wide, Minten’s 14 goals are the fourth-most among all rookies, and his 29 points rank sixth.

Where Minten fits as a potential winner in regards to the true spirit of the award is that he’s done all of this while learning the NHL game on the fly as a third-line, do-it-all kind of center for Sturm’s Bruins. They haven’t overly sheltered him, and they’ve continued to put him in high-leverage spots, where he’s delivered.

Nov 4, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; Bruins center Marat Khusnutdinov (92) celebrates his game-tying goal against the New York Islanders during the third period at UBS Arena. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)

Speaking of spirit of the award, Khusnutdinov certainly fits the bill as someone who’s gone from fourth-line wing/healthy scratch to top-line fit for the B’s.

After scoring just six goals and 16 points in 91 games over his first two NHL seasons, the crafty Russian wing has posted 12 goals and 26 points through 51 games this season, and is looking one hell of a find by Boston’s pro scouting department. And similar to Minten, the Bruins have continued to expand Khusnutdinov’s role, and he’s yet to truly let them down.

(I’m not sure anybody saw this coming, at least not when considering that he was part of the return for Justin Brazeau last deadline. But Minnesota’s loss has been Boston’s gain, without a doubt.)

Nov 29, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins center Mark Kastelic (47) lands a punch on the chin of Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-Imagn Images)

Kastelic, meanwhile, would fit the bill as a sentimental pick of sorts given the style of play he brings to the Bruins and how Bruins fans love that style of play. (Think about how Chris Wagner captured the award during the 2018-19 season.)

But Kastelic has also been an absolutely fantastic piece for the B’s bottom six this season. Already skating with a career-high nine goals and 17 points through 57 games this season, Kastelic has been a true ‘heartbeat’ type of player for the Black and Gold this season. His 158 hits, meanwhile, rank 16th in the NHL, and this is a man who hits to hurt. (I think getting hit by Kastelic has officially and at long last replaced ‘blocking a Zdeno Chara shot’ on the list of Bruins-centric things I would not like to experience in this lifetime.)

But something you might not have noticed with Kastelic? His insane dominance at the faceoff dot. Through 425 faceoffs this season, Kastelic’s 60.2 percent success rate ranks sixth among all NHLers (minimum 400 faceoffs). It’s even hit the point where the Bruins willingly decide to begin overtime with Kastelic as their center with the hopes that he will win the draw and then go for a change.

Dec 4, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins defenseman Jonathan Aspirot (45) skates after the puck during the second period against the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images)

And then there’s Aspirot.

One of the final cuts from Boston’s camp, Aspirot was summoned back up to the Bruins due to some injury issues, and has yet to let go of an NHL gig. Sturm even outright admitted that Aspirot stole someone’s job (with the Bruins fully healthy, we’re about to find out exactly whose jobs he stole).

In action for 37 games this season, the 26-year-old defenseman has posted two goals and seven points, along with 44 blocks and 60 hits, for the B’s this season. Aspirot has also posted a plus-22 rating, which is not only tops among all Boston skaters, but ranks 18th among all NHLers. 

Not a single person saw this coming.

Jan 29, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins defenseman Jonathan Aspirot (45) reacts after a goal by center Pavel Zacha (18) against the Flyers at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)

Like I said, there’s not a ‘bad’ pick for this year’s award.

But if I were deciding (and this is of course barring something unforeseen) it’s hard to give it to anybody other than Aspirot.

Sent to Boston as the second-best prospect in the Toronto pipeline, we knew Minten had the potential to be a good pro. Khusnutdinov, meanwhile, was a second-round pick of the Wild and put up solid numbers in the KHL as a youngster before coming over to North America. And Kastelic had strong productive prior to his season-ending injury last season.

Aspirot, however, was basically a complete unknown.

And the Bruins have been a better team with him in their lineup. You’ve seen him move up the depth chart, and at the risk of giving him too much credit, the Bruins are actually 13-2-2 this season when he plays at least 17 minutes.

Again, nobody saw that one coming.