With “Work to Do,” Bruins Following the Process — The Fourth Period

Throughout the regular-season, it was evident that the Bruins could play with any team in the League when they employed their physical, slow-them-down game; however, when Boston could not slow their opponent down, more often than not, they had to rely on the big guns to score goals and/or goaltending to make big saves.

To illustrate the point, according to the League’s Edge website, the Sabres led the League in the regular-season with a maximum speed of 29.94 miles per hour. The Bruins finished out of the top 10 with a maximum speed of 28.84 miles per hour. In the post-season, when the checking becomes tighter and there is less room for teams to operate, the Colorado Avalanche lead the NHL with a maximum speed of 23.93 mph. Boston is 10th at 22.98 mph.

Those of us of a certain generation may remember the local juvenile police officer visiting the classroom to give the yearly lecture on the dangers of illegal narcotics. Back in the day, there was a drug called Speed. The common refrain about it was “Speed Kills.” As we’ve seen this year, the faster teams have ended the championship hopes of other teams.

By adding speed and skill while maintaining their physicality, the Bruins should be harder to play against, allowing the club to take the next step toward becoming a Stanley Cup contender. How that will be done, obviously, remains to be seen. Teams that have been here, done that have built through the draft, trade, and free agent signings.

Boston holds six selections in the first four rounds (three picks in the fourth-round) plus one pick in the seventh-round of the upcoming NHL Draft. If Sweeney chooses to hold onto those picks between now and the draft (June 26-27, 2026), he will add to a group of young talent that Boston has drafted over the last two to three years. However, the players who become the Bruins’ property this year will not be expected to step into the lineup at the start of the new season.

The GM also has the opportunity to trade one or more of those picks for a player with NHL experience and/or a player(s) with professional experience, whether at the NHL or minor league level. He might also have the option to trade for more draft picks.

The free agent signing period will begin on July 1. This will be the best route for Sweeney to take in order to improve his club’s speed, talent, and experience.

The salary cap will increase from $95.5 million per team to $104 million per club. Per our friends at PuckPedia’s website, Boston’s projected salary cap will be $10,273,021. Boston has two players, Viktor Arvidsson ($4 million annual average value) and Andrew Peeke ($2.75 million AAV), who will become unrestricted free agents on July 1 if they do not re-sign with the Bruins. Both players were pivotal to Boston’s successful season, but if they do not return to Boston, that would free up an additional $6.75 million AAV, totalling $17,023,021 in cap space. Those funds should enable Sweeney to sign impact players who make immediate contributions in getting the Black and Gold to take that next step.

“Well, I think what we did a couple years ago showed, okay, we’re going to have to have some patience here,” said Neely. “How long that is, remains to be seen. What we can do with those assets that we have now that we didn’t have, that remains to be seen. But we also have to look at our current roster, the core players in their age group, and where they’re at and what we can do to build around them. Right now, for me, it’s about today, tomorrow, the next day, and we’ll go from there.”

For those expecting a quick fix and a long playoff run in 2026-27, you may be disappointed. That’s not to say it cannot happen, but realistically, the Bruins are still retooling. There is a process that management is following.

“We need more talent, we need more speed,” Neely explained. “That’s something that we have to try to acquire in one way, shape, or form. But you look at the elite teams in the league, we’re not there. And like I said two years ago, when you strip it down like we did, you’re not going to be there in one season, so it’s going to take some time. But what we accomplished this year, give the guys credit, but like I said early on, it’s building blocks. So, we’ve still got work to do to improve this club still.”