BOSTON — On Sunday, the Boston Bruins made their final preseason cuts. Fraser Minten did not spend the day with a phone in his hand, awaiting bad news. He was not expecting it.
Minten made six solid appearances with the Bruins last year after arriving from the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2023-24, Minten made the Toronto varsity out of camp as a 19-year-old before being returned to junior. He put on 10 pounds this offseason.
On top of all that, Minten had a good camp.
“I expected myself to come in and take this spot,” Minten said. “Happy about it. Just keep going. Keep going.”
On Monday, Minten practiced as the team’s No. 3 center between Tanner Jeannot and Mikey Eyssimont. It’s the position he played in the preseason finale against the New York Rangers. Coach Marco Sturm is not expected to change it for Wednesday’s opener against the Washington Capitals.
Minten earned his job.
“I like this kid,” Sturm said after the final preseason game. “He played great. He came in ready to go. He played like a man. Didn’t complain about the rookie tournament. He just did his job, on and off the ice. I like him.”
A year ago, the Bruins started their ill-fated 2024-25 season with Max Jones, Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Johnny Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke on their third and fourth lines. Only Kastelic, currently the No. 4 right wing, projects to be in uniform on Wednesday.
Minten is one of five fresh faces amid the bottom-six overhaul. All of them are tasked to be first on pucks, heavy on sticks and fearless when it comes to confrontation.
“I think we’re going to be a very tough out this year,” president Cam Neely said. “We’re expected to play hard every game.”
Last year, Eyssimont averaged 10:41 of ice time per game with the Tampa Bay Lightning and 10:26 for the Seattle Kraken. Jeannot averaged 11:01 for the Los Angeles Kings. Both will be asked to play more as third-liners for the Bruins.
If they do not meet expectations, the team has more hard hats in the wings. Kastelic, Sean Kuraly and Marat Khusnutdinov, who practiced on the fourth line, want more ice time. Same for Jeffrey Viel and Johnny Beecher, currently the two extra forwards. Patrick Brown and Riley Duran are options from AHL Providence.
Marat Khusnutdinov collides with Rangers defenseman Will Borgen. (Eric Canha / Imagn Images)
The Bruins, in other words, are just fine when it comes to bottom-six forwards. In fact, the plumbers may be asked on occasion to carry the day.
“There’ll be some times the bottom six of your lineup has to lead because your top guys are a little more tired,” general manager Don Sweeney said, referring to the compressed schedule. “That’s part of the philosophy of the identity we went with. Because you’re going to need it.”
None of this was necessarily by design three months ago. The Bruins pursued more offensive punch in free agency. Their targets went elsewhere. Boston may not be considered a high-end destination right now.
“We’re going to have to be tight on defense if we’re going to be one of the eight (playoff teams) as we’re structured right now. We knew that going in,” Neely said. “We tried to bolster our lineup offensively in the offseason. Didn’t come to fruition. But we got guys that are going to be tough to play against, hard to play against. I think teams are going to circle playing against the Bruins and (say), ‘Oh damn, we’ve got to play them tonight.’
“That’s the type of lineup we put together, knowing that hopefully throughout the year, we can add some offense somewhere.”
The Bruins signed Matej Blumel ($875,000) and Alex Steeves ($850,000) to low-risk one-year deals. They hoped one or both would transfer their AHL success (39 goals for Blumel last season, 36 for Steeves) to a second-or third-line NHL arrival. It didn’t happen. The Bruins designated them as AHL players. The rest of the league agreed. Neither Blumel nor Steeves was claimed on waivers.
All of this is to say the 2025-26 Bruins come up short when it comes to skill.
Matt Poitras, Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov, three of the team’s top offensive prospects, did not do enough to push. This does not reflect well on their development, considering how desperate the Bruins are for production. They are in the AHL because it’s where they deserve to be.
“We’re going to play the players that are playing the best. And that extends to Providence,” Sweeney said. “These guys understand why they were brought here. They delivered from a competitive standpoint. They’re on the doorstep. Matty’s played plenty of games here.”
As for their up-and-coming peers, they remain amateurs, including the seven on the ice during last week’s Boston College-Quinnipiac game: Andre Gasseau, Elliott Groenewold, James Hagens, Oskar Jellvik, Dean Letourneau, Will Moore and Chris Pelosi. Perhaps Hagens will arrive in the spring, but for the most part, reinforcements are not around the corner.
It leaves this season’s team counting on airtight goaltending, stout defense, timely scoring, robust special teams and unbending structure. It is a wobbly formula.
Yet, the people will come. According to CEO Charlie Jacobs, the paid waitlist for season tickets runs 12,000 hopefuls long. Jacobs said there was a nearly 95 percent renewal rate this offseason.
Time will tell how much patience the fanbase is willing to have.
