BOSTON — The NHL Draft isn’t until late June. Free agency doesn’t start until July 1.
Even if the Bruins wanted to get into the trade market, many of their potential partners are in the playoffs.
As bad as the Bruins would like to start fixing things right away, they’ll have to wait. For now, according to team president Cam Neely, the Bruins are trying to use this time to best position themselves to improve in all areas.
Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Devils guaranteed the Bruins would finish at best tied for last in the Eastern Conference. It marked a drastic dropoff from winning the Presidents’ Trophy two seasons ago.
They fired coach Jim Montgomery in November and traded five veterans — including captain Brad Marchand — for prospects and draft capital at the March trade deadline.
It’s the end of a long run of success. They missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years and had a losing record for the first time since 2006-07. It’s been a while since the Bruins have had to rebuild, but here they are.
“We’ve gotten accustomed to playing meaningful games at this time of year,” said Neely, sitting in the Bruins’ coaches box between periods of Tuesday’s game. “This was a different kind of year for all of us. Even in 2015-16, when we missed the playoffs, we were in it right down to the very end. This is a lot different for us.”
With that in mind, they’ve put their entire operation under increased scrutiny. The Bruins are evaluating everything from their own players to possible free agents to draft picks and coaching candidates.
But since his team chose to sell at the NHL Trade Deadline, Neely’s frustration at how 2024-25 went has been motivation for his eager approach to get a head start on 2025-26.
Roster construction will be a key focus. The Bruins are looking at what failed last year and are obviously trying to avoid repeating mistakes.
“I certainly hope we do,” Neely said. “You learn more from mistakes.”
“The staff — the hockey ops staff, the pro scouts, the amateur scouts — you’d like to believe you can get better along the way,” he added. “We haven’t really faced something like this, so I think it lets everybody know a lot more about the roster and what we need and where we need to do a little bit more.”
Being out of contention has allowed the Bruins to take longer looks at newcomers as well as some of their younger players at Providence.
Since the deadline, Casey Mittelstadt, Marat Khusnutdinov and Henri Jokiharju, who were all acquired via trades, have been regulars in the Bruins’ lineup. Fraser Minten, who was part of the deal for Brandon Carlo, joined them for the last six games of the season.
In addition to them, the Bruins have given several players from Providence longer looks with the varsity than they would have gotten if Boston were playoff-bound.
“It gave us an opportunity to see some of our guys from Providence come up and play NHL hockey games. The pace is different. You have to do things quicker, with a quicker mindset,” Neely said. “It was good for us to see and reward players who have done a nice job for us down in Providence.”
Most of them have rejoined Providence for the postseason, which begins next week. In addition to chasing the Calder Cup, the AHL Playoffs are an extended audition for some players, who are trying to raise their esteem in the eyes of the Bruins’ brass on the eve of what could be a competitive training camp in the fall.
Neely said the Bruins will not only look at how they play now, but how they address the team’s goals for them in the offseason.
“It’ll be interesting. During the exit meetings, they’ll meet with the coach, GM and myself,” he said. “There’s generally a plan laid out for what we’d like them to do in the offseason, whether it’s add a little strength, pick up a step or so, various things like that.”
