BOSTON — Wins in five out of six games before Thursday’s loss to the Rangers saw the Bruins leap back up in NHL power rankings exactly a month from the start of the playoffs.
With six upcoming games on the road against teams who are in or just outside the postseason picture, the Bruins will either solidify their position or fluctuate again over the next few weeks.
To keep power ranking lists from becoming repetitive, the different outlets usually include a different side angle for each team too. Some are a little more original than others.
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Here’s where the Bruins landed on the lists and what the different sites said about them:
Rank: 7
The Athletic wrote about first impressions of trade deadline acquisitions with their power rankings and looked at Andrew Peeke.
“By far one of the oddest deadline moves was Boston’s acquisition of Peeke, a player who struggled so much that he couldn’t crack Columbus’ starting six. Columbus! It’s not like Boston was short on NHL-calibre (
Peeke has suited up for four games and while his numbers look solid in a sheltered role, it’s important to mind Boston’s quality of opponents in those games. The Bruins faced Montreal, Philadelphia, and Ottawa in Peeke’s first three games — hardly world-beaters. Peeke’s first real test against a contender came on Thursday against the Rangers and he didn’t have a particularly promising effort with just 14 percent of the expected goals. That’s not ideal.”
Rank: 2
ESPN highlighted guys who’d help your fantasy hockey team who are available on each team:
“Linus Ullmark (6.3% available): If the Bruins keep the strict rotation they’ve had for the bulk of the season, Ullmark gets the Flyers, Bolts, Predators, Panthers, Penguins and Senators to close the fantasy campaign. It’s not a great schedule, but it’s better than what Jeremy Swayman would face.”
Rank: 2
NHL looked at goalie tandems among the contenders:
“If there’s one spot where I’m not worried about the Bruins, it’s in net. Since the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, when Linus Ullmark was a candidate to be traded, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner has come on strong with three straight wins. He has allowed four goals on 89 shots in those three games. Paired with Jeremy Swayman, who has a 2.56 GAA and a .917 save percentage this season, the Bruins have arguably the top tandem in the NHL. But perhaps the best part about their goaltending situation is that it doesn’t seem like coach Jim Montgomery will hesitate to switch from one to the other in the playoffs, after last season when he kept Ullmark as the starter through their seven-game series loss to the Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round. He’s learned that with his two goalies, they might just be their strongest together.”
Rank: 1
SportsNet highlighted each teams 20-goal scorers:
“David Pastrnak, who turns 28 in May and is signed on to be a Bruin until 2031, is exactly 200 goals behind Johnny Bucyk’s franchise record of 545 thanks to a hat trick on Tuesday night that gives him 44 on the season. Johnny, you are on notice, sir. Brad Marchand (27) has eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the 13th time in his fantastic career and Charlie Coyle has already established a career high with 23 tallies this year. Jake DeBrusk is tracking 20 on the nose after scoring at a 35-goal pace last season.”
Rank: 8
They looked at how teams and specific players are performing at the right time.
“Pavel Zacha has quietly been producing for the Bruins lately. He is riding an eight-game point streak, and Zacha has totaled 11 points in that stretch. Boston doesn’t necessarily have the strongest group of centers among playoff teams, so it’s essential that players like Zacha are able to elevate their game at the right time of year. So far, it looks like Zacha has been able to do just that.”
