Many hockey media outlets and Boston Bruins fans have already written off the Bruins being a playoff contending team this upcoming season. Boston faithful have even gone as far as calling the 2025-26 season a ‘tank for (Gavin) McKenna’, in anticipation for the number one prospect in next year’s draft.
It’s easy to be pessimistic about the immediate future of the team when the biggest moves made this offseason (aside from drafting James Hagens) were acquiring Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers and overpaying for forward Tanner Jeannot. Even though the moves to upgrade the team this summer weren’t overly exciting, there are a few improvements internally that could potentially lead the Bruins to being a surprise playoff team at the end of the season.