10 Storylines That Will Define The Bruins This Season

Boston Bruins set the tone for a new era as David Pastrnak emerges as captain and James Hagens eyes a breakout NHL debut. Can Boston’s leadership shakeup and youth movement keep them in championship contention—or is a rebuild lurking beneath the surface? Ian McLaren spotlights the top 10 Boston Bruins storylines for 2026-27, including Charlie McAvoy’s six-game suspension, JJ Peterka’s high-impact arrival, and Jeremy Swayman’s goalie workload. Analysis focuses on a revamped top six, the emergence of Fraser Minten and Murat Khusnutdinov, and Marco Sturm’s adjustments in his second season behind the bench.  With critical decisions looming for Pavel Zacha and Casey Middlestadt, a defensive logjam, and fierce Atlantic Division rivals like the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bruins' path to the playoffs is anything but certain. Will Boston’s new core cement themselves as contenders, or are more drastic changes ahead? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.