NHL News: Don Sweeney, Bruins have reportedly located weakest link to potentially part ways with next season

The Boston Bruins might be facing the most uncertain road out of every team in the NHL. While many have accepted it’s time to rebuild and others aim for the Stanley Cup, the Spoked B feels stuck in the middle. Mired in the nerve-wracking in-between, the road ahead is filled with question marks for Don Sweeney and company.

That’s the scenario the Bruins are staring down at ahead of Marco Sturm’s head coaching debut. It seems everything is unpredictable right now in Massachusetts. That can only mean one thing: it’s sink-or-swim for the Bruins.

It’s seemingly on the players’ hands now. Their performance during the 2025-26 NHL season will shine the light on Boston’s plan moving forward. If they somehow find themselves in playoff contention by the trade deadline, the B’s might invest in reinforcements. If not, the walls could come down at 100 Legends Way—and a full rebuild may begin.

Who could be dealt?

If that becomes the Bruins’ reality, only a handful of names will be safe from the trade block. According to reports, the organization may already have its first trade chip in mind.

General Manager Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins arrives at the 2019 NHL Awards at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“I think if there is one player on the back end that the Bruins eventually move, Hampus Lindholm is it,” Boston Hockey Now’s Andrew Fantucchio recently stated. “At 32, he’s the oldest member of the D-corps and is still owed another $26 million over the next four years, so he’s certainly a cap-relief candidate, but we’re far from away getting to that point.“

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NHL News: Bruins reportedly considering trade of star top-six forward ahead of 2025-26 season

Don’t fix what isn’t broken

While moving on from Lindholm could yield significant off-ice benefits for the Bruins, those would do little to spark an instant change. At the moment, the Spoked B needs all the help it can manage to put on display over the frozen surface.

“The Bruins have several other contracts that are easier to move (Joonas Korpisalo, Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittlestadt, Henri Jokiharju) if need be. Even then, Lindholm is the only certainty on the left side of the blue line right now.“

Time will tell

Midway through the summer of 2025, the horizon isn’t looking much clearer for the Bruins. It’s been an offseason of constant change, and it seems the answers will only reveal themselves later in the year. Once the leaves begin to fall, the air calls for an added layer of warmth, and the puck finally drops again at TD Garden. Until then, the Bruins will have to navigate the blinding uncertainty that surrounds their path toward the 2025–26 NHL campaign.