The Boston Bruins’ future is as uncertain as ever. Following a tumultuous 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, during which the team capitalized on a seller’s market, the Bruins are projected to have just over $66 million in contracts heading into the offseason, with several important decisions to make. While it’s likely they’ll find common ground with pending restricted free agents like John Beecher, Marat Khusnutdinov, Jakub Lauko, and Mason Lohrei, as well as working out an extension for Morgan Geekie, one pending unrestricted free agent stands out as particularly intriguing: newly-acquired Henri Jokiharju.
As it stands, the Bruins are missing their top two defenders Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, who both remain out due to injuries and are unlikely to return for the remainder of the season—McAvoy has a chance to return, but if the Bruins continue to fall further out of playoff contention, it may be wise to just shut him down until next season. Beyond that, the Bruins also traded away their next-best defender Brandon Carlo, meaning both of the team’s top-four right-shot defenders are out of the picture. This is where Jokiharju has come into play.
Evaluating Jokiharju’s Impact So Far
Though the Bruins acquired Jokiharju for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, that doesn’t preclude him from leaving in the offseason and signing elsewhere if the two sides can’t find common ground on a contract extension. The Bruins haven’t seemed like a team keen on throwing in the towel on the 2024-25 season and acquiring Jokiharju may have been an attempt for the team to remain competitive while also retooling their roster on the fly; at the same time, it seems unlikely that they’d throw away a draft pick for a rental when they had already decided to move on from a large chunk of their core. Right now, the Bruins are evaluating Jokiharju and the early results have been promising.
When discussing the Bruins’ newest blueliner, interim head coach Joe Sacco offered some praise.
“What’s stood out I think is the ability to help us come out of our zone, exit out of our zone cleaner. He has the ability to make some good first passes on our breakouts or coming out of our D-zone coverage. That’s something that can help our group and alleviate some of the pressure when we’re in our defensive zone. I think his play at the offensive blue line has been good. When we go low to high and we’re trying to get the puck…whatever the d-man’s trying to execute at that particular time, he’s been pretty good there so far.”
At just 25 years old, Jokiharju is about to enter the prime of his career. A first-round pick from the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Jokiharju has found instant chemistry alongside Nikita Zadorov which has been a pleasant surprise for the Bruins. Jokiharju has been happy with this pairing as well.
“We can keep the game simple,” said Jokiharju. “He’s a great defenseman in this league, for sure. Every team wants a player like him on their team, so it’s just really nice to play with him.”
Though the Bruins haven’t started extension talks with Jokiharju yet, the Finnish defender made it clear he’s open to discussions before hitting free agency.
“100% I’ll be willing to talk, for sure,” Jokiharju said.
If the Bruins can find a way to keep Jokiharju in the fold on a reasonable contract, they’d be wise to try and get something done. He’s already been able to fill a void in his short stint with the team, and when McAvoy returns to the lineup, the Bruins could have a right side featuring McAvoy, Jokiharju, and Andrew Peeke. The team could do much worse during their retool, and if Jokiharju is in line for a slight pay bump from his current $3.1 million contract, anything in the $3-4 million range should still be palatable for the Bruins.
