The returns for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft for the Boston Bruins have been better in terms of hope for the class than in years past. Generally, the Bruins and general manager Don Sweeney struggle with putting together a prospect group that finds some players who contribute to the NHL.
This year, they had James Hagens fall to them in the first round at No. 7, and then in the third round, the Black and Gold may have found a diamond in the rough with Cooper Simpson, a forward. In 31 games last season in high school in the great hockey state of Minnesota, Simpson found the back of the net 49 times, which led the Bruins to pick him in the third round and 79th overall back in June.
Simpson was traded from Tri-City in the USHL to the Youngstown Phantoms, and he should be able to translate his game from high school to the USHL. There is no doubt that he can fill up the net, and it'll be worth watching him this year and seeing how he develops in Youngstown.
Former Bruins defenseman explains decision to sign with Penguins
There was very little change this offseason on defense for the Bruins, but left-shot blueliner Parker Wortherspoon was a player who left in free agency for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's trading in Black and Gold in Boston for the same colors in the Steel City. Why did the 27-year-old settle on the Pens in free agency?
“When I started talking to Pittsburgh, right from the get-go, it seemed like there was such a good connection there,” Wortherspoon said. “They seemed interested, and we were interested. We thought it would be a good fit with some opportunity to play.”
As for his 2024-25 season with the Bruins that saw his ice-time increase in the second half of the season because of injuries that saw him play in 55 games with a goal and six helpers. His goal was a dart off his stick by Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning in January.
“It was building pretty good last year,” said Wortherspoon. “It was kind of a tough season. Obviously, we didn’t make the playoffs. We were not where we wanted to be. But with the extra playing time, I thought I was growing every game, playing more and more.”
It wasn't surprising to see Sweeney let Wortherspoon walk in free agency, as there was just no room for him, and there were other directions to go with the seventh defenseman. He'll fight for a spot in Pittsburgh for a team that is in the same boat as Boston, really stuck in the Murky Middle, a place no team wants to be. Basically, Pittsburgh is replacing Matt Grzelcyk with Wortherspoon.
Bruins' goalie continued to be linked to Oilers
After losing in the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row to the Florida Panthers, the top need for the Edmonton Oilers continues to be a goalie. They are looking for a young goalie who they could see being their future puck-stopper, and one name that keeps being linked to Edmonton is a young Black and Gold netminder.
Rob Couch of NHL Trade Rumors is the latest to link Michael DiPietro to the Oilers in a potential deal sooner rather than later. The problem is, Boston enters camp with three goalies, Jeremy Swayman, Joonas Korpisalo, and DiPietro, with one of the latter backing up Swayman. The other could become trade bait, and Edmonton would surely be in the mix for one. You get the sense that they would target DiPietro first, but anything is possible.
