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Bruins Report Card: One Surprise, Two Uncertain Futures
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- Bruins Report Card: One Surprise, Two Uncertain Futures
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The Boston Bruins entered the 2025-26 season expecting a leap forward for Mason Lohrei . Instead, Jonathan Aspirot took the team by surprise.
Aspirot joined the organization in July and flew under the radar until training camp, when he made a strong first impression. Though he did not make the team initially, he worked his way into a full-time role, signed a two-year extension, and played 61 games and six more in the playoffs.
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Lohrei, in his third year, had an opportunity to cement himself as a core part of the long-term future. After he was hired, Marco Sturm talked about using Lohrei and Charlie McAvoy on the top pair, but that ended with Lohrei being scratched for a handful of games.
He played bottom pair minutes this season before finding a home on his off-hand, next to Hampus Lindholm . The move worked at first, solidifying the Bruins' second-pair during the late stretch, but once the playoffs came, Lohrei watched Games 4, 5, and 6 from the press box.
Instead of cementing his place in the Bruins' future, Lohrei enters the summer with his name in trade talks.
Andrew Peeke 's future is also in question. His expectations have never been through the roof, but his season was not his best, and now he's an unrestricted free agent.
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JONATHAN ASPIROT: A
Season Stats: GP: 61; G: 3, A: 10, Pts: 13; +/-: +30, PIM: 43; ATOI: 16:44
Playoff Stats: GP: 6; G: 0, A: 2, Pts: 2; +/-: -3, PIM: 2; ATOI: 16:19
Expectations
Signed on July 1, Aspirot joined the organization and was slated to be nothing more than additional defensive depth. He spent the last six seasons in the American Hockey League, totaling 292 games, and had yet to be called up to the NHL.
Season Review
Aspirot vied for the seventh defenseman role at training camp. While he impressed and made a strong first impression, he did not make the team, but was the second defenseman to come up from Providence this season. He was called up after Hampus Lindholm went down with an injury.
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Once he was called up, he never returned to Providence and quickly rose from a third-pair option to playing top-pair minutes with Charlie McAvoy . As a pair, they were outattempted, outshot, and they gave up 95 high-danger chances, but they outscored opponents 28-22 .
Marco Sturm called Aspirot a " pleasant surprise " in January, and he noted his simple, smart game, one that cannot be taught. Sturm also called him a better player off the puck.
Aspirot's 4.37 blocks per 60 ranked second on the team, and his plus-30 rating led the team. He was nominated for the Seventh Player Award but lost the fan vote to Fraser Minten .
Future
Aspirot's stay in Boston was extended in January when he signed a two-year deal. He will carry a cap hit of $887,500 .
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He proved he can play with McAvoy, but whether it is suitable for the long-term is where it gets shaky. However, he does allow McAvoy more freedom to put his offense on display, and he set career-high numbers this season. If the Bruins free up space on their left side, Aspirot can slot behind Nikita Zadorov and Hampus Lindholm on the depth chart, and he can slide into third-pair minutes.
Regardless of where he goes in the lineup, Aspirot blew his expectations out of the water this season and proved he can hang in the NHL. He went from a depth piece to a regular, and now he gives the Bruins another cost-friendly option for their blue line over the next two seasons.
ANDREW PEEKE: C+
Season Stats: GP: 77; G: 5, A: 9, Pts: 14; +/-: -12, PIM: 22; ATOI: 19:23
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Playoff Stats: GP: 6; G: 0, A: 1, Pts: 1; +/-: +2, PIM: 14; ATOI: 19:46
Expectations
The Bruins knew what they had in Andrew Peeke when they traded for him in March 2024. He provided depth, size, and the ability to kill penalties. He's a right-shot defenseman, a premium across the league, but Peeke's expectations were never to be the top-pair guy as he had been in Columbus.
He was slated to move into Brandon Carlo 's spot on the second pair, and if not, play third-pair minutes. He's not known for his offense; he's a shutdown defenseman who can steady the ship.
Season Review
Peeke provided meaningful minutes, and Marco Sturm clearly trusted him. His ice time went up this season, and it was the highest it's been since he joined the Bruins in 2024. He bounced between the second pair with Hampus Lindholm and the third pair with Nikita Zadorov , but did not jump out as someone the Bruins have to keep in their long-term plans.
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He played a lot, but the results were not always there. The Bruins were outscored 21-8 with Peeke and Lindholm on the ice together. However, he did better with Zadorov, outscoring opponents 17-15.
Peeke also finished with a minus-12 rating, which can be taken with a grain of salt, but it was the lowest on the team by five.
Aside from a small lower-body injury in January, he stayed healthy this season. The only other games Peeke missed this season were two healthy scratches right after the Olympic break. Sturm did not scratch Peeke because of the upcoming trade deadline, instead saying there were a few things in his game to fix.
Peeke gave the Bruins exactly what they expected. He added minutes, killed penalties, and stayed healthy, but there were enough lapses in his game to keep him from being a priority this summer.
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Future
Peeke is an unrestricted free agent on July 1. AFP Analytics projects he will sign a four-year deal with an average annual salary of $4.13 million.
The Bruins need right-handed defensemen; it's an organizational need. They know it, signaled by their pursuit of Rasmus Andersson in January, which reportedly included a seven-year extension. Andersson did not want the extension and was traded to Vegas . Don Sweeney also said he did his due diligence regarding Peeke at the trade deadline, but they did not make any big moves on deadline day.
Peeke fits the Bruins' need on the right side, but the Bruins have already shown they want to upgrade there.
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MASON LOHREI: C
Season Stats: GP: 73; G: 7, A: 19, Pts: 26; +/-: +17, PIM: 20; ATOI: 16:54
Playoff Stats: GP: 3; G: 0, A: 0, Pts: 0; +/-: -4, PIM: 0; ATOI: 14:14
Expectations
Lohrei hit a slump in his sophomore season, and his defensive game took a hit late in the year. He ended the 2024-25 season with a league-worst minus-43, and he was minus-31 after the Four Nations Faceoff. Debate the stat, sure, but a minus-43 is an issue, especially compared to Peeke's minus-12.
Marco Sturm was changing things, though. Over the summer, he joined Mike Felger and Tony Massarotti and said Charlie McAvoy and Lohrei were "actually a pretty good pair. … Maybe [Lohrei] needs a partner like that."
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Season Review
So, Lohrei started the season on the top pair with McAvoy. They played the first 11 games together, registering a minus-3 goal differential and a 43.31% expected goals rate. Then Hampus Lindholm returned from his injury, and Marco Sturm opted to keep Aspirot in the lineup and scratch Lohrei. He watched five games from the press box.
Sturm said Lohrei " should be pissed, " but he also said he was not trying to bury the Bruins' youngest defenseman. He did not. Lohrei only missed three more games during the regular season, coming in late March-early April.
Lohrei also showed his offensive upside this season, finishing with 26 points, the second-most by a Bruins defenseman. He did find his footing late in the season when he was moved to the right side of the second pair. When Lohrei played on a pair with Hampus Lindholm, the Bruins only allowed nine goals in 348:26.
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The playoffs were a disaster, though. The second pair was not as strong as they were in the regular season, and after posting a minus-4 rating through the first three games, Lohrei was scratched for the rest of the series, and while he said it was a " behind closed doors " decision, Don Sweeney said he lost his confidence.
Future
Lohrei is signed for another year at $3.2 million.
However, he was dangled in the potential Rasmus Andersson trade in January, showing that the Bruins are willing to move him for an upgrade. He's also been involved in trade talk this summer, and according to Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos , the Bruins are looking into a Lohrei move to bolster their lineup.
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The Bruins need to improve this summer, and Lohrei may be a part of an outgoing package. He has upside and potential, but his play has been inconsistent, and he did not live up to his expectations this season.
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The post Bruins Report Card: One Surprise, Two Uncertain Futures appeared first on Boston Hockey Now .
