Bruins Reassign Lukas Reichel
5/3/26: The Bruins reassigned Reichel to Providence today, according to a team announcement.
5/2/26: While Boston’s playoff run is over, one of their players will still have some postseason action on the horizon. PuckPedia reports that the Bruins have placed winger Lukas Reichel on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence.
This is the second time that the 23-year-old has been on waivers this season. Vancouver acquired Reichel early in the season from Chicago for a fourth-round pick in the hopes that he could give a banged-up roster a bit of a lift. However, he struggled and some of their injured players returned, resulting in the Canucks waiving him in mid-December, where he passed through unclaimed.
Looking for some extra winger depth at the trade deadline, the Bruins flipped a sixth-round pick to Vancouver to acquire Reichel and left him briefly in the minors. He eventually was recalled, getting into ten games down the stretch before returning to the AHL. Reichel was then brought up for the postseason and suited up once against the Sabres.
On the season, Reichel played in just 29 NHL games between Chicago, Vancouver, and Boston, notching three goals and five assists. He also picked up 19 points in 27 AHL contests and added three more in five games for Germany at the Olympics. For his career, Reichel has 23 goals and 39 assists in 198 career NHL contests.
A first-round pick back in 2020 (17th overall), Reichel is slated to become a restricted free agent this summer and will be owed a $1.3MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights. At this point, it seems unlikely he’ll receive that. That also makes it quite unlikely that he’ll be claimed by Sunday’s 1 PM CT deadline, paving the way for him to return to Providence as the league-leading Bruins look to have a long postseason run.
Latest On Bruins Captaincy
- Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm told the media today that he is comfortable with the team’s current leadership structure, and may not necessarily enter 2026-27 with a captain. The Bruins have not had a captain since they traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers. The team had four alternate captains in 2025-26: Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, and David Pastrnak. Among that quartet, McAvoy and Pastrnak are the most likely candidates, at face value, to be captain given the length of their respective tenures in Boston.
Bruins Notes: Zadorov, Arvidsson, Lindholm
Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov played the latter portion of the team’s first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres with an MCL that was “fully [torn] off the bone,” he told the media yesterday. Zadorov’s status was up in the air before game five. But other than that moment, his availability for games was not seen to be in question. The injury did appear to impact his play, though, as The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa wrote Zadorov “was compromised” after his MCL tear.
Zadorov, 31, is one of Boston’s most experienced defensemen and a blueliner who plays a significant role in head coach Marco Sturm‘s lineup. Standing 6’7″, 255 pounds, Zadorov scored 22 points in 81 games this season, also registering 152 penalty minutes and 196 hits. He averaged 20:52 time on ice per game during the regular season, good for No. 3 on the team.
Other notes from Boston:
- Zadorov wasn’t the only Bruins veteran battling an injury against the Sabres. Veteran forward Viktor Arvidsson sustained a fractured rib and punctured lung, relays Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe. Arvidsson was No. 4 on the Bruins in scoring in the regular season, potting 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games. He suffered his injury in game four and wasn’t able to play in games five or six. The 33-year-old, who scored just 27 points the year before joining the Bruins, is set to become a UFA this summer.
- While some players suffer injuries only during the course of a playoff series, other suffer the injuries earlier in the season and the ailments just become something to manage over the course of the entire rest of the campaign. Veteran defenseman Hampus Lindholm is one of the players in the latter category, as he told the media today that he played through a foot fracture that he first suffered in December. The Bruins’ No. 2 defenseman behind Charlie McAvoy has seen his last two campaigns defined by injury, as a lower-body injury limited him to just 17 games played in 2024-25. This past season, he scored 26 points in 67 contests averaging 21:37 time on ice per game.
Bruins Invite Max Burkholder To Development Camp
- The Boston Bruins have invited Colorado College captain Max Burkholder to their development camp, reports Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal. The 22-year-old is an undersized right-shot defenseman who had a breakout sophomore campaign in 2024-25. That year, he scored 26 points in 37 games and was named to the NCHC’s Second All-Star team. A lower-body injury cost him all but three games this year, but he’ll still get the chance to show off his talents at development camp with the hope of potentially earning a pro contract down the line.
Charlie McAvoy Offered In-Person Hearing For Slash On Zach Benson
It was a tough end to the playoffs for Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. On top of his team losing in six games to Buffalo on Friday, the veteran was ejected from the game for a slash on Sabres winger Zach Benson. In response, the Department of Player Safety announced (Twitter link) that McAvoy has been offered an in-person hearing. The date and time of the hearing have yet to be determined but with Boston done for the season, there is no need to hold it over the next day or two.
The in-person element is particularly important. While a phone hearing carries a maximum of a five-game suspension, an in-person hearing allows the league to suspend him for longer than that. If that were to happen, the NHLPA would then have an opportunity to appeal to Commissioner Gary Bettman as well.
The incident occurred late in the third period of Friday’s game. Benson was set to receive a slew-foot tripping minor on McAvoy and while play continued, McAvoy chased down Benson and gave him a baseball-swing slash, receiving a minor, major, and a game misconduct on the play. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was among those to provide a video clip of the play.
McAvoy has two suspensions on his record. He received a one-game ban in 2019 for an illegal check to the head on then-Columbus winger Josh Anderson in the playoffs and a four-game suspension in 2023 for an illegal check to the head on then-Florida blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Any supplementary discipline received will be served at the start of next season.
James Hagens Expected To Play For Team USA At World Championship
It has been an eventful season for Bruins center James Hagens, to put it lightly. He has already played for four separate teams in 2025-26 and it appears he’ll be adding to that total. Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reports (Twitter link) that Hagens is expected to play for Team USA at the upcoming Worlds which begin later this month.
The seventh overall pick last June, Hagens spent most of the season at the NCAA level with Boston College, where he picked up 23 goals and 24 assists in just 34 games to lead his team in scoring. Midseason, he suited up for Team USA at the World Juniors and had a productive showing there as well, notching seven points in five contests.
That performance was good enough for Boston to decide to turn Hagens pro. However, they opted to have him take a bit of a different route. Instead of joining the big club right away, they signed him to an AHL tryout, allowing him to get his feet wet with Providence. He picked up a goal and three assists in six games with them, earning a full entry-level contract a little less than four weeks ago.
Hagens got into a pair of regular season games in the final week to get his NHL debut out of the way but ultimately didn’t play a regular role in the postseason. Hagens played in three of six games against Buffalo but was held off the scoresheet. Despite being 19 and only playing in five NHL games, his contract isn’t eligible to slide as he turns 20 in November. He’s also not eligible to return to Providence to aid in their playoff run. However, he won’t accrue a year of service time toward UFA eligibility so Boston still has seven full seasons of club control.
Between his four teams this season, Hagens has played in 50 games so far. He’ll now get a chance to add up to ten more while in Switzerland while trying to end his year on a high note.
Nikita Zadorov Sustained Torn MCL Midway Through First Round
Boston’s season came to an end on Friday night as they lost to Buffalo, ending the series in six games. Following the outing, Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov revealed to reporters including Boston.com’s Conor Ryan that he sustained a torn MCL in the third game of the series.
Before last night, he had indicated that he was playing through something but hadn’t indicated what. It appears as if the injury is on the severe side, too, as Zadorov mentioned that the ligament was fully torn off the bone.
While MCL injuries aren’t generally as severe as ACL ones, a fully torn MCL may still require surgery with a recovery timeline pushing three months. That should have him fully recovered heading into training camp in the fall but his overall offseason training will certainly be impacted by this injury.
Although Zadorov was far from fully healthy, it didn’t seem to affect his playing time all that much. He logged 19:20 of playing time in Game 4, 23:11 in Game 5, and 21:52 last night, all around his regular season ATOI of 20:53.
Zadorov was the league leader in penalty minutes for the second straight season and after a 37-PIM performance in the opening round, he’s currently leading the way in that category as well. Beyond that, he chipped in with an assist and 17 hits in the series.
Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman, Andrei Vasilevskiy Named Vezina Trophy Finalists
The NHL has officially announced the field for the 2025-26 Vezina Trophy, naming Ilya Sorokin (New York Islanders), Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins), and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning) as the three finalists. Voted on by the league’s general managers, the award recognizes the goaltender deemed most valuable to his team at the position.
This year’s group features a mix of powerhouse names and rising stars who have carried their respective clubs through an 82-game season.
Sorokin returns to the finalist circle for the second time in his career after a season where he was arguably the league’s busiest and most reliable netminder. Despite the Islanders’ inconsistent defensive metrics, Sorokin was a human highlight reel, leading the NHL with seven shutouts across 55 games played. He posted a 29-24-2 record with a 2.68 GAA and .906 SV%, but his case for the award is notably from his league-leading 452 high-danger saves.
Swayman has taken the reins in Boston and proved he is a bona fide elite starting goaltender. The 27-year-old recorded a career-high 31 wins and led all goaltenders with 38 starts with a SV% of .900 or better. Finishing the year with a 31-18-4 record, a 2.71 GAA, and a .907 SV%, Swayman’s ability to handle a heavy workload while maintaining elite performances night after night helped a transitional Bruins roster secure the top Wild Card spot in the East.
Vasilevskiy reminded the world why he remains the gold standard for modern goaltending, leading the NHL in wins for the sixth time in his career. Across 58 appearances, he posted a 39-15-4 record, with an historic 17-0-1 record during the middle of the season. He finished the campaign ranked second in the league in GAA at 2.31 and tied for fourth in save percentage at .912, making his sixth time as a Vezina finalist as he seeks to capture the trophy for the first time since 2019.
While Vasilevskiy holds the advantage in traditional win-loss metrics and goals against average, Sorokin’s case is built on the immense degree of difficulty he faced in New York. Swayman, on the other hand, represents a newer guard, showing that he can maintain elite efficiency over a full season’s workload. The winner will be revealed during the NHL Awards ceremony later this summer.
Latest On Bruins Lineup
Boston Bruins forward Viktor Arvidsson has been ruled out for Game 5 in Buffalo, reported by Amalie Benjamin, Senior Writer at the NHL. He did not travel with the team.
Arvidsson’s Bruins are on the brink of elimination, but he’s done his part with two tallies in the series. He’ll hope they can extend their season tonight and buy enough time for a potential return, as soon as Game 6 on Friday, if necessary.
Nikita Zadorov Fined For Cross-Checking
- The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov has been fined $5K, the maximum allowable, for cross-checking Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in Game 4. It was an expected, albeit underwhelming outcome. In yesterday’s contest, well after the whistle, Zadorov calmly skated up to Dahlin and delivered a cross-check to Dahlin’s back, which caused Zadorov’s stick to break. It’s hard to argue that there wasn’t intent to injure based on the video, making the NHL’s decision not to suspend him a bit perplexing.
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