Boston Bruins
“If you look at our three guys — having David on either elbow … JJ, and Geeks, that’s pretty damn good.”
The Boston Bruins’ power play could only go up after a dismal 2024-25 campaign in which they ranked 29th in the league with just a 15.2 percent success rate.
It was a far cry from the years when Boston boasted one of the most feared man advantages in the NHL — with Torey Krug uncorking blasts from the point, David Pastrnak rifling one-timers from the left circle, Brad Marchand threading passes from the half wall, and Patrice Bergeron redirecting feeds and shots from the “bumper” position.
Under the tutelage of assistant coach Steve Spott, Boston did make some strides last year on the power play, ranking ninth overall with a success rate of 23.4 percent.
But, with the addition of another power-play weapon in JJ Peterka, could that segment of Boston’s overall offensive operation be even better in 2026-27?
Peterka’s speed, shot, and creativity in the offensive zone should already be a welcome sight for a Bruins’ power play that found success last year by no longer forcing pucks toward Pastrnak’s stick.
But, it’s Peterka’s placement on Boston’s top power-play unit — and the subsequent domino effect of where the rest of the Bruins’ personnel is utilized — that could give Marco Sturm’s team a new dynamic this upcoming season.
During Tuesday’s 5-1 preseason win over the Flyers, four of Boston’s five projected starters on that top power-play unit skated together: Pastrnak, Peterka, Morgan Geekie, and Pavel Zacha.
Hampus Lindholm manned the blue line in place of projected PP QB Charlie McAvoy, who will miss the first six games of the regular season due to suspension.
With Peterka joining that unit, Sturm shuffled around some of the assignments with his top forwards.
Peterka debuted on the right elbow — on the opposite flank as Pastrnak — while Geekie moved from the elbow into the “bumper” spot in the slot, previously occupied by Elias Lindholm last year. Zacha hovered at the netfront spot.
For Sturm, the addition of a gifted playmaker like Peterka on the opposite flank with Pastrnak opens up several new channels to generate Grade-A looks.
“That was one of the reasons why we brought him in, and not just because of skill and speed,” Sturm said Wednesday. “The feedback we got from Utah is that he’s a hell of a power-play guy, and especially on those elbows, he can really shoot the puck.
“So, we hope to find the right spot and the right mix. … If you look at our power play — the 1-3-1. If you look at our three guys — having David on either elbow … JJ, and Geeks, that’s pretty damn good.”
While opposing PK units will continue to be honed in on Pastrnak in hopes of taking away his one-timer — that task becomes a lot more arduous if Peterka is rifling pucks home from the other elbow, similar to how Geekie thrived in that spot last season (12 power-play tallies).
Peterka’s passing ability also makes him a threat to feed the puck into the slot for another shot-ready forward in Geekie, back up to the blue line for McAvoy or Lindholm, or toward the left circle where a lurking Pastrnak is waiting to fire up his one-timer.
The shift of Geekie from the elbow to the bumper spot could also unlock more scoring chances for Boston – and additional headaches for the penalty kill.
Geekie made the most of his shift to the slot during Tuesday’s win against the Flyers, with a strong puck-movement sequence leading to a tally just 14 seconds into the man advantage.
After Peterka moved the puck up top to Lindholm, the D-man set up Pastrnak for what looked like an expected one-timer from the left circle — only for the Bruins’ top forward to loft in a slap pass toward the slot that Geekie redirected home.
Even though moving Geekie out of the elbow might limit just how many one-timer chances he can fire off, it’s a shift that the 28-year-old is familiar with.
“Honestly, I played bumper my entire life until last year,” Geekie said. “It feels normal, but it’s different. You have a world-class player like Dave on one side. You have to think what he’s thinking in that situation. He makes world-class plays. … It’s one of those things where you’re always thinking and not necessarily moving. It’s fun. It’s a different perspective from being on the wall.”
Geekie may not be teed up for as many chances to pepper the net from the elbow. But as Bergeron showcased during his years entrenched in the bumper spot, being the skater in the middle of the chaos on the power play presents its fair share of tips, deflections, rebounds, and Grade-A shots that can make life miserable for opposing goalies.
“[Spott] always said he really believes in Morgan Geekie being one of the best bumpers in the league,” Sturm said. “Because of his release and his hands, he can be really, really dangerous. And having, overall, those weapons everywhere, I think it’s just going to help us. But like I said, he needs more reps to feel even more comfortable. I’m glad he had a nice touch [Tuesday] for a goal, so hopefully he believes in that role too, because we do.
The presence of Peterka and his skillset alone should help Boston’s offense, both at 5-on-5 play and the power play.
Not only could his shot have penalty-killers thinking twice about throwing all their effort into taking away Pastrnak’s one-timer, but the reshuffling of assignments — namely, Geekie in the bumper — could be the added wrinkle that allows Boston’s power play to sustain its resurgent results as of late.
LOOSE PUCKS
It was a rough day for players on the roster bubble for Boston.
Matt Poitras did not participate in practice on Wednesday due to a lower-body injury suffered during Tuesday’s skate. He’s day-to-day moving forward. Defenseman Mason Lohreo also left practice early after suffering an injury. Sturm noted that the defenseman is undergoing testing, with an update expected on Thursday.
Despite a strong start to the preseason, Frederic Brunet skated with Boston’s Group B on Wednesday — a group that primarily featured younger players, Providence regulars, and other skaters firmly on the roster bubble. But Sturm did not signal any alarms over Brunet’s placement in that group, noting that both Brunet and the media should not read into where he slotted in on Wednesday.
“I can’t put everyone in one group because otherwise I would have way too many guys out there,” Sturm said. “So doesn’t mean anything, and that’s what I was trying to explain to him. So he did fine. All the guys who were in the other group were fine. But we had to make a cut because of practice. That’s all.”
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