The Boston Bruins have had a season that most would like to forget. As of this writing, they sit last in the Atlantic with 69 points. They have been 1-8-1 in their last 10 games, losing ten straight. Yikes.

The term ‘historically bad’ refers to the Bruins’ history. Being historically bad is quite a feat, considering the most losses belong to the inaugural season Capitals, who went 8-67-5.

This Bruins team has been so bad that most of the roster wasn’t even alive when the B’s went 26-47-9 in 1997. The only ones who could’ve seen it were David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Vinni Latteri, Patrick Brown, and Joonas Korpisalo.

Let’s examine what has made them so bad this year and what their offseason might be like—if they play their cards right, anyway.

Goaltending 

A year after helping the Bruins achieve a 109-point season, goaltending has taken a significant step back following the trade of veteran netminder Linus Ullmark.

New acquisition Joonas Korpisalo has not been great so far. In 25 games, Korpi has recorded a 2.89 GAA, with an .893 SV% to boot. Although it has been solid, it is quite the downgrade from what the B’s had last year. His Goals Saved Above Expected currently sits at -2.3, which once again is a little bit concerning, although considering that he wasn’t good with Ottawa last year as well, it makes sense. Interesting note: Korpisalo is sitting at a career-high in shutouts with three.

Jeremy Swayman, who was projected to take the next step as the Bruins’ number one goalie this season, has had a surprising down season. This season, he has a career-worst in GAA and SV%, with a 3.12 and a .892, respectively. This is the first season with statistics that are THIS bad. He has never had a GAA above 2.53 and a SV% below .910. His GSAx reflects that, as he currently sits with a -7.5. Amongst all goaltenders who have played more than 17 games, this puts him at 49th.

Pasta all on his own

The Bruins’ offensive depth this season has been David Pastrnak, and that’s pretty much it.  Pasta has had 37 goals and 51 assists for 88 points this season, which is almost half of what the next-best offensive player on Boston has. If you’re curious, Pavel Zacha has 45 points in 75 games. Even Brad Marchand, who was traded away from the team at the deadline, has more points so far (47) than any other Bruin besides Pastrnak.

Two team members have over 20 goals, with Morgan Geekie and Pastrnak having 27 and 37, respectively.

For now, this season is pretty much a throwaway goal-scoring wise, and unless someone steps up within the last seven or so games remaining, there is nothing that can be done regarding the large separation between talent on this Bruins squad.

The Future

Despite the horrendous season, the Bruins have some concept of a plan for next year.

The Bruins have a better selection of youth now, with 21-year-old Matthew Poitras hoping for a rebound season after spending last year in the minors.

He was solid in his rookie year (15pts in 33 games before needing surgery), but took a bit of a step back before spending the rest of the season in Providence. Hopefully, Poitras comes back and hits the 20 (or even 30) point plateau, and becomes a regular depth producer for the Bruins.

Fraser Minten is also now in Boston’s system after being dealt as part of the Brandon Carlo trade, and he looks to be one of the next big pieces for Boston. He has only played nine games with Boston’s AHL squad, and is two points shy of a point-per-game pace.  Even looking at his 15 games in the NHL early this season, his production wasn’t terrible (4 pts in 15 gms) for a fourth-line rookie on a contending team.

They have the fourth-best odds for the no.1 pick, and although they could trade it for a haul of talent, it wouldn’t be the best move for this team’s future. Most likely, the Bruins will get the fifth overall pick, which is projected to be Roger McQueen, according to NHL.com. In my opinion, I would wait until after the draft to retool or start the complete rebuild process.

The team will most likely attempt to retool and get back to at least the wildcard, with most of their top talent in their mid-to-late 20s. They have time, although it is yet to be shown if the team will be the same as it was before.

At least they are bringing back a version of the jersey designs shown last year.