This past offseason saw a number of Boston Bruins players leave the organization after being with it for a while. Some of these big names include Linus Ullmark, Jake DeBrusk, and Matt Grzelcyk, the latter two being draft picks by the team. Others include Danton Heinen, who had a bigger impact in his second tenure with the team, and James van Riemsdyk.
Related: 4 Takeaways From Bruins’ First 10 Games
More than a month into the 2024-25 season, it’s a good time to check around the league and see how these former Bruins are doing in their new organizations.
Linus Ullmark
Unlike the rest of this list, Ullmark departed from the Bruins through a trade rather than in free agency. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Joonas Korpisalo, Mark Kastelic, and a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft that Boston used to select Dean Letourneau.
Goaltending has been an issue in Ottawa for several seasons now, so it makes sense why they gave up a first-round pick to get one of the top goalies in the league the last few seasons. So far in 2024-25, Ullmark has been a mixed bag. He has 4-4-1 record, a goals against average of 2.77 and a save percentage of .890, all below his career averages. He also has a shutout against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Similar to Ullmark’s first season with the Bruins, there have been some adjustments as he transitions to a new team. He has struggled to win games on the road, and is still adjusting to no longer playing in a tandem with Jeremy Swayman where the goaltenders could easily switch off each game. Still, he’s been showing improvements and even won his first start on the road in his return to Boston when the Senators won 3-2 in overtime.
If Ullmark gets really hot and starts to more closely play like he did in 2022-23 when he won the Vezina Trophy, the Senators will be a dangerous team.
Jake DeBrusk
DeBrusk was one of three first-round picks the Bruins had in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He was the only one out of the three who played more than 100 games for the organization. In seven seasons in Boston, he had 141 goals and 275 points in 479 games. Overall, it was an up-and-down tenure that included a trade request that was later rescinded.
This past summer, DeBrusk signed with the Vancouver Canucks for seven-years with an average annual value (AAV) of $5.5 million. While the Bruins may have wanted to keep him around, they would not have been able to match that offer.
DeBrusk has had a slow start to his career in Vancouver. He was goalless through the first nine games of the season, but since then, has started to heat up with three goals in the last six games, bringing his total for the season to three goals and nine points in 15 games. He continues to be a player who can generate offense. Coming into the league, he was predicted to become a 30-goal scorer. While he is not currently on pace to achieve that this season, there is still plenty of time left for him to go on a real hot streak as he gains more comfort and familiarity with the Canucks’ system.
The defensive side of his game has never been the strongest, and he will not be the solution to Vancouver’s issues on defense. Overall though, as long as DeBrusk can continue to score goals, he will be an asset.
Matt Grzelcyk
Similar to DeBrusk, Grzelcyk had an up-and=down tenure in Boston and never quite found his spot in the lineup with the arrival of head coach Jim Montgomery in 2022-23. He was a healthy scratch in the last two postseasons and with the arrival of Mason Lohrei, another left-shot defenseman, and it seemed inevitable he wouldn’t be re-signed after eight seasons.
Grzelcyk signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. So far, he has appeared in all 18 games for a team struggling to get its footing. They are currently sixth in the Metropolitan Division, though both teams behind them in the standings have played fewer games so far. In those 18 games, Grzelcyk has seven assists and a minus-nine rating.
Grzelcyk has been given an expanded role in Pittsburgh compared to the one he had Boston. He’s averaging more than two more minutes of ice time a night and, surprisingly — considering he plays on a team with Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang — has gotten some changes to quarterback the power play. He will be someone to watch at the 2025 Trade Deadline as given his contract and decent play; if the Penguins are still near the bottom of the standings, he’ll be someone they could get a decent return for.
Danton Heinen
Heinen arrived in Boston last season on a professional tryout option, and ended up signing a one-year deal. It was his second tenure with the team, and he was more impactful the second time around, earning him a two-year contract with an AAV of $2.25 million with the Canucks, his hometown team.
Similar to DeBrusk, Heinen currently has three goals in 15 games and seven total points, which is a solid start for him. He’s mainly playing in the bottom-six after getting some top-six looks in Boston last season. He’s averaging more than 14 minutes of ice time a night.
James van Riemsdyk
After one season in Boston, van Riemsdyk signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. At 35-years-old, he’s the second oldest on the team, only trailing Jack Johnson (38) and above another former Bruin, Sean Kuraly (32,)
Van Riemsdyk brought a net-front presence the Bruins had struggled to find in previous seasons. He had 38 points, nine more than he had the previous season with the Philadelphia Flyers.
As a low-risk signing, van Riemsdyk brings a veteran presence to a Blue Jackets team with some young, still-developing talent in Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger, and Kent Johnson. So far in 2024-25, he has not had the start he did in Boston last season, registering only two goals and four points in 12 games. He was recently a healthy scratch for their game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Additional Former Bruins
Derek Forbort, who spent three years in Boston mainly as a third-pairing defenseman, joined DeBrusk and Heinen in Vancouver, signing a one-year, $1.5 million. He has only appeared in four games so far, missing some time due to the passing of his father.
Jesper Boqvist signed a one-year deal with the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers this past summer. The 26-year-old spent time between Boston and the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL) in his one season with the organization. So far in 2024-25, he has appeared in all 16 games for the Panthers and has three goals and five points while getting an opportunity to play on the second line with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk.
Looking Ahead
The Bruins will be facing several of their former players in the coming weeks. The Blue Jackets come to town on Nov. 18. Then the Canucks are in Boston on Nov. 26, as are the Penguins the day after American Thanksgiving on Nov. 29.
Related: Bruins’ Korpisalo Addition Proving Worth the Risk
Make sure to check out The Hockey Writers‘ Bruins coverage leading up to these matchups and throughout the entire 2024-25 season.
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