5 players to watch when new-look Bruins face Bolts down in Tampa

Don Sweeney and the Bruins did more than retool on Friday.

It wasn't quite a complete teardown, but with three key players out the door, a new chapter of Bruins hockey is officially here whether the franchise is ready for it or not. And there will no rest for the weary and unfamiliar, either, as Joe Sacco and the Bruins will get right back on the horse with a Saturday afternoon head-to-head with the Lightning at Tampa's Amalie Arena.

In essence, this is the 'just go out and play' game for any and every new face welcomed to the B's NHL roster between Thursday's loss in Carolina and this contest, and either no practice or just a single skate for each player set to make their Bruins debut in this contest.

Here's five players to keep an eye on in this showdown...

Acquired from the Avalanche in the trade that sent Charlie Coyle to Colorado, forward Casey Mittelstadt is a name that Bruins fans are going to have to get familiar with, it would appear.

On the hook for $5.75 million for this season and for two more after that, Mittelstadt comes to the Bruins having posted 11 goals and 34 points through 63 games with the Avs this season. It's pacing to be a definite drop from what was a career-high 18 goals between Buffalo and Colorado a year ago, and an obvious drop from a career-high 59 points in 2022-23 and equally respectable 57 points in 2023-24.

The 6-foot-1 Mittelstadt is a player who's bounced around a lineup a little bit, and for the Bruins, it's going to be about figuring out where he best slots in for this franchise. A natural center, Mittelstadt has been a pretty awful faceoff option throughout his career (he's won 42.4 percent of his faceoffs this season and just 45 percent in his career), but has the speed and vision you like in a center, so perhaps the Bruins look at him at a fixable center when it comes to improving those faceoff numbers.

Essentially, this feels like another version of the Pavel Zacha trade to a certain degree, and now comes seeing how the Bruins duplicate that from a utilization standpoint and maximize Mittelstadt's game.

The 26-year-old Mittelstadt comes into this contest with two goals in his last four games, but just five points in his last 16 games overall. Familiar with Tampa Bay from his tenure with the Sabres, Mittelstadt has posted four points in his last nine head-to-heads with the Bolts.

The deadline came and went with both of Elias Lindholm's most-common linemates traded out of town.

And if we're being real here, Lindholm is now the Bruins' second-most important forward behind Black and Gold superstar David Pastrnak. Might be a scary thought given Lindholm's struggles, but this is also something the Bruins had to consider as a legitimate possibility for their future given the fact that the Bruins are paying him almost $8 million a season for this year and another six after that.

Now comes Lindholm playing like it, and emerging as the true driver on his line. I mean, he's gonna have to because who knows what his line will look like between now and Game 82.

Lindholm comes into this contest having won 26 of his last 32 faceoffs over two games, but has just one goal and two assists in his last seven games.

Odds are, you didn't know much about Marat Khusnutdinov before the Bruins acquired him from the Wild as part of the three-piece return for Justin Brazeau Thursday night. I don't blame you or hold that against you because... same. But now we're gonna learn together, so isn't that fun?!

One thing that immediately stuck out was that in addition to burying him towards the bottom of the Wild depth chart, Minnesota used the 2020 second-round pick in a defense-heavy role when he was deployed. It's part of his game, sure, but there's a lot of speed and skill in those skates and that stick (as Khusnutdinov showed in the KHL before coming over), and it's now on the Bruins to let that shine.

This guy could be a definite 'found money' sort of piece for the Bruins, and certainly has the upside to make the Justin Brazeau trade become a gigantic win for the club. But most of all, he's going to have the opportunity, as the Boston fourth line is the only thing that the club has that looks 'set' right now, meaning the 22-year-old will have plenty of reps somewhere in Boston's middle-six grouping.

Khusnutdinov, who will also play on Boston's second power-play unit, comes into today's contest with three of his seven points in 2024-25 coming in the last two games.

The 4 Nations Face-Off did not come with a break for the Lightning's Brandon Hagel, who helped Team Canada win the tournament, but Hagel has looked more than refreshed since coming back to the Bolts. In fact, in seven games since returning to play from the two-week break in the NHL schedule, Hagel has posted four goals and eight points, and is coming off a two-assist night in his last outing.

Hagel has also proven to be a thorn in the Bruins' side, with seven goals and 11 points in 14 head-to-heads with Boston, including two goals and six points in his last six games against the B's.

More than a throw-in by the Kraken in the trade that brought Yanni Gourde back to Tampa Bay, Oliver Bjorkstrand is taking a three-game point streak to today's head-to-head with the Bruins, and is coming off a Lightning debut that also featured a goal for the 29-year-old wing.

A damn-near perfect secondary scorer, Bjorkstrand is another player who has been a pain for the Bruins in recent showdowns, with three goals and four points in his last four head-to-heads with Boston, including a two-goal effort in a Dec. 12 win over the B's earlier this season.