A look at how recently traded Bruins are performing in 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs

A Bruins-less playoff just feels wrong.

For as downright dreadful as the Bruins were in 2024-25 (and believe me, it was dreaful), this is the first time that Boston has found itself on the postseason sidelines in almost decade. Again, it was as deserved a miss as you could've imagined, but it still feels wrong. And though my heart is appreciating not living and dying a thousand times every other night depending on what happens in that night's game, it's still been downright weird as a hockey junkie looking to fill the void.

Luckily, there was no shortage of ex-Bruins (particularly those that began the year as Bruins) to keep an eye on in round one.

Here's a closer look at how some old friends are performing in their new cities and who's still in the mix for a Stanley Cup in 2025...

You ever get the feeling that some teams make trades just to simply feel like they were involved in the trade deadline? I'm gonna be honest, the Wild's decision to acquire Justin Brazeau from the Bruins felt an awful lot like that. Though the Bruins traded Brazeau with his game trending downwards, the 6-foot-5 Brazeau certainly established value as a net-front option on the power play. (The way he could choke up on the stick, get low, and hammer away was always a treat when on.) But it truly never felt like the Wild looked at him as that... or really anything more than a fourth-line 'throw him out there and see what happens' guy.

After a regular season run in Minnesota that included just one goal and one assist in 19 games (while averaging just 8:33 per night), the playoffs were more of the same really, with Brazeau on the board with just two assists and two shots on goal in six playoff games for Minnesota.

Never logging more than 8:56 in a game in the series (and that happened in Game 1), Brazeau's biggest impact on this series came in Game 4, with an assist on Minnesota's second goal of the evening and team-leading eight hits by the night's end.

Brazeau is a pending unrestricted free agent, and he must think his market is gonna be booming, as his reps and the B's never seemed to be on the same page during their pre-trade contract negotiations.

Like Brazeau in Minnesota, the postseason ride will end after one round for ex-Bruins forward Charlie Coyle, as the Avalanche were eliminated from the postseason with Saturday night's Game 7 loss to the Stars.

Coyle actually started off the postseason with a bang, too, as he scored a goal in Colorado's Game 1 victory. It would be the last time we heard from Coyle in the series, though, as he went the next six games without a point. Coyle also saw his ice time absolutely crater over the final two games of the series, with 9:25 in Game 6 and just 9:11 in Game 7, which was 'good' for the third-lowest total time on ice (18:36) among all Avalanche forwards over the final two games of the series.

Coyle was also yelled at by Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon — with amateur lipreading appearing to indicate that MacKinnon was unhappy with Coyle's decision making on the power play — in Game 5.

Coyle, who recorded 13 points in 19 games with Colorado during the regular season, is signed through next season at $5.25 million.

Oh, and in case you're wondering: Will Zellers, one of the main pieces traded to Boston in the Coyle-to-Colorado trade, was recently named USHL Player of the Year after a 44-goal season for Green Bay.

Traded to Edmonton from Boston while injured and on the shelf, and then injured again in his Oiler debut during the regular season, it was impossible to know just what (if anything) the Oilers were going to get out of Trent Frederic this postseason. But when it came to round one, Frederic saved his best for last, with a goal and an assist in Edmonton's series-clinching Game 6 win over the Kings the other night.

Overall, Frederic finished the opening-round series with one goal, two assists, and 18 hits while averaging 10:27 per night. Another two points on this run for the Oilers and Frederic will have officially matched his playoff production over the entirety of his 22-game playoff resume built over three postseasons with the Black and Gold.

The good news: The Bruins are another Brad Marchand series win away from officially receiving another first-round pick. The bad news: It will require rooting for the Panthers once again. Handling the Lightning in just five games, Marchand continued to be a playoff producer, with four assists over that five-game series win, and with Marchand skating on Florida's third line for the majority of the series.

The math here is pretty simple: If the Panthers win another round, and if Marchand plays in at least 50 percent of Florida's total postseason games during that run, the Bruins will receive Florida's first-round pick in 2027 or 2028 (it's a top-10 protected pick in 2027). And given that Marchand has already appeared in all five games this spring, and that a second-round series cannot go more than seven games, Marchand would just need to make one appearance and for the Panthers to win in round two for that pick to upgrade from a second to a first.

The Maple Leafs got a significant boost from their backend in their first-round series victory over the Senators, with five goals coming from their defensemen, including an overtime winner. But, no, don't get too excited, Brandon Carlo was not one of those scorers. Instead, it was a perfectly boring series for Carlo (which is often a sign that he's doing his job), with zero points, an even rating, and 12 blocks in six games.

Toronto head coach Craig Berube has paired Carlo opposite Morgan Rielly (not too dissimilar from his time with Torey Krug) from basically the moment Carlo arrived in town, and that remained the case in their first-round series. Together for over 88 minutes of five-on-five play (the second-most common pairing for Toronto), the Leafs outscored Ottawa 4-3 with Reilly and Carlo out there together during five-on-five play.

Not a deadline move, I know, but this was our first look at Linus Ullmark in the playoffs without a Boston sweater over his pads. And, hey, hats off to Ullmark and the Senators for the way they tried to battle back from being down three games to none. But for Ullmark, the postseason remains a struggle, as his playoff losing streak hit six games (dating back to the 2023 first round against Florida) before the Sens began to mount their comeback with a Game 4 overtime victory. Ullmark then built off that 77-minute survival with a 29-save shutout in Game 5, only to surrender three goals on 22 shots in Ottawa's Game 6 defeat.

Overall, Ullmark's first postseason as a ride-or-die starter ended with a 2-4 record and .880 save percentage, which was the fourth-worst among goalies to make multiple starts in the first round this spring. It was also Ullmark's worst single-postseason save percentage since the .860 he put up in the opening two games against Carolina in 2022.