Minten scores first Bruins goal, gives fans hope amid tough season originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The 2024-25 NHL season hasn’t been a fun one for Boston Bruins fans. In fact, it’s been brutal at times.

But it’s not all bad, though. One positive for fans to be excited about is Frasen Minten, the prospect acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Brandon Carlo trade just prior to the March 7 NHL trade deadline.

Minten started his career in the Bruins organization down in Providence, where he scored a hat trick for the P-Bruins on March 16 and tallied seven points in 10 AHL games before making his Boston debut last Saturday versus the Carolina Hurricanes.

Minten scored his first goal with the Bruins in a 7-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.

“That was an awesome feeling,” Minten told reporters postgame. “Fun to be able to contribute to a good game like that.”

“Each game feels more and more comfortable. The more you get reps, touch the puck and make plays you just feel like you can make (things happen).”

The best-case scenario in the short term for Minten is that he ends the season strong, improves in the summer, shines in training camp and makes a strong case to be the No. 3 center on Opening Night in October.

Minten has an improving offensive game, and it’s possible he could become a 20-goal scorer at some point. But he’s more of a two-way forward who is responsible defensively, kills penalties, plays the right way, etc. Kind of in the Charlie Coyle mold — good offense, trustworthy on defense, a high hockey IQ and hard on the puck.

And the Bruins need help at center, which makes Minten’s development so important to the short- and long-term health of the franchise.

The 2022 second-round pick might not turn into a star, but he has all the tools to be a very good, dependable player for a long time. And that’s exactly what the Bruins need as they continue to build around their core of David Pastrnak (age 28), Charlie McAvoy (age 27), and Jeremy Swayman (age 26).