The NHL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will go into effect for the 2026–2027 season in just one year. For the Boston Bruins, one of the recently publicized changes will be three years too late.
One of the new clauses, according to Frank Seravalli, would let NHL teams to sign one 19-year-old CHL player each season in the American Hockey League (AHL). It’s a few years too late for former coach Jim Montgomery, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, and one Black and Gold prospect.
Recently reported The Bruins might have benefited from the CBA agreement in 2023–2024.
For the best prospects in each organization, this is significant, but it comes three years too late for Matthew Poitras, a prospect for the Boston Bruins. On opening night in October 2023, he gained a position on the roster, but there was a clause stating that after nine games, Montgomery and the organization would have to decide whether to keep him in the NHL or return him to the CHL.
Boston would have had the option to send him to the AHL with the P-Bruins under the new provision, which would have made the decision earlier. This would have been significant because, after making an impression for a few months, he hit a wall and ended up playing in the World Junior Championship in December before having his season ended in February due to shoulder surgery.
It would have been huge for the Bruins and Poitras to have this choice two years ago. As one might anticipate, he eventually wore down due to the NHL’s toughness before suffering an injury. Everyone would have benefited much and his growth would have been aided if he had been given the chance to attend Providence. This season, we observed that Poitras benefited from several trips to the AHL. How the Bruins respond to this starting in the upcoming season will be intriguing to see.
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