# 2018–19 Boston Bruins season

The 2018–19 Boston Bruins season was the 95th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on November 1, 1924. The Bruins clinched a playoff spot on March 23, 2019, after a 7–3 win over the Florida Panthers.
On May 16, 2019, the Bruins advanced to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals with a 4–0 sweep over the Carolina Hurricanes, marking their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 2013. They would lose in seven games to the St. Louis Blues, one win short from winning the Stanley Cup.

## Standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 62 | 16 | 4 | 56 | 325 | 222 | +103 | 128 |
| 2 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | 47 | 259 | 215 | +44 | 107 |
| 3 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 46 | 28 | 8 | 46 | 286 | 251 | +35 | 100 |
| 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 5 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 8 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on May 18, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

The Bruins faced the Toronto Maple Leafs in the First Round of the playoffs, and defeated them in seven games. They played against each other in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in the First Round in seven games.
The Bruins faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Second Round of the playoffs, defeating them in six games.
The Bruins faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the Conference Finals, and swept the series in four games. They played against each other in the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Bruins lost to the Hurricanes in the Conference Semifinals in seven games.
The Bruins faced the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals, where the Bruins lost to the Blues in seven games. This marked the first time since 1990 that they had home ice advantage in the final round.
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

As of June 12, 2019

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Brad Marchand | 79 | 36 | 64 | 100 | 15 | 96 |
| David Pastrnak | 66 | 38 | 43 | 81 | 6 | 32 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 65 | 32 | 47 | 79 | 23 | 30 |
| David Krejci | 81 | 20 | 53 | 73 | 7 | 16 |
| Torey Krug | 64 | 6 | 47 | 53 | –2 | 33 |
| Jake DeBrusk | 68 | 27 | 15 | 42 | 2 | 18 |
| Danton Heinen | 77 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 13 | 16 |
| Charlie McAvoy | 54 | 7 | 21 | 28 | 14 | 45 |
| Sean Kuraly | 71 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 6 | 38 |
| David Backes | 70 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 0 | 31 |
| Chris Wagner | 76 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 51 |
| Matt Grzelcyk | 66 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 9 | 68 |
| Noel Acciari | 72 | 6 | 8 | 14 | –3 | 47 |
| Zdeno Chara | 62 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 22 | 57 |
| John Moore | 61 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 26 |
| Joakim Nordstrom | 70 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 13 |
| Brandon Carlo | 72 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 22 | 47 |
| Ryan Donato$^‡$ | 34 | 6 | 3 | 9 | –11 | 2 |
| Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson | 28 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 2 |
| Kevan Miller | 39 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 35 |
| Peter Cehlarik | 20 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| Steven Kampfer | 35 | 3 | 3 | 6 | –6 | 22 |
| Charlie Coyle$^†$ | 21 | 2 | 4 | 6 | –2 | 4 |
| Karson Kuhlman | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Colby Cave$^‡$ | 20 | 1 | 4 | 5 | –1 | 8 |
| Marcus Johansson$^†$ | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 0 |
| Anders Bjork | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 2 |
| Jeremy Lauzon | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 | 2 |
| Zachary Senyshyn | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Clifton | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
| Anton Blidh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Carey$^†$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gemel Smith$^†$ | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –3 | 0 |
| Trent Frederic | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –4 | 15 |
| Urho Vaakanainen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Lee Stempniak | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Jakub Zboril | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Brad Marchand | 24 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 4 | 14 |
| David Pastrnak | 24 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 0 | 4 |
| Torey Krug | 24 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 4 | 10 |
| Patrice Bergeron | 24 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 4 | 12 |
| Charlie Coyle | 24 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 8 | 12 |
| David Krejci | 24 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 5 | 8 |
| Jake DeBrusk | 24 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 10 |
| Marcus Johansson | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Sean Kuraly | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 8 |
| Matt Grzelcyk | 20 | 4 | 4 | 8 | –3 | 6 |
| Joakim Nordstrom | 23 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Charlie McAvoy | 23 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 16 |
| Danton Heinen | 24 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
| Zdeno Chara | 23 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 16 |
| David Backes | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| Connor Clifton | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 16 |
| Brandon Carlo | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 6 |
| Noel Acciari | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Karson Kuhlman | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Chris Wagner | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | –3 | 2 |
| Steven Kampfer | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| John Moore | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –3 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Tuukka Rask | 46 | 45 | 2,635:09 | 27 | 13 | 5 | 109 | 2.48 | 1,245 | .912 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Jaroslav Halak | 40 | 37 | 2,308:07 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 90 | 2.34 | 1,158 | .922 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Tuukka Rask | 24 | 24 | 1,458:50 | 15 | 9 | 49 | 2.02 | 742 | .934 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Bruins. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Transactions

The Bruins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| September 11, 2018 (2018-09-11) | To New York RangersAdam McQuaid | To Boston BruinsSteven Kampfer 4th-round pick in 2019 |
| January 11, 2019 (2019-01-11) | To Ottawa SenatorsCody Goloubef | To Boston BruinsPaul Carey |
| February 20, 2019 (2019-02-20) | To Minnesota WildRyan Donato Conditional 5th-round pick in 2019 | To Boston BruinsCharlie Coyle |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To New Jersey Devils2nd-round pick in 2019 4th-round pick in 2020 | To Boston BruinsMarcus Johansson |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| June 30, 2018 (2018-06-30) | Chris Breen | to Providence Bruins (AHL) | Unknown |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Kenny Agostino | to Montreal Canadiens | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Tommy Cross | to Columbus Blue Jackets | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Austin Czarnik | to Calgary Flames | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Cody Goloubef | from Calgary Flames | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Jaroslav Halak | from New York Islanders | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Nick Holden | to Vegas Golden Knights | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Anton Khudobin | to Dallas Stars | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Mark McNeill | from Nashville Predators | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | John Moore | from New Jersey Devils | 5-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Riley Nash | to Columbus Blue Jackets | 3-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Joakim Nordstrom | from Carolina Hurricanes | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Tim Schaller | to Vancouver Canucks | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Chris Wagner | from New York Islanders | 2-year |
| August 15, 2018 (2018-08-15) | Paul Postma | to Ak Bars Kazan (KHL) | 1-year |
| August 15, 2018 (2018-08-15) | Tommy Wingels | to Genève-Servette (NL) | 1-year |
| February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24) | Lee Stempniak | from Providence Bruins (AHL) | 1-year |
| May 13, 2019 (2019-05-13) | Emil Johansson | to HV71 (SHL) | 3-year |
| May 21, 2019 (2019-05-21) | Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson | to Växjö Lakers (SHL) | 2-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| December 6, 2018 (2018-12-06) | Gemel Smith | from Dallas Stars | |
| January 15, 2019 (2019-01-15) | Colby Cave | to Edmonton Oilers | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Axel Andersson | 3-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Anton Blidh | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Sean Kuraly | 3-year |
| July 14, 2018 (2018-07-14) | Colby Cave | 2-year |
| March 23, 2019 (2019-03-23) | Zdeno Chara | 1-year |
| March 26, 2019 (2019-03-26) | Paul Carey | 2-year |
| May 1, 2019 (2019-05-01) | Anton Blidh | 2-year |
| May 3, 2019 (2019-05-03) | Oskar Steen | 3-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Boston Bruins' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 2 | 57 | Axel Andersson | D | Sweden | Djurgardens IF J20 (SuperElit) |
| 3 | 77$^1$ | Jakub Lauko | C | Czech Republic | Piráti Chomutov (ELH) |
| 4 | 119 | Curtis Hall | C | United States | Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) |
| 6 | 181 | Dustyn McFaul | D | Canada | Pickering Panthers (OJHL) |
| 7 | 212 | Pavel Shen | C | Russia | Mamonty Yugry (MHL) |
Notes:
* The Florida Panthers' third-round pick went to the Boston Bruins as the result of a trade on February 22, 2018, that sent Frank Vatrano to Florida in exchange for this pick.