These Five Bruins Made ESPN’s Top 100 Rankings For 2023-24 NHL Season

The Bruins lost arguably the best two-way center in the NHL in the offseason when Patrice Bergeron decided to call it a career and hang up his skates after 19 seasons, but Boston still has one of the best cores in the league.

Despite losing Bergeron and fellow center David Krejci to retirement, the Bruins still had five players make ESPN’s “Top-100 Player Predictions For The 2023-24 Season.”

The site put out its annual list and to the surprise of probably no one, the Edmonton Oilers’ three-time Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid came in at No. 1 followed by top-ranked defenseman Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. Rookie sensation Connor Bedard cracked the list for what is probably the first of many at No. 88.

The New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning each have six players on the list, while the Anaheim Ducks and Philadephia Flyers are the only two clubs of the 32-team league to not have a single player crack the list.

For the Bruins, reigning Vezina winner Linus Ullmark came in at No. 47 followed by Hampus Lindholm at No. 43. Newly anointed captain Brad Marchand is No. 35, the defensive core leader came in Charlie McAvoy at No. 25 and David Pastrnak rounds out the list at No. 10.

The five skaters figure to play a crucial role for the Bruins as they work to rebound from an early playoff exit last season after recording an NHL-best 65-win season. The Bruins are off to a good start going 2-0-0 so far this season.