‘NHL 24’ Simulation: How 2023-24 Bruins Season Plays Out

The Boston Bruins set quite the standard when head coach Jim Montgomery debuted at the helm last season, despite suffering an abrupt playoff exit in the first round.

Even with various members of that record-breaking roster departing Boston in the offseason, the main core that patrolled that red-hot run through the regular season remains in place. Therefore, the expectation of a redemption run does too.

In reality, the Bruins sit 14-3-3 amid another solid start. Boston won its first six games, making it known that there’s no reason to feel content after the end of last season’s run. With plenty of hockey left to play, there’s one way to project how the season will unfold: putting the 2023-24 B’s through a simulation.

Using EA Sports’ “NHL 24” video game, the entirety of Boston’s latest campaign was simulated — including the playoffs — to provide a potential snippet of where the Bruins will end up.

Here are the results:

Regular season summary
Boston finished the season at 51-23-13, earning the second-best record in the Atlantic Division behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (56-27-14). That made for the fifth-best record in the NHL as the Bruins finished one of six teams to record a 50-plus-win season. The others were the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils and Lightning.

Offensively, the Bruins averaged 3.49 goals per contest while also recording 21 victories in overtime. Now, that doesn’t match up to Boston’s previous record-shattering 65-win campaign, but that’s not a requirement to slide into playoff contention.

Notable stat lines:
David Pastrnak: 55 goals, 42 assists, 97 points (80 games played)
Brad Marchand: 26 goals, 44 assists, 70 points (75 games played)
Charlie McAvoy: 11 goals, 48 assists, 59 points (76 games played)
Linus Ullmark: 35 wins, 1,358 saves, .925 save percentage (45 games played)
Jeremy Swayman: 22 wins, 868 saves, .933 save percentage (37 games played)

Playoff summary
The Bruins matched up with the Devils in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, opening the series with a dominant 7-1 victory to set the tone for the rest of the way. Boston out-shot New Jersey, 45-25, never allowing the Devils to take a lead while also keeping them scoreless for the final two periods.

Out-scoring New Jersey, 11-2, for the remainder of the series, Boston earned a smooth and easy first-round sweep to punch its ticket to the East semifinals for a matchup against the New York Islanders.

There, the Bruins didn’t have nearly as easy of a time with the Islanders, undergoing a six-game battle that required two overtime wins at home to avoid elimination.

But the momentum behind sending New York packing wasn’t enough.

The Detroit Red Wings put an end to Boston’s run, eliminating the Bruins in five games to prevent a near-Stanley Cup Final appearance for the first time since 2019. Injuries didn’t play a factor in Boston reaching the end of its trail, but a blown 3-1 Game 3 lead certainly did.

The Red Wings proceeded to defeat the Minnesota Wild in seven games in the Stanley Cup Final, delivering Detroit its first title since 2008.

Overall, another solid run that fell just short when the lights shined their brightest.