Bruins
“I think I worked a lot on it. And I think I’m ready to go.”
With just one more game left on the Bruins’ regular-season docket, Boston called up another two prospects from its pipeline for their expected NHL debuts on Tuesday night against the Devils.
Boston announced Monday morning that it called up forward John Farinacci and defenseman Frederic Brunet ahead of its season finale against New Jersey at TD Garden. In a corresponding move, Boston sent forward Riley Duran and defenseman Michael Callahan to Providence.
Farinacci — much like Duran — could be in the mix for a fourth-line role next season with Boston. The 24-year-old forward is in the midst of his second professional season after signing with Boston as a college free agent in 2023.
The Harvard product — who is cousins with former Bruins forward Ryan Donato and the nephew of Crimson head coach Ted Donato — has posted 37 points in 57 games with Providence this season. The 5-foot-11 pivot is expected to be a steady, two-way player who could carve out a role on an NHL checking unit in the coming years.
“I think that they’ve played well down in Providence and earned the opportunity to come up and get a game,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said of Farinacci and Brunet’s call-up. “It’s exciting for them.
“I think with Farinacci — comes as advertised, two-way player, probably leans a little bit more to the defensive side. Bottom-six … can kill some penalties, be in that type of role as defensive player.”
While Farinacci projects as a steady defensive forward at the next level, Brunet holds a bit more upside — and risk — as a playmaking defenseman.
A fifth-round selection by Boston in the 2022 NHL Draft, Brunet is a 21-year-old, left-shot defenseman with an already effective offensive game. The 6-foot-3 blueliner ranks second on the Providence Bruins among D-men with 24 points over 68 games.
“A little bit more of an offensive-minded defenseman, likes to skate, likes to get up the ice, make some plays, join the rush at the appropriate time,” Sacco said of Brunet’s game. “And from all reports, his defending has really gotten a lot better too. Like his attention to details away from the puck have improved a lot.”
Brunet’s offensive-minded approach has been a hallmark of his game since Boston drafted him, with the Gatineau, Quebec product scoring 16 goals and 73 points over 66 games in his final full season of junior hockey in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League in 2022-23.
While Brunet could project as a third-pairing, power-play specialist in the NHL ranks, he will need to continue to finetune his defensive instincts and positioning if he wants to earn steady minutes at hockey’s highest level.
“Obviously my defensive part of the game — it’s really what I’ve been talking about since I’ve came here,” Brunet said Monday of his greatest improvement since joining Boston. “That’s what they talk to me about. And obviously just working a lot on my defensive side.
“And I think it’s got better. … I think getting more ice time, getting to play against the better players on the other side, just working on all the little stuff down there … is getting me better at being a 200-foot player. And I think as a D-man, I need to be good at defending, and that was a big flaw of mine, and I think I worked a lot on it. And I think I’m ready to go.”
Both Brunet and Farinacci are expected to slot into a Bruins lineup on Tuesday that will feature several other promising prospects like Fabian Lysell and Fraser Minten.
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