The Boston Bruins have featured numerous impact players that have found their path to wearing the Black and Gold in franchise history.
Several of those players ended up in Boston through a series of important trades that helped shape eras for the Bruins.
From steady forwards to iconic netminders, here are six of the most impactful trades in Bruins history:
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Rick Middleton Teams from Boston and New York rarely make deals. In 1976, the Bruins and Rangers made one of the few transactions, with Rick Middleton coming north in exchange for fellow right wing Ken Hodge.
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With his new team, Middleton tallied over 400 goals and nearly 900 assists in his 12 seasons playing for the Bruins.
Phil Esposito Prior to the 1967-1968 season, the Bruins made a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks to bring an impact center to Boston.
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Phil Esposito instantly boosted Boston to a 37-win season and eventually won a pair of championships (1970, 1972). Esposito dominated as a gifted scorer, leading the league in goals in six straight seasons, including a 76-goal campaign in 1970-1971.
Tuukka Rask Before Tuukka Rask rose as the starting goaltender in Boston in the early 2010s, Andrew Raycroft got off to a hot start to his career. Raycroft won the Calder Award for a standout rookie performance in the 2003-2004 season.
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Just two seasons later, Boston shipped Raycroft to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Rask. The move proved beneficial for the Bruins as the Finland native won three Eastern Conference crowns with Boston and backed up Tim Thomas on the 2011 championship team.
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In his career, Rask made two All-Star teams and won the Vezina Trophy after an outstanding 2013-2014 campaign.
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Brad Park Sometimes in sports, trading for a star means trading away a star. In a deal with the New York Rangers, the Bruins acquired defenseman Brad Park in exchange for Esposito in a five-player trade.
Park rewarded Boston for the investment, recording 417 points in 501 career games with the Bruins as a consistent All-Star selection.
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Cam Neely In 1986, the Vancouver Canucks traded for Boston’s Barry Pederson, sending the Bruins back a first-round pick the following year along with Cam Neely. The deal’s impact spread for several years to come, though Neely’s impact in Boston truly stands out in franchise history.
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The Boston right wing rose into all-star caliber with the Bruins, scoring just under 400 goals in 10 seasons while boosting his team to a pair of appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Pair Of Picks Lead To Bruins’ Mainstays Trades with draft picks absolutely count for this exercise. Specifically, Boston has brought in two players who became staples during their time with the Bruins: center David Krejci and Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque.
Most recently, the Bruins traded up with the Washington Capitals to select Krejci with the No. 63 overall pick. The Boston center went on to play over 1,000 games with the Bruins, performing at a high level in the postseason and helping the Bruins win a Stanley Cup title in 2011.
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Finally, the Bruins cashed in on a first-round pick that they acquired in a 1977 deal with the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for goaltender Ron Grahame. Bourque became a franchise icon for two decades with Boston, making 19 All-Star teams and winning the Norris Trophy five times.
An inbound stretch of Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road will be closed each night through August for tunnel repairs, officials announced.
Starting Monday, the closures will begin at 8 p.m. and last until 5 a.m., state officials said.
Road closures begin at North Harvard Street in Allston and stretch along the Charles River Esplanade to Mugar Way in Boston, near the Hatch Memorial Shell, officials said.
Traffic will be detoured into Cambridge over the Anderson Bridge, along Memorial Drive, and then be routed into Boston over the Longfellow Bridge.
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The closures will allow ongoing repairs to the Storrow Drive Tunnel in the Back Bay.The work is the first phase of a two-stage project to extend the lifespan of the tunnel, which carries roughly 50,000 drivers to and from downtown Boston daily.
The outbound portion of the tunnel and accompanying roadways will not be affected.
State transportation officials said changes to the work schedule will be made when necessary to minimize impacts during major local events at TD Garden, Fenway Park, or during the FIFA World Cup and 250th anniversary celebrations scheduled for this summer.
Additional changes may be made without notice due to weather.
Transportation officials have not specified when the closures will end.
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Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.
OXFORD — Ole Miss softball is back in the NCAA Tournament after making the Women’s College World Series a season ago.
The Rebels (34-24) will play Boston (46-13) on May 15 (1 p.m. CT, ESPNU) in the Lubbock Regional. Ole Miss is the No. 2 seed in the regional, and Boston is the No. 3.
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Texas Tech (52-6), the No. 11 overall seed and regional host, will face No. 4 Marist (37-19).
The Rebels went 6-18 in SEC play this season, and have a largely new-look roster from the team that made the WCWS last season.
Ole Miss beat South Carolina and Tennessee in the SEC Tournament to improve its seed.
Freshman Madi George has burst onto the scene in the SEC. The first-year infielder leads Ole Miss with a .385 batting average. She has a team-high 21 home runs and 58 RBIs.
Seniors Emilee Boyer (3.86 ERA), Kyra Aycock (3.97 ERA) and junior Lily Whitten (3.04 ERA) are the primary options in the circle for coach Jamie Trachsel.
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Trachsel is in her sixth season leading the Ole Miss program. She led the Rebels to their first WCWS appearance in program history in 2025.
What to know about Boston, Texas Tech and Marist in Lubbock Regional
Boston entered the Patriot League Tournament as the top seed and the Terriers delivered. Boston beat No. 2 Colgate 12-1, becoming the second team in Patriot League history to four-peat as conference champions. Boston is on a 12-game winning streak. Kylie Doherty leads the team with a .396 batting average and 26 home runs.
Texas Tech made the 2025 WCWS championship series, losing to Texas in three games.
Texas Tech lost just three Big 12 games this season but lost in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Red Raiders are a strong threat to get to the WCWS again. There are four Texas Tech batters hitting over .400. Star pitcher NiJaree Canady leads the Red Raiders with a 1.24 ERA. She has 209 strikeouts.
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Marist plays in the MAAC and won the conference tournament. Marist split a two-game series against South Carolina early in the season. Ava Metzger (12-3, 2.51 ERA) and Peyton Pusey (.404 batting average) lead the team.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
Attendees held umbrellas as The Bends performed at Mojo Boston on Saturday.Andrew Burke-Stevenson/for The Boston Globe
Mojo, a music brand and concert organizer, was founded in 2021 by Charley Blacker, Alex Parker, and Emily Donovan while they were students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The trio of friends decided to create Mojo out of their shared love for music and house shows.
“We saw there were so many local musicians that were so talented, but they didn’t have the platform we thought they really deserved,” Blacker told the Globe during Saturday’s festivities. “So we thought if we could do the behind-the-scenes work of organizing photographers and [provide] a social media platform, we could give these musicians the platform they deserve.”
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Attendees danced as The Bends performed at Mojo Boston on Saturday.Andrew Burke-Stevenson/for The Boston Globe
Five years later, the team behind Mojo is sticking to their mission, tackling their biggest venue yet with this weekend’s event at City Hall Plaza, which previously served as the original location for Boston Calling before it moved to the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston. Boston Calling announced last year that it is taking a one-year hiatus in 2026, with plans to return in 2027.
In addition to getting the chance to work on such a big event with his best friends, Blacker hopes Mojo Boston can help “lead to a lot more opportunities for local music.”
People browsed food vendors at Mojo Boston on Saturday.Andrew Burke-Stevenson/for The Boston Globe
There was a wide range of genres represented at Saturday’s event, from the pop-rock stylings of The Bends to house and garage music from DJ AC Slater. Prior to the Boston debut, Mojo brought a festival to Pennsylvania’s Happy Valley in April and returned to Amherst later that month to host another event.
Mojo Boston attendees and former UMass Amherst students Emily Bowler and Max Debeau have been familiar with Mojo since its inception, watching the organization go from hosting basement shows to full scale music festivals. Debeau noted how many of the acts at Saturday’s event have worked with Mojo in the past, performing at UMass and other shows around the Bay State.
“To see it all come together has been great,” Debeau said. “This is the stage that they all deserve.”
“It’s crazy how quickly they were able to erect something so amazing,” Bowler added.
Amanda Giroux danced away from the stage while The Bends performed at Mojo Boston on Saturday.Andrew Burke-Stevenson/for The Boston Globe
Formed in New Bedford, the band Autumn Drive was one of 18 acts that performed at Mojo Boston, and they are no strangers to a Mojo show.
“We’ve done, I think, every single Mojo that there is, so we’re very tight with them,” said guitarist and singer Charlie Gamache. “When we found out they were doing a big festival [in Boston], I was like, ‘We want in no matter what.’”
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The band emphasized how much their relationship with Mojo has meant to them over the years, with Autumn Drive drummer Joe Gauvin praising the organization for “always putting us in front of a crowd that’s there to see music and hear us.”
Michael Asulin, of Stoughton, and Jackie Ludicke, of Miami, Fla., talked while wearing ponchos at Mojo Boston on Saturday.Andrew Burke-Stevenson/for The Boston Globe
From a makeshift stage out of wooden pallets in his basement to Boston’s City Hall Plaza, Blacker is is proud of Mojo’s success and is already looking ahead at what’s to come.
“This is really just the start of it all,” said Blacker. “We have very lofty ambitions and goals, and we have nothing but confidence in our ability to accomplish everything we set out to do.”
Gitana Savage can be reached at gitana.savage@globe.com. Follow her on X @gitana_savage.
