Just above 5%. That was the chance the Boston Bruins had of making the playoffs ahead of tonight’s game with the Hurricanes, as per Moneypuck.com. Tonight, Boston was fighting to keep that slim chance alive. However, following a devastating mistake in the waning moments of the game, that chance now stands at a mere 4.3%. How do the Bruins feel?

Well, former captain Patrice Bergeron’s live reaction to the devastating loss answered that question. Bergen was just about to lean back on the couch, probably thinking the game would go to overtime with just 18.6 seconds left on the clock. It would ensure a single point for his side. That’s when the unthinkable happened, as Seth Jarvis found a gap in the defense, and capitalized.

“No!” said the former captain as he shot back upright when a miss-pass gifted the puck to Jarvis. Unfortunately for the Boston Bruins, the Canes forward didn’t miss hitting the back of the net. “No! That did not just happen,” Patrice Bergeron exclaimed in disbelief as the blunder took that precious 1 point from his team. The look of disappointment on the 39-year-old’s face was palpable.

What worse? Nikita Zadorov wasn’t even fully at fault for the blunder. The defenseman tried to clear the puck but hockey gods had a different plan. Zadorov’s stick snapped in two, swinging down the puck and leaving him with a broken stick. Although the Bruin made a last-ditch effort, he just didn’t even have a stick to defend the net with.

“Are you Kidding me right now?” Patrice Bergeron, while a fellow Boston Bruins player, Andrew Raycroft, joined in. Razor shared the former captain’s state of shock. “Did that just happen right now?” the 44-year-old asked after a long pause. It hurt even more because the Bruins seemed to have dodged the worst when Taylor Hall’s goal got ruled offside with 1:15 minutes on the clock. Unfortunately, such a disappointing loss seems to have put the reboot everyone had anticipated into overdrive.

The Boston Bruins are looking ahead

The Bruins had already started shuffling things around in hopes of rebuilding for next season. Even if they win the next match, their chances of making it to the NHL playoffs will remain minuscule. So they had started trading players ahead of tonight’s disastrous game. Now, with the trade deadline looming, they jumped back into the trading pool.

The Boston Bruins announced that forward Justin Brazeau had departed for the Minnesota Wild. So who did they get in exchange for their last year’s playoff roster member? Well, they got more than one in exchange for Brazeau. The Minnesota Wild sent Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko to Boston. Yet that’s not all. The Bruins also earned the 6th round 2026 Draft pick.

You might say that’s not too shabby. Yet Justin Brazeau isn’t the first player Boston has traded this week. They also released Trent Frederic and Max Jones in a three-way trade with the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers. However, it seems the Bruins may almost be ready to start with a clean slate as these names are just the tip of the iceberg.

Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, defenseman Brandon Carlo and forward Morgan Geekie have all been linked to trades. Now all eyes are on team Captain Brad Marchand, as rumors have even linked the 37-year-old veteran to the last-minute trades. While it’s unlikely the Bruins will trade so many players, the North Carolina loss may have been the final nail in their 2024-25 season’s coffin.