Some changes are coming for the Boston Bruins in the 2026-27 season, with both the NHL roster and the American Hockey League roster with the Providence Bruins. The P-Bruins are coming off a tremendous regular season, but they were bounced early in the Calder Cup Playoffs by the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Since they were eliminated, there has been some notable roster turnover with some of Boston's prospects. It began before free agency opened, when Boston general manager Don Sweeney traded one of his top prospects, Fabian Lysell, to the Colorado Avalanche for prospect Ivan Ivan. Last week, Lysell signed a deal for the upcoming season with the Avs.
There were some other prospects who had their futures with the Bruins organization up in the air. One of them was undrafted free agent Georgii Merkulov. On Monday, he inked a contract with Colorado, getting an NHL deal he was searching for.
Avalanche signs former Bruins prospect Georgii Merkulov
I know, this surprises you, the Bruins have a prospect who shows some promise, and he doesn't get much of a shot. Merkulov, who signed a one-year deal with Colorado, was signed out of Ohio State following the Buckeyes' 2021-22 season, where he had 20 goals and 14 assists. He played in 11 games over three years in Boston in NHL games with just one assist. He played a career-high six games in the 2024-25 season and played in just one game this past season.
Merkulov was very good for the P-Bruins the last couple of years. He had 93 goals in the AHL with 142 assists. His best season was in 2023-24 when he had 30 goals and 65 points. He had 24 goals and 37 assists this past AHL season.
However, like all other Bruins forward prospects, he fell behind several veteran free agent signings and was blocked from getting to Boston. This is another case where, if Merkulov joins the Avs and has success, it'll question the way the Bruins treat their prospects in terms of NHL opportunities even more.
