Month: September 2025

Notes from Day 2 in Buffalo

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Jackson Edward (41) played 31 AHL games last season. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

BUFFALO – With their second and last game of the Prospects Challenge scheduled for Sunday at noon against the New Jersey Devils, the Boston Bruins rookies got a morning practice in on Saturday.

Here are three notes from the day.

EDWARD STAYING POSITIVE

There were times last season when it looked like Jackson Edward was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

In fact, he was.

As Jackson embarked on his rookie year with the Providence Bruins, his mother, Jennifer, was recovering from a brain aneurysm and subsequent stroke suffered in March 2024.

Jackson took responsibility for Jennifer, a single mother of three, and the management of her affairs as well as helping his younger sister and brother.

It was a lot for anyone to cope with, and a massive burden for a young man trying to make his way in pro hockey. 

Thankfully, Jennifer’s situation has improved and, as a result, Jackson is in a noticeably better frame of mind heading into his second season.

“She’s doing good. She’s at home now. She’s got the care she needs. Everything is going well, managing it and pushing forward as best I can,” he said after the team practiced on Saturday morning.

“You can imagine (last season) was pretty hard, for sure. But stuff happens and you’ve just got to push through it the best you can. Stay positive and keep moving along.”

Jamie Langenbrunner, assistant general manager for player personnel, said the team did what it could to help Edward through last season.

“Once we learned everything that was going on we were able to properly be there for him and give him that space to deal with those things,” he said.

“On-ice performance is important and it’s what we evaluate, but we also have to take into account sometimes what else is going on in (a player’s) life.”

Edward was drafted in the seventh round from London of the OHL in 2022. After playing 31 games with Providence and seven with Maine in 2024-25, Edward will look to step up his game this season.

“Playing simple, simple touches, stick work, technical little stuff. Soon as I get that down, then it’s about building my game, stacking on top of that and putting in reps,” he said.

Finding consistency will be key, says Langenbrunner.

“Can he be a reliable guy in your lineup every night – competitive, good defender, move pucks efficiently. He’s going to be in a fight for playing time in camp.”

Playing defense is a challenge for young pros, Providence coach Ryan Mougenel says.

“You got away with some things in junior. You can’t get away with them in pro. The things Jackson needs to work on is valuing different parts of it. He’s a physical D and we say it all the time: Things change in that there are limited opportunities to put licks on guys. You don’t want to take that out of guys’ games, but to have success at the American League and NHL level, it’s about recognizing those opportunities when and where you can be physical.

“That’s what Jackson is figuring out. He’s put on some size, he’s put on some weight, he looks good. We’re expecting big things from him this year. Year One as a pro is always a huge learning curve and Year Two is where you put the rubber to the road.”

SIMPSON ‘WANTS TO BE A DAWG’

Cooper Simpson knows his way around the offensive zone. That much was clear in Friday’s Prospects Challenge opener against the Penguins.

After playing high school hockey in Minnesota last season, the 18-year-old third-round pick didn’t look the least bit out of place with the puck on his stick.

“It’s a cool experience, first off. I’m a young player, everyone is bigger, faster, stronger. You’ve just got to think the game fast. You get the puck, you don’t have space. You’ve just got to be involved in the game and figure it out,” Simpson said.

“I feel like the first period I settled in, tried to figure out what works and doesn’t work. Every guy is big so you’ve got to play physical, as well.”

Minnesota native Langenbrunner, who watched Simpson in high school, likes his vision and playmaking ability. “It’s good to see him looking pretty comfortable out there,” he said.

“I think there’s more layers to his game than maybe you would have thought. He plays with a little more grit than you would probably notice in high school, which makes sense when you play probably 35 minutes a night.”

Simpson will play for Youngstown in the USHL this year before enrolling at North Dakota.

Youngstown coach Ryan Ward is happy to have him.

“I expect Cooper to be one of the top players in the league,” he said. “Special mind, special talent. Wants to be a dawg.”

BIG D ON THE WAY

At 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds, sixth-round pick Loke Johansson plays a physical game.

The 19-year-old defenseman is expected to graduate from Moncton of the QMJHL to Providence this season.

“He’s going to be in a little bit of a similar situation to what Jackson (Edward) was last year, coming in into a lineup where he’s going to have to fight for games, especially early on, depending on health and all those things, but I think that’s also a good thing for those guys,” said Langenbrunner.

“They can get tons of practice time, they can get their work in. They don’t have to play every night to build in that consistency to their game. For him, adjusting to what’s it’s like to play three in three or three in five at the pace you’re going to have to be playing at in the American League, compared to junior, where you can take off shifts and you’re OK.

“In the American League, it usually ends up in your net when you’re taking off shifts as a young guy. That’s the way life works. He’s just got to learn that. First-year pro, good opportunity for him.”

Mougenel said the Bruins know what they have.

“He’s a player that we drafted and we know exactly what he is. Usually when you draft a player, you’re like, he could be this, he could be that. I think we know exactly what he’s going to be. He’s a big physical guy, has a real thirst to be physical.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Ryan Mougenel on defensemen

“We really want our D making plays and being more than a one option D. We talk a lot about the different types of defensemen. There’s guys that are one option D that play a long time in the NHL, say, like a Derek Forbort. There’s two option Ds and three option Ds. We want to keep developing. We don’t want to put our D in a box. We want guys to keep growing their game.”

Notes from Day 1 in Buffalo

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BUFFALO – The Boston Bruins rookies opened the 2025 Prospects Challenge on Friday afternoon with a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Trailing by a goal in the third period, Boston tied the game on a goal by free agent invite and Merrimack College commit Mavrick Lachance of Sherbrooke of the QMJHL

But the Pens scored the game-winner on a breakaway in the final minute.

Here is a hat trick of notes from the day.

ZAJICEK SHINES

Playing his first game in North America, Simon Zajicek was a bright light for the Bruins.

The 24-year-old goalie from Czechia stopped 30 of 32 shots and kept the score close. 

“It was a pretty good game for me,” he said. “The guys blocked a lot of shots.”

In addition to some fine saves, Zajicek black-and-gold pads drew some positive comments.

Coincidentally, the team Zajicek played for last season, HC Litvinov, also has black and gold as its colors. He didn’t have to get new pads, he just stuck with the ones he was already wearing.

Asked about his style of play, he said, “Probably I’ve got good feet, I think. I can read the game.”

Zajicek signed with the Bruins as a free agent after going 15-13 with a .930 save percentage and a 2.12 goals-against average in the Czech league last season.

Jamie Langenbrunner, Bruins assistant general manager, player personnel, liked what he saw from Zajicek on Friday.

“He looked calm. He looked poised. He looked like a seasoned pro. He’s a guy that our goalie group said had some intrigue in him. We’re excited to see where it goes,” he said.

LITTLE GUY PLAYS BIG

Dylan Edwards was the shortest player on either team at 5-foot-8, but he didn’t play like it.

A free agent invite from Erie of the OHL, Edwards was around the puck all day.

After throwing a hard hit in the first period, Edwards was called on to fight by Quinn Beauchesne of the Penguins.

Edwards absorbed some punches in the bout, which he said was the third of his career, but he continued to seek out body checks at every opportunity.

“Right away after that hit, I knew someone was coming so I was prepared and ready to go,” he said. “Typically not my game, but I’m willing to do whatever I gotta do out there.”

Coach Ryan Mougenel was impressed.

“He’s trying to make some noise. I like that. There was a lot of good things that kid did,” he said.

The number of NCAA schools scouting the Prospects Challenge reached double figures on  Saturday and some of the recruiters surely noticed Edwards, who turned 20 in July.

While his focus this season will be on helping Erie have a good season, Edwards said he has talked to NCAA schools and is open to the idea of playing college hockey down the road.

NEWEST BOURQUE

Like his famous father Ray and his brother Chris before him, Ryan Bourque is now a Bruin and he couldn’t be happier about it.

Bourque, the new assistant coach in Providence, was on the bench in Buffalo. He replaces Matt Thomas, who left the organization to take over as head coach at the Rochester Institute of Technology, his alma mater.

The opportunity with the Bruins “means the world to me. Growing up, it’s obviously an organization that (is) family. It’s a huge part of my life.

“My dad and my brother were part of the organization. I was the only missing link. To get the opportunity meant a lot and I had to jump on it,” he said.

Bourque, who coached Cushing Academy to a prep school championship last season, played for a number of coaches in his pro career.

He points to former Providence captain Brent Thompason, his coach in Bridgeport, as someone who had a lasting impact.

“His demeanor, his intensity, his compete. He’s really a guy that maybe you wouldn’t expect him to be as detailed as he was, but he was extremely detailed and passionate,” he said.

“He just always had his players’ backs. He really cared about the person before the player. That’s an important thing when it comes to pro hockey, especially.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Ryan Mougenel on Fraser Minten, who along with Brett Harrison and Riley Duran wore an “A”  for the Bruins on Friday:

“The one thing about Fraser is he’s got a lot of pride. For a guy that’s played (25 NHL games) to play as hard as he did today says a lot about the character, the person. I liked his leadership. Did some things, didn’t do some things. It’s part of getting your game in a good place.”