The Bruins announced that Fraser Minten has signed a seven-year contract extension through the 2033-34 season with an annual cap hit of $7.2 million.
The contract will pay him $50.4MM across that span and will expire with a UFA status when Minten turns 29 years old. In the final two seasons, Minten’s deal carries a 16-team modified no-trade clause that decreases to 10 in the final season of the contract, per puckpedia.
The 22-year-old was entering the final year of his three-year entry-level contract signed back in Toronto with the Maple Leafs. His contract is the sixth-highest paying deal given out by Don Sweeney in his tenure as Bruins GM.
“We are excited to have signed Fraser to a long-term extension,” said Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney via the press release. “Since joining our organization, Fraser has continued to grow and earn the accelerated trust of his teammates and coaching staff.
His hockey sense, competitiveness, responsible two-way game, and offensive growth make him a valuable player for our group. This is a mutual long-term commitment that reflects our confidence in Fraser and the important role he will play, as well as Fraser’s belief in our team moving forward.”
Minten finished his 2025-26 season playing a full 82 games with Boston, scoring 17 goals for 35 points. His 17 goals tied for fifth on the team, while his 35 points were the most by a Bruins rookie since the 2017-18 season.
He also ranked first among Bruins centers in hits with 142 and ranked 5th in takeaways with 27 this past season.
Earlier this summer, Minten told Jim McBride of The Boston Globe that the idea of a long-term deal is on his mind and that it would be “super appealing” to get an extension done. He came to Boston via the 2025 Trade Deadline in a deal that sent Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a package that included Minten, along with a 2026 first-round draft pick and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick (Vashek Blanar).
Having never played above 20 games in a season, the former second-round pick entered Boston’s ranks projecting as a bottom-six center with room to grow his pro-ready habits into the peak upside as a middle-six center. At times, he was elevated to the first line alongside David Pastrnak, demonstrating poise and comfort next to the superstar winger as the duo combined with a +17 on-ice goal differential.
Boston has repeatedly discussed the difficulties in ratifying their need for a No. 1 center to complement Pastrnak; they’re opting to look internally with this signing, giving Minten that chance to potentially elevate further this season.
When discussing Minten on Bruins CLNS with Evan Marinofsky, Marco Sturm said that he was motivated by his coaching staff to give Minten an elevated role, but held back for the time being. He emphasized there were steps that both players had to hit before they could get the ‘big cookie.’ Mostly because the Bruins have veterans who have already been there and done that, and the reward of playing time shouldn’t come because of the player’s draft position.
Minten’s cap hit will be the fourth-highest on the Bruins forward group when the contract kicks in, behind Pastrnak ($11.25MM), Elias Lindholm ($7.75MM), and JJ Peterka ($7.7MM). The Bruins’ inking this deal shows that management believes in his upside to grow even further beyond his previous projections as a potential top-six center.
He was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for January after leading all NHL rookies in scoring with eight goals for 14 points, with a 32.0% shooting percentage that also led all NHL rookies. The Vancouver native began on the third line last season.
Among U24 Bruins since 2020, he ended up as one of two players to score 30+ points and 10+ goals in a single season this decade; the other being Marat Khusnutdinov this past campaign.
The Bruins will have around $28MM in cap space next season after signing Minten, where they have RFAs Mason Lohrei and Khusnutdinov as well as UFA’s Michael DiPietro, Michael Eyssimont, Sean Kuraly, Casey Mittelstadt, and Pavel Zacha up for renegotiation.
Photo Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images