Fraser Minten already showing early returns on contract extension

It’s been a terrific start to the 2026-27 NHL regular season for Fraser Minten. Through his first 12 games, the 22-year-old forward has five goals and five assists for 10 points, including a two-point effort in a 6-4 win for the Boston Bruins over the San Jose Sharks Saturday.

For the Bruins, now 9-2-1 with 19 points and the second-best record in the league, it appears they have no regrets on the seven-year, $50.4-million contract extension they signed Minten to in the offseason. Now the question becomes: just how good can the Vancouver native be?

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton are joined by WhatChaos host Pete Blackburn to discuss the Bruins’ start to the season and what Minten has brought to the table.

Tyler Yaremchuk: This was the offseason where everyone is trying to get ahead of these extensions. Carter and I have talked about how it’s great in the moment to just look at a young player and think he’ll surely get better, so they’ll pay him like he’s going to be better. But there’s going to be a handful of these teams around the league and think, “Oh shit, we definitely shouldn’t have committed that early.”

But I think just looking at the numbers, the early returns on Minten … 10 games isn’t going to make or break a seven-year extension, but the early returns look really solid.

Pete Blackburn: I don’t worry about Fraser Minten and that deal at all. I know it’s early, but when you look at what he did last year, and how often he found himself in the right places by being a very, very smart, heady player, a 200-foot player with a high motor, he never takes a shift off.

His big problem last year was his inability to finish. His shot wasn’t good enough, and he didn’t on a whole lot of chances that he found himself in. This year, I heard that over the summer, he was working on his shot a ton, and you’re starting to see the returns on that. For a player like him, the expectation of him only getting better is a true one. I expect him to be a great player, his mind is already there, his motor is already there.

I think that the skills are going to be sharpened and he’s going to be a really, really important part of this team for years to come.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…