Bruins sign Marat Khusnutdinov to three-year, $11.85M extension
The Boston Bruins signed forward Marat Khusnutdinov to a three-year contract extension worth $11.85 million, the club confirmed on October 21, 2026. The deal carries a $3.95 million AAV and runs through the 2029-30 season, according to the team’s announcement.
The terms
Khusnutdinov, 24, was playing out the final season of a two-year, $1.85 million contract signed in June 2025, with a $925,000 cap hit, and was set to become a restricted free agent next summer. The new deal roughly quadruples his cap hit. NHL insider Kevin Weekes posted on October 20 that Khusnutdinov and the Bruins were closing in on an extension, and Emily Kaplan posted the $3.95 million AAV figure the next afternoon before the club confirmed it. Weekes had earlier put the AAV at $4 million; the confirmed terms are $3.95 million and $11.85 million total.
The bet on a breakout
Khusnutdinov set career highs in 2025-26 with 15 goals and 33 points in 77 games, including four goals and one assist in a 10-2 win over the New York Rangers on January 10, his first hat trick. He has two goals and five points in 10 games this season as of October 21, and scored the go-ahead goal with 6:24 left in a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on October 17. Boston extended him before the market could set his price after that jump in production.
The Bruins acquired Khusnutdinov from the Minnesota Wild on March 6, 2025, along with Jakub Lauko and a 2026 sixth-round pick, in exchange for Justin Brazeau. In 178 career NHL games he has 23 goals and 54 points.
The deal follows the Bruins’ September extension for Fraser Minten, a seven-year, $50.4 million contract, and continues the club’s pattern of locking up young forwards early, much as the Blackhawks did with Oliver Moore. With Khusnutdinov signed, Boston is projected to have just over $6.4 million in cap space for 2027-28.