The Boston Bruins will be a good hockey team in 2024-25. That’s safe to say.

But whether they are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender hinges on just how well a roster that will have as many as a half-dozen new faces on it comes together, starting on Wednesday when the players convene at Warrior Ice Arena for their physicals.

The thing that jumps out with the new additions is the size. There’s 6-foot-6 Nikita Zadorov, 6-foot-4 Mark Kastelic, 6-foot-3 Max Jones and 6-foot-6 Riley Tufte, all of whom will be joining a team that had a fair amount of size to begin with.

As we kick off another hockey season, here are five questions facing the B’s. And we’ll start off with the most vexing one:

This is a question we thought would have been resolved by now. Seeing that the team believes the 25-year-old Swayman is both the goalie of the present and future and that, by all accounts, the netminder wants to remain a Bruin, we have to think that it will get done eventually. But at what cost – both for the team’s bottom line and its general esprit de corps – will it come? If Swayman misses a couple of days of camp, it will be forgotten about by next week. But if the impasse bleeds into the season, it could have a deleterious effect on the B’s long-term goals and upset their famously strong locker room. He’s believed to be looking for a long-term deal, possibly the max eight years, with an average annual value somewhere near Charlie McAvoy’s money ($9.5 million per season). Considering the B’s have just approximately $8.6 million in cap space, that’s a problem. Perhaps they can find common ground on a bridge deal that would keep the AAV down to help the Bruins in the short term, but also make Swayman an unrestricted free agent in his late 20s, at which point he’d be in better position to dictate his terms while still in his prime. The two sides have until Dec. 1 to hammer out a deal or Swayman will have to sit out the season. If it lasts that long, then there are bound to be hurt feelings on both sides of the table.

Fabian Lysell, please stand up. The time should be now for the B’s 2021 first-round pick (21st overall). The B’s addressed some pressing needs in the offseason but there was only so much money to go around. They are down a top-six winger and the spot to Charlie Coyle’s right is just begging for Lysell to take it. If the 21-year-old Swede can prove himself ready to be an NHL player of some impact, that would help the B’s bottom line given that Lysell has two more years left on his cheap entry-level contract ($863,334). After an unimpressive camp and a slow start last season, Lysell turned a corner in Providence and was trending toward a call-up when he was injured. If Lysell can’t seize the opportunity, there are other options. Trent Frederic has played up in the lineup at times. While many people have Justin Brazeau pigeon-holed as a fourth-liner, he often found himself on the ice in crunch time during the playoffs last year. There’s also versatile veteran Tyler Johnson, who could be used at center or wing.

The captain made the eyebrow-raising announcement recently that he underwent three surgeries over the summer – one on his elbow and two core surgeries. Last season he hit a wall in the second half. He went from Feb. 8 to March 7 with just one goal. Marchand said he’d been playing through his maladies, so maybe that explains that drop-off. But these surgeries come just two years after he underwent extensive procedures on both hips. When will the wear and tear catch up to him? When it comes to competitiveness, Marchand takes a back seat to no one. He hopes to be ready for camp, if not for the first on-ice session on Thursday then shortly after that. And the surgeries notwithstanding, he’s a player who prides himself on his fitness level. Marchand is also in line for an extension after this season and, while he shouldn’t be expected to be the 2016 version of himself, he’s a guy that the B’s should take care of, considering he’s been on a team-friendly deal since ‘16 ($6.125 million per season). But while the B’s should be better in grinding out wins, they can’t afford much drop-off in the scoring department.

Poitras was last year’s shiny new toy. He made the roster as a 19-year-old for several reasons: He had an excellent camp, the B’s really needed another center at the start season and returning him to junior wouldn’t not have done a whole lot for his development. What happened is what is feared when putting a teenager into the lineup – he got hurt. Poitras’ season was cut short after 33 games and he underwent shoulder surgery. This year he’s eligible to be sent to the AHL for seasoning. Chances are, after a year of physical growth and an offseason of training at the team facility in Brighton, Poitras might be ready to claim ownership to his spot. But he’s not at the stage of his career where he can automatically be penciled onto the roster. If he has a so-so camp, the B’s have other options, including Johnson, Georgii Merkulov or Morgan Geekie. Spending some time in Providence, where he could run the power play, would not be the worst thing in the world.

We all know Lindholm is a solid two-way centerman who should fit well into the Bruins’ ethos. The club had been on the hunt for him for two years before finally landing him in free agency in July with a seven-year deal for an annual cap hit of $7.75 million, making him the second-highest paid forward on the B’s after David Pastrnak. But how much will he help in the scoring department? Three seasons ago, Lindholm enjoyed a career year, posting 42-40-82 totals while centering Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, both of whom topped the 100-point plateau. When both those players left Calgary, Lindholm suffered some drop-off, though he did manage a 22-42-64 season. Not bad. But in his walk year last season, Lindholm, who’ll turn 30 in December, did not have a great season. His offensive numbers dropped to 15-29-44 between Calgary and Vancouver. Some of that surely can be attributed to the uncertainty of entering the last year of his contract and getting traded mid-season, but some of it has to land on the player’s shoulders. On the upside, he had a good playoff run for the Canucks, with 5-5-10 in 13 games. The B’s will need him to carry his share of the offensive load and he’s expected to be put in a prime spot again, between Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. If he can return to 2021-22 productions levels, the B’s just might be a real Cup contender.