Bruins finalize Phase 4 roster before heading off to Toronto

Just before the Bruins went wheels up to Toronto, the club finalized its Phase 4 roster — announcing a pair of cuts to its forward corps.

While the club opted to carry four goaltenders and all 10 defensemen that attended the club’s Phase 3 workouts at Warrior Ice Arena, both Paul Carey and Anton Blidh missed the final cut — with the B’s loading up on a number of young wingers out of Providence. 

Here is Boston’s full Phase 4 roster:

Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Anders Bjork, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic, Ondrej Kase, David Krejci, Karson Kuhlman, Sean Kuraly, Par Lindholm, Brad Marchand, Joakim Nordstrom, David Pastrnak, Nick Ritchie, Zach Senyshyn, Jack Studnicka, Chris Wagner

Defensemen: Brandon Carlo, Zdeno Chara, Connor Clifton, Matt Grzelcyk, Torey Krug, Jeremy Lauzon, Charlie McAvoy, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril

Goaltenders: Jaroslav Halak, Maxime Lagace, Tuukka Rask, Dan Vladar

While Carey brings plenty of value down in the AHL ranks as an established veteran winger, he was likely going to be on the outside looking in at one of the potential middle-six spots on this club, especially with youngsters like Studnicka and Bjork impressing during Phase 3 workouts.

Blidh is a bit more surprising, given that he was likely going to be solid insurance as a straight line, checking forward that could easily slot in if the usual suspects like Wagner and Nordstrom are banged up over the course of this accelerated playoff gauntlet.

However, given the lack of clarity with Boston’s middle-six wingers, especially with Kase’s status still unknown, it does make sense for the Bruins to bring some extra insurance in the form of Senyshyn — a right-shot winger that was actually quite impressive during a short stint up in Boston this season.

Even if guys like Ritchie, Bjork, Kuhlman and more will likely have first dibs on Coyle’s line, the duo of Senyshyn and Coyle did manage to generate a 61.54% shot share and outscore opponents, 2-0, in just 16:22 of 5v5 ice time earlier this season. Again, Senyshyn’s likely a fallback option, but he’s a good option to have for a role in the lineup that is still far from settled just a few days away from Thursday’s exhibition games.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1287510909628358656

Even if Pastrnak and Kase are listed on the official roster, it remains to be seen if both wingers made it on the team charter Sunday evening. Ritchie, who missed the three previous practices at Warrior, was spotted leaving with the team on Sunday. 

Speaking on Saturday, Bruce Cassidy did note that both Pastrnak and Ritchie were likely going to make the flight with the rest of the team – while Kase was more of an unknown.

If Kase does miss the charter, he will be subjected to a four-day quarantine at the team hotel once he passes the necessary tests and flies commercially up to Toronto.

Given that the Bruins will land later this evening up in Ontario, Cassidy noted that the Bruins will likely ease the club into their new surroundings before ratcheting up their practices on Tuesday. 

“I think Monday, I'm looking at it — let's just get our legs back. Guys will be sort of acclimating to the bubble,” Cassidy said. “I imagine there'll be some adjustments for what they typically do. It's not just your typical road trip, you're in the day before, you play the next day and you move on to the next city. So I'm not expecting to do a lot of work Monday in terms of focus for the guys. 

"But then Tuesday, let's let's get back at it. You've been in Toronto a couple days, hopefully figured out a routine. You know, so let's get back to some competition. I think that's when we'll start ramping that part up. Once we get into Toronto. It becomes a little more real, I think, when you get there.”