With the start of the regular season now less than a week away, the Bruins made their most significant cuts to their training-camp roster on Thursday — sending five players down to Providence and placing four more on waivers for the purpose of designation to the AHL.
A number of promising B’s prospects are set to begin the 2022-23 campaign down in Providence, with Marc McLaughlin, Fabian Lysell, Johnny Beecher, Jack Ahcan and Kyle Keyser set to report to camp down with the Baby B’s.
Joona Koppanen, Vinni Lettieri, Dan Renouf and Keith Kinkaid were placed on waivers, with teams given 24 hours to claim them before they clear and make the trek down to Providence.
With Boston now down to 25 skaters on the active roster, here is the lineup that Jim Montgomery rolled with during Thursday’s practice session at Warrior Ice Arena.
Nick Foligno - Patrice Bergeron - Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
A.J. Greer - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
Trent Frederic - Tomas Nosek - Jakub Lauko
Taylor Hall* - Jack Studnicka - Chris Wagner
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Mike Reilly - Jakub Zboril
Derek Forbort - Connor Clifton
Matt Grzelcyk* - Anton Stralman
Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark
* = non-contact jersey
With these latest cuts, we’ve received a pretty clear look at what type of lineup that Montgomery is looking to craft ahead of the season opener down in Washington D.C. next week.
So what can we glean from these (rather surprising) roster cuts? Let’s take a look at five takeaways.
Waivers exempt or not, McLaughlin’s AHL assignment has little merit
Obviously, the most surprising roster reshuffle for the Bruins came when the team opted to send Marc McLaughlin down to Providence — an unfortunate end for the BC product who has arguably been the team’s most consistent bottom-six regular so far this preseason.
Following another outing on Wednesday in which McLaughlin added a primary helper (giving him four points in four games) and was strong in puck battles down low, it seemed as though the Billerica native was a shoo-in to secure Boston’s vacant 4RW spot — especially after Oskar Steen was waived just a few days ago.
But on Thursday, Montgomery noted that the Bruins still want to see McLaughlin work on his overall skillset with some reps down in Providence.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Montgomery said. “He had a great camp. We’re really happy with his development. There are certain areas of his game that we really want him to focus on down in Providence, details and physicality and stuff. His offensive production, his tenacity on pucks, his ability to score, all that has shown through. He’s going to be a big part of our future. We do also have great depth. So, right now, it’s what we think is best for the Boston Bruins moving forward.”
Sure, McLaughlin could perhaps benefit a bit from some guaranteed top-six minutes down in Providence — but that shouldn’t supersede the tangible production that McLaughlin generated up with the NHL club this fall, especially when he clearly outperformed other bottom-six candidates such as Nick Foligno, Trent Frederic, Tomas Nosek and others.
Ultimately, it does feel as though McLaughlin’s ability to pass between Boston and Providence without traversing through waivers is what sealed the deal when it comes to why he’s down in the AHL as opposed to someone like Jakub Lauko or even a tenured veteran. But even if this is still just a short-term move as Boston gets its ducks in a row before regular-season hockey begins, it still sends a pretty disheartening message, especially to a young forward who more than proved his worth in multiple preseason games.
For all of the talk regarding Boston’s efforts to integrate young talent into its lineup, that sentiment doesn’t hold up when older veterans are taking up spots that should have been handed to an upstart skater like McLaughlin.
Veterans in Foligno/Nosek skate in starting roles on Thursday
Based on Boston’s lines on Thursday, it does seem like a pair of veterans in Foligno and Nosek stand to benefit the most from these recent cuts — with Foligno earning a look on Boston's top forward unit with Patrice Bergeron and Jake Debrusk, and Nosek centering Frederic and Lauko.
Even though Nosek’s value as a left-hand pivot that can win draws and anchor a PK unit can be rather underrated, it does seem like Jack Studnicka (who also survived this latest round of cuts) should earn the first look at 4C, given his play so far during preseason action.
"He played really well last night,” Montgomery said of Studnicka. “I think if you look at how he played, he's earned the right to continue to be here.”
As for Foligno’s current spot in the lineup, we’ll see if that changes based on Taylor Hall’s status (more on that later), although Montgomery has mentioned that Craig Smith could also be in the running for top-line minutes to start the season.
If Hall isn’t ready for next week, a top line featuring DeBrusk back on the left side and a shot-first winger like Smith to Bergeron’s right still sounds like a grouping that offers a whole lot more potential than the trio that Boston opted for on Thursday.
No surprise with Lysell/Beecher’s assignment to Providence
Both Fabian Lysell and Johnny Beecher showcased flashes of talent during various stages of training camp — but it became clear as the preseason rolled along that both prospects are best suited for some seasoning down in Providence before they can be considered viable options up at the NHL level.
There’s nothing wrong with both forwards getting some hefty minutes out of the gate under the tutelage of Ryan Mougenel, opening the door for another chance to crack the B’s lineup later on this season.
“Lysell and Beecher are tremendous young hockey players who will be really good Boston Bruins in the future,” Montgomery said. “Last night, that was their first opportunity to play against a real NHL lineup. And you can see where they need to continue to grow their game.
“And that's why it's great to have such a great coaching staff in Providence that are good at developing these young players who are going to be a big part of our future in the near future and play games this year.”
I will say, Lauko’s place on the roster does come as a bit of a surprise, especially given the fact that he is also waivers exempt. His speed and bite has been showcased at times so far in camp, but I still feel as though McLaughlin still out-played him by a significant margin during preseason action.
"His speed, his ability to put the other team on their heels by how he drives to the net off the rush — he's just someone that could bring speed to the third and fourth line,” Montgomery said of Lauko. “And some physicality involved, he goes to hard areas, which draws penalties, which gains momentum, creates rebound chances. So we've just liked what he's done so far, and want to see him playing on Saturday.”
Stralman is due for a contract
With the final days of camp now upon us, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the Bruins hand Anton Stralman a one-year contract for the 2022-23 season — rewarding the 36-year-old veteran after a promising preseason.
"I just really love his poise and his game management,” Montgomery said of Stralman. “Even yesterday, there was a couple of plays he made — he made a play in the third where he got the puck at the offensive blue line, just made a little dig pass to the slot — I think it was Lauko, who was around and then we're in the zone for another 20 seconds.
“And we're playing with a lead, 5-4, at the time. To have that kind of poise and game management to know that you can make that play and you have the time — his risk vs. reward was high.”
At this stage of the season, Stralman should earn regular minutes in Boston’s lineup. However, given the numbers crunch that could be on the horizon once both Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk return, some of the hesitancy to sign a deal might be on Stralman’s part – given that reps might be hard to come by once the calendar flips to December and beyond.
Good news on the injury front
Of course, for all of the discourse surrounding Foligno’s spot on Boston’s first line, it may not necessarily last very long.
After appearing on the ice Wednesday ahead of practice, Taylor Hall participated in Thursday’s skate in a non-contact sweater and is still trying to push past his current “week to week” designation after suffering an upper-body injury on Saturday.
As for Grzelcyk, he may not be in line to start the regular season after undergoing shoulder surgery this summer — but the fleet-footed blueliner is starting to rapidly ramp up his on-ice activities.
“Grzelcyk is going to go into a regular jersey real quick, which is good,” Montgomery said. “I mean, he's ahead of schedule. I don't know if it's more than a week ahead of schedule. I gotta be honest, I don't know what his original timeline was. If it was mid-November? Well, he's November 7 now, you know what I mean? Because I don't know what the original timeline was, to be honest.”