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The Boston Bruins are just a week away from the start of their 2016-17 season, and have two preseason games to go before then, with their penultimate contest coming with tonight’s head-to-head with the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
And while tonight’s roster isn’t exactly as NHL-loaded as the club’s Tuesday night roster against the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec City, it’s still loaded with guys vying for NHL jobs.
On the club’s de facto top line,
Austin Czarnik will center a line featuring
Matt Beleskey on the left -- one of the closest things the Black and Gold have had to a constant this preseason -- and fellow young gun
Danton Heinen on the right side. Given the uncertainty in the bottom six of this roster, it’s entirely plausible, if not likely, that both Czarnik and Heinen find a way to crack Boston’s opening night roster if they put forth yet another solid showing.
Czarnik has recorded two goals and an assist in all role usage situation in four preseason contests, while Heinen has notched three goals on eight shots on goal in three games.
Riley Nash will center the second line with Jake DeBrusk and Seth Griffith on the wing. Dublin, Ohio native Sean Kuraly skates on the left wing of a line with Dominic Moore and Noel Acciari, while Tim Schaller and Tyler Randell skate on the fourth line with Zac Rinaldo or Jimmy Hayes.
On the back-end, the war for ice-time will rage on between prospect,
Brandon Carlo, professional tryout invitee Christian Ehrhoff,
Colin Miller, and
Joe Morrow.
The 19-year-old Carlo has undoubtedly been impressive in his preseason minutes with
John-Michael Liles (and Carlo played a bit with Zdeno Chara last preseason), but the more probable battle is between the aforementioned three, especially with the veteran Ehrhoff’s showing at the World Cup of Hockey, production in his Bruins debut, and ability to play either the left or right side, which puts both Miller and Morrow on notice with some added pressure to perform.
An Ehrhoff contract would give the Bruins eight defensemen signed to NHL deals.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can also be read in the New England Hockey Journal magazine. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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