On Thursday the Bruins made nine more cuts to their preseason roster as opening night quickly approaches.
Some of those cuts were expected, some a bit of a surprise given how well certain players have performed.
Forward Marc McLaughlin being one of those surprises.
“He had a great camp. We’re really happy with his development. There are certain areas of his game we really want him to focus on in Providence — details, physicality and stuff,… head coach Jim Montgomery said.
“His offensive production, his tenacity on pucks, and ability to score, all of that has shown through. He’s going to be a big part of our future. But we have great depth, so right now, it’s what we think is best for the Boston Bruins moving forward.…
Fabian Lysell, Johnny Beecher, Joona Koppanen, Keith Kinkaid, Dan Renouf, Jack Ahcan, Kyle Keyser and Vinni Lettieri join McLaughlin as Thursday’s cuts.
Given the recent injury to Taylor Hall, McLaughlin, Beecher and Lysell being sent down to Providence is interesting. That, combined with the fact that Hall practiced Thursday—albeit in a yellow non-contact jersey—leads me to believe Hall may not be as “week-to-week… as the Bruins had thought.
"What I'm finding out is how tough he is, and I guess his pain tolerance is really high, he’s pushing it. “He doesn't want it to be week-to-week. We're just monitoring it right now. There's a little bit of hope that he can be back sooner than week-to-week."
After the offensive excellence provided by Pavel Zacha, David Krejci and David Pastrnak in Wednesday’s victory over the New York Rangers, the Bruins second line—at least to start—should be set in stone.
"It was pretty impressive, just the chemistry they seem to have right away is good. They made a lot of plays in all three zones that led to goals,… Montgomery said following the win.
It appears that Jack Studnicka has done enough to earn him a spot on the opening night roster. The young forward has looked good this preseason as he approaches what is an important year for him.
Now don’t forget, if the Bruins were to send Studnicka down to Providence, he would have required waivers, similar to the process completed for Oskar Steen who was not claimed on waivers. Surely, someone would have taken a shot on Studnicka.
"He played really well [Wednesday] night. If you look at how he played, he's earned the right to continue to be here, if he's on the fourth line, he's not a fourth-line, heavy, physical player,… said Montgomery.
"We've just got to work with him on making him aware of not putting himself in such vulnerable positions to receive those kinds of hits. He took two hard ones [in New York] and that's happened to him before in the past from the knowledge I've received.…
Invited to camp on a Professional Tryout, veteran Anton Stralman has been impressive, giving the Bruins another veteran option on the backend. It's needed depth with Charlie McAvoy injured to start the season and the opening night status of Matt Grzelcyk unknown.
“I just really loved his poise and his game management. Even [Wednesday], there were a couple of plays he made in the third where he got the puck at the offensive blue-line standing still, and he just made a little dink pass to the slot,… said Montgomery.
“We’re playing with the lead and it’s 5-4 at the time. To have that kind of poise in game management, in order to make that play you have to have the time. His risk vs. reward is high.…
The Bruins will wrap up the preseason on Saturday with a contest against the New Jersey Devils. The final preseason game usually serves as a “dress rehearsal… for opening night. Saturday should give us a better idea of what the lineup will look like next Wednesday in Washington.