The Boston Bruins placed forwards Jesper Boqvist and Oskar Steen and defenseman Jakub Zboril on waivers Saturday as they continue to move closer to finalizing their opening night roster.
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The moves leave the Bruins with 25 players left in training camp. They likely have three more cuts to make before Monday afternoon’s initial roster deadline given that they currently don’t have enough cap space to keep the maximum 23 players. A trade or injury could change that, though.
Here are the players still in camp:
Forwards (15): Johnny Beecher, Patrick Brown, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie, A.J. Greer, Danton Heinen, Jakub Lauko, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Matt Poitras, James van Riemsdyk, Pavel Zacha
Defense (8): Brandon Carlo, Derek Forbort, Matt Grzelcyk, Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Ian Mitchell, Kevin Shattenkirk
Goalies (2): Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark
Up front, coach Jim Montgomery has already all but confirmed the 19-year-old Poitras will be on the opening night roster. That means 10 of a probable 13 forward spots are locked in, barring a major surprise.
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Five players are still in contention for the remaining three spots: Beecher, Brown, Greer, Heinen and Lauko. One of Beecher or Brown will be the fourth-line center, assuming Montgomery opts to keep Geekie at third-line right wing. Beecher is the only one in this group who can be sent to Providence without requiring waivers, but he has also outplayed Brown this preseason. Heinen would need to be signed to a contract if he makes the team, as he is currently in camp on a professional tryout.
On defense, the big decision is whether the 22-year-old Lohrei needs more seasoning in Providence (he only played eight AHL games last spring after Ohio State’s season ended) or is ready for regular NHL playing time. If he makes the big club, it will be in a top-six role, as being the seventh defenseman and not playing regularly would not help his development.
If Lohrei makes it, Mitchell could be the odd man out. Lohrei can be sent to Providence without waivers, while everyone else would need to clear waivers to be sent down.
As for the three players waived on Saturday, none are all that surprising. Boqvist was signed as a free agent over the summer and Montgomery consistently praised his practice performance throughout camp, but it never translated to preseason game action. Even playing on a line with Pastrnak and Zacha in Thursday’s preseason finale, Boqvist struggled to make much of an impact. Simply put, he got outplayed by too many other forwards.
Steen had a good camp and has a preseason goal to his name. He has generally played well during past NHL call-ups. He made a good push and there’s a reason he remained in camp this long, but ultimately there were just too many bodies in front of him. He’ll provide good organizational depth in Providence if he clears waivers.
Zboril was penciled in as the seventh defenseman entering camp, but an injury early in camp and some quiet games and practices opened the door for Mitchell to pass him. Lohrei is also clearly now ahead of Zboril on the left-side depth chart, so it was becoming increasingly difficult to see how or where Zboril would play even if he did make the team. A change of scenery if someone claims him or regular playing time in Providence if he clears waivers will be better than another year of sitting on Boston’s bench for weeks or even months on end.
We will find out Sunday at 2 p.m. if Boqvist, Steen and Zboril cleared waivers or got claimed by another team. The Bruins have Sunday off before holding practice and their annual media day on Monday.