Almost there. Following Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Rangers, the Bruins now have just one preseason game to go before they open the regular season next Wednesday in Washington.
They still have quite a few roster decisions to make, though, especially up front. Not counting Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk (all of whom will miss regular-season games), the Bruins still have 20 forwards, nine defensemen, and four goalies in camp as of late Wednesday night. The fact that they only have one practice session scheduled for Thursday (as opposed to the two they’ve had all camp) could suggest we’ll see some cuts before then.
By opening night, they will be down to 13 or 14 forwards, seven or eight defensemen, and two goalies. Here is our updated guess at what that opening night roster will look like.
What will Bruins' lineup look like to start the season?
Forwards (13)
If Taylor Hall is ready for opening night
Pavel Zacha - Patrice Bergeron - Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
A.J. Greer - Jack Studnicka - Marc McLaughlin
Nick Foligno
If Taylor Hall is not ready for opening night
Jake DeBrusk - Patrice Bergeron - Craig Smith
Pavel Zacha - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Marc McLaughlin
A.J. Greer - Jack Studnicka - Nick Foligno
Chris Wagner
Hall suffered some sort of upper-body injury on Saturday, and the timeline for his return has already shifted a couple times since then. Right after the game, coach Jim Montgomery said he was day-to-day. The next day, he said it was more week-to-week.
On Wednesday, Hall skated before practice and Montgomery said the veteran left wing was “pushing it” and that he “doesn’t want it to be week-to-week.” Jennifer Botterill reported during Wednesday’s TNT broadcast that there was some optimism Hall could be ready for the opener.
If Hall does miss time, rolling with the all-Czech line of Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak seems like a great idea. They dominated in their first game together on Wednesday, with all three scoring a goal and recording multiple points. There could be some temptation to keep them together even if Hall is ready, but the Bruins really like the idea of a Hall-Krejci-Pastrnak line, and so do all three of them.
Zacha would go back with Bergeron and DeBrusk in that case, which is where he’s been most of this camp. Who plays with Bergeron and DeBrusk if Hall is out remains a question. Frederic, Greer and Foligno would be the leading candidates if DeBrusk stays on the right side, but none really seem suited for a top-six role.
Flipping DeBrusk to the left side, where he played Wednesday night, opens up Smith, McLaughlin, Fabian Lysell and possibly even Coyle (if the Bruins temporarily move him to the wing) as options. Smith makes the most sense. He has played plenty of top-six minutes in the past, including with Bergeron, and has had a pretty good preseason. Montgomery named Foligno and Smith as options to play with Bergeron Wednesday night; Smith would be the better choice.
McLaughlin has earned a spot on this team with his strong preseason, posting two goals and two assists in four games while consistently making things happen down low in the offensive zone. If he’s one of the Bruins’ 12 best forwards, and it looks like he is, the fact that he can be sent down without waivers shouldn’t matter. McLaughlin actually got some second-line minutes late last season and didn’t look totally out of place, but he’s better-suited to a bottom-six role out of the gate this year.
Lysell is tempting. The Bruins’ No. 1 prospect has shown some flashes this preseason, but has also struggled to make an impact at times, including landing zero shots on goal Wednesday night. The best thing for Lysell may be some developmental time in Providence, and there’s absolutely no shame in that. It’s possible the Bruins could take a look at DeBrusk-Bergeron-Lysell in Saturday’s preseason finale, though, and perhaps we’ll change our mind after that.
Frederic hasn’t exactly run away with the third-line left-wing job, as he’s had too many quiet shifts mixed in with some good ones this preseason. The Bruins want him to, though, and they’ll probably continue to give him opportunities. If he struggles, Greer and/or Foligno could jump him.
Greer had a relatively quiet game on Monday, but has done enough overall to win a job. Same goes for Studnicka, who bounced back from his quieter Monday with a strong game Wednesday while centering DeBrusk and McLaughlin. You’d prefer no quiet nights at all from them, but regardless, Greer and Studnicka have shown more than Foligno and Tomas Nosek this preseason. Greer-Studnicka-McLaughlin has the makings of a really promising fourth line that can bring some energy and physicality, pop a few goals, and play good enough defense.
Foligno says he is much healthier than last season and feels more like his old self, but we haven’t exactly seen a big jump this preseason. His physicality and veteran leadership probably keep him around for the time being, but he still has work to do if he and his $3.8 million cap hit are going to stick around once Marchand and McAvoy return and the Bruins inevitably have to free up money somewhere.
Nosek has struggled this preseason and simply doesn’t look like one of the Bruins’ 13 or 14 best forwards. In 34 five-on-five minutes across three preseason games, he has one shot attempt. That comes after he went 57 games without a goal to close out last season. Positional versatility, good defense, and being the best left-handed faceoff man on the team are arguments in his favor, but they don’t outweigh the dearth of offense.
If Hall misses games and the Bruins elect to keep an extra veteran around for a bit, we would actually go with Wagner over Nosek. Wagner has at least brought some welcome energy and physicality throughout this preseason, and has definitely made any decision to cut him tougher than it might’ve been a couple weeks ago.
In addition to Lysell, youngsters Johnny Beecher and Jakub Lauko also get sent down to Providence. Beecher might be pretty close to ready for a bottom-six role, but Providence will be a good place for him to continue to work on his offensive game. Lauko had a much better preseason than many would have predicted coming off a tough 2021-22 season, and he’s probably moved up several spots in the call-up power rankings.
Defense (7)
Hampus Lindholm - Anton Stralman
Mike Reilly - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Jakub Zboril
Connor Clifton
This is the same seven we had over the weekend. Stralman, who is in camp on a PTO (professional tryout), was on the ice for two goals against Wednesday, but for the most part he has continued to play well and show that he’s deserving of an NHL job, whether that’s in Boston or elsewhere. His 71.4% Corsi-for percentage this preseason is tops among Bruins defensemen and second among all Bruins who have played more than one game, behind only Krejci. He also threw this hit Wednesday.
Reilly continued his resurgent preseason with another active outing on Wednesday, including scoring the beautiful goal below. In his 15 minutes of five-on-five ice time, the Bruins outscored the Rangers 4-0. He looks like a player who could thrive under Montgomery’s more offensive system, who deserves a top-four job to start, and who wants to prove he should remain in the lineup even when Grzelcyk and McAvoy return.
Forbort, Zboril and Clifton could do some rotating on the third pair. All three have been a little bit inconsistent at times this preseason, but all have shown enough that the Bruins should feel fine with any of them in there.
Jack Ahcan is the toughest cut here. The 25-year-old has had a really solid preseason, and he may very well be NHL-ready. There are just too many established NHLers ahead of him right now, though, and playing every night in Providence would be better for him than sitting in the press box in Boston.
Goalies (2)
Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark
Still no questions here. Keith Kinkaid and Kyle Keyser will be cut and sent to Providence.
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