The Bruins still had some tough roster decisions to make before Wednesday's season-opener, and they made a few of them on Sunday.
Boston waived forwards Nick Foligno and Chris Wagner and defenseman Mike Reilly, according to NHL insider Chris Johnston.
The other 31 teams will now have a chance to claim those players. If they clear waivers, the Bruins could either keep them in Boston or assign them to Providence and save a little over $1 million against the cap for each.
Reilly is the most surprising cut, and the most likely to get claimed. He had a pretty strong preseason up until Saturday's finale, when he was on the ice for three five-on-five goals against.
Reilly also seemed to be a good fit for the more offensive system Montgomery is implementing for his defensemen, but apparently not good enough. He has two years left on his contract with an average annual value of $3 million. While that would seem to be fairly affordable, there aren't a lot of teams with cap space right now, so it's possible Reilly goes unclaimed.
Foligno and Wagner are more likely to clear waivers. Both are on the final year of their contract -- Foligno with a $3.8 million cap hit, Wagner at $1.35 million. It seems unlikely any team would be willing to pick up those contracts for players who are fourth-liners at best.
Reilly getting cut could open up a spot for the Bruins to sign Anton Stralman, who has been in camp on a PTO (professional tryout). It could also signal that Matt Grzelcyk is getting close to returning after offseason shoulder surgery. Grzelcyk has already ditched his non-contact jersey in practice.
Foligno and Wagner getting cut leaves the Bruins with 13 forwards on the active roster, including Taylor Hall, who suffered an upper-body injury last week. Hall's status for opening night remains up in the air. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Bruins call up another forward from Providence.
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