Nick Foligno, Mike Reilly and Chris Wagner all cleared waivers on Monday, and all three remain members of the Bruins.
Skate Pod: Waiver mania and season predictions
The Bruins can now either keep them in Boston or assign them to Providence. They could save roughly $1.1 million against the cap on each if they demote them.
However, it's worth noting right off the bat that even if any or all of these three are sent down, it could just be a temporary move. The Bruins have to be salary cap-compliant by 5 p.m. on Monday, and the expectation is that at least one of Brad Marchand or Charlie McAvoy will be placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) at that time.
Without getting too deep into salary cap minutiae, the closer the Bruins are to the cap limit when they put Marchand and/or McAvoy on LTIR, the better. So, there could be "paper moves" of guys getting sent to Providence before then, but later being called back up once the team has utilized LTIR.
The Bruins also still have to decide whether they are going to sign defenseman Anton Stralman, who had a strong camp while playing on a PTO (professional tryout). That would be another cap consideration they'll have in mind.
Of the three, Reilly seemed like the most likely to get claimed. However, there just aren't many teams across the league with enough cap space to absorb his $3 million cap hit, and the fact that he's under contract for another year after this may have caused teams to shy away as well.
Reilly seems likely to remain in Boston at least in the short-term (again, possibly with a paper move to Providence mixed in), but there's no question that the Bruins will be facing a logjam on the back end once Matt Grzelcyk and McAvoy return, especially if they also sign Stralman. Grzelcyk, who underwent shoulder surgery this offseason, could be back soon, as he has already ditched his non-contact jersey and begun practicing in full.
Foligno could also stick around. At the very least, the Bruins like him as a veteran locker room presence. He also finished the preseason with a strong outing on Saturday, playing on a fourth line with Tomas Nosek and Jakub Lauko that played well and could very well stick together come Wednesday. And, they're going to have a cap hit of about $2.7 million for him even if he's in Providence.
Wagner would seem like the mostly likely to be sent to Providence on a longer-term basis, but he had a pretty strong preseason of his own and has made that a tougher decision than it may have seemed when camp began. The Bruins could choose to keep him around as an extra forward and instead demote Jakub Lauko, the only player still on the roster who doesn't need to go through waivers to be sent down.
At least one forward is definitely getting sent down, though. The Bruins had 15 forwards at practice Monday, including Taylor Hall, who practiced in full and is no longer in a no-contact jersey. Hall said afterwards that he is "on track" to play Wednesday.
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