The Bruins announced Monday that they’ve signed Lee Stempniak and Daniel Winnik to professional tryout agreements.
Both veteran forwards will add to the competition for vacant wing and bottom-six spots.
Stempniak, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound right-winger, has a 203-266--469 line through 909 NHL games played. He’s played the last two seasons with the Hurricanes, but he had a 19-game 2015-16 stint in Boston with three goals and seven assists. Maybe he can channel whatever made him score 27 goals and 25 assists for the Blues in 2006-7 -- his linemate was David Backes.
Winnik, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-winger, has 11 NHL seasons under his belt with 82-169--251 in 798 games. He had 6-17--23 in 81 games with the Wild last season, and reached a career-high 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) with the Avalanche in 2010-11. He has 63 games of playoff experience with four assists.
It was a little odd that the Bruins hadn’t invited more forwards to camp on PTOs considering all the open spots beyond the top-six roles -- so these signings aren’t exactly shocking. Of course anything can happen, but this is likely a move to increase competition in camp and push those already expected to make the roster.