The Bruins are about to walk into one of the tightest, toughest training camps they’ve had in years, and Marco Sturm isn’t sugarcoating it.
With rookie camp opening Friday, Sept. 11 at Warrior Ice Arena, two Prospect Showcase games in Buffalo on the schedule, and NHL camp starting Wednesday, Sept. 16, Boston will have barely any runway before the regular season arrives at the end of the month. The Bruins also only get four preseason games to sort through roster battles, a sharp drop from the usual 6-8-game window players have leaned on in past years.
That compressed setup is a direct result of the new CBA, which shortened camp and pushed the league to an 84-game regular season. For coaches, it means less time to evaluate. For players, it means fewer chances to make an impression.
And for the Bruins, the pressure is real in both the blue line and forward group.
On defense, there are 10 NHL-caliber options fighting for six lineup spots and what effectively amounts to eight roster places: Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Will Borgen, Connor Clifton, Mason Lohrei, Henri Jokharju, Jonathan Aspirot, Jordan Harris and Frederic Brunet. Boston could carry an extra defenseman early while McAvoy serves his six-game suspension for slashing Zach Benson at the end of the playoffs, but that only adds another layer to an already crowded picture.
Up front, rookie James Hagens is expected to be in the mix, while the bottom-six spots will be a grind for players such as Alex Steeves, Mikey Eyssimont, Lukas Reichel, Ivan Ivan and the still-unsigned Matt Poitras.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a good, healthy competition to have.
Somebody will be pissed…somebody will be mad, whoever is not going to make it on the roster for Game 1 against New York,” Sturm said on the Bruins Beat podcast. “It would be a lot harder if I was the new coach right now and didn’t know anybody.
It would be really hard, so I have a little bit of a better idea [what I am looking at].
“And the other thing is the players wanted less [preseason] games and a shorter training camp, that means they also have to know it’s less opportunity for guys to shine in training camp. So it’s going to be hard for players that need a game or two to get going and you don’t have that anymore.
So right from the start they have to be ready to go and show me [what they can do] right away so I can make decisions right away. It’s going to be hard.
Throughout the season there will be changes…it’s not going to be perfect. But the good news is that the league is going to be in the same boat.
It’s not going to be easy, but I am anxious [to see] how it’s going to turn out.”
That blunt read on camp comes with the kind of edge you’d expect from a roster battle this crowded. Sturm put it even more simply: “Somebody will be pissed. Somebody will be mad.”
In Other News...
Bruins Still Have One Big Roster Debate Before Camp
The Bruins have already checked off one major offseason need by landing JJ Peterka to help the top six, but there is still work to do before training camp opens. Bostons roster picture remains incomplete, with the front office still looking for help on defense and down the middle as it tries to round out a group that can hold up in a crowded Atlantic Division.
That search has naturally pushed the Bruins into the rumor mill, where names like Alexander Nikishin, Kent Johnson and Shane Wright have come up as possible trade targets. None of that means a deal is close, and nothing official has been reported, but it does show where the pressure points are for Boston right now. The Peterka move gave the Bruins a boost, yet the bigger question is whether they can still land the kind of top-four defenseman and top-six center that would make the roster feel complete. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Face A February Stretch That Could Define Don Sweeney
For the first time in three years, the Bruins will get an 11-day February break without an in-season tournament interrupting the calendar, and that pause comes before a month that should tell plenty about where this group really stands. February brings nine games split between five on the road and four at home, a compact stretch that leaves little margin for a team still trying to prove it belongs in the mix.
Toronto bookends the month on the schedule, which only adds to the sense that every result in between will carry extra weight. How Boston handles that run figures to shape the conversation around Don Sweeney and the trade deadline, because this is the kind of stretch front offices use to decide whether to add, stand pat or rethink the market entirely. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Suddenly Face A Mason Lohrei Decision Before Camp
Training camp is still around the corner, but the Bruins already have a familiar kind of roster question on their hands with Mason Lohrei. The young defenseman is entering the second year of a two-year contract, and Bostons blue line has enough depth that the team can afford to listen when interest comes in, even if nothing has moved into a true sale mode.
Lohrei has already surfaced in trade conversations before, which only adds to the sense that his name may keep coming up as the Bruins sort through their defense mix. He is aiming to play all 84 games this season, a goal that fits the kind of full-time role he wants to lock down, but the real decision for Boston is whether that path is best served by keeping him in the fold or using its surplus to address another need. [Read more 🡒]