Dan Locmelis is in the mix at Bruins training camp, but the path to Boston looks narrow for one simple reason: roster math.
The Bruins opened camp Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena, and the clock is already ticking. There are just 12 days between the team’s first on-ice session and the season opener against the New York Rangers on Sept. 29 at TD Garden. With the preseason trimmed to four games instead of six and the regular season stretching from 82 games to 84, there’s not much room for young players on the bubble to make a lasting case to second-year head coach Marco Sturm and his staff.
Locmelis enters camp healthy after his 2025-26 AHL season was cut short by shoulder surgery. He also turned in a solid showing at the Prospect Showcase in Buffalo last week, though James Hagens grabbed most of the attention coming out of that event.
Even so, Locmelis has a real hurdle to clear that can shape the final roster decisions: waivers. That matters because Matthew Poitras is also in the picture, and he needs to clear waivers before going to the Providence Bruins in the AHL. Boston would be taking a major risk by trying to send the 2022 second-round pick through waivers so soon after camp opens.
Poitras signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $850,000 on Wednesday and is expected to have an important season in Boston. Keeping him with the Bruins as an extra forward makes more sense than gambling on waivers, and that in turn makes Locmelis the likelier option to head to Providence if the Bruins decide to trim the roster.
That’s why the most straightforward outcome, at least to start the season, is Locmelis going down while Poitras stays in Boston. James Hagens, meanwhile, is expected to break camp in Boston as well.
There will still be roster decisions to sort through after the preseason and once the season opener arrives, but for Locmelis, the early-season path points toward Providence.
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