The Bruins opened preseason by doing exactly what teams want in September: letting the kids push, and making the roster math a little messier in the process.
Boston beat Washington 3-2 in a shootout Sunday night at TD Garden, and the game quickly turned into a showcase for the younger players fighting to stick. James Hagens looked noticeably sharper, faster and stronger than he did last spring, then capped it with a nasty shootout winner. Marat Khusnutdinov also turned in a strong showing, right in line with what he flashed last season.
But the biggest takeaway from the night is the one that complicates everything else: the Bruins cannot put Matthew Poitras or Frederic Brunet on waivers.
Both looked ready for NHL minutes and deserve a real chance to prove it. Poitras did take a bad hooking penalty in overtime, but his speed and defensive positioning stood out all night.
The problem is not performance. It’s the opening-night puzzle.
There just may not be a clean place for him in the lineup.
A possible starting forward group could look like this:
Morgan Geekie - Elias Lindholm - David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt - Pavel Zacha - JJ Peterka
James Hagens - Fraser Minten - Marat Khusnutdinov
Tanner Jeannot - Sean Kuraly - Mark Kastelic
That leaves Poitras without an obvious lane, which puts Boston in an awkward spot. The Bruins could open with him as the 13th forward, giving them a flexible option who can slide into the top nine.
Or they could explore trading him in a preseason deal. There’s also a slim chance they try to sneak him through waivers, helped by a condensed camp and fewer roster spots around the league, but that feels unlikely.
Alex Steeves also skated Sunday and didn’t have his best game. He did plenty right away from the puck - positionally and physically - but his work with the puck was the issue. He’s squarely on the bubble and looks like a waiver candidate.
On the back end, Brunet kept making the kind of plays that get noticed. He looked comfortable next to Charlie McAvoy and handled himself well throughout the night.
That was a much better outing than the one from Henri Jokiharju, who struggled to find the same level. He’s a solid NHL defenseman, but his game hasn’t meshed with Marco Sturm’s style, and Boston appears likely to send him to waivers.
Mason Lohrei had a mixed night, with some good moments and some not-so-good ones. He and Brunet are the main competition for the seventh defenseman job, though there’s a major wrinkle: McAvoy is suspended for six games, so Boston will need to carry an extra defenseman. That makes it feel close to certain that Jokiharju and Jordan Harris are the two defenders on the outside, while Lohrei and Brunet can play through the first six games and make their cases from there.
The youth movement is clearly in motion in Boston. Brunet and Poitras both made strong cases Sunday.
Brunet’s path looks promising. Poitras’ problem may simply be the numbers.
The Bruins are off Monday, and cuts have already started. Providence camp opens Tuesday, and Navrin Mutter was placed on waivers earlier in the day.
Boston’s next preseason game is Tuesday night at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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Young Bruins Get A Big Chance With Camp Jobs On The Line
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Bruins Opener Just Became Crucial For Bostons Young Roster Hopefuls
With the preseason trimmed to just four games under the new CBA rules, the Bruins do not have much room to sort out their young roster hopefuls. Their opener against the Capitals takes on extra weight because it gives the staff an early look at several players trying to push their way onto the regular-season roster, with Charlie McAvoy, James Hagens, Frederic Brunet and Matthew Poitras all part of the evaluation.
For a team trying to balance immediate readiness with long-term upside, every shift matters a little more than it used to. The Bruins will use these first exhibitions to start separating players who can handle NHL minutes now from those who may need more time elsewhere, and with fewer chances to make an impression, the first game could shape some of the biggest decisions of camp. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Camp Is Pointing JJ Peterka In An Unexpected Direction
Training camp has a way of clearing up the guesswork, and in Bostons case the early read on JJ Peterka has been a little different than some fans may have expected. Through the first three days, Peterka has been working on the right wing with Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha, while coach Marco Sturm has spent camp sorting through combinations rather than simply defaulting to the most obvious fit.
Peterka has said he feels comfortable in that spot, and the Bruins are clearly looking for a grouping that can sharpen the teams offensive efficiency. The longer those trios stay intact, the more they start to look less like an experiment and more like the shape of things when the season opens. [Read more 🡒]