Mikey Eyssimont is making it harder and harder for the Bruins to ignore him.
The veteran forward was sent to Providence after clearing waivers, and since then he’s done exactly what a player trying to force his way back into the picture should do: produce. On Sunday afternoon, in a 6-1 road win over the Hershey Bears, Eyssimont scored three times for the P-Bruins. He opened the scoring in the first period, then added two more in the second to help Providence sprint out to a 4-0 lead.
That performance pushed him into a tie for the AHL lead with seven goals, according to Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal.
For Providence coach Trent Whitfield, it’s a useful problem to have. The P-Bruins already have a veteran-heavy group to start the season, with Eyssimont joined by Alex Steeves and defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
But Boston’s current mix has left very little space for anyone trying to work their way up from the AHL. The Bruins have a logjam of young talent playing well, and that’s squeezing out the veterans.
Matthew Poitras’s situation helped shape the opening of the season. When he was announced as beginning the year on injured reserve, head coach Marco Sturm made it clear the 2022 second-round pick would get his chance once healthy. Poitras is back in the mix now, and he’s making that decision look pretty easy to stand behind.
That’s part of why Eyssimont’s path back to Boston looks so murky. Pavel Zacha is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, but even that hasn’t opened a real lane for another veteran call-up.
With Poitras, James Hagens, and Marat Khusnutdinov all playing well, there simply isn’t much room. Even Sean Kuraly, by the look of things, is fighting for ice time.
Eyssimont began the season with Boston as the extra forward while Poitras was sidelined. Once Poitras was cleared, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney put Eyssimont on waivers for the purpose of sending him to Providence, and he cleared them before heading down.
Now he may be turning into something else entirely: a trade chip.
Unless injuries pile up, Eyssimont’s time in black and gold appears to be winding down. His strong start in the AHL is only making him more attractive to teams looking for a veteran bottom-six option or extra depth. In that sense, the Bruins may be watching his value rise even if his future in Boston keeps shrinking.
In Other News...
Bruins Prospects Showed Life But Providence Still Has A Bigger Problem
Providence got some offense from a couple of players who can still give the Bruins organization a reason to keep watching, even if the results keep leaving plenty to sort through. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju provided a jolt from the blue line, Mikey Eyssimont chipped in on the scoresheet, and Simon Zajicek saw enough work in net to face 28 shots in a game that asked a lot of the P-Bruins.
Still, the bigger issue in Providence is not whether there can be a promising night here and there, but whether the pieces are coming together fast enough to matter in a tougher stretch. The Bears left the Giant Center with a 5-3 win, and while Providence showed some life offensively, the margin for error remains thin when the lineup needs more than scattered contributions to keep pace. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Got A Glimpse Of Their Next Wave In Comeback Win
The Bruins comeback win over Anaheim offered a small but meaningful look at some of the organizations younger depth, with Frederic Brunet and Michael DiPietro both taking noticeable steps in a 4-2 victory. Brunet has been handed power-play duty by head coach Marco Sturm, and the chance paid off in a game Boston needed after falling behind early.
DiPietro, meanwhile, handled the heavier lift in net and made 25 saves in just his second start of the season, giving Boston steady play while the offense rallied around him. For a team trying to sort out its next layer of contributors, it was the kind of night that can matter beyond one result, especially with Brunet showing he can help in the same situations the Bruins will keep asking him to handle. [Read more 🡒]
Marco Sturm Sent Bruins Veterans A Clear Message During This Streak
Bostons five-game run rolled on with a 4-1 win over the Kings, but the larger takeaway for the Bruins may have come before the puck dropped. Marco Sturm used a lineup decision to send a pretty direct message to his veterans, reinforcing that effort and discipline still matter even when the team is stacking wins. The Bruins had to adjust without Pavel Zacha in the mix, yet they still found enough balance to keep the streak alive.
David Pastrnak helped drive the offense, Marat Khusnutdinov chipped in, and Boston continued to look like a team growing more comfortable in Sturms structure. Even with the recent success, the message from the bench was clear: no spot is guaranteed, and the standard is not changing just because the results have improved. [Read more 🡒]