Over the last couple of days, the Boston Bruins have been making cuts and having the final roster become clearer. On Friday, the Bruins announced another round of cuts with the regular season just five days away on Oct. 8.
The Bruins placed five players, Patrick Brown, Michael Callahan, Georgii Merkulov, Victor Soderstrom, and Riley Tufte, on waivers for assignment to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL). Four prospects, Frederic Brunet, Riley Duran, Brett Harrison, and Fabian Lysell, were sent to the P-Bruins.
As expected, some of the players were disappointed not to make the NHL roster in Boston out of camp. Sturm had a message for them before they headed to Providence.
“Yes, they’re all disappointed - probably some guys more than others - but they have to realize, ‘OK, now the work begins,'' said Sturm.
Bruins Risk Losing Players to Waivers
It will be interesting to see which Bruins clear waivers on Saturday. It's unlikely anyone claims Brown, Tufte, or Callahan, but Merkulov is someone who might draw some interest with some teams. He is a promising prospect who could use a change of scenery to get things going.
Sometimes when prospects head to the minors, they either go down there and work their way back up, or they could be upset and not play as well. For players like Lysell, it'll be interesting to see how he plays. He is someone who would get a call back up to Boston should an injury occur.
The writing was on the wall for Lysell and other prospects over the summer when general manager Don Sweeney signed a slew of bottom-six free agents. It was another situation where offseason moves block some of the younger players from finding a spot on the NHL roster. Matthew Poitras and Fraser Minten are still in Boston as Sturm tinkered with some of the lines at practice on Friday.
