Bruins make first decision of 2024 offseason

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney considers himself a never-say-never kind of guy.

But with a jam-packed offseason to-do list in front of him, Sweeney has reportedly already let one player know that he's free to look for work outside the organization, with bottom-six forward Oskar Steen informed that the club will be parting ways with him this summer.

Word of the Bruins' intentions came courtesy of Steen's agent, Joakim Persson, as confirmed to a Swedish outlet (and with some help from Google Translate).

"Boston has given us permission to already start talking to other teams to see what interest there is," Persson told VF. "So those are the conversations we are in the middle of now, and I'm going over to Vegas for the NHL draft on July 28-29 and continue to have conversations and dialogues there."

Among Boston's pending Group 6 unrestricted free agents, the split between the B's and Steen was certainly expected, especially after the Bruins waived him down to Providence in February following an NHL run that featured just one goal and zero assists in 34 regular-season games in 2023-24.

One of 580 NHL players to play at least 30 games in 2023-24 at the time of his move to the waiver wire (and subsequent reassignment to AHL Providence), Steen’s single point ranked dead last among that group of 580, while he was also one of just two forwards (and just four players in total) in the NHL to play at least 300 five-on-five minutes and not record multiple points at that point in the season.

While he made multiple trips to the waiver wire, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery had grown to appreciate Steen's 'stout' play as a 5-foot-9 wing who was able to get to the front of the net given his frame. But Steen failed to elevate that and become more than a fourth-line plug-and-play type, as he didn't seem to have the ability to be a true agitator and draw his fair share of penalties (like a Jakub Lauko, for example) nor did he have the scoring chops to hang as a full-time contributor.

Drafted by the Bruins with a sixth-round pick (No. 165 overall), Steen recorded four goals and eight points in 60 NHL games over his Boston tenure, and his 60 appearances are the fifth-most among players drafted in the sixth round or later in that 2016 class.

What's expected to be a busy offseason for the Bruins and general manager Don Sweeney, who has cap space to his team's name for what feels like the first time in ages, has yet to get underway.

But with their critical dates already announced, the Bruins now have a preseason schedule to go along with their 2024 training camp slate, with a seven-game preseason on the docket for the B's this fall.

For the Bruins, the preseason schedule features the usual suspects, with series against the Rangers, Flyers, and Capitals. But this year's preseason will also include the always-rare visit to Canada, with the Bruins and Kings slated to square off in a preseason game up in Quebec City. (Where's Patrice Bergeron when you need him?)

The full schedule goes as follows...

For the second preseason in a row, the Bruins will kick their warm-up slate off with a 5 p.m., Sunday home-ice showdown with the New York Rangers. The top team in the NHL during the 2023-24 regular season, the Rangers dominated the Bruins in last year's season series, but could take a slight step back next season with defenseman (and former Bruins prospect) Ryan Lindgren due a substantial raise and with deadline pickups like Jack Roslovic and Alex Wennberg set to hit the open market as unrestricted free agents. Something of note with this game: This could be the first time we see center Matt Poitras back in game action after a shoulder injury ended his rookie season in 2023-24.

Another staple of the Black and Gold's preseason schedule, the Bruins and Capitals will continue the September edition of their rivalry with a showdown in Boston. The Capitals, who snuck into the second wild card spot in the East last season, went 2-0-1 against the Bruins last season. Given the fact that this is Boston's second home game of the preseason, you can expect to see a solid chunk of Boston's veterans make their preseason debut in this game.

The Bruins will take their preseason act on the road with a quick stop in Manhattan. By this game, we will almost certainly have seen every NHL-contending netminder on the Bruins' roster. That could be an interesting story to follow in camp should the Bruins move on from Linus Ullmark this offseason, too, especially with both Michael DiPietro and Brandon Bussi knocking at the door and out of minor-league options.

The Bruins took two of three head-to-heads with the Flyers during their three-game series during the 2023-24 season, and scored 14 goals over that three-game series. My favorite thing about the Flyers in the preseason is that John Tortorella seemingly hates the preseason and opts not to coach those games, often watching from the press box instead and letting his assistants handle the exhibition contests. I love this man. So much.

The Bruins will wrap up their preseason series with the Flyers with the second half of the home-and-home a few days later. Given the travel ahead of the Bruins following this game, it's worth wondering if Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery treats this game as the proverbial dress rehearsal for his team.

As previously noted, the lone interesting wrinkle of the B's seven-game preseason schedule will come with this game, which will take place up in Quebec City. The Bruins went 1-0-1 against the Kings in 2023-24.

By this game, absolutely everybody involved in training camp will be sick of training camp and the preseason and ready to get things underway. But it'll also be the final chance for some bubble players to make their roster push and avoid a trip to the always-uncertain waiver wire or a release from their tryout agreement with the club.