Waiver wire movement solidifies the Bruins’ goalie depth chart for them

The Bruins finally took care of their biggest question mark Sunday with the signing of Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year, $66 million contract. But Monday came with some additional clarity below Swayman, with two decisions made for the Bruins by way of the NHL's waiver wire.

Beginning with a departure, the indeed lost Jiri Patera on the waiver wire, with the Czech-born netminder reclaimed by the Canucks. Patera's departure from the Bruins comes just five days after the B's claimed him off waivers, and sees Patera return the club that put him on waivers in the first place.

Given the Canucks' own issues in goal, it was always a near-certainty that they would reclaim Patera if and when he hit the waiver wire, and the 25-year-old Patera hitting waivers was an absolute automatic for the Black and Gold after Swayman's signing on Sunday.

Patera's Bruins career comes to a close after flying all the way from Vancouver to Boston (what a nightmare) for what was effectively just one practice with the club, and since the Canucks were the only team to claim him, the Canucks were able to outright him to AHL Abbotsford.

But some good news for the Bruins came with Brandon Bussi sliding through the wire without a claim, which allowed the Bruins to assign him to AHL Providence.

In a make-or-break camp for Bussi from a waiver standpoint, the 26-year-old was unable to truly outperform Joonas Korpisalo to make the conversation interesting for the B's front office, but he did finish strong behind a 30-of-32 performance in Boston's preseason finale.

With Bussi unclaimed, he will once again serve as the unofficial No. 3 on the organizational depth chart, while Michael DiPietro slots as the B's No. 4 on the depth chart.

Bussi's return to AHL Providence also led to the club's release of veteran Kasimir Kaskisuo from his professional tryout agreement with the organization, while Ryan Bischel was assigned to ECHL Maine.

After seven preseason games, and one final round of cuts following the signing of Jeremy Swayman, Don Sweeney and the Bruins officially have their Opening Night roster for the 2024-25 NHL season.

And for the Bruins, who reloaded over the offseason with the free-agent additions of both center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov, it'll begin with a bang as the team is set for a playoff rematch against the Panthers in what will be banner-raising night for Florida.

The Bruins themselves feel that they are set to truly contend with the Panthers as a legitimate Cup contender, too, based on how they've built their roster and how they addressed their biggest needs.

"I think we're going to defend extremely well. Are we going to get the offense we'd like? I mean, that remains to be seen. We know who can produce. We just will still need some guys to step up offensively," Bruins president Cam Neely said of his team. "Our power play, we talked about that. It slipped a little bit in the last half of last year [but] I think that can come back now that maybe we have a little bit more of a bumper position solidified with Elias. I think he likes to play there, so we'll see how that goes.

"But I feel like we're a strong contender if we’ve got our full lineup.”

Here's how the roster will shape up once the Bruins drop the puck on the new campaign...

Beginning at the top of their roster, the Bruins are going to roll with a first line that slots Lindholm between Pavel Zacha on the left wing and David Pastrnak at right wing. If Lindholm can help stabilize the center position and give that line yet another threat, Pastrnak could and should get back in the Hart Trophy conversation as a legitimate contender to those outside of Boston. And that's a scary thought considering that he was arguably more important to the Bruins' success last year than he was in 2022-23 when he was an actual finalist for the honor awarded to the player judged to be the most valuable player to their team.

You can expect that line to get a ton of offensive-zone minutes out of the gate.

And just below that top line, the Bruins will roll with a second line that slots Morgan Geekie to the right of Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle in what projects to be a do-it-all line for Jim Montgomery's squad.

Down the lineup, the Bruins are projected to open up their season with a third line that features Max Jones at left wing, Justin Brazeau at right wing, and Trent Frederic at center. Their fourth line, meanwhile, will feature Johnny Beecher, Mark Kastelic, and Cole Koepke to begin the season.

Koepke is perhaps the lone surprise of this group based on offseason projections, but Koepke certainly earned the gig out of camp, as he was a constant factor whenever deployed during the preseason.

The group will also have Riley Tufte hanging around as the proverbial 13th forward.

On the backend, which is the absolute and undeniable strength of this club, the Bruins are going for a supercharged top pairing that'll reunite Hampus Lindholm with Charlie McAvoy.

Over the last three seasons, the Lindholm-McAvoy pairing has been one hell of a weapon for the Bruins, with the duo on the ice for a 39-20 scoring edge and a plus-125 shot differential at five-on-five play.

That'll align Mason Lohrei and Brandon Carlo as Boston's second pairing, while Nikita Zadorov will skate with Andrew Peeke to give the Black and Gold an absolutely punishing third-pairing look.

Parker Wotherspoon, meanwhile, will round out the group as their seventh blue liner.

In goal, the Bruins will indeed have the tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman ready to go.

Korpisalo, who is coming off an absolutely miserable season in Ottawa, was named the Opening Night starter last week, but it's worth wondering if that's changed with Swayman signed and practicing with the club. Speaking with reporters on Monday, Montgomery acknowledged Swayman starting as a possibility for the club.

And when it comes to some 'extras' hanging around, it's worth noting that the Bruins designated forward Matt Poitras, along with defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula, as 'Injured Non-Roster' players.

Poitras and Mitchell did practice with the club on Monday, but it's worth noting that Poitras was skating in a non-contact jersey (and remains 'day-to-day' according to the team) and that Mitchell may have suffered his injury during practice. Regula, meanwhile, has not practiced with the team at all this camp due to injury.