Bruins make multiple moves ahead of weekend back-to-back
Interim head coach Joe Sacco and the Bruins are not bringing a bare bones crew on the road for a weekend back-to-back with stops in Pittsburgh and Minnesota, with the club making a total of six roster moves ahead of their flight out of Boston on Friday afternoon.
Beginning with the new faces, the Bruins announced the recall of forwards Georgii Merkulov and Jeff Viel, along with defenseman Ian Mitchell, from AHL Providence.
Merkulov’s latest NHL chance comes with the Russian-born forward in the midst of another strong season with the P-Bruins, with 13 goals and 44 points through 47 games, and 67 goals and 164 points in 181 AHL games over the last three seasons. The 24-year-old Merkulov had a three-game run with Boston back in November, and had one assist and four shots on goal with the Bruins, having last appeared in a game for the Big B’s back on Nov. 21 against Utah. That game was Sacco’s first behind the bench, and actually began with Merkulov skating on Boston’s top power-play unit.
Viel, meanwhile, has eight goals and 26 points in 51 games for Providence this season, and made his lone NHL appearance of the season back on Nov. 18, and had a fight and three hits in 8:29 of time on ice.
The recalls come the day after Matt Poitras left Thursday’s loss to the Islanders with a scary-looking injury and with Trent Frederic on the shelf. But the good news is that Poitras was on the ice for Friday’s practice session and ‘may be’ available for Saturday’s head-to-head with the Penguins.
In the case of Mitchell, Friday has come with his first recall of the 2024-25 season, and with the 5-foot-11 defender on the board with four goals and 27 points through 46 games with the P-Bruins this year. Known more for his offensive game than anything he does defensively — Mitchell has recorded 10 goals and 51 points in his last 88 games for Providence — the B’s decision to recall Mitchell (two assists in 13 NHL games last year) comes as a likely result of the Black and Gold searching for a bit more offensive pop from their backend beyond Mason Lohrei with both Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy out.
And in corresponding moves, the Bruins confirmed that Oliver Wahlstrom, who was placed on waivers on Thursday, has cleared waivers and will report to Providence. The Maine-born Wahlstrom recorded just one goal and one assist in 16 games with Boston after the B’s claimed him off waivers from New York back in December. And though the lack of production was not a shock, Wahlstrom’s penalty woes were, as he took a staggering five offensive-zone penalties in less than 170 minutes of total time on ice.
Elsewhere up front, the Bruins also reassigned Riley Tufte down to AHL Providence. Given an opportunity on Boston’s third line last night, Tufte once again struggled to make much of an impact, and finished Thursday’s loss with two hits and zero shots on goal in just over eight minutes of action.
On the backend, the Bruins also reassigned Michael Callahan back down to Providence.
With the Bruins for the last month plus, the Franklin, Mass. native posted 10 blocks and four hits, along with a minus-2 rating, in 11 games with the Bruins averaging 13:08 of time on ice.
The Bruins enter the weekend four points out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, and on their worst winless skid of the season, with a 0-3-2 record in their last five games.
