After what felt like a billion rounds of cuts and movement, Don Sweeney and the Bruins appear to have their Opening Night roster juuuust about set after Sunday came with the final round of waiver-wire cuts for the club.

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Sweeney & Co.’s decisions came on what was an off day for the club following Saturday’s spirited practice session for the club at Warrior Ice Arena, and with ‘Media Day’ set for Monday morning at TD Garden.

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  Feb 1, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins forward A.J. Greer (10) shoots the puck during warm up before a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. (John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports)

• In their first waiver move of the afternoon, the Bruins placed bottom-six winger A.J. Greer on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the P-Bruins.

  It was this time last year that the 26-year-old carved out a fourth-line role for himself with what was a valiant preseason effort across the board. And, honestly, the 2023 preseason brought about more of the same from Greer on that front despite his move to the waiver wire.

  Given the nod for four preseason games this camp, Greer recorded one goal on four shots, and was credited with five hits, four blocked shots, and one takeaway. Natural Stat Trick also had Greer down for six individual scoring chances, which was tied for the seventh-most on the team.

  But the numbers were always working against Greer in the sense that his path to a regular NHL role with the 2023-24 Bruins was blocked by the return of Milan Lucic.

  The 6-foot-3 Greer spent all of last season with the Bruins, and posted five goals and 12 points, along with 101 hits, in 61 games for the Black and Gold.

  Greer, who is entering the final year of a two-year contract with the Bruins, has a $762,500 cap hit for the upcoming season, which is actually below the league’s minimum salary for 2023-24.

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  Sep 24, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrick Brown (38) skates the New York Rangers during the first period at TD Garden. (Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports)

• In addition to Greer, the Bruins also placed versatile fourth-line forward Patrick Brown on waivers.

  Signed to a two-year contract worth $800,000 per year at the start of 2023 free agency, Brown appeared set to bump Johnny Beecher out of an NHL role based on late-camp practice usage, with Brown in what was Beecher’s spot between Milan Lucic and Jakub Lauko. But based on Saturday and the fallout since, the Bruins have decided that speed is what they need on the fourth line, and that Beecher is the superior option to Brown.

  The 31-year-old Brown was as advertised, really. He played a no-nonsense brand of defensive hockey, and his value is at the faceoff dot. But for a Bruins team that wants to play faster and more physical in 2023-24, it didn’t seem like Brown was going to be the ideal fit for the middle of their fourth line.

  It also didn’t help that Brown dealt with an injury in training camp, and that he was on a crash course in trying to learn Boston’s system after splitting last season with the Flyers and Senators.

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  Nov 26, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Jakub Zboril (67) during the first period against the New York Rangers at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

• In other waiver-related news, the Bruins also confirmed that forwards Jesper Boqvist and Oskar Steen, along with Jakub Zboril, all cleared waivers and that all three will report to Providence.

  Zboril has played a total of 76 NHL games with the Bruins over four seasons, and is coming off a 2022-23 season that featured one goal, four points, and 31 hits in 22 games played. Zboril’s 2022-23 campaign also featured extremely prolonged stretches as a scratch for Montgomery’s loaded B’s squad, with Zboril appearing in just three games from U.S. Thanksgiving to Mar. 19 last season. In training camp looking to keep a strong grip on his status as the No. 7 defenseman, the 26-year-old Zboril battled an injury, and appeared in just two games this preseason, and recorded one assist with two blocked shots and six hits in over 34 minutes of play.

  When it came to winning a job in camp, Zboril, who was drafted with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, was almost certainly hurt by the strong push from 2023 offseason addition Ian Mitchell, as well as his own cap hit, which checks in at a hefty (for his role, anyway) $1.137 million for 2023-24.

  The 5-foot-10 Steen, meanwhile, finished the preseason with one goal on nine shots in two preseason appearances, while Boqvist appeared in three preseason games for the B’s and totaled eight shots on goal. 

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  Sep 24, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center John Beecher (19) waits for play to begin against the New York Rangers during the third period at TD Garden. (Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports)

• These cuts almost certainly serve as confirmation that the Bruins will begin their 2023-24 season with both Johnny Beecher and Matt Poitras on their NHL roster. (I don’t think the latter was much of a debate, but the former seemed to be up in the air following Thursday’s preseason finale.)

  It’s also worth noting that this roster would be cap compliant should the Bruins stick with this grouping, though it would see the B’s begin the year with under $400,000 in cap space and would feature a 12-forward and six-defenseman look compared to the 13-forward, seven-defenseman look many (myself included) expected.

  That comes as a result of the 22-year-old Mason Lohrei still being with the Bruins as of Sunday morning, and still with the Bruins following Sunday’s round of cuts. The Bruins are still debating where Lohrei, who is embarking on his first full year of pro hockey after spending the previous two years with Ohio State, will begin his 2023-24 season given both his play in the preseason and his long-term importance to the club.

  The club also has Danton Heinen still kicking around on a pro tryout. If and when he is signed, the Bruins will need to send a player down to Providence to become cap compliant.

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