Finalizing a roster ahead of Monday’s deadline has come with three veterans cut from Bruins camp Sunday, with forwards Nick Foligno and Chris Wagner, along with defenseman Mike Reilly, all placed on waivers.

Certainly the most expensive name of the group, the 34-year-old Foligno’s move to the waiver wire comes after a preseason run capped by an assist in Saturday’s loss to the Devils.

In action for three preseason tilts, Foligno finished the warm-up slate with one helper, five shots on goal, and 16 hits (second-most among all Bruins).

Speaking after Saturday’s game, Foligno admitted that he had no idea what the future held for him in regards to his role with the Bruins, but seemed to like his fit with Tomas Nosek and Jakub Lauko on Boston’s fourth line.

The Bruins themselves, meanwhile, went through camp hoping that Foligno would be an ‘identity’ piece of their bottom six forward group, and said that they had hoped for 10 goals out of Foligno in 2022-23.

Looking to rebound from a 2021-22 campaign that was derailed by injuries and the worst offensive results of his career (Foligno scored two goals in 64 games), Foligno quickly found himself on the wrong side of a numbers game this preseason given the Bruins’ commitment to Trent Frederic, offseason acquisition of Pavel Zacha, and preseason emergence of A.J. Greer.

Now, it’s still entirely possible if not likely that the Bruins immediately recall Foligno back to the NHL roster once they place Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand on long-term injured reserve when the season begins. And this is assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers.

But if this is the end of Foligno’s road in Boston, burying his $3.8 million cap hit in Providence would come with just $1.125 million of cap relief, and a dead cap hit charge of $2.675 million with the ex-Jackets captain in Providence. 

In the case of Wagner, a late-camp trip to the waiver wire for the second season in a row comes just a day after Bruins head Jim Montgomery said that Wagner had made the team in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Montgomery said when asked if Wagner has made the team. “He provides a level of physicality. Everything’s to be determined though, like when we’re gonna finalize things over the next couple of days.”

Again, the cap maneuvering at play here that’s been previously mentioned and alluded to by Montgomery could bring an unclaimed Wagner back to Boston sometime ahead of the team’s flight to Washington.

But if Wagner is back with the Bruins, it’s likely in that 13th forward role, where the Bruins believe that Wagner can provide an extra jolt of life as an energetic, hit-everything-that-moves fourth-line banger.

On the ice for three games this preseason, Wagner drew two penalties and racked up a team-leading 21 hits in over 49 minutes of time on ice.

The Walpole, Mass. native spent almost the entire 2021-22 season in the AHL, and finished with 15 goals and 27 points in 62 games with the P-Bruins before he joined the Bruins for their final game of the regular season and appeared in three playoff tilts for Boston.

Apr 5, 2022; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Mike Reilly (6) skates with the puck in the first period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. (Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports)

And on the backend, Mike Reilly has hit the waiver wire after a strong preseason.

Given four games of work this fall, Reilly put up one goal and three points during that stretch, and compiled 11 shots on goal, five hits, and three blocked shots.

In the second year of a three-year, $9 million extension signed back in 2021, Reilly may have the best chance of the three when it comes to getting claimed, as he’s proven to be an analytics darling, and is coming off a decent 2021-22 campaign that included four goals and 17 points in 70 games played.

At the end of the day, all three moves are cap-motivated, as a perfect world — in the Bruins’ eyes, anyway — will see all three players go unclaimed and then recalled by the team once the team dips into the long-term injured reserve pool with McAvoy and Marchand.

It would essentially be the Bruins kicking the can down the road, however, as the team would likely need to make other moves to become truly cap compliant when fully healthy.