The home stretch of 2023 Bruins training camp is officially here.
With five of Boston’s six preseason games in the books, the Bruins have shifted their focus to Thursday’s ‘dress rehearsal’ finale at Madison Square Garden, and B’s head coach Jim Montgomery expects to the team to be down to ‘one big group’ by the weekend. Based on what Montgomery said following Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Capitals, there’s not too much left to decide for the Black and Gold when it comes to their Opening Night roster.
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But with the decisions left to be made outweighing the roster spots, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and the rest of the front office continue to make move after move after move in pursuit of their ideal 20-man roster.
Sep 26, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Boston Bruins center Jayson Megna (20) looks to make a pass during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)
Elsewhere on the roster, the Bruins placed forward Jayson Megna on waivers for the purpose of assigning him down to Providence’s training camp.
The 33-year-old Megna appeared in three games for the Bruins this preseason, and had one giveaway, three hits, and won 19 of his 33 battles at the dot (a 57.6 percent success rate).
Megna spent the majority of the 2022-23 season with Anaheim, and with two goals and eight points in 41 games for the Ducks. Megna actually began last season with the Avalanche, and had 20 hits and a 50.7 faceoff percentage in 14 games with Colorado, but was claimed off waivers by the Ducks in December. Megna also added three goals and six points in nine games with AHL Colorado in 2022-23.
Your classic ‘tweener’ type, Megna has made NHL appearances for five different teams since 2013 (the Penguins, Rangers, Canucks, Avalanche, and Ducks), and has 12 goals and 33 points over a 203-game NHL run.
Oct 2, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins center Marc McLaughlin (26) and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cam York (8) battle for position during the third period at Wells Fargo Center. (Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports)
Beyond the waiver wire, the Bruins also confirmed Marc McLaughlin‘s move from the club’s NHL training camp down to Providence training camp.
The North Billerica, Mass. native made two appearances for the Bruins this preseason, and recorded three hits, one blocked shots, and went 8-for-15 at the dot. The Bruins view McLaughlin as somebody who can play both center and wing, but it feels like his quickest ticket to the NHL may be as an energy winger somewhere in the Black and Gold’s bottom six, especially if and when injuries strike or the team finds themselves in a slump.
Sep 29, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Georgii Merkulov (42) skates with the puck during the third period against the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
McLaughlin will be joined in Providence by Georgii Merkulov.
Another player who can play both wing and center, the Bruins gave Merkulov a notable run at center in training camp, and cited the improvement that the Russian-born forward made in the defensive game. (Merkulov himself believes that he’s ‘way better’ defensively than he was at this time last year.)
Merkulov, who was one of the top rookies in the AHL a year ago, went an even 14-for-28 at the faceoff dot, and recorded two assists and eight shots in two games this preseason.
Sep 26, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Boston Bruins center Trevor Kuntar (52) deflects a shot on Buffalo Sabres goaltender Devon Levi (27) during the first period at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)
A first-year pro, the strong push from Trevor Kuntar also came to an end Wednesday, with the 22-year-old move from Boston to Providence. The ex-BC Eagle certainly did his part to make his ice time count, with a team-high eight shots and six individual scoring chances in just 22:09 of five-on-five play this preseason.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
With this latest round of cuts, the Bruins are down to 17 forwards remaining in their NHL camp.
That group includes Johnny Beecher, Jesper Boqvist, Patrick Brown, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie, A.J. Greer, Danton Heinen, Jakub Lauko, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Matt Poitras, Oskar Steen, James van Riemsdyk, and Pavel Zacha.
And with the Bruins expected to roll with just 13 forwards for the start of the NHL season, four more cuts from the B’s forward group are expected between now and the weekend.
