2/19: Chris Johnston of TSN reports that Steen has successfully cleared waivers and is now able to safely report to AHL Providence.
2/18: Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins have placed forward Oskar Steen on waivers for the purpose of reassignment to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. In the move, the Bruins will be able to parse their roster down to 22 players, one shy of the 23-man limit.
Unless claimed by another organization over the next 24 hours, Steen is likely headed for Providence, allowing the Bruins to call up a younger player such as John Beecher or Mason Lohrei to round out their roster. Recently overtaken by the Florida Panthers as the top team in the Eastern Conference, Boston may feel injecting youth into the lineup could give the team a boost over the home stretch.
For Steen in particular, it will be hard for him to find many positives coming out of this season for the Bruins. In 34 games played, Steen has averaged 9:04 a night, managing only one goal over the year. He has been physical and largely sound defensively, but he certainly was not earning a roster spot over a younger option.
It will not be the first time Steen has been sent down this year, as he was regularly shuffled in October and November. With his last call-up coming on November 17th, his passage through waivers became a requirement to get him back to Providence.
Because of his taxiing earlier in the season, Steen has only totaled five games for Providence, scoring two goals and five points overall. Thankfully, he will once again be finding himself in a playoff race in the AHL, as Providence holds a 29-15-3-2 record, good for second place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.