- To comply with the salary cap, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reported that all the transactions made today by the Boston Bruins were ’paper’ transactions. For those that don’t know, ’paper’ transactions are simply callups and reassignments that qualify for salary cap compliance, but the players included likely will not see any minutes with their respective teams.
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Bruins Rumors
Ed Sandford Passes Away
Former Boston Bruins captain Ed Sandford has passed away at the age of 95, the team has announced.
Sandford was a veteran of 503 NHL games, gathered across nine different seasons. He made his NHL debut in 1947-48, at the age of 19, appearing in 59 games and scoring 25 points. He built on those numbers for his sophomore season, scoring 16 goals and 36 points in 56 games – good for fifth on the team in scoring. Sandford’s career year came during the 1953-54 season, when he scored 16 goals and 47 points in 70 games, setting a career-high in games played, assists, and points and tying his career-high in goals. Sandford also served as the Bruins captain in 1954-55. The season would serve as his last with Boston, as Sandford was a piece of the trade sending Terry Sawchuk to the Bruins. The full package saw Sawchuk, Marcel Bonin, Lorne Davis, and Vic Stasiuk move to the Bruins in exchange for Gilles Boisvert, Real Chevrefils, Norm Corcoran, Warren Godfrey, and Sandford.
Sandford’s career ended less than one season after this trade. He played in a mere five games with Detroit, getting traded to the Chicago Blackhawks only four months after moving to Detroit. He played in 56 games with the Hawks, recording 12 goals and 21 points. Sawchuk would go on to play 102 games with the Bruins before returning to the Red Wings for seven more seasons. The Hall-of-Fame goaltender set a 40-43-19 record in Boston, recording a .917 save percentage.
Sandford served as an off-ice official following his playing career, working as a goal judge, official scorer, and supervisor of off-ice officials. He was named to the Bruins “Historic 100”, as one of the team’s most legendary players of all-time, earlier this fall. PHR sends our condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones.
Jesper Boqvist At Bruins Practice
- Despite still being on assignment to AHL Providence, Boston Bruins forward Jesper Boqvist is practicing with the NHL squad today, Bruins independent reporter Joe Haggerty relays. That comes with the news that forwards Jakub Lauko and Milan Lucic are both listed as day-to-day with injuries and will miss between one and two weeks, head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters today. That means recalling Boqvist (or signing PTO invite Danton Heinen) will be necessary to fill out the Bruins’ roster for tonight’s game against Anaheim, as the team has just 11 healthy forwards even after recalling Patrick Brown from Providence this morning.
Ian Mitchell Clears Waivers
10/26/23: Mitchell has cleared waivers, according to Johnston, paving the way for his assignment to the Providence Bruins.
10/25/23: Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports Wednesday that the Bruins have placed defenseman Ian Mitchell on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence.
Mitchell, 24, made the Bruins’ opening night roster earlier this month after Boston acquired his signing rights in the Taylor Hall trade with the Blackhawks last summer. He’s appeared in just two of six contests this season, though, and can now be claimed by any team in the league after playing very limited minutes in his lone Bruins appearances.
Since turning pro with the Blackhawks in 2020, Mitchell has four goals and 13 assists for 17 points in 84 games. He dealt with injuries last season that limited him to just 35 games in Chicago and only five games with AHL Rockford, although he did light up the minors with two goals and four assists in those five appearances.
A second-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2017, Mitchell was looking like a slam-dunk prospect after three strong seasons at the University of Denver, where he amassed 18 goals, 71 assists and 89 points in 116 games. He has been solid in the AHL since turning pro, but the point totals haven’t translated to NHL play yet. That’s partly because he’s yet to average more than 16 minutes a night in a single season, posting rather poor possession numbers against weak competition. He’ll need to improve his defensive game to earn an everyday NHL job.
That said, his strong showings in AHL play could be enough to convince a team to take a flyer on him and put in a claim. After all, he is making the league minimum salary of $775K on a one-year, one-way deal and will be under team control at the end of the season as a restricted free agent.
Whether or not the Bruins will make a corresponding transaction tomorrow after Mitchell’s stint on the waiver wire is over remains unknown. Losing Mitchell on waivers or assigning him to Providence leaves the team with just 13 forwards and six defensemen on the active roster, including injured forward Milan Lucic, who’s sidelined on a day-to-day basis.
Bruins Recall Patrick Brown
Oct. 26: Per the AHL transactions log, Brown is right back up on Boston’s NHL roster. It’s unclear why Brown’s stint in the minors was so short-lived.
Oct. 25: It hasn’t been the best of starts to Patrick Brown’s tenure with Boston. He passed through waivers unclaimed at the end of training camp but managed to stay on the roster to start the season. Now, per the AHL’s transactions log, he has been assigned to AHL Providence.
The 31-year-old split last season between Philadelphia and Ottawa, notching a dozen points in 61 games between the two teams. A physical fourth liner, he earned himself a two-year, one-way deal this summer as the Bruins rebuilt their forward depth with the hope he’d be a regular on their fourth line. But he has been scratched three times already and logged just 9:30 per game.
It’s worth noting that Danton Heinen remains on a PTO with the Bruins; freeing up Brown’s $800K cap charge by assigning him to the minors would open up the cap room for them to convert that tryout into a full contract as soon as Thursday once the 1 PM CT waiver period passes. The assignment would also get him playing a bit more regularly so that he’ll be better suited to contribute if and when injuries arise. If he suits up in Providence, it will be Brown’s first AHL action since the 2020-21 campaign.
Bruins Sign Jackson Edward To Entry-Level Contract
The Bruins announced Tuesday that they’ve signed defense prospect Jackson Edward to a three-year, entry-level contract. Per the team, the deal carries a cap hit of $860K.
After signing him to the contract, the Bruins immediately returned Edward to the OHL’s London Knights on loan. That’s where the 19-year-old shutdown prospect has played since 2021. He’s off to a strong start this season on the scoresheet, posting six points and a +7 rating in ten games. For context, Edward had six points, all assists, in the entirety of 2021-22 (his draft year), when he played 54 games for London. The Bruins’ scouting staff decided to take a flyer on him late in the 2022 NHL Draft with the 200th overall pick.
Given his age, Edward’s contract is eligible to slide one season to the 2024-25 campaign – assuming he plays less than ten NHL games for the Bruins this season. Given that’s the likely scenario, Edward’s deal will likely run through the 2026-27 season, after which point he’ll be a restricted free agent.
The Newmarket, Ontario-born defender stands at 6-foot-2 and nearly 200 pounds, and he relies on a very involved, physical game to be effective. His playmaking and passing accuracy have improved notably since his draft day, though. That’s something that could keep him from being a major offensive liability if he reaches the NHL.
Milan Lucic Out With Lower Body Injury
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Paul Dupont tweeted today that Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic is out with a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated tomorrow or Thursday. No word yet on the exact nature of the injury to the 35-year-old but he did miss Sunday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks after taking the pre-game warmup. Lucic did one lap with the team and immediately went to the dressing room and did not return.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told the media prior to Sunday’s game that one of their players was dealing with a day-to-day thing and was questionable for the Anaheim game. Given what has transpired this week it appears to have been Lucic.
Lucic took a slap shot in the foot in Saturday night’s 4-2 Bruins win against the Los Angeles Kings and missed some shifts shortly after. But there is no word yet on whether that is the cause of the additional testing later this week.
Lucic returned to the Bruins this summer signing a one-year $1MM (plus bonuses) deal after spending the last four seasons with the Calgary Flames. The native of Vancouver, British Columbia was brought in on a value deal in the hopes of being able to provide the Bruins with a net-front presence and some physicality. Although he is not the player he was when Boston traded him to Los Angeles in 2015, he has still been a productive NHLer, and big men are always in demand.
In Boston this season, Lucic is off to an uneven start with two assists in four games, while those offensive numbers are above his recent averages, his possession numbers and many of his underlying numbers aren’t great thus far.
Derek Forbort Out Day-To-Day With Injury
Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort missed Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury and has been announced as day-to-day. Forbort has appeared in four games so far this season, recording two points and a +3. Fourth-year pro, Ian Mitchell, slotted into the NHL lineup in Forbort’s absence, recording one assist and two penalties in 10 minutes of ice time. Mitchell slotted in for an injured Kevin Shattenkirk on Saturday – earning his first two games of the season over the weekend.
Bruins Benching DeBrusk Due To Being Late For Team Meeting
- Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk will be a healthy scratch tonight against Los Angeles, the team announced (Twitter link). The scratching isn’t a performance-based one but rather a disciplinary one as he was late to a team meeting. The 27-year-old has been held without a point through his first three games of the season, not quite the start he was hoping for in a contract year as he’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency for the first time next summer.
Providence Bruins Send Down Ryan Mast
- In smaller news, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal is reporting that the Providence Bruins, AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins, have sent defenseman Ryan Mast to their ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners. Mast is a recent sixth-round pick of the Bruins back in the 2021 NHL Draft, and recently wrapped up a career with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, scoring eight goals and 22 assists in 50 games during his last season.
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