Senyshyn Doesn't Play Enough For Senators For Bruins To Receive Higher Draft Pick
- With the regular season now done (at least for 30 of 32 teams), several trades that have conditions in them have now been finalized. One of those was the move that sent Zach Senyshyn to Ottawa in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Had the winger played in five games with the Senators, the Bruins would have received Ottawa’s 2022 sixth-round pick. He only played in two so Boston will instead get their 2022 seventh-rounder.
Bruins Have Held Contract Talks With Jakub Zboril
- The Bruins have had extension talks with defenseman Jakub Zboril, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 25-year-old was limited to just ten games with Boston this season before his year came to an end with a torn ACL. Zboril is eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency this summer since this is his fifth professional season but has just 54 career NHL games under his belt so a low-cost one-year deal to give him another chance next season would make some sense for both sides.
Troy Grosenick Returned To Providence
- The Bruins have sent goaltender Troy Grosenick back to AHL Providence, per the AHL’s transactions log. That suggests that Linus Ullmark has been cleared to return; the team was hoping he’d be able to play in one of their games this weekend. As for Grosenick, he has impressed in the minors this season with a 2.02 GAA and a .931 SV% in 28 games, ranking him first among qualifying netminders in both categories.
Pastrnak, Lindholm, Ullmark, And Froden Won't Play On Road Trip
The Bruins have had a bit of tough luck on the injury front lately with several key regulars going down. Today, the team provided a handful of updates on those players. Winger David Pastrnak and defenseman Hampus Lindholm skated today but won’t be with the team for their two-game road trip. Head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated he expects both will be back before the end of the season and could play this weekend. Meanwhile, goaltender Linus Ullmark didn’t skate today but they believe he’ll be able to return over the weekend. Winger Jesper Froden suffered a lower-body injury on Saturday and won’t be on the road trip either with no word yet on how long he might be out.
Injury Notes: MacEachern, Bruins, Flyers
The regular season is over for Mackenzie MacEachern, but fortunately his Blues are planning to play well beyond then. The team announced today that MacEachern has been placed on the Long-Term Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury. The LTIR placement requires that MacEachern sit for ten games and the Blues have just eight games left on the regular season slate. The 27-year-old forward did his best to stay off the shelf; after missing the past three games, MacEachern was back at practice today but was forced to leave early, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The cap-strapped Blues had little choice but to add MacEachern to the LTIR and recall forward Dakota Joshua from AHL Springfield on an emergency basis. The swap actually adds the superior player to the roster, as Joshua has more games played, average time on ice, goals, points, plus/minus and more with the Blues this season.
- It took injuries to David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo, and Linus Ullmark to send the Boston Bruins into their first three-game losing streak of the season, the final team in the NHL to fall in three straight this year. As the team looks to right the ship on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, they’re hoping that improved health could help. Grzelcyk was back in the lineup on Thursday night and defense partner could be the next to return, reports beat writer Eric Russo. Carlo was back at practice on Friday and there is optimism that he can return tomorrow from an undisclosed injury. Ullmark, who left Thursday’s game after the first period, did not practice and could be dealing with a concussion, but for now is considered day-to-day. Pastrnak and Lindholm skated by themselves on Friday and there is still no timetable for their return. While there is something to be said for being bit by the injury bug before the postseason, especially for a Boston team that has been decimated in the playoffs in recent years, this rough patch is potentially costing the Bruins their shot at divisional playoff berth as opposed to a wild card spot.
- The Philadelphia Flyers had no update on injured defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen today, as it is looking increasingly likely that his season is over. Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays that head coach Mike Yeo does not expect Ristolainen to return “any time soon” from an upper-body injury. There was also no update on Cam York, who is out with a lower-body injury and considered day-to-day. There is slightly more optimism surrounding Cam Atkinson, who is also out with a lower-body ailment. Atkinson won’t play on Saturday at Buffalo, but could suit up on Sunday for the second game of the home-and-home with the Sabres.
Pittsburgh Penguins To Officially Meet Boston In 2023 Winter Classic
Official now after being reported earlier today by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, the 2023 Winter Classic, previously announced to feature the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park, will feature the Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Of note, this will be the third Winter Classic not played on New Year’s Day, due to January 1st falling on a Sunday. The game will be played on Monday, January 2nd.
This is Pittsburgh’s third Winter Classic and Boston’s fourth. The Penguins have a 1-1 Winter Classic record, while the Bruins have gone 2-1. It’s also the first time the NHL has re-used a venue for the Winter Classic, replicating the 2010 edition in which Boston defeated the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 2-1 in overtime.
While it’s sure to be a good hockey game due to the quality of the teams, the selection is drawing ire from many NHL fans due to its repetitiveness. Only 14 of the league’s 32 teams have competed in a Winter Classic, with nine teams (Chicago, Boston, NY Rangers, Washington, St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Philadelphia) appearing more than once. That’s all despite the 2023 game already being the 14th edition of the outdoor game.
Pittsburgh Penguins Expected To Be Opponent In 2023 Winter Classic
Though it has not yet officially been announced, Kevin Weekes of ESPN reports that it will be the Pittsburgh Penguins who take on the Boston Bruins at next year’s Winter Classic. The event, held at Fenway Park, will be played on January 2, 2023. The Penguins had long been the favorite for the event, though it certainly won’t please some fans who haven’t seen an outdoor game involving their favorite team.
Johnny Beecher Signs AHL Tryout Contract
Another Michigan Wolverine has decided to turn pro. Johnny Beecher has signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Providence Bruins of the AHL for the remainder of this season. Just like his former teammates Thomas Bordeleau and Brendan Brisson, this allows Beecher to play for Providence down the stretch, something that isn’t possible once he signs his entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins. That may not have to wait long though, as general manager Don Sweeney explained:
We are appreciative to Mel Pearson and the Michigan coaching staff as they did a great job with his overall development. The Bruins and Johnny are leaving all options open with regards to his availability for the remainder of this season and playoffs. We will continue to communicate with his agent, Cam Stewart, while Johnny starts to play games and as we work towards finalizing his ELC.
Boston and Beecher can sign an ELC at any point, which would make him eligible to play in the NHL regular season and in the playoffs. If he does sign for 2021-22, it would be a three-year deal and the first season would burn immediately, regardless of how many games he played.
It will be interesting to see if Beecher actually climbs the ranks quicker than Bordeleau and Brisson, given his role with the Michigan team. Despite also being a high draft pick and top prospect when he entered the program, he never really found his way offensively and recorded just 39 points in three seasons. The wonder now is whether his offense will actually improve at the next level, when time and space are compressed even further, or if he is going to top out as another Bruins depth player selected in the first round.
Picked 30th overall in 2019, Beecher was always more of a project, a mixture of raw tools that the Bruins hoped would form a dynamic two-way player. The 6’3″ forward can skate well, lean on opponents and finish around the net–but too often he isn’t the one to get it there. In the right situation, he may thrive, opening room for his linemates with at size and speed, but through three years at Michigan, it didn’t really happen.
You can bet that the Bruins have a plan for him though, and he enters an organization that does have some question marks coming down the middle. Patrice Bergeron will be 37 this summer and an unrestricted free agent, Erik Haula is signed for just one more year, and other young forwards like Trent Frederic and Jack Studnicka haven’t exactly established themselves as dynamic, must-see NHL options to this point. With room to grow in the system, Beecher will have to hope his game translates to the next level quickly.
Boston Bruins Extend Oskar Steen
The Boston Bruins have announced that they have extended forward Oskar Steen, landing him on a two-year, one-way contract with an $800,000 cap hit. Steen, 24, was set to be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this offseason, meaning with this extension Boston has avoided the prospect of going to arbitration with Steen, a process many view as a headache to be avoided if possible.
Steen was the Bruins’ sixth-round pick in the 2016 draft (#165 overall) and has developed nicely since that point. Not every sixth-round pick gets a contract from the team that drafts him, let alone makes it to the NHL, so Steen’s career thus far has exceeded what could reasonably be expected from him given his draft slot. Steen has gotten into 19 NHL games this season and has posted a respectable six points. Steen is listed at five-foot-nine, 199 pounds, so he is a bit undersized, but he has found success as a professional in North America despite that limitation, thanks to his skating and compete level.
Steen has scored well for the AHL’s Providence Bruins this season, with 15 goals and 31 points in 41 games, good for fourth on the team. It’s clear from the fact that this is a one-way deal that the Bruins’ management views him as someone ready to step into the NHL lineup. At an $800k cap hit, there is very little risk for Boston in signing Steen for these next two seasons, because at the very least he’ll be a reasonably young impact player in Providence. But if Steen can continue his development, the Bruins will have gotten something that is ever-valuable in the NHL: a young, reliable, (and most importantly) cost-controlled depth player.
Georgi Merkulov Signs With Boston Bruins
Saturday: The Bruins have indeed officially signed Merkulov, inking him to a three-year deal that begins next season. The deal will carry an AAV of $925K. Merkulov will join AHL Providence on an ATO for the rest of this season.
Friday: The Boston Bruins could be adding another interesting undrafted college free agent, as Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News tweets that he hears Georgi Merkulov will be signing with the team, though he then clarified that nothing has been finalized to this point.
Merkulov, 21, recently finished his freshman season at Ohio State, where he scored 20 goals and 34 points in 36 games. That impressive performance came after spending two years in the USHL, a relatively unique path for a Russian-born and trained player. For those that watched him play this season, it’s easy to see why Merkulov would draw NHL interest, as he was often the best player on the ice for the Buckeyes and easily led the team in both goals and points.
In fact, it was Mason Lohrei, Boston’s second-round pick from 2020, that came closest to him in scoring this season racking up 29 points of his own. The Bruins would likely have seen Merkulov up close on many occasions because of their interest in Lohrei, and should know exactly what he brings to the table.
Like any other college signing, there is very little risk for the team and it provides a sort of lottery ticket similar to a late-round pick. Given how much draft capital the Bruins gave up for Hampus Lindholm at the deadline, adding players like this will be necessary over the next few years. If Merkulov can make an impact–and so far, it’s hard to bet against him–draft picks suddenly become a lot less important as the team continues to chase down another Stanley Cup.