|
Bruins slice numbers down to two groups |
|
|
 |
Ty Anderson
 Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSS
• Archive
• CONTACT
|
|
|
With three rounds of cuts in the last week, the Boston Bruins have officially whittled their training camp roster down to two groups.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney’s began on Sept. 28 when the club assigned eight skaters down to Providence ahead of the opening of camp for the Baby B’s.
That group of eight featured forwards Joey Abate, Vincent Arseneau, Justin Brazeau, Curtis Hall, Owen Pederson, and Luke Toporowski, as well as defenseman Ethan Ritchie and goaltender Shane Starrett.
The club followed that up with another pair of cuts this past Friday, with Ryan Mast assigned to Providence training camp while Jackson Edward was returned to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.
And on Sunday, the Bruins made their most significant cuts to date, with Alex Chiasson released from his pro tryout, Michael DiPietro placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the minors, and young guns Brett Harrison and Frederic Brunet assigned to Providence’s training camp.
In action for two preseason games, Chiasson did not record a point in either game, and had two brutal misses on the net front on the power play in Boston’s most recent preseason tilt. Beyond the zeroes, Chiasson put up two shots on goal, and added one hit in just under 30 minutes of total time on ice with the club.
Speaking following Sunday’s practice, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery noted that Chiasson did not come up short, but that the Bruins wanted to cut their numbers down a little bit and also give the 33-year-old a chance to latch on with another organization before the end of the preseason.
Chiasson’s inability to capitalize on his power-play looks last Friday was probably all the Bruins needed to see, really. It’s probably not fair to judge one player off one power-play sequence, but when you’re on a tryout and you’re known for those kind of goals, you almost have to connect. It also felt like Chiasson was just a touch behind the play in terms of his pace and ability to play as fast as the Bruins want to in 2023-24.
Chiasson’s cut means that Danton Heinen, who scored a goal in his last outing, is the only remaining ‘PTO’ player still on the Black and Gold’s camp roster.
DiPietro, picked up in last year’s Jack Studnicka trade, made one appearance for the B’s this preseason, and turned aside 11 of 12 shots thrown his way in last Tuesday’s loss to the Sabres.
Following his move from the Canucks organization to the Bruins organization, DiPietro spent the majority of the 2022-23 season with ECHL Maine, where he won 19 games and posted a .918 save percentage in 29 appearances. DiPietro, who has appeared in three NHL games (0-2-0 with a .771 save percentage) over this pro career, also stopped 33-of-35 in his lone AHL appearance of the year.
In the minors, he’ll be competing with Kyle Keyser to be Brandon Bussi‘s backup and essentially be the No. 4 goaltender on the organizational depth chart.
Bruins announce roster for Monday vs. Flyers
And with their camp numbers continuing to inch their way closer to all-NHLer look, the Bruins have revealed the roster that'll travel down to Philly for Monday's rematch with the Flyers...
Forwards: Jesper Boqvist, Justin Brazeau, Patrick Brown, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Morgan Geekie, A.J. Greer, Fabian Lysell, Marc McLaughlin, Matt Poitras, Anthony Richard, Oskar Steen
Defensemen: Mike Callahan, Brandon Carlo, Hampus Lindholm, Ian Mitchell, Dan Renouf, Reilly Walsh
Goaltenders: Brandon Bussi, Jeremy Swayman
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, HockeyBuzz.com or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter/X: @_TyAnderson.
Join the Discussion:
»
