A new era begins for the Boston Bruins with the hiring of new head coach Jim Montgomery. The Bruins’ roster has been aging, and the lack of high draft picks and issues with drafting and development have left the Bruins without many young players taking on full-time roles with the team. For many, the blame fell on former coach Bruce Cassidy’s unwillingness to be patient with the younger players and having a short leash and a short temper with them. But all of the blame might be unfairly allocated to Cassidy, who has moved on to Vegas.
General manager Don Sweeney said the team could use a few young players to emerge and steal jobs from veterans. This preseason, rookies AJ Greer and Marc McLaughlin have shown flashes of being able to take on a bottom-six role for Boston. Former first-round pick John Beecher is also a prospect who could find himself in Boston soon. On October 6, McLaughlin was sent to the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins. The move was a surprise to some Bruins’ fans as McLaughlin seemed to prove his worth and outplayed veteran players like Nick Foligno and Trent Frederic.
Part of the reason McLaughlin was demoted and former sixth-rounder Oskar Steen was placed on waivers is because McLaughlin does not have to clear waivers, and Steen is expendable. Steen has since cleared the waiver process and will report to Providence. But does it send the right message for management to potentially keep underperforming players like Tomas Nosek over a young player who is performing well enough to stick in the lineup?
With the Bruins salary cap situation in flux and the need for creative ways to get cap compliant, the Bruins placed Foligno, Chris Wagner, and Mike Reilly on waivers. Jakub Lauko remains on the roster after a good camp, as does Jack Studnicka. Boston needs younger players to step up for this season and beyond, but they need a legitimate chance to show they belong. Lauko has not played in an NHL game after three seasons in the AHL. Studnicka was drafted in 2017 but has played just 37 games in Boston. Steen was drafted in 2016 but has played just 23 games in the pros. Typically in the past, prospects would be yo-yo’d back and forth to Providence without much of a look.
Now is the time to see what the Bruins have in some of the recently drafted players. With Brad Marchand out until late November and Taylor Hall missing the opener potentially, there might be some time for Montgomery to see what he has for the future, which could happen sooner than later. A “softer voice” might be what the doctor ordered, but players need to produce. A future fourth line of AJ Greer-John Beecher- Marc McLaughlin could have some potential. But for now, it looks like Nosek will be part of the bottom six, although younger reinforcements might be lying in the weeds.
