Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said Saturday that a pair of forwards would be the cuts on his Phase 3 boot camp roster, and his words rang true when the NHL released playoff lists for the 24-team the NHL on Sunday afternoon.
Forwards Anton Blidh and Paul Carey were the only players removed from the Return to Game Phase 3 camp when the Bruins group boarded a plane Sunday afternoon bound for Toronto Hub City.
“Everyone has worked hard to get to this point and hope to get to Toronto,” said Cassidy. “I think we have been well looked after and now we have a job to do. We are trying to do our part for the good of the game. We are grateful for the opportunity to be healthy and have the opportunity to participate. I think each team would say the same thing, so let’s get there and let the best team win. ”
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Cassidy said Ondrej Kase was unlikely to travel with the rest of the team while he was absent because he was “unfit to participate,” but he was obviously still on the list even if he ends up joining the team later. date. Both David Pastrnak and Nick Ritchie, who had lost significant camping time, were expected to fly with the Bruins on Sunday.
The move to cut Carey was not surprising, as he is a veteran veteran who had limited the upside for this group of Bruins, particularly with the inclusion of young forward forwards like Jack Studnicka, Zach Senyshyn and Trent Frederic on the list. Blidh’s move is a bit more surprising given that the Swedish forward has had a few looks with Boston in recent seasons. His antagonistic and physical style of play could have been a good option for the postseason if that was a direction in which Boston wanted to go.
However, the Bruins seem to have a lot of depth when it comes to fourth-line forwards, with Sean Kuraly, Chris Wagner, Par Lindholm, Joakim Nordstrom, Karson Kuhlman and Frederic all playing that kind of role in the months to come.
The good news for the Bruins is that they are well supplied as archers with the Tuukka Rask / Jaroslav Halak duo along with Dan Vladar and Kyle Keyser, and they had very few absences or problems at camp among their group of 10 defenders. Back-end continuity and depth should be a real strength for Black and Gold during the postseason, as long as they can stay healthy once games begin.
Here is the Phase 4 roster for the Bruins with the NHL setup turning to Toronto next week for Black and Gold along with the other 11 teams from the Eastern Conference:
Forward: Patrice Bergeron, Anders Bjork, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic, Ondrej Kase, David Krejci, Karson Kuhlman, Sean Kuraly, Par Lindholm, Brad Marchand, Joakim Nordstrom, David Pastrnak, Nick Ritchie, Zach Senyshyn, Jack Studnicka, Chris Wagner
Defenders: Brandon Carlo, Zdeno Chara, Connor Clifton, Matt Grzelcyk, Torey Krug, Jeremy Lauzon, Charlie McAvoy, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril
Goalkeepers: Jaroslav Halak, Maxime Lagace, Tuukka Rask, Dan Vladar.
