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Bruins announce roster vs. Caps; Latest on Lindholm |
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Ty Anderson
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After opening up their preseason slate on Sunday, the Bruins are officially into the thick of it in regards to their preseason slate, with preseason game number two on tap, and with a roster to go with it.
Up front, the Bruins will go with a forward group featuring Joey Abate, Justin Brazeau, Patrick Brown, Trent Frederic, Brett Harrison, Tyler Johnson, Fabian Lysell, Marc McLaughlin, Georgii Merkulov, Jaxon Nelson, Matt Poitras, and Riley Tufte. And of that group of 12, five appeared in Sunday’s opener, with this marking the second straight appearance for Brown, Lysell, Merkulov, Nelson, and Tufte.
Based off Tuesday’s morning skate at Brighton’s Warrior Ice Arena, the B’s will ice a top six that features Frederic between Harrison and Poitras, and Brazeau to the right of Johnson and Merkulov on what would be the Black and Gold’s second line. On line three, Lysell will ride with Nelson and Tufte, while the B’s will go with a fourth-line look that puts Brown between Abate and McLaughlin.
On the backend, meanwhile, the Bruins will lead with the Brandon Carlo and Hampus Lindholm pairing. This was the B’s go-to defensive-zone pairing a year ago, and will certainly anchor things for the club in this game, with a second pairing that’ll put Michael Callahan to the left of Ian Mitchell while Billy Sweezey and Jordan Oesterle will round things out on the B’s third pair.
In goal, duties will be split between Joonas Korpisalo and Michael DiPietro.
And if you're looking for some players to watch closely in this one, you basically have to come back to the Merkulov-Lysell combo and the seemingly opposite directions the players are trending through just one preseason game. While it's just one game, which I cannot stress enough, Merkulov put himself on the board with an assist while Lysell did a whole lot of nothing and actually downright disappointed with his efforts.
The fallout was as predicted, really, as Tuesday saw Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery praise Merkulov for his recent practice habits, while Montgomery also made it clear that Lysell has to do more if he's going to make this team out of training camp.
Bruins issue medical update on Lindholm, Jones, make first cut from camp
The wait to see the Bruins’ most expensive offseason addition in action will continue, as the Bruins have already ruled center Elias Lindholm out for the remainder of the week.
Dealing with an undisclosed injury, the update on Lindholm came from Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, and after yet another practice session that did not feature Lindholm on the ice with either group. This has been a theme of sorts for Boston’s newest top-line center, with Lindholm held to just one on-ice session (the first one) through the opening days of training camp.
The downgrade on Lindholm also came after some initial plans to get Lindholm on the ice on Monday. Plans that ultimately did not come to fruition, according to the B’s bench boss.
“That didn’t materialize, took the day off,” Montgomery said of Lindholm’s Monday. “Didn’t give it a go today just because of where he’s at. He’s day to day. Not gonna play this week in an exhibition game.”
Lindholm, who put up 15 goals and 44 points in 75 games between Calgary and Vancouver last season, is projected to skate between Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak when the season begins next month.
Elsewhere on the B’s roster, fellow 2024 free-agent addition Max Jones has not been seen on the ice since last weekend’s Black & Gold game in Providence, is also dealing with an ailment of sorts.
“Day to day,” Montgomery said of Jones. “Potentially plays by the end of the week.”
With both Jones and Lindholm considered locks to make the B’s, their injuries do not do much to completely disrupt the flow of B’s camp from a roster battle standpoint. It does, however, give the Bruins more time to look at players such as Georgii Merkulov and Matt Poitras at center opposed to wing, while the absence of Jones will give more reps to players like Cole Koepke, Riley Tufte, and Jaxon Nelson.
Tuesday also came with Boston’s first cut from their camp roster, with defenseman Luke Johansson reassigned to Moncton of the QMJHL. The 18-year-old Johansson, a sixth-round pick (No. 186 overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft, did not make a preseason appearance for the Bruins.
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