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Boston Bruins lineup puzzle continues: Prospects fail to impress Cassidy

By Cameron MacDonald

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 05: Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy makes a point during an NHL game between the Boston Bruins and the Nashville Predators on October 5, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Predators 4-3. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 05: Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy makes a point during an NHL game between the Boston Bruins and the Nashville Predators on October 5, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Predators 4-3. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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To say the Boston Bruins season has had its ups and downs would be an understatement.  Not only has it been up and down in terms of quality of play, but the call-ups and send-downs abound in Boston.

The Boston Bruins had a busy off-day today, with the news of David Backes breaking earlier. Head coach Bruce Cassidy has made it clear to the Boston Bruins fans that he wants to win, and is making the changes necessary to find the right pieces to get the 2017-18 Boston Bruins winning. Yesterday, Cassidy reassigned two Bruins prospects back to Providence. Forward Kenny Agostino and goaltender Zane McIntyre have been moved back to the American Hockey League.

Kenny Agostino

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Agostino, known as a promising offensive prospect, struggled to make his mark on the Bruins NHL roster. Showing bits and pieces of his offensive flash, he was unable to net a goal, while barely getting any shots off in five NHL games. The 25-year-old winger was called up in an attempt to generate some offense.

Agostino is a Yale product and had a successful 2016-17 season in which he won the AHL MVP Award. The winger recorded 83 points over 65 games with the Chicago Wolves last year and picked up right where he left off this fall in Providence, winning AHL Player of the Week honors earlier this month. Agostino recorded seven points in his first three games with the Providence Bruins.

Boston Bruins
COLUMBUS, OH – OCTOBER 30: Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky /

Bruce Cassidy clearly noticed issues in his performance on the NHL roster these past five games, as Agostino played a meager 5:42 in Monday’s shootout loss to the Blue Jackets. Believe it not, Cassidy had enough faith to give Agostino an opportunity in the shootout.  Either that, or Cassidy wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself.  We all know how well that worked out.

Looking at the lines at practice this morning, the demotion of Agostino means Matt Beleskey will step back out the press box.  Beleskey’s offensive struggles are well known to Bruins Nation. But at this point, Cassidy isn’t being left with many bodies in which to cobble together an NHL-caliber lineup.

Zane McIntyre

Zane McIntyre, meanwhile, was a “split-second decision” according to Cassidy. McIntyre’s stint with the Bruins wasn’t expected to last for long. He served as Tuukka Rask’s back-up on Monday after Anton Khudobin did not travel to Boston after tweaking something during practice Sunday.

Initially, this appeared to mean that Khudobin would be recovered and healthy to back-up Rask on Thursday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. However, as reported today, McIntyre was an emergency recall again, and was practicing with the team today due to Khudobin’s absence.

Next: Backes out 8 weeks for surgery

McIntyre has been solid in his games this season in Providence.  In 5 games played, McIntyre has a 4-1-0 record with a 1.81 GAA and 9.28 save percentage. It was believed that McIntyre was in competition with Khudobin for the back-up spot this preseason. If Khudobin’s injury is more serious, perhaps McIntyre could unseat Dobby as the back-up in Boston.

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