The Boston Bruins have announced their 2019 training camp roster and it’s relatively devoid of any real surprises.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the fact that the Boston Bruins young defensemen, Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy aren’t on it, though of course this relates to them not being under contract and we’ve known about that all summer.
The team will meet up today with the first on-ice work saved until tomorrow; Friday, 13th September. Hopefully that’s not an ominous sign for this year’s Boston Bruins.
In terms of excitement, we should be excited to see Jakub Lauko who is coming off a Memorial Cup win last campaign, whilst Pavel Shen has moved over from Russia ahead of this campaign and will be one to watch.
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As disappointing as it is, this year’s first round (30th overall) pick, center John Beecher won’t feature, as he has already headed to college for his first year in the University of Michigan program.
Training camp will provide us with a first look at how the newly re-signed Bruce Cassidy intends to fit the likes of Karson Kuhlman, David Backes as well as new boys, Nick Ritchie and Par Lindholm into the line-up. Does Karson Kuhlman retain the second-line spot he claimed by Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final or does he find himself fighting for fourth-line duties once more?
What about the re-shuffling on the third and fourth lines; both Marcus Johansson and Noel Acciari departed the Boston Bruins this summer; their spots in the line-up are open. Is it the older, more experienced heads like Ritchie taking them or could we see a young gun, much like Kuhlman did, step up?
Training camp always is a time full of questions? Was Anders Bjork‘s form in the Prospects Challenge merely the result of playing lower-level opposition or can he do it against the pros?
On defense, we see both Kevan Miller and John Moore listed on the training camp roster, but surely they’re there for their physicals and ongoing rehabilitation rather than joining the on-ice action?
Likewise, Alex Petrovic joins the team on a professional try-out contract and will be looking to do everything he can to earn himself another deal in the NHL. Whether this pans out to be with the Boston Bruins or if he’s just using us to advertise his talent, we don’t honestly know. Who knows what promises have or haven’t been made there?
The excitement right now is tangible. Training camp is the first step of the new season; puck drop is just over three weeks away so the hard work starts now. It may not have been that long ago we last saw the Boston Bruins lace their skates, but it seems like forever.
Hopefully, they can use last year’s Stanley Cup Final loss to spur them that one last step further this season.