CapWages currently lists 25 players on the Boston Bruins' roster, which means new head coach Marco Sturm already has some tough decisions to make to reach the 23-man deadline by the start of the regular season. The list presented by CapWages doesn't include Matej Blumel, Fabian Lysell, or Fraser Minten, three players who could earn a look to make the team out of camp. It does include Alex Steeves, who many are tabbing as a possible surprise impact come October.
Let's be honest, just because there's going to be a heated battle in training camp doesn't mean the roster is capable of competing. We're talking about mostly bottom-six players who have the potential to make an impact, mostly because of the volatility of Boston's top-six more than anything. On a good team, the players we're talking about are just depth pieces, but the Bruins are hoping to find a diamond in the rough amongst them.
Take Steeves and Blumel, for example. Steeves had 62 points in 59 games for the Toronto Marlies last season, but the Maple Leafs only viewed him as good enough to play seven for their NHL club, where he had just two points. The same goes for Blumel, who tore apart the AHL with 72 points in 69 games, but played in only seven games with the Dallas Stars, registering a single goal.
A good training camp from either of those players could leave a player like Johnny Beecher or Matthew Poitras sitting on the outside looking in at a spot in the lineup. Beecher locked down a fourth-line spot over the last two seasons, but the production hasn't been exactly what Boston is looking for. The Bruins don't want to move away from him, but anything is possible with a new head coach.
Matthew Poitras is another player who could feel the wrath of a roster squeeze. He isn't built for life in the bottom-six, and if he isn't able to grab a spot higher in the lineup, it's possible that he doesn't make the opening night roster for the first time in three tries.
The battle for a bottom-six spot is going to get quite interesting during the pre-season. It might not be the kind of excitement Bruins fans are looking for this season, but it does bring some interesting questions about the future. Will Sturm go veteran-heavy and send a young, driven team to Providence to grow together under Ryan Mougenel? Or will the young players force his hand into making some tough decisions with some of the veterans the front office signed in free agency?