After the Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon at the TD Garden, it signaled an end to the preseason schedule and training camp. After making a couple of rounds of cuts before Sunday, the Bruins made their final cuts while you were watching NFL games.
As is always the case, the final rounds of cuts always offer some eye-opening results, and players are either being placed on waivers or sent to the American Hockey League (AHL). Boston placed four players on waivers and sent a top prospect to the Providence Bruins.
The Bruins placed Jonathan Aspirot, Matej Blumel, Michael DiPietro, and Alex Steeves on waivers for assignment to the AHL, while they also sent Matthew Poitras to the P-Bruins to begin the season. Poitras was a casualty of a numbers game with a ton of bottom-nine forwards. Blumel, DiPietro, and Steeves were somewhat of a surprise being placed on waivers, and first-year head coach Marco Strum explained why on Monday.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm explains when Matej Blumel an Alex Steeves were placed on waivers
After practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday, Sturm explained that Blumel and Steeves were placed on waivers. The answer is somewhat baffling, as it is an issue that feels like the Black and Gold are going to have all year long.
“I thought in Games 3 and 4, they loosened up. But they probably didn’t bring enough scoring to make the team,'' said Sturm.
They didn't bring enough scoring to make the team? That's a rather eye-opening quote considering the problem that the Bruins are likely going to face this season, low-scoring games. I get it, Blumel and Steeves are not names you look at as production-wise players for the Black and Gold, but to think that Boston has enough players who are going to score this year is certainly an opinion.
Blumel has done a lot of damage in the AHL, including last season with the Texas Stars, Dallas' minor league affiliate, but right now, heading into the season-opener against the Washington Capitals, it's looking like a season where the Bruins are going to play a lot of low-scoring games. Their roster is not built with enough depth scoring to win more of those games than they lose.
It would be surprising if a team that is looking for bottom-six depth claims Blumel. A team out west that is not a big playoff contender would make sense to try and find lightning in a bottle. Regardless, Sturm's not enough scoring take as for why they were placed on waivers is certainly a take given how the bottom part of his forward lines are built. That quote might not end up aging well as the season goes along.