The Boston Bruins are likely to promote one or two of their top prospects to the NHL given the current make-up of their roster. Which ones are most likely to earn the spot?
The Boston Bruins are likely to promote one or two of their top prospects to the NHL given the current make-up of their roster. Which ones are most likely to earn the spot?
Just about two weeks after free agency opened, the Boston Bruins’ roster is more or less set. The biggest priority remains re-signing Jeremy Swayman to a new contract, but other than that, there likely won’t be any more players signing in Boston this offseason, with the possible exception of a low-cost veteran on a two-way contract or Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO).
Besides that, the players currently under contract will be the ones competing for a roster spot in October, and given the way things are laid out, it’s possible a younger prospect without much NHL experience will have the opportunity to take the leap up. At least, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said as much.
“I would say that [Georgii Merkulov] and [Fabian Lysell] or Riley Duran keep going down the list: Just pin your ears back, train your ass off this summer, and come with the intent that there'll be an opportunity here,” Sweeney said on July 1. “If you're the best player, then we find a way to get you in the lineup. You have to sustain it as you're going along.”
Clearly, there are a few players that Sweeney mentioned by name that are on the Bruins’ radar for a chance to win a roster spot going into next season. We’ll take a look at all three, and a couple more, starting with Merkulov.
Georgii Merkulov, Forward
Age: 24*
Draft Position: Undrafted
2023-24 stats:
- AHL - 67 GP, 30G-35A-65P
- NHL- 4 GP, 0G-0A-0P
Merkulov is the only one Sweeney explicitly named on July 1 that has any NHL experience, albeit not much. The Russian forward was called up from the AHL and played in four games as the calendar flipped from 2023 to 2024.
He struggled to make much of an impact – after skating for 15:08 in his NHL debut, his next three games ranged between 12:15 of ice time and 6:23, and he won just 21.4 percent of his face-offs (6-for-22) – and he was promptly sent back down to Providence.
However, in the AHL, he was Providence’s most productive player. Scoring just under a point per game, Merkulov took a big step forward in his development. He’ll have a lot of eyes on him during training camp, where he’ll have the opportunity to establish himself out of the gate similar to how Johnny Beecher and Matt Poitras did, as opposed to being thrown into the fire midseason.
At 24, he’s older than Lysell and Duran, which could work in his favor if the Bruins favor age and experience. With the team set to be younger than it has been in years – only four players projected to be on the opening night roster are 30 or older – that could be even more of a factor.
The biggest question with Merkulov is the role he'd play. A natural center that took on a productive scoring role in Providence, he would have to find a different niche in Boston, at least this season. With the offseason addition of Elias Lindholm, the Bruins are now deeper at center, so Merkulov would have to prove he can make an impact beyond the score sheet at the NHL level, and likely at the wing as opposed to pivot.
Whether or not he can will be determined, but he'll definitely be in the mix come training camp.
