Sage wingers could fill lineup holes
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
While the Adam McQuaid trade was a big surprise, the moves made on Monday by Bruins general manager Don Sweeney were smaller but surprises nonetheless.
Sweeney signed veteran wingers Lee Stempniak and Daniel Winnik to pro-tryout contracts, adding to an already crowded field of hopefuls on the wing. Sweeney said the noncommittal agreements with the players had nothing to do with what he did or didn’t see at the rookie tournament in Buffalo over the weekend.
“We’ve had periodic conversations with different (players) and felt that from a veteran standpoint (it makes sense), and in Lee’s case we have a great familiarity with him,” he said. “In Winnik’s case, he had a great year last year and hasn’t found a job. He wanted to come in and felt our situation was advantageous for him to find a role he might be able to fit in.”
The 35-year-old Stempniak was a deadline acquisition in 2016 from the Devils. He had 3-7-10 totals in 19 games here. He could conceivably fit in the team’s top six forwards, and be expected to score 15-20 goals playing with Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci. But that would not be good news for the B’s because then none of their inhouse candidates — Ryan Donato, Danton Heinen or Anders Bjork — will have taken the step forward as the team had hoped.
Winnik, 33, had 6-17-23 totals last year in Minnesota. With a plethora of bottom-six candidates, it would seem harder for Winnik to catch on here. With the Bruins splitting their team between here and China, both Stempniak and Winnik should get some playing time in the first three preseason games.
Cassidy report card
Coach Bruce Cassidy took in the first two rookie games in Buffalo and a few players stood out.
“I liked (Jakub) Zboril’s game,” he said. “I thought he was more consistent, more assertive, much improved from the year before. (Urho) Vaakanainen was good, but I had no real book on him. The center icemen all had their moments. Jack (Studnicka) scored a terrific goal, (Trent) Frederic showed that he’ll get to the net and bull his way in there and scored a nice goal doing that. (Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson) moves well, makes plays. I’d like to see him be more assertive, but now that’s step two for him over there (in China). I liked (Karson) Kuhlman. He was pretty consistent. He came in out of college and is a little bit older, but looks like he’s very mature person and a player. He’ll be one to watch. He flew in a little under the radar. (Ryan) Donato was excellent the first game, the second game I think he try to do a lot. So it was encouraging for the guys that we think might be a little ahead.”
Cassidy also liked the play of a pair of goaltenders, Daniel Vladar and Kyle Keyser.
“I thought they were excellent,” he said. “Our goaltending is set but there’s a bit of a competition in Providence (between Vladar and Zane McIntyre).”
Veteran presence
The team for China left yesterday minus David Krejci, whose paperwork was not in order. That meant three returning centermen — Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and Sean Kuraly — remain stateside.
“The good news is that the young centers are going to get plenty of opportunity to play against good players. That’s also the bad news. We’re going to find out if they’re ready for it,” said Cassidy. “It would have been nice to maybe have one veteran guy, but that’s part of preseason. You’re there to evaluate. You want to win the hockey game but you’re here to look at more specific players.”
Training camp for those not in China begins Thursday.