Boston Bruins
Michael DiPietro has continued to impress, but several Bruins on the roster bubble didn’t help their case Thursday.
The Bruins were dealt their first loss of their preseason slate on Thursday, falling to the Flyers, 2-0, at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
After leaning on a veteran-heavy lineup for Tuesday’s preseason bout against Philly, Marco Sturm opted for a younger grouping on the road — with Charlie McAvoy and Sean Kuraly standing as the two lineup regulars up front, and with both James Hagens and Frederic Brunet earning another look.
“It was not easy for our guys,” Sturm said postgame. “[Philadelphia] had a pretty good lineup. They battled, though. I give them that. We had a little better push in the second period there, but one of those shots or chances has to go in if you want to stay alive, and unfortunately, we didn’t.”
With just one preseason game left on the docket, did any players on Boston’s roster bubble make a good case for breaking camp on the NHL roster?
Michael DiPietro continues to impress in net.
Another game, another strong performance in net from the Bruins’ new backup goalie, Michael DiPietro.
The 27-year-old netminder was sharp once again on Thursday, turning aside 26 of the 28 shots that came his way.
DiPietro hasn’t exactly had the softest landing this fall since getting anointed as Jeremy Swayman’s backup — with the former AHL MVP put under duress early and often in the six periods of preseason hockey he’s logged so far.
After finishing with a 3.99 goals saved above expected rate (per Natural Stat Trick) and stopping 30 of 32 shots against Washington on Sunday, DiPietro turned aside eight high-danger looks against the Flyers.
A Flyers lineup featuring multiple NHLers largely imposed its will against a very green Bruins depth chart, leading to several quality chances that DiPietro turned aside.
His best stop of the night came in the final minute of the second period, with DiPietro robbing former Bruin Noel Acciari with a glove save as he was falling to the ice.
“Yeah, I got lucky a few times,” DiPietro said postgame. “Yeah, I felt good. I just wanted to just build on the last game, be more comfortable out there, and take this one as a learning experience. But obviously — had a lot of fun out there.”
For all of the lingering questions over Boston’s spare forwards and a logjam on the blue line, Sturm and Co. haven’t had to fret much over their goalie tandem — with DiPietro looking like a player ready to step into a regular role at hockey’s highest level.
Locmelis, Hagens continue to make solid cases
The Bruins didn’t light the lamp on Thursday, but two of Boston’s most intriguing young skaters, Dans Locmelis and James Hagens, were both noticeable throughout this road game against the Flyers.
After primarily skating with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov for most of camp and Sunday’s preseason game, Hagens had a new pair of linemates on Thursday — skating at left wing next to Locmelis and Lukas Reichel.
Both Hagens and Locmelis were some of Boston’s lone conduits of offensive generation against Philly goalie Joseph Woll — with the duo combining for nine shots on goal.
Hagens continues to look like a player who is on track to open the season on a third line with Minten and Khusnutdinov.
It wouldn’t come as a surprise if Hagens gets another look on Friday in Boston’s preseason finale in Washington — with Sturm getting a chance to see Hagens handle that back-to-back workload, and how he meshes back with his usual linemates once again.
Locmelis remains a very interesting case, as the UMass product has been very sharp throughout this fall as a versatile centerman with pace, strong faceoff skills, and some scoring upside.
Considering that Locmelis is still waivers-exempt, it seems like the 22-year-old pivot is destined to open the year in Providence — given that a few of the other forwards he’s fighting against would need to clear waivers en route to an AHL assignment.
But if Sturm wants to keep a spare center on the NHL roster — and Matt Poitras remains hindered by a nagging lower-body injury — Locmelis could be a viable option for the Bruins out of the gate this season.
It’d be a fitting reward for a young skater who has been one of the more underrated prospects in Boston’s system over the last few years.
Players on roster bubble don’t exactly make a strong case
Most of the focus for Thursday’s game revolved around younger players like DiPietro, Hagens, Locmelis, and Frederic Brunet.
But it was also another prime opportunity for a few established NHLers and 2025-26 lineup regulars to put their best foot forward and get themselves off the roster bubble.
That wasn’t exactly the case on Thursday.
A clean slate in 2026-27 hasn’t exactly led to better returns from a pair of D-men in Jordan Harris and Henri Jokiharju.
Harris looked like an effective third-pairing lineup regular at the start of last season, only to have his season railroaded by a fractured ankle.
The Haverhill native hasn’t popped so far during preseason action, and was out of position on Philly’s first goal Thursday — with an uncovered Matvei Michkov cleaning up a puck in the crease to make it a 1-0 game.
Jokiharju did land two shots in his 19:49 of ice time, but the Finnish product is another player who hasn’t fit in so far in Sturm’s hybrid defensive system — as evidenced by his inconsistent usage last season. He only logged 23 seconds of power-play ice time and 13 seconds on the penalty kill on Thursday.
It also hasn’t been the sharpest preseason for Jonathan Aspirot, who was knocked for a bad delay-of-game penalty on Sunday and only logged 15:57 of ice time on Thursday.
For what it’s worth, Frederic Brunet also took a step back in his third-straight preseason game. He labored while covering the netfront against Philly — especially on a sequence where he was beat on the initial rush, then couldn’t corral a loose puck before Cole Knuble potted it past DiPietro.
Still, Brunet’s overall body of work this fall should be enough for him to warrant a spot on this NHL roster — rather than run the risk of exposing him to waivers.
A six-game suspension for Charlie McAvoy does create an added roster spot to open the season, while a banged-up Mason Lohrei also could complicate matters. But for now, it still seems like both Harris and Jokiharju are on the outside looking in at regular reps — and could be destined for an assignment to Providence with roster cuts looming.
Scrappy forward Mikey Eyssimont did his part on Tuesday with a two-goal performance, and had a few solid looks on Thursday. But Alex Steeves looks like he might be heading to the AHL — which isn’t exactly a good sign for a player who signed a two-year, $3.25 million extension last year.
It’d be a serious shock if he doesn’t make the roster, but Sean Kuraly also hasn’t been at his best so far this fall. He was a minus-2 on Thursday and also went 2-of-11 on faceoffs.
Kuraly’s penalty killing and his familiarity on a line with Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic make him a player Sturm will likely still utilize.
But you could make a legitimate case that Poitras (if healthy) or Locmelis could leapfrog him for that 4C spot.
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