In a sign that the Bruins are getting close to inserting Matt Poitras in the lineup, the club placed veteran utility forward Mikey Eyssimont on waivers on Sunday.
Poitras has been on injured reserve dating back to September 22 after suffering a lower body injury in practice the day after he performed well in the Bruins’ first preseason game. GM Don Sweeney has said he plans to give Poitras, who requires waivers to be sent to Providence, some runway to see what kind of NHL player the 22-year-old center can be
Eyssimont was able to cling to the 13th forward spot thanks to a good preseason and Poitras’ injury. But management has made a commitment to youth, at least for moment. Frederic Brunet, the 23-year-old defenseman who also requires waivers, was kept over veteran Henri Jokiharju. He’s still looking for his first game action. Keeping 19-year-old James Hagens, the B’s blue chip prospect, seemed to be a no-brainer and he’s played a regular shift in the first three games, scoring his first goal on Friday in Winnipeg. Hagens in part made veteran Alex Steeves expendable. He cleared waivers and was sent to Providence.
Unlike Jokiharju and Steeves, who each have another year left on their contracts, Eyssimont is in the last year of his two-year contract that will pay him $1.45 million. That fact that he has no term remaining could make him more attractive for another team to claim him than Jokiharju or Steeves were. If he goes unclaimed, the NHL cap hit on the 30-year-old Eyssimont’s salary for the B’s will be $225,000, bringing the total dead money to $2.4 million. While it may not be ideal, that’s the price of a youth movement.
Just when Poitras gets into the lineup remains to be seen. The B’s host the Ottawa Senators on Monday but Poitras has just one full team practice under his belt and coach Marco Sturm said last week before the team headed out on the two-game road trip that he wants to see get more practice time. Perhaps they’ve decided he’s as ready as he’ll ever be. We’ll see.
Another question will be who will he replace in the lineup. The most logical choice is Sean Kuraly, though the fourth line has been good. But the penalty kill cost them in Saturday’s loss and Kuraly was on for both Minnesota PP goals. Still something would be lost without the veteran Kuraly in the lineup with his gritty board and corner work, to be sure. But the B’s have to find out, once and for all, what they can gain with Poitras.