The Boston Bruins had a blank canvas when they opened training camp two weeks ago. Now, it’s becoming more clear by the day who will be on the team when the regular season starts next week, after the Bruins made their biggest round of roster cuts yet on Friday.

Boston placed forwards Patrick Brown, Georgii Merkulov, Riley Tufte, as well as defensemen Michael Callahan and Victor Soderstrom on waivers. All will report to AHL Providence if they go unclaimed.

Forwards Fabian Lysell, Riley Duran, Brett Harrison, and defenseman Frederic Brunet do not require waivers and will directly report to AHL Providence.

The Bruins have placed Patrick Brown, Michael Callahan, Georgii Merkulov, Victor Soderstrom, and Riley Tufte on waivers. Fabian Lysell, Frederic Brunet, Riley Duran, and Brett Harrison do not require waivers and will report directly to AHL Providence.

— Andrew Fantucchio (@A_Fantucchio) October 3, 2025

This is the fourth straight year that Lysell has failed to break camp with the Bruins. The former 2021 first round pick appeared to have finally made the jump to the NHL at the tail of last season, when he totaled three points in 12 games for the Bruins. However, Lysell didn’t contribute much of anything in training camp or in his three games during the preseason, and will head back to Providence, where he’s put up a total of 121 points across 162 games over the last three years.

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Like Lysell, Merkulov was also competing for a roster spot in Boston, and isn’t a stranger to Providence either. The 24-year-old was largely invisible throughout camp, which was the case in his six games for the Bruins last season. What is new for Merkulov, though, is that this is his first time passing through waivers. It’s not out of the realm of the possibilities that he never makes it to camp with the Baby-B’s and instead gets claimed by another organization.

For the most part, the moves aren’t all that surprising.

Brown is the captain down in Providence, so it was basically a forgone conclusion that’s where he was going to end up, anyway. The same can be said of Tufte. Signed to an NHL contract by the Bruins last year, the forward spent the majority of the season in Providence, where he was one of the team’s most effective players, scoring 42 points in 58 games.

Both Soderstrom and Callahan were battling for the role of seventh defenseman for the Bruins, but neither stood out enough to overshadow either Jordan Harris or Johnathan Aspirot.

Following Friday’s cuts, the Bruins have 27 players remaining on their roster and have to get down to 23 by Monday.

Players who remain on the roster bubble include Harris and Aspirot, forwards Matthew Poitras, John Beecher, Matej Blumel, Alexander Steeves, Jeffrey Viel, and goalie Michael DiPietro.

The Bruins will play their final game of the preseason tomorrow afternoon at TD Garden against the New York Rangers.

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