BRIGHTON, Mass – It was going to be an uphill battle for veteran winger Teddy Purcell, 32, to crack the Bruins roster in training camp, and he's come up short with opening night just a few days away.
Purcell was released from his PTO tryout agreement on Monday after a number of young wingers stepped up and played well enough to earn NHL looks at the start of the season.
Purcell scored in his first preseason appearance with the Bruins against the Red Wings at the beginning of camp and played well, but simply doesn’t have the speed and youth that the B’s are looking for from their players up front. Purcell is clearly at a bit of a crossroads after skating in 12 NHL games last season and playing most of the season in the AHL for the Kings organization.
Patrice Bergeron, Sean Kuraly and Paul Postma were all missing from practice Monday while Tuukka Rask, Anton Khudobin and Malcolm Subban all remained as a three-goalie triumvirate at practice. Subban was later placed on waivers.
Here are the line combos and D-pairings at Warrior Ice Arena as Jordan Szwarz, Jakub Zboril and Tommy Cross were also sent back to P-Bruins camp after playing in the preseason finale vs. the Blackhawks on Saturday night:
Marchand-JFK-Marchand
Boston Bruins
DeBrusk-Krejci-Pastrnak
Heinen-Spooner-Backes
Schaller-Nash-Acciari
Beleskey, Cehlarik and Vatrano were all switching in during line rushes
Chara-Carlo
Grzelcyk-McQuaid
Miller-McAvoy
O’Gara-Johansson
Rask
Khudobin
Subban