BRIGHTON, Mass – The Bruins and veteran energy forward Ryan White have both decided to part ways after the Manitoba native spent most of the last month on a tryout basis with the Black and Gold. White was practicing with the team on a daily basis and going through the normal routines while waiting to see if something opened up for a Boston club that’s been ravaged by injuries, but that ended this weekend with the 29-year-old looking for to hook on with somebody else the NHL level.
It was a little surprising the Bruins didn’t opt to sign White once David Backes was down for a couple of months following surgery to remove his colon, and that probably the beginning of the end for White’s tryout with the Black and Gold. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was very complimentary of White on his way out the door, and there’s still a definite for greater physical presence up front for the depleted B’s.
That much was obvious as guys like bruising, belligerent players like Tom Wilson and Brooks Orpik targeted David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand over the weekend in the loss to the Capitals, and weren’t really ever made to pay for it.
“His tryout was mutually terminated,” said Cassidy. “He worked really hard at practice while he was here. He’s a good pro and we wish him well wherever he ends up. We’re just going to go with what we have here for right now.”
White was pretty solid last season in Arizona and Minnesota with nine goals and 16 points along with 84 penalty minutes, and it would seem there should be a role in the NHL for a hard-nosed guy willing to mix it up a little bit. The reality is, however, that White might have to go to the AHL or to Europe for a while before he gets that next look at the NHL level as a veteran that hasn’t been signed a month into the regular season.