Boston Bruins Waive 2015 First Round Pick Senyshyn

There were some notable names on what was easily the biggest NHL waivers list ever and one of those names was Boston Bruins forward Zach Senyshyn. 

That’s of course because Senyshyn is part of the infamous first round trio – that also included forward Jake DeBrusk and Jakub Zboril – the Bruins selected in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft while passing on the likes of forwards Mathew Barzal and Kyle Connor, and defenseman Thomas Chabot. While those young stars, as well as Zboril (13th overall), and DeBrusk (14th overall) now have regular spots in an NHL lineup, Senyshyn, taken 15th overall in 2015, has not been able to stick. 

At least three NHL scouts told Boston Hockey Now Monday, for that reason and his lack of a physical game, the Bruins shouldn’t worry about losing Senyshyn by noon on Tuesday. Senyshyn, 23, has one goal and two assists in six NHL games and 26 goals and 24 assists in 174 AHL games with the Providence Bruins.

The Boston Bruins also announced that they have waived forwards Anton Blidh, Paul Carey, and Greg McKegg, as well as defenseman Steven Kampfer. McKegg was signed as an unrestricted free agent to a one-year, $700,000 contract this past offseason.

Some of the notable names on the Monday waiver wire was Detroit Red Wings forward Evgeni Svechnikov, Montreal Canadiens forward Corey Perry, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Samuel Morin, Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Luke Schenn, New York Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey and Vancouver Canucks and former Bruins forward Loui Eriksson.

The reason the NHL waiver list was so large on Monday was because of the new taxi squads that each team can carry, expanding their roster from a 23-player maximum to 29 players. As head coach Bruce Cassidy has already said, while these five players may have been waived on Monday, they could easily find themselves with a regular spot in the lineup due to COVID, injuries, and poor play of other players.

“I bet that, at some point this year, there will be a guy that comes off the taxi squad that maybe people don’t know or the team thought was farther away that may get in the lineup and they may never come out,” Cassidy replied bluntly recently when asked how important it is for players on the taxi squad to be ready. 

“Then it’s an opportunity for them to sort of make their way. So that’s the opportunity in front of them and that’s the message we’ll talk about with those guys as well, that there’s no guarantee that you would come out of the lineup if someone were to miss five or six games and you take advantage of your situation. …like I said, earn yourself a spot. So you gotta look at it that way as well.” 

With two days of practice left before Thursday’s season opener against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, here’s what the starting lineup could look like at the Prudential Center:

Marchand-Bergeron-Studnicka

DeBrusk-Krejci-Kase

Ritchie-Coyle-Smith

Frederic/Bjork-Kuraly-Wagner

Lauzon-McAvoy

Grzelcyk-Carlo

Zboril-Miller

Rask

Halak