Report: Boston Bruins Invite Stralman To Training Camp

BRIGHTON, MA – The Boston Bruins have been on the lookout for more defensemen depth all along with both Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk on the shelf to start this season, and they may have shored it up with a veteran camp invite to training camp.

The Boston Bruins are reportedly bringing veteran D-man Anton Stralman into camp on a professional tryout agreement (PTO) with only a couple of right-shot defensemen in the mix along with lefty Jakub Zboril playing on the right side, as first reported by 98.5 the Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson on Thursday and confirmed by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Sounds like Anton Stralman is headed to the Bruins on a PTO

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 23, 2022

The 36-year-old had eight goals and 23 points in 74 games for the Arizona Coyotes last season after a couple of seasons fighting through injuries with the Florida Panthers, but has been a solid top-4 defenseman at the NHL level for 15 seasons with 930 NHL games and counting on his resume. Stralman was at the end of a three-year, $16.5 million contract last season that was originally signed with the Panthers after a long stretch with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 5-foot-11, 193-pound right-shot defenseman was ostensibly the PTO player that the Boston Bruins had been waiting for over the last few weeks as other veterans either retired or reported to other camps on tryouts, and now they presumably have him after waiting the first few days to see if an actual contract was forthcoming.

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery didn’t confirm that Stralman is headed to Boston on a tryout, but did confirm that the B’s have had a tryout invite, presumably Stralman, still waiting to be answered.

“I know that we’re hoping we’re going to have a PTO to announce, but there’s nothing that’s been confirmed as far as I know as of yet,” said Montgomery.

With Brandon Carlo and Connor Clifton as the only two right-handed options currently in the NHL plans, Boston must have seemed like an attractive option to Stralman in terms of winning an NHL job while the team waits for McAvoy to return from shoulder rehab at some point later in November.