Daily Bean: Bruins Gameday, Roster Freeze, Late Night Trades

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins (20-15-0) are back in action tonight for a Saturday night showdown with the visiting Vancouver Canucks (14-17-3).

The NHL’s roster freeze went into effect at 11:59 PM ET on Friday night, and it will stay in place until December 28 at 12:01 AM ET. There are no trades and no waivers during the freeze. The Bruins can only make limited NHL-AHL transactions during the eight-day roster freeze. If someone gets hurt, the Bruins can call up a player from Providence. Boston can also loan a player to Providence, but only if the team recalled that player after December 11; they have to loan them back before December 23. If the Bruins activate a player off the long-term injured reserve, the Bruins can make moves to become cap-compliant.

A few teams squeezed in moves right before the buzzer. The Montreal Canadiens, being one of them, flipped a second to bring a former Canadiens’ center back to Montreal. Columbus also made a move, bringing in a winger who has not found his footing in Seattle; they hope a change of scenery will benefit their new acquisition.

Boston Bruins

The Bruins have been dealing with injuries this season, notably on the back end. The Bruins currently have five players on injured reserve, including four defensemen. Victor Soderstrom has spent the bulk of this season in Providence. He is eligible to return to the AHL as he is not subject to waivers. 

In good news, Viktor Arvidsson skated with the Bruins this morning at the TD Garden, per Scott McLaughlin of WEEI. However, he did not skate with the four forward lines; he was a scratch with Alex Steeves, per Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic.

The Bruins had the day off on Friday, but are in for an action-filled weekend. Along with morning skates, the B’s have the Canucks tonight, and the Senators (16-13-4) tomorrow. 

The Bruins fell to the Oilers on Thursday, 3-1, but did not hold back about the positives in that game. They will continue their homestand against the Vancouver Canucks today. Vancouver is on the fourth of a five-game road trip tonight, and they have won all three games (3-0-0) on the East Coast. The Canucks were one of the teams that made a move before this roster freeze, sending Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild. The Bruins already saw “Quinn-esota,” but tonight they will face Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, and Liam Ohgren with their new team.

NHL News & National Hockey Now

Montreal Hockey Now: The Montreal Canadiens acquired forward Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings late Friday night. The cost was a 2026 second-round pick. Danault returns to Montreal after spending five seasons there. He departed for Southern California after the Canadiens’ Stanley Cup run in 2021.

TSN: The Columbus Blue Jackets traded for forward Mason Marchment just a few minutes before the roster freeze went into effect. The Seattle Kraken picked up a second and a fourth-round pick. Marchment landed in Seattle over the summer; the Kraken gave up a third and a fourth-round pick.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It is official. The Hoffman Family will purchase a controlling stake in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fenway Sports Group will retain a stake in the Penguins “for a period of time,” but will be a minority shareholder. Kyle Dubas will also remain with the new ownership group and continue to lead the Penguins’ hockey operations. The expectation is that the price will fall between $1.7B and $1.8B, but the actual number has not been disclosed. Fenway bought the Penguins for $900 million in 2021.

32 Thoughts: The Podcast: Regarding Edmonton, Elliotte Friedman said: “They looked into [Alex Lyon] again this season, they called the Sabres a couple of times in recent weeks – I think before Kekalainen was officially hired,” before adding, “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Edmonton makes a call to Buffalo on Friday if they hadn’t already.” 

Tristan Jarry’s injury status matters to the Oilers. They are unlikely to make this move if Jarry can return in the near future. On the other hand, Buffalo just hired Jarmo Kekalainen as their general manager. Off the jump, he said the Sabres would be done with their three-goalie rotation. The Sabres are unlikely to deal Colten Ellis. With Edmonton’s interest in Alex Lyon, he shapes up to be a viable trade candidate if the Oilers look to add another goalie. However, with the roster freeze in effect, this move will have to wait until at least December 28.

Philly Hockey Now: Ahead of the roster freeze, the Philadelphia Flyers called up forward Denver Barkey and sent Egor Zemula to Lehigh Valley (AHL). Barkey is 20 years old and the Flyers selected him in the third round (#95) of the 2023 NHL Draft. The Flyers are at Madison Square Garden today at 12:30 PM, and Barkey is expected to make his NHL debut.

ESPN: Tyler Seguin underwent surgery on his ACL this week, the Dallas Stars announced on Friday. His return timetable will be evaluated after the Olympics wrap up. The 33-year-old went down hurt on December 2 in a game against the New York Rangers.