Bruins Notebook: Chris Wagner, John Moore clear waivers

As was expected, both John Moore and Chris Wagner cleared waivers on Sunday. But the question of what exactly happens next for the two veterans remains.

Coach Bruce Cassidy, speaking prior to the news that the two players had cleared on Sunday, could not give a precise answer, but said that this is not necessarily the end of either players’ Bruins careers. Both of them were present and accounted for at the Bruins’ morning practice session at Warrior Ice Arena. But a trip to Providence for either or both veterans is now an option.

“Both are great Bruins, great team guys, well-liked by their teammates so this decision is never fun,” said Cassidy. “But there’s certainly no finality to it unless they get claimed. After that, they could still find their way into the lineup. There’s a lot of different ways we could go from Monday to the opening night on Saturday, but that’s where we’re at now.”

The B’s have 27 players still on their roster for 23 spots by 5 p.m. on Monday. Moore and Wagner going to Providence could get them down to 25 while Urho Vaakanainen and Jack Studnicka could go down without passing through waivers. Curtis Lazar could also go on injured reserve to save a spot. Those moves would allow the B’s to not expose left wing Anton Blidh to waivers. The pugnacious Trent Frederic is the expected fourth-line left wing for opening night, and the B’s clearly value his particular skill set. But he did not have the greatest camp and it might be wise to have someone else ready to spell him.

It’s a good bet there are more machinations to come before the B’s lace their skates for Saturday’s opener against Dallas. Cassidy suggested management could still be looking for outside help for a right-shot defenseman to be the next man up if/when an injury happens.

Moore was signed to a five-year, $13.75 million deal in the summer of 2018, but has not enjoyed good health, requiring both shoulder surgery — playing in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs with a badly damaged shoulder earned him much respect among his teammates — and then hip surgery that limited him to five games last year.

Moore, a left stick, had been practicing and playing on right side and the guess here is that the B’s would be fine with him being the depth on the right side if not for the pricey $2.75 million price tag, for this year and next. If they could get a cheaper option to spend most of his time in the press box, then they’d do it.

“Johnny’s bounced back from his surgery well,” said Cassidy, adding some games in Providence wouldn’t hurt Moore considering his lack of game action last year. “He’s been more consistent, showing he’s got good life, good legs. We had guys ahead of him. (Connor) Clifton‘s ahead of him and he’s a left shot and Cliffy’s a right, so there’s a natural advantage there. Johnny’s been practicing and playing on the right and doing a good job. So he’s been doing good. But last year was like a non-year for him with the limited amount of games and then the injury.”

The B’s also have left shot Jakub Zboril as a reserve and he has played some on the right side. Cassidy mentioned 6-foot-2, 200-pound Tyler Lewington, who last week cleared waivers and was assigned to Providence, as an in-house possibility.

“He adds an element of physicality and good penalty killing, so we’ll have to see how he’s doing down in Providence. But I think it was good depth signing for us,” said Cassidy.

As for Wagner, he signed a new three-year contract extension worth $1.35 million per season before last season, but he lost his regular spot on the fourth line midway through the season and has been chasing it ever since. The thought here was that the injury to Lazar (upper body, week-to-week) would make Wagner more valuable to the B’s, but that was not the case.

Cassidy said they essentially chose the speed of Karson Kuhlman over the sandpaper of Wagner.

“Wags is a good soldier. He’s an effective penalty killer, he’ll be physical,” said Cassidy. “The makeup of that line with (center Tomas Nosek and Frederic) is, if it was Wags (on the right wing), lacking a little bit of pace. So that’s what we thought about as well and why we put Kuhlie in there.”

But while Kuhlman appears to have the fourth line right wing spot for now, he’s got to do more to keep it.

“He’s tried to attack the net and create some stuff offensively with his speed,” said Cassidy. “With Kuhlie in that role, you want a little more greasiness. We don’t expect him to go out and be our hits leader by any means, but he does have to be a little more assertive in that area of play. Maybe that translates to a few more hits. We’ve seen guys survive in the league, like a (Carl) Hagelin, that are undersized that play in that role. He’s got a good hockey IQ. He’s willing to go the net, he’s got a decent shot. What I’ve always said is he can sit for a while and still give you good energy and that’s important in that role. He’s played well. Not dominant or not poor, but I’d say he’s done what’s advertised.”