The Boston Bruins (1-0-0, preseason) knocked off the Washington Capitals (0-0-1, preseason) 3-2 in a shootout inside TD Garden Sunday evening.
The Bruins' roster featured every youngster fighting for a spot, and it's safe to say they held up their end of the bargain.
James Hagens' speed, confidence, and strength all seemed to have taken leaps since last spring, and he showed off slick skill with a nasty shootout winner to take down the Capitals.
Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov showed quite nicely for themselves, as to be expected after their performances last season.
The biggest storyline from tonight feels pretty simple: The Boston Bruins cannot place Matthew Poitras or Frederic Brunet on waivers. Both looked ready to be NHLers and should get a fair shake.
Poitras did have a tough penalty in overtime (hooking), but his speed and defensive positioning tonight were outstanding. The issue might be there's not a spot in the opening night lineup.
As it stands, this is Boston's projected night one lineup:
Morgan Geekie - Elias Lindholm - David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt - Pavel Zacha - JJ Peterka
James Hagens - Fraser Minten - Marat Khusnutdinov
Tanner Jeannot - Sean Kuraly - Mark Kastelic
It's not easy to see someone there that Poitras unseats, which leads to an uncomfortable conversation for the Bruins.
Do they start with Poitras as the 13th forward, giving them someone who can easily plug into the roster anywhere in the top nine, or do they look to potentially deal the young forward in a preseason trade?
There's an off chance Boston can try to sneak him through waivers, as a condensed training camp with limited space from other rosters could give Boston a chance, but it feels super unlikely.
Alex Steeves, who also played tonight, did not have his strongest game. Positionally and physically, Steeves does a lot of things right. It's his play with the puck that hurt him tonight. He's a candidate firmly on the bubble to potentially get waived.
Circling back to Brunet, he certainly looked comfortable alongside Charlie McAvoy. Brunet consistently made strong plays up and down the ice, and just looked extremely comfortable.
Henri Jokiharju, who also played Sunday, did not look strong. While he is a good NHL player, Jokiharju's skill set and play style has not meshed with Head Coach Marco Sturm's, and it feels like Boston feels likely to send Jokiharju to waivers.
Mason Lohrei had an up-and-down game, with some strong moments and some weaker moments. Lohrei and Brunet are locked in to battling for the seventh defenseman spot, with one clear caveat.
Charlie McAvoy is suspended for six games. Boston is going to have to carry an extra defenseman. As it stands, it feels like a near-certainty that Jokiharju and Jordan Harris are the two defensemen on the outside. Lohrei and Brunet can play and compete for the first six games and stake their claims then.
The youth movement in Boston is here. Brunet and Poitras made strong cases Sunday night. For Brunet, it's looking good. For Poitras, the numbers game might become the issue.
Tomorrow, the Bruins are off. They've already begun cuts, with Providence camp opening tomorrow. Navrin Mutter was placed on waivers earlier today.
There will be more news tomorrow.
Boston's next preseason game is Tuesday night at home, against the Philadelphia Flyers.
