Final Roster Set

After announcing their final cuts today, the Bruins now have their 2008-2009 opening night roster.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008-2009 Boston Bruins:

FORWARDS
Marc Savard
Patrice Bergeron
Michael Ryder
Marco Sturm
Phil Kessel
PJ Axelsson
Petteri Nokelainen
David Krecji
Milan Lucic
Chuck Kobasew
Vladimir Sobotka
Shawn Thornton
Blake Wheeler
Stephane Yelle

DEFENSEMEN
Zdeno Chara
Aaron Ward
Mark Stuart
Andrew Ference
Andrew Alberts
Shane Hnidy
Dennis Wideman

GOALIES
Tim Thomas
Manny Fernandez


The last three cuts were: Nate Thompson, Jeremy Reich, Matt Hunwick, and Peter Schaefer.

Hunwick is being sent directly to Providence, as he doesn't have to clear waivers. Thompson and Reich both do, and speculation is that Thompson will be claimed by some team before tomorrow's noon deadline, meaning he would no longer be Bruins property. Reich could be claimed by a team looking to add some grit to its lineup. Schaefer is the more notable one, as the Bruins essentially dropped him to make space for Wheeler. They are still on the hook for his salary, even if he gets claimed by another team, but it doesn't count against the all-important salary cap.

Schaefer turned it on in the playoffs last year, and may get a few looks by some teams looking to add a viable second or third scoring option. However, he didn't really show much life at times here with the B's, so it remains to be seen if any team wants to take a flyer on him. Even though he was basically "dropped", it seems like this was something he expected, according to Fluto Shinzawa's Bruins Blog on Boston.com. Best of luck to Schaefer, wherever he ends up.

Here are my proposed opening night lines:

Ryder-Savard-Lucic
Kessel-Bergeron-Sturm
Wheeler-Krecji-Kobasew
Axelsson-Nokelainen/Sobotka-Yelle

Chara-Wideman
Ward-Stuart
Ference-Hnidy/Alberts

Thomas
Fernandez

Basically, there will be 3 healthy scratches a night it seems. Above, it would be 3 out of Hnidy, Alberts, Thornton, Yelle, Nokelainen and Sobotka.

This is all barring some more moves before the season starts, which, though unlikely, are entirely possible as well. If not, this line-up looks pretty solid, and looks like it should have more scoring punch than last year's group. We'll find out on Thursday night.