Boston Bruin prospect and Warfield native Craig Cunningham survived the first cut of the team’s NHL training camp Wednesday and was in the line-up when the Bruins played the Detroit Red Wings last night.
The Bruins trimmed their roster from 51 to 45, sending Scott Campbell, Jack Downing, Steven Spinell, Ben Youds, Tyler Randell, and goaltender Adam Morrison to their AHL affiliate Providence Bruins for its training camp which begins Monday.
Cunningham, a former Beaver Valley Nitehawk, played on the third line on right wing with Greg Campbell at centre and Daniel Paille on left wing. The 23-year-old fourth-round draft pick also played in the 6-3 win over Montreal Tuesday but left the game at 13:07 of the first period after receiving a high stick from Habs centre Gabriel Dumont.
Campbell meanwhile saw his first action since breaking his leg on June 5 during the Eastern Conference final against Pittsburgh.
Cunningham is the current AHL ironman playing in every regular season game since joining the Bruins affiliate in Providence in 2011. Last season he collected 25 goals and 46 points in 75 games for the P-Bruins.
While Carl Soderberg is reported to have the inside track on the third-line slot, Cunningham is a definite option, and likely to see at least some action with the NHL club this season.
“I like our depth, because depth for me means that we’re going to have to make some tough decisions there at the end,” Bruins’ head coach Claude Julien said on the B’s website.
“There’s going to be guys that are probably be going to Providence that could easily play here - it’s just that you can only keep 23 on your roster.”
Goaltender Malcolm Subban, who played well against the Canadiens on Monday, was also slated to play the whole game Thursday.
The next set of cuts will take place today, with the next preseason match up going in Detroit against the Wings on Saturday. Scores of the Bruins-Red Wing Thursday game were not available at press time.