Daily Bean: Bruins Preseason Gameday; Arvidsson’s Lineup Spot; McKenna Debuts

September 20, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Boston Bruins play hockey today.

It’s not the regular season; that’s in nine days. The Bruins have four preseason games from now until then, and the first one starts at 5:00 PM today. Rosters are out, and while nothing is official, the Bruins roster looks similar to some of the line combinations Marco Sturm has rolled out through the first three days of camp.

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Elsewhere around the league, Gavin McKenna made his pro hockey debut yesterday during a split-squad game against Montreal. The Maple Leafs dressed plenty of their regulars, but still dropped a 4-1 contest to the Canadiens’ split-squad roster. McKenna, though, had a night he will never forget, and Maple Leafs fans are excited.

Viktor Arvidsson has been reunited with head coach Todd McLellan, and now the Red Wings coach is looking to see which players fit alongside the ex-Bruin. Cale Makar will not play in Colorado’s preseason game today. The Ducks re-signed a 25-year-old, and the Panthers have their eyes set on a former Quinnipiac goalie for their EBUG role.

Happy Sunday, catch up on Bruins and league news in today’s Daily Bean:

Boston Bruins

PRESEASON #1: The Washington Capitals are here. That does not include Alex Ovechkin or Ryan Leonard, but they are still fielding a team with a good number of veterans. The Bruins are going with a majority-Group A roster, but not entirely. Check out the rosters, projected lines, and TV/radio information.

CAMP NOTEBOOK: The two groups scrimmaged at Warrior Ice Arena yesterday. The scrimmage was not high-scoring, by any means, and Navrin Mutter scored the lone goal 29 minutes in. Billy Sweezey, after one day off the ice, returned yesterday. Again, Marco Sturm did not shuffle any lines.

BORGEN: Will Borgen landed in Boston on July 1. The Bruins are the fourth NHL team of his career, and Marco Sturm is the fifth head coach he’s had in the last four years. He’s no stranger to learning new systems, and that’s the plan right now in Boston. Marco Sturm has Borgen playing alongside Hampus Lindholm.

Neither Borgen nor Lindholm is in the lineup for today’s game. However, Charlie McAvoy and Frederic Brunet are.

NHL News & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: The preseason got started yesterday, and Gavin McKenna got his first taste of the NHL. Luke Fox writes that McKenna “stood out. He fit in.” The Canadiens beat the Maple Leafs 4-1 on the road, but the first overall pick learned the fan base is behind him.

Montreal Hockey Now: The Canadiens and Maple Leafs played two split-squad games yesterday. Aside from the 4-1 win on the road, the Canadiens won 4-3 (OT) on home ice. Marc Dumont has the highlights (and fights) from yesterday’s games.

Detroit Hockey Now: Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan has some history with Viktor Arvidsson. When piecing together his line combinations for training camp, McLellan dug deep to find linemates similar to those from his time in Los Angeles, and he’s running Arvidsson with Emmitt Finnie and Marco Kasper.

Colorado Hockey Now: Cale Makar will miss the Avalanche’s first preseason game, but Jared Bednar would like him to be available on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bednar is making cuts and wants to play NHL regulars at home, but needs to keep enough eligible players around for their preseason games.

Florida Hockey Now: It’s not official, but signs are pointing to the Panthers naming former Quinnipiac goalie Noah Altman as their EBUG. The Los Angeles native went to Shattuck-St. Mary’s School before being named an alternate captain at Quinnipiac.

TSN: The Anaheim Ducks signed Tim Washe to a four-year extension yesterday. The 25-year-old center has five points (2-3–5) in 41 career games with Anaheim. The contract carries a $2.25M cap hit and starts next season.

Alex Daugherty (video via 𝕏): Ozzy Wiesblatt and Oasiz Wiesblatt are two years apart; it seems safe to say this is not their first fight. However, it was during a Predators intrasquad scrimmage, which should be a first.

Sibling fight! Ozzy Wiesblatt and Oasiz Wiesblatt go after each other in the 2nd period of today's intrasquad scrimmage.

Amazing. pic.twitter.com/xV2kHFJCJ6

— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) September 19, 2026

Djurgården Hockey (via 𝕏): Oliver Wahlstrom signed with Djurgården IF in the Swedish Hockey League. Wahlstrom scored two points (1-1–2) with the Bruins after a 2024 waiver claim, but he did not land another NHL contract after that. Last season, the Maine native had 42 points (24-18–42) with the San Jose Barracuda.

📃✍🏻 Djurgården har hittat sin topp sex-forward. Den svensk-amerikanske forwarden Oliver Wahlstrom, 26, med närmare 250 NHL-matcher på meritlistan, är klar för Stockholmslaget.

▶ Läs mer på https://t.co/Qnx0ziV9oN pic.twitter.com/vKtrTmm7je

— Djurgården Hockey (@DIFHockeyse) September 15, 2026

Bruins Preseason Schedule

Sunday, September 20, 5:00 PM: vs. Washington – TD Garden, Boston, MA

Tuesday, September 22, 7:00 PM: vs. Philadelphia – TD Garden, Boston, MA

Thursday, September 24, 7:00 PM: at Philadelphia – Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Friday, September 25, 7:00 PM: at Washington – Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

Tuesday, September 29: Regular season home opener – TD Garden, Boston, MA

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