BOSTON — The Bruins' roster continues to take shape, as nine more players were released from training camp Friday morning, with top prospects Jared Knight and Ryan Button among the cuts.
Those two, along with forward Craig Cunningham, will be returned to their junior teams. Button, a defenseman taken in the third round in 2009, did not appear in either of the first two preseason games. He'll be headed back to Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League. Cunningham, a forward taken in the fourth round this June, is also headed back to the WHL. He'll return to Vancouver after not playing in the first two exhibition games either. Knight did play Thursday against Florida, coming on strong late in the game and finishing a plus-1 with two shots. He'll go back to London (Ontario Hockey League).
Also released were defensemen Andrew Bodnarchuk, Jeff Penner and Joe Rullier and forwards Jordan Knackstedt, Lane MacDermid and Kirk MacDonald.
Rullier and MacDonald were released from their tryout agreements. MacDonald, who is signed to an AHL deal, will report to the Providence Bruins training camp.
Bodnarchuk, Knackstedt, MacDermid and Penner have also been assigned to Providence. Bodnarchuk and Penner each had brief call-ups to Boston last season, but won't stick around to challenge Adam McQuaid for the seventh defenseman role this year. MacDermid made his preseason debut Thursday night in Rochester, dropping the gloves with veteran Florida heavyweight Andrew Peters in the first period.
With Friday's cuts, the Bruins now have 40 players remaining in camp, including injured forwards Marc Savard, Marco Sturm and Trent Whitfield. There are 22 other forwards remaining, along with 11 defensemen and four goalies.
