Bruins send Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov down to Providence in huge round of camp cuts

Lysell’s demotion down to Providence with three preseason games left on the docket is somewhat surprising.

With the start of the regular season a little over a week away, the Bruins announced a sizable round of cuts to their training-camp roster.

Headlining the large contingent of players going down to the Providence Bruins’ training camp are a pair of top prospects in Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov.

Both Lysell and Merkulov were in the running for middle-six spots in Boston’s lineup, but it’s clear that Jim Montgomery and Boston’s top brass believed they needed more seasoning.

Here is the full list of Sunday’s camp cuts: Joey Abate, Drew Bavaro, Ryan Bischel, Frederic Brunet, Michael Callahan, Riley Duran, Jackson Edward, John Farinacci, Brett Harrison, Trevor Kuntar, Fabian Lysell, Nolan Maier, Ryan Mast, Adam Mechura, Georgii Merkulov, Mason Millman, and Jaxon Nelson.

All 17 of those skaters will report to Providence’s training camp, while goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo was released from his professional tryout contract (PTO) and will report to Providence’s training camp.

Lysell’s demotion down to Providence with three preseason games left on the docket is somewhat surprising, given both his potential and the need for Boston to add more scoring and speed on the wing after Jake DeBrusk’s exit in free agency.

Lysell had a slow start to the preseason with a quiet performance last Sunday against the Rangers, but rebounded with a power-play tally against the Capitals on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

Lysell also played in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers, landing two shots on goal in 16:32 of ice time. Merkulov has also skated in three preseason games with Boston, recording a pair of assists.

Even with Lysell’s high ceiling, Brad Marchand stressed last week that Boston’s next wave of young talent needed to showcase more in order to bump a veteran out of a starting spot.

“It’s encouraging, but ‘pretty well’ needs to be better,” Marchand noted on Tuesday. “For those guys to make the team, you’ve got to look at it and push guys out that are on term and big deals and stuff like that.”

With Lysell out of the equation out of camp, it remains to be seen who will slot in next to Charlie Coyle and Marchand on Boston’s second line.

Marchand had high praise for Morgan Geekie and his odds of earning a top-six spot out of camp, while PTO candidate Tyler Johnson also remains in the mix. Second-year pro Matthew Poitras could also be an option on the wing this fall, giving Montgomery the option of rolling out a heavier third line of Geekie, Trent Frederic, and Justin Brazeau.

Lysell could earn a call-up as the season carries on. Still, Sunday’s roster reshuffle is a disappointing result for a Boston roster that ideally needs young, cost-controlled talent to supplement some of the scoring on the wing this year.

The Bruins still have a few potential bubble players left on their roster over the final week of camp, including forwards Vinni Lettieri, Patrick Brown, Jeffrey Viel, Cole Koepke, and Riley Tufte; as well as defenseman Billy Sweezey.