BOSTON – How about those kids?

Jake DeBrusk (1-1-2), Charlie McAvoy (1-1-2) and Anders Bjork (0-1-1) had some exciting and encouraging moments in Thursday’s 4-3 win by Boston over Nashville in the season opener on Thursday night.

They weren’t the only youngsters who played well. Matt Grzelcyk was good. And let’s not overlook steady Brandon Carlo, who is no longer a rookie but is most definitely  a kid, and dynamic David Pastrnak – starting his fourth season at age 21 – who scored the first goal of the night.

Boston has said it is committed to its young players. That will mean riding the rollercoaster as they figure some things out.

As good as Game 1 was, there are valleys ahead, without question. It’s part of the learning curve that kids have to experience.

The Bruins should be rewarded down the road.  Thursday was a tantalizing look into the future.  It could be a fun ride.

Thoughts on three of the young guys:

DeBRUSK

He can finish, as he demonstrated with a nifty goal early in the second period. He nearly had a second goal a couple of minutes after the first one. And he made a play or two, including an assist on McAvoy’s goal.

DeBrusk played with pace and had four shots on goal, tying Pastrnak for the most on the Bruins. I liked the play he made with about four minutes left, where he ate the puck along the boards rather than make a risky pass.

All in all, it was an impressive debut.

McAVOY

Nineteen-year-old defensemen are going to make mistakes. McAvoy took three minor penalties – two for holding and one for hooking. But his goal and assist made up for the time in the box.

He joined the rush to score his first NHL goal off a beautiful set up from David Krejci and Bjork.

I liked the subtle play he made in the defensive zone midway through the third period where he put a hip into Nashville’s Scott Hartnell, muscled him off the puck in the corner and calmly cleared the zone.

BJORK

After the first period, an NHL scout told me he thought Bjork had been Boston’s best forward, and I agreed.

The speedy winger from Notre Dame didn’t have a shot on goal in the game, although he was ready to one-time the Krejci pass that McAvoy scored his goal on.

Despite the lack of shots, Bjork had the puck a lot and made some smart plays that showed off his offensive IQ. Leading up to DeBrusk’s goal, Bjork made a perfect touch pass to Krejci.

For sure, Bjork is going to be fun to watch.

Providence College opens the season on the road this weekend at Miami University. Here is my Providence Journal column previewing the season: http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/20171005/mark-divver-good-times-should-continue-to-roll-for-friar-skaters

PROVIDENCE – For the first time in a dozen seasons as a pro, Josh Hennessy is in training camp without a contract.

Rest assured, the 32-year-old center isn’t losing any sleep over the uncertainty of his situation. Quite the opposite.

“I’ve actually kind of enjoyed it, to be honest. It gives you energy every day, keeps you pretty sharp. I’m really excited. It’s been fun so far,’’ said Hennessy, who is competing for a job with the Providence Bruins.

Hennessy spent the 2011-12 season with the P-Bruins before heading to Europe, where he played in Russia, Switzerland and Sweden over the last few seasons.

A return to the P-Bruins would be a great fit for the Hennessy family – Josh, his wife Amelie and their four children, including three-year-old twin boys. They bought a house in East Greenwich in the spring of 2013.

“We ended up being really comfortable and falling in love with Rhode Island, which was funny, being from Boston, we never spent time down here. The kids were approaching school age and we were looking for a nice town with good schools. The year we had (with the P-Bruins) we really enjoyed,’’ said Hennessy, who grew up in Rockland, Mass.

He played in both of Providence’s preseason games over the weekend and Providence coach Jay Leach has been impressed so far.

“He’s cerebral. You can tell he’s been around. He looks good out there. Low to the ice. You can tell he knows the deal,’’ said Leach, who had Hennessey centering first-round pick Zach Senyshyn and veteran Chris Porter on Saturday night.

Hennessy has scored more than 20 goals five times in the AHL, including a 30-goal year with Binghamton in 2009-10.

“I remember him being a little bit more one-dimensional, from when I was playing against him. Now he looks very aware in every situation. He can probably play in a lot of different spots,’’ said Leach.

The pro game has gotten faster since Hennessy, a second-round pick by San Jose in 2003, broke in as a pro with the AHL Cleveland Barons in 2005.

“Pretty much everybody can move, everybody can skate. Guys are flying out there, up and down the lineup. It speaks to the depth in hockey in general, in the world,’’ he said.

“I couldn’t believe when I first got to Europe how good a lot of the players there are who we’ve never heard of. Some of them haven’t even tried to come over here. They’re just amazing hockey players that, given the opportunity, would probably do really well over here, too. There’s just good players coming from everywhere.’’

One of those players is Artemi Panarin, a 30-goal scorer in his first two NHL seasons. In Hennessy’s first season in Russia with Chekhov Vityaz of the KHL in 2012-13, Panarin was his linemate.

“We had a lot of fun. He made my transition that first year pretty smooth. Looking back, our coach was pretty hard on him, only because he was a young guy. If our line wasn’t producing for a couple of games, he would be the guy who got moved off the line, which now seems pretty comical,’’ Hennessy said.

“He’s an awesome kid and an amazing talent. I’d tell my buddies when I got home, ‘I just played with a guy over there that has the best hands I’ve ever seen, including anybody in the NHL.’ And they were like, ‘Come on.’

“When he was in Chicago his first year, I was texting all of them saying, ‘I told you.’’’

PROVIDENCE — The Providence Bruins today released nine players from tryout contracts.

They are: Dylan Blujas, Ryan Penny, Alex Gacek, Phil Lane, Chase Witala, Lindsay Sparks, Zach Malatesta, Nick Luukko, Brendan Leahy.

Gacek, Lane, Witala and Malatesta have ECHL deals with Atlanta, Boston’s affiliate.

Here’s who is left in Providence camp:

Defensemen: Tommy Cross, Connor Clifton, Chris Breen, Ben Marshall, Jeremy Lauzon, Taylor Doherty, Jakub Zboril.

Forwards: Zach Senyshyn, Josh Hennessy, Justin Hickman, Sena Acolatse, Jesse Gabrielle, Ryan Fitzgerald, Colton Hargrove, Anton Blidh, Chris Porter, Colby Cave, Adam Payerl, Jordan Szwarz.

Goalies: Zane McIntyre, Dan Vladar, Matt Ginn, Mac Carruth.

Hennessy, Acolatse and Carruth are on PTOs.

All the rest are on either NHL or AHL contracts.

The P-Bruins’ roster will remain in flux until Boston makes its final cuts over the next couple of days.

Kenny Agostino has arrived in Providence after clearing waivers on Saturday.  To my knowledge, he hasn’t been officially assigned to the AHL by Boston. How long he stays in Providence remains to be seen.

The P-Bruins’ opener is Saturday night.

PROVIDENCE — The biggest news of the day for the Providence Bruins is that Kenny Agostino went unclaimed after Boston placed him on waivers.

He hasn’t been assigned to the P-Bruins at this point, but they should get a big lift from the reigning AHL scoring champion and MVP if and when he does arrive.

Tonight, Zane McIntyre gets the start in net when the P-Bruins play their second and last preseason game at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

The opponent — as it was last night and will be on opening night of the regular season on Oct. 7 — will be the Springfield Thunderbirds. Tonight is Fanfest at The Dunk; doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The T-Birds beat the P-Bruins last night in Springfield, 2-1. Phil Lane scored the only goal for Providence and Mac Carruth went the distance in net.

Tommy Cross, Chris Breen, Jakub Zboril, Jordan Szwarz and Connor Clifton won’t be available tonight. They are traveling to Chicago with Boston for the parent club’s final NHL preseason game.

2015 first rounder Zach Senyshyn will skate with veterans Josh Hennessy and Chris Porter tonight after playing alongside Alex Gacek and Chase Witala on Friday.

Coach Jay Leach on Senyshyn:

“He’s got a lot of ability in regards to his skill, his speed. He’s got assets that a lot of guys don’t have. It’s going to be our job to give him some guidelines in order for him to take advantage of those things.

“(Hennessy) obviously been around and is a smart, two-way player. Porter is a guy with a lot of veteran experience, as well, and a lot of pace to his game. So, hopefully, Senny can read off the two of them and get into that mindset.

“Senny’s a first-round pick, so obviously there’s going to be expectations. He’s here, he’s going to play and when it’s time, it’s time. There’s no real timetable with that stuff, there really isn’t. There is no protocol on how guys make it.”

Clifton is expected to skate in Boston’s warmup in Chicago tonight. It remains to be decided whether he is in the lineup.

Leach on Clifton’s play on Friday night:

“Clifty was active, I’ll give him that. He’s like a lot of young defensemen – very eager to grab the puck and go. We showed him some stuff this morning on getting him to simply, being OK with just moving the puck and joining (the rush). Stuff that has probably been said to young defensemen forever.”

Tonight’s lines:

Chris Porter-Josh Hennessy-Zach Senyshyn

Colton Hargrove-Colby Cave-Adam Payerl

Jesse Gabrielle-Alex Gacek-Justin Hickman

Anton Blidh-Lindsay Sparks-Sena Acolatse

Defense pairs:

Ben Marshall-Taylor Doherty

Jeremy Lauzon-Dylan Blujas

Dom Malatesta-Nick Luukko

Goalies:

Zane McIntyre

Mac Carruth

Not playing: Witala, Lane, Ryan Fitzgerald, Ryan Penny

 

PROVIDENCE — Mac Carruth will start in net for the Providence Bruins when they hit the road to play the first of two preseason games against the Springfield Thunderbirds tonight at the MassMutual Center.

Two groups of players skated at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center this morning. The first group will play tonight. Most but not all the players in the second group will be in the lineup on Saturday night when the P-Bruins and T-Birds play again at The Dunk.

Boston is expected to take a handful of Providence players to Chicago for their final game of the NHL preseason on Saturday night.

Zane McIntyre will start in goal for Providence on Saturday night.

Some cuts are expected to be made on Sunday.

Here are Providence’s lines tonight:

Lindsay Sparks-Josh Hennessy-Adam Payerl

Anton Blidh-Ryan Fitzgerald-Justin Hickman

Chase Witala-Alex Gacek-Zach Senyshyn

Colton Hargrove-Ryan Penny-Phil Lane

D pairs:

Ben Marshall-Dylan Blujus

Dom Malatesta-Taylor Doherty

Connor Clifton-Nick Luukko

Goalies:

Mac Carruth

Brendan Leahy

PROVIDENCE — Training camp is underway for the Providence Bruins and that means things are in a state of flux.

It is expected to remain that way at least until next week. Boston has assigned some players to Providence and there is a healthy contingent of tryout players. Who will still be here on opening night on Oct. 7 remains to be decided.

Boston wraps up its preseason schedule with games in Philadelphia on Thursday and in Chicago on Saturday. Final NHL cuts aren’t expected for several more days.

That leaves “a lot of question marks” for the P-Bruins, according to first-year head coach Jay Leach.

“We’ve got some guys here that we’d like to see play and take a look at, which we will. The lineups (for Providence’s preseason games), though, will be TBD,” he said after Wednesday’s workout at The Dunkin Donuts Center.

The P-Bruins’ two preseason tilts will be Friday at Springfield and Saturday vs. Springfield at The Dunk. Start time both nights is 7 o’clock.

“The first day of the NHL season is probably when things will start to settle down. There’s obviously guys fighting for jobs up there. (Boston) might not know until the end. We’ll see,” Leach said.

He is satisfied with the first two days of camp.

“Both skates have been pretty intense. They’ve had some jump for sure, which is nice to see. We have a nice blend of guys that have been here, and they’re really kind of setting the tone, which is nice.

“And then there’s some tryout guys that really are borderline American Hockey League players. I don’t know if we’ve had as much depth in the past as we do this year,” he said.

Fitzgerald on the rise

Since the start of rookie camp early this month, no Bruins forward prospect has done more to raise his stock than Ryan Fitzgerald.

He played well at the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, then followed up with a strong camp with Boston before being sent to Providence on Tuesday.

“He’s smart. He gets inside people. From the hashmarks in, he’s light’s out. And he’s got his dad’s balls,” said Leach.

The 22-year-old — a fourth-round pick in 2013 — is a player to watch with the P-Bruins.

Loose pucks

Skilled center/left wing Chase Witala is in camp on a tryout. He was Jesse Gabrielle’s teammate in Prince George of the WHL. He has an ECHL deal with Atlanta. … Another camp tryout is 6-foot-2 winger Phil Lane. He’s played four seasons in the AHL — three with Portland and one with Springfield. …The line of Fitzgerald, Jordan Szwarz and Adam Payerl looked good on Wednesday. … Tryout Josh Hennessey, who played in Sweden for the last two-plus seasons, looked good, too. Hennessey scored 19 goals and 41 points in 69 games with Providence in 2011-12. The 32-year-old is a handy player to have around. “He can play on your first line or your fourth line,” said Leach.

BOSTON — Year after year, Hockey East churns out stars who leave early to sign NHL contracts. It’s one of the reasons why the league is so competitive and entertaining.

It’s easy to choose the 2017 All-Early Departure team:

G – Colin Delia (Merrimack and Chicago)

D – Charlie McAvoy (Boston University and Bruins)

D – Jake Walman (Providence College and St. Louis)

F – Clayton Keller (BU and Arizona)

F – Anders Bjork (Notre Dame and Bruins)

F – Tage Thompson (Connecticut and St. Louis)

Not a bad squad, eh?

After watching Bjork fit in nicely with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand in Boston’s preseason win over Chicago on Monday night, I had early signees on my mind as I arrived at Tuesday’s Hockey East Media Day at the TD Garden. I talked with a couple of coaches and a player who figures to leave school early in a year or two.

“The league overall, I think, has gotten younger, and it’s because of (underclassmen leaving). As coaches now, you go into it and know that when you get a good player and he develops the right way, he’s probably not going to be there for all four years,” said PC coach Nate Leaman.

“We’re one of the programs that every year we’ve had one or two guys that signed early. You think back, it would have been nice to have Noel Acciari and Jon Gillies the year after we won the national championship. Those two guys would have helped us win another one. That’s the game now – and the NHL is younger,” Leaman said.

“A couple of years ago, I think Carolina had two defensemen that jumped straight from our league to the NHL in (Brett) Pesce and (Noah) Hanifin. Defense is a hard position to (make that) jump, but when you can show the guys, you know what, if you play in Hockey East, you can make that jump to the NHL. I think that’s very attractive.

BU’s David Quinn recruits first round draft picks year in and year out. A stud like Jack Eichel is one and done.

“You’ve got to bring them in and there’s a little bit of a thought process when you’re recruiting them, guys you know aren’t going to be there for the four years. You can’t have too many of those guys, because you need seniors to win, you do.

“It speaks to the competitiveness of our league. I’m sitting in the Hockey East coaches meeting and I’m looking around and thinking, ‘God, there’s a lot of good coaches.’ The competition is fierce, not only on the ice but in the recruiting world. That’s why our league has had so much success,” he said.

UMass freshman Cale Makar was selected fourth by Colorado last June. He’ll give the Minutemen a big shot of energy this season and maybe next, but don’t expect him to spend more than a couple of winters in Amherst.

“One of the big reasons why I committed to UMass was Hockey East. I knew it was such a competitive conference and they’re able to bring in some of the best talent. To know that you get to play against those guys and have the ability to get better, that was the way that I looked at it during the recruiting process,” he said.

In freshman Brady Tkachuk, Quinn and the Terriers have a player who could be picked in the top five next June.

You never know. Maybe Makar and Tkachuk will headline the 2018 Early Departure team.

Poll position for PC

The Friars, who open the season at Miami on Oct. 6, were picked third in the Hockey East Coaches’ Poll behind BU and Lowell.

They were ranked 11th in the season-opening USCHO.com poll and fifth in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine poll.

The Friars will be tested right out of the gate, with two at Miami, a home game against Boston College, a trip to St. Lawrence and Clarkson, followed by home tilts vs. BC and Boston University.

“We’ll find out where we are a month into the season,” said Leaman.

The Friars are healthy to start the year. “We’ve got everyone out of red jerseys now. We don’t have any health concerns as of right now,” he said.

I’ll have more on PC next week.

Bright NHL future for Bjork

Leaman and the Friars saw plenty of Bjork last season.

“We played Notre Dame four times down the stretch. When I went back and watched the film, he’s involved in almost every one of their scoring chances. Over four games, we really didn’t have a way to stop him. (Jake Evans) is a very good player, also, and they worked off each other.

“With his speed and his skill, Bjork was impossible to stop. They might have 15 scoring chances and he’d be involved in 12 of them. You’d go, wow, he was that good and that good consistently,” he said.

Doherty debut upcoming

Rhode Islander Timmy Doherty put up a lot of points with the ’95 Providence Capitals, St. George’s School and the Junior Bruins. Now that he’s finally eligible to play at Maine, maybe he can give the Black Bears’ offense a boost.

“Timmy’s a competitive kid, a real thoughtful kid. He fits in the locker room real well because he understands the dynamics of human relationships, so even though he hasn’t played a game for us, we’ve already seen some leadership ability,” said coach Red Gendron.

“As a hockey player, Timmy’s competitive but he’s also very smart. One of his biggest assets is his hockey sense, on both sides of the puck. We’re hoping he can be a big contributor right away.”

From a Bruins point of view, there was plenty to like about Monday night’s 4-2 win over Chicago at the TD Garden. Here are thoughts on five players:

MALCOLM SUBBAN

Subban played a good game, making 24 saves. The highlight came in the third period when he made three dazzling stops in a scramble around his net. The athleticism he displayed in that sequence is what continues to make Subban, 23, an intriguing prospect, even after four years in the AHL.

Subban has had some tough outings at the Garden, so it was nice to see him get a little love from the crowd. “I’m not gonna lie. It felt pretty good,’’ he said with a smile after the game. “I just tried to stay focused and dialed in … and finish strong.’’

If the Bruins send Subban to Providence, as appears likely as long as Anton Khudobin doesn’t fall on his face in the final week of camp, he will have to pass through waivers. He is playing well right now, which makes you wonder if there is a team out there that might be willing to take a shot.

ROB O’GARA

Paired with Charlie McAvoy, O’Gara led all Bruins in ice time with 22:28 and recorded two hits and blocked two shots.

The former Yale defenseman played with a lot of confidence. “That’s the biggest thing for me. I’m able to play my game when I’m most comfortable, most involved. Getting involved early on helped me play with confidence the rest of the game,’’ he said.

O’Gara, according to coach Bruce Cassidy, is “really closing well, defending hard. He’s working on making that good first pass. I liked his game. I’ve liked his whole camp.” Me, too.

ANDERS BJORK

It was another positive night for Bjork, who had a nice finish on a pass by Patrice Bergeron. Pencil him in at right wing with Brad Marchand and Bergeron on opening night and get your popcorn ready.

“He’s got skill, speed, and courage. He gets to the dirty areas. He’s hard to play against, second effort on pucks. It’s not one-and-done with him. And for a young kid, that’s special, to be able to hang in and there and battle for those turnovers,” said Cassidy.

The rookie promises to be productive and lots of fun to watch.

RYAN SPOONER

I liked his game a lot. He got off to a good start when he threw a hit on a Chicago player and it led to David Pastrnak’s early goal.

Cassidy summed up what he expects from Spooner. “I don’t know if physicality is the proper term. What I want to see is compete. We’ve talked about that. I don’t expect Ryan Spooner to lead our team in hits. But he has to win his share of pucks. How you do that, hard on your stick, sometimes it is body position, sometimes it is knocking a guy off the puck. It was good to see, and it led directly to – we come back up the ice, he makes a play, [Matt] Beleskey passes it and we score a goal,” he said.

“Then the third period, specifically, put him out for a D-zone faceoff and he won one, he won maybe both. Just some situations that he knows he has to be harder in, I think the rest of his game will take care of itself. But I thought he was good in that area of the game tonight.’’

JOHN HAYDEN

Chicago’s rookie winger is a handful at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds. He played with bite on Monday, firing a rocket under the bar for a goal on one of his game-high four shots and getting under the skin of more than one Bruin.

O’Gara broke into a smile when asked about his former Yale teammate. “He plays with so much intensity, it’s awesome. He had a nice goal, too. It’s fun to see (fellow Bulldog Kenny Agostino) at our camp and (Hayden) having some good success with Chicago. It’s awesome to see them come up through the ranks and succeed,’’ O’Gara said.

College hockey is just a couple of week away. My Providence College coverage in The Providence Journal this season kicks off with a story about defenseman Tommy Davis. You can read it here:

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/20170922/mark-divver-tommy-davis-brings-experience-maturity-to-providence-college-blueline