By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter @BlackAndGold277
Ten days ago, New England Hockey Journal and NHL.com contributor Mark Divver heard rumblings of the American Hockey League Providence Bruins re-signing Eduards Tralmaks. Today, the top minor-pro affiliate of the National Hockey League Boston Bruins, made the contract extension official locking up the 25-year-old Latvian native for the upcoming 2022-23 season.
The 6′-4″ 209-pound forward is currently playing in his first full season with the Providence team. Over a year ago, in March of 2021, Tralmaks signed his first professional hockey contract with Providence after his senior year at the University of Maine. In eight games for Providence after leaving school in the 2020-21 campaign, Tralmaks had 2-2-4 numbers. In the 2021-22 season, Eduards has 14-13-27 numbers in 51 games.
Tralmaks has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury (leg) and remains a day-to-day status. Eduards plays a hard grinding style game but also provides a good amount of offensive skill for a bigger winger. He’s a solid net-front presence player and effective along the boards in puck battles. Tralmaks can also be trusted on the special team’s side of the game as a penalty killer. For a bigger player on the ice, his stick work and means to disrupt the passing lanes on an opposing team’s power-play is a solid attribute. Eduards has decent speed for a burly winger and has a sneakingly good IQ when breaking away from coverage and constantly moving around offensively to get open and create scoring opportunities.
Lately, the Latvian native has played well with right-winger Justin Brazeau on the same line regardless of who slots up the middle. Providence Head Coach Ryan Mougenel constantly moves around players on all four forward lines, particularly at center. With forward Jack Studnicka back in Providence and the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs approaching quickly, I could see a second line of Tralmaks-Studnicka-Brazeau being a line that Mougenel heavily relies on once Eduards returns healthy.
This extension of Tralmaks is a solid move for the Providence organization but also for the player who’ll be auditioning further for potential NHL time. Plenty of players like Tralmaks have come through the Boston Bruins organization via AHL-Only contracts and agreeing on two-way deals to solidify the B’s minor-pro depth. The same could go for linemate Brazeau, who also got a contract extension from AHL Providence to give further looks for the parent B’s organization. If the Bruins want to get bigger on the third or fourth line, players like Tralmaks and Brazeau are solid options to keep around for potential internal options for wingers that play the Bruins grinding style.
The Providence Bruins have four games remaining in the 2021-22 season, with the first of the four being played this afternoon at 2pm on the road in Springfield, Massachusetts, playing the host Springfield Thunderbirds. Providence is currently in the third position in the Atlantic Division with a record of 36-22-4-6 and 82 points. Due to the AHL standings being ranked by winning percentage, the Providence club, since the start of the second half of this season, has bounced in and out of the first spot, so where they end up at the season end is a little unpredictable.
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