Given the Bruins’ oft-discussed salary-cap issues, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which their opening-night lineup doesn’t include at least a few young players.
Those rookies vying for jobs — and whoever else joins the club this summer — will open the preseason on Sunday, Sept. 24, at TD Garden against the Rangers (5 p.m.).
The exhibition schedule, which was released Wednesday, includes road trips to Buffalo (Sept. 26), Philadelphia (Oct. 2), and Manhattan for the finale against the Rangers (Oct. 5).
In addition to the opener against the Rangers, the Bruins will host the Flyers (Sept. 29) and Capitals (Oct. 3).
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All games other than the opener against the Rangers are at 7 p.m. Broadcast information was not immediately available.
The first week of October will bring a frenzied push toward opening night for coach Jim Montgomery and his staff. They will have three preseason games in four nights to finalize a lineup that, as of now, has several holes.
Top-six centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have yet to declare their intentions for next season. Forward Trent Frederic and goaltender Jeremy Swayman are restricted free agents without contracts, as are Providence hopefuls Jakub Lauko and Marc McLaughlin, who could angle for bottom-six forward spots.
Someone is likely to depart a defensive unit that has seven NHLers under contract, four of them (Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, Mike Reilly, and Jalub Zboril) entering the final years of their deals.
The NHL has not made its regular-season schedule public, but a reasonable guess says it could begin on or around Oct. 10.
Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.