Element’s move to Providence comes after what’s been a strong start to his campaign for ECHL Maine, with one goal and five points in six games for the Mariners. Prior to joining Maine, Element played for current Bruins head coach Marco Sturm for AHL Ontario, with nine goals and 14 points in 64 games for the Kings’ top minor-league affiliate in 2024-25. Element was also the last player cut from P-Bruins training camp earlier this year (per Mark Divver).

Wolanin, meanwhile, joins the B’s organization after spending last three seasons as a member of the Abbotsford Canucks.

Last season, the left-shooting Wolanin posted four goals and 40 points in 58 regular season games for the Canucks, and added two goals and 10 points in 17 playoff games on Abbotsford’s way to a Calder Cup championship.

Overall, the Quebec-born Wolanin posted 15 goals and 124 points in 149 games for Abbotsford, and took home Eddie Shore Award honors as the AHL’s top defenseman during the 2022-23 season.

And with Wolanin having some substantial NHL work to his name.

A fourth-round draft pick of Ottawa back in 2015, Wolanin has made 86 NHL appearances since 2018, scoring six goals and 23 points in runs with the Senators, Kings, Sabres, and Canucks. Wolanin, who last played in the NHL with a 16-game run for Vancouver in 2022-23, even played 11 games for the Kings when Sturm served as an assistant on the LA staff in 2021 and 2021-22. 

Given his resume, it feels unlikely that the P-Bruins are simply bringing Wolanin in for a weekend of fill-in work and then cutting him loose. Instead, this may be similar to last year’s route with Tyler Pitlick. A veteran ‘tweener’ type, Pitlick joined the P-Bruins on a tryout, signed an AHL contract a month later, and later a standard contract with the Bruins, which made him eligible for an NHL recall.