"Zach Hamill cleared waivers yesterday at noon and was assigned to Providence.

When the fourth-year pro and former first-round draft pick was first promoted to the NHL team this season from the AHL club, it appeared as though the forward may have finally turned a corner. For the first time in his pro career, he was playing as a winger and seemed to be adapting well to the shift from center.

But after picking up a pair of assists and being a plus-4 in his first three games with the Bruins [team stats], Hamill's play slipped. In his last 13 games, he went pointless and was a minus-1.

"I just think he needs to get stronger," coach Claude Julien said. "He's a guy that's capable of making plays and he's a smart individual. He came up and had a really good, strong showing. But it's about maintaining that level of play and sometimes it drops, and sometimes it drops because they don't play much or they become healthy scratches."